As the crisis in Ukraine remains front-page news around the world, fraudsters will continue to look for ways to exploit the misery of war-affected people for their own profit. Perhaps the worst thing about this case is not that you will be the victim of a charity scam – but that the recipients will ultimately lose the possibility of helping, which makes this kind of scam all the more sad.
In times of crisis such as the war in Ukraine not only our best selves are revealed, but also the worst of the swindlers. Because you are not the only one who follows the news. It is also watched by fraudsters who try to find new ways to "lighten" you out of your money.
It is a phenomenon that we have observed many times during the COVID-19 pandemic and we see it again just a few days after the start of the war in Ukraine.
This period, researchers from the global cybersecurity company ESET found several websites that make emotional but false appeals for solidarity with the people of Ukraine or urge the public to help fund the country's defense efforts.
These websites make very vague claims about how the "help" will be used. A closer look reveals that relatively easily none of them represent a legitimate organization.
If, however, the war in Ukraine worries you and you want to support the humanitarian work through a donation, make sure your money reaches its destination.
For this, websites like these here possibly you should avoid them:
- help-for-ukraine [.] eu
- tokenukraine [.] com
- supportukraine [.] today
- ukrainecharity [.] gives
- ukrainesolidarity [.] org
- ukraine-solidarity [.] com
- saveukraine [.] today
At the same time, be wary of emotional calls for help that may reach your email. A Reddit user inadvertently shared one false message touching sensitive strings. They are also released at Twitter and to other social media but similar tricks intended to make victims to donate Bitcoin.
In general, in the era of ongoing cyber attacks against Ukrainian targets, it can be difficult to verify the information.
How to avoid charity scams
If you want to help through a donation, these are the 7 tips given to us by its experts ESET on how to do this safely:
- Check carefully before giving money - it is better to select well-known organizations having a presence or associates in Ukraine.
- Donate your money through the by clicking hereof the organization or contact direct to the charity for instructions.
- to be wary on money transfer or gift card requests. Usually, charities do not ask for such "donations".
- Don't do click in links and do not download attachments in e-mails or in social media messages, which seem strange and mainly come from unknown sources. They may try to lure you into unintentionally downloading malware onto your device.
- Actually, be wary even of messages from trusted sources, except if you verify that the message is authentic. To do this, contact the source in question by a means other than that by which you received it, e.g. by phone if you received it by email etc.
- to be wary of posting on social media promoting a charity, unless you verify that the organization is legitimate. The friend who recommends it may not have done his research and the number of likes on a social media post does not say much about its legitimacy.
- Do not give in to unwarranted pressure - fraudsters will try to use the urgency of the situation to force you to make a donation (social engineering).
As the crisis remains top news around the world, fraudsters will continue to look for ways to exploit the plight of people affected by the war. Perhaps worst of all, falling victim to a philanthropic scam not only affects you - it also means that recipients are losing help, which makes this type of scam even more sad.
