Cybersecurity experts have given advice on how not to fall for fraudsters and donate to real volunteers and charities that help the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The Cyberpolice Department reports this on Facebook, Kommersant Ukrainian reports 
Cyberpolice notes that the volunteer movement in Ukraine has become a phenomenon that has demonstrated to the world the unity of our society and readiness to resist the aggressor. However, fraudsters have caught on to the trend and started posing as volunteers and charities to steal people’s donations.
Cyberpolice has prepared recommendations for philanthropists.
How to check an individual or volunteer
If your friends or acquaintances ask you to donate money to a fundraiser and you trust these people, you shouldn’t have any problems. However, you should make sure that the message was actually posted by this person, and not by a fraudster who has gained access to the user’s account. To do this, contact this friend via other communication channels.
In other cases, take the following steps to verify such a charge:
- ask for previous reports and fees;
- find out more about the person or volunteer, in particular, whether they cooperate with well-known organisations or public figures. In this case, the official pages of the relevant organisations and influencers should also contain information about joint activities;
- whether they have received awards or honours for their assistance and feedback on their activities;
- whether the work of the volunteer or individual is covered in the media;
- use Google image search to check photos and screenshots of documents under the collection – fraudsters usually use stolen photos of others in their profiles https://images.google.com
- check the authenticity of the volunteer’s ID by contacting the organisation that issued the document.
If it is an individual, you should find out why they are not registered as a volunteer.
How to check a charitable foundation and a non-governmental organisation
Since these structures are officially registered, it is somewhat easier to check them, on the one hand, and on the other hand, it is not difficult for fraudsters to hide behind well-known names and titles for their criminal activities.
So, to make sure that a charitable foundation or NGO is genuine, we recommend taking the following steps
- check their membership in professional associations, such as https://vboabu.org.ua/;
- make sure that the EDRPOU is included in the registers https://usr.minjust.gov.ua/content/free-search;
- find out whether the CF or CSO has a physical presence (office, valid phone numbers) and staff;
- ask for information about the founders and reports for previous years – this is public information that should be freely available. The absence of such data increases the likelihood that you will come across fraudsters;
- find out about cooperation with well-known organisations, volunteers and public figures;
- check for awards and feedback on their work;
- find out whether the charity or NGO has received support from public figures;
- check the presence in the information field;
- use the Google image search service, as in the case of checking a private person or volunteer.
In addition, the cyber police do not recommend entering full bank card details (expiration date, CVV code ) when making donations – your payment information may end up with fraudsters.