Get Safe Online warns of scammers exploiting Beryl charity appeals

Following the devastation caused in the Caribbean and South-Eastern US by last week’s Hurricane Beryl, charities are now desperately seeking support to assist those tragically affected. However, Get Safe Online is urgently warning individuals to ensure any donations are for genuine charities as it anticipates a rise in fraudulent donation requests, especially across social media.

Charities and voluntary organisations will be delivering vital work in housing those displaced, providing much needed food and medical supplies, alleviating suffering and much more in the aftermath of this brutal event. To many charities, donations from the general public and businesses are the sole source of income.

This is why it is essential that any donations reach the hurricane relief effort, but sadly, this is not always the case. Whilst most fundraising is genuine, some collections and appeals are fraudulent.

Tony Neate, CEO at Get Safe Online comments, “Our hearts go out to those affected by the recent storms. One of the easiest ways for criminals to perpetrate charity fraud is online, owing to the number of people they can reach at any one time, the ease and speed of donating online, the authentic nature of appeals that they can create, and the relative anonymity on the internet. Please do not be put off and stop giving to charity, but do follow our tips so we can help the genuine charitable and voluntary organisations do their great work, which is so urgently needed.”

If you are considering donating to hurricane appeals, here are Get Safe Online’s expert tips to protect yourself from charity fraud:

·    Double-check that you are donating to a registered charity

·    Never feel under pressure to make an urgent donation

·    If in doubt, contact the charity directly. Ask about other ways to give. Any genuine charity will be happy to help.

Then:

·    To donate to your chosen charity, visit its website. To make sure this is authentic, always type the full address into the browser. Find the correct web address by searching online or giving them a call. You can easily check if a website is likely to be legitimate or fraudulent by visiting the ‘Check a Website’ tool on your Get Safe Online website

·    Check for a padlock symbol in the URL bar and that the web address begins ‘https’ (not ‘http’) – the ‘s’ stands for ‘secure’.

·    Never respond to unsolicited emails, texts or social media messages/posts from any charity you have never heard of. And never click on any links, nor open attachments. Report the message and then delete it. Be especially cautious when a new disaster or emergency is making headlines.

·    Be especially careful supporting someone via a charity crowd-funding site (like JustGiving, GoFundMe or Virgin Money Giving) if you don’t know them personally.

·    Make sure you are completely satisfied that a charity is genuine before divulging personal financial information. Contact your bank immediately if you think you may have given your bank details to an imposter or bogus charity.

Visit your national Get Safe Online website for more advice.