Since the armed invasion of Russian troops in February, the Volunteer Network in Ukraine has apparently reached its record level. Today thousands of people are working to save their fellow citizens and accelerate the common victory. But, unfortunately, wherever there is sympathy and mutual help, there will be a place for fraud. Fraudsters do not hesitate to use the tragedies of military personnel and even children in their schemes. This article will tell you how to recognize pseudo benefactors.

How to understand that you are dealing with fraudsters?

There are many clear signs that indicate the illegal work of the volunteer staff. Let's identify those that are easy to check in a few minutes.

• “Benefactors” asking for funds near supermarkets. No real charitable organization involves volunteer beggars with boxes.
• The volunteer doesn’t have a certificate and official documentation of the foundation. Most often such “volunteers” do not even know which organization they represent.
• Invalid official number/mail address. Each volunteer headquarters has its own website, or at least social networks. Call/write to the indicated contacts and check the authenticity of the charitable activity. You can also check organization's reporting.

It is common thing, when volunteers act on their own behalf, and not on foundation. You may come across a Facebook post asking for help for a wounded soldier and the bank details of his family. Gullible citizens actively spread such posts and transfer their funds under the influence of emotions. More often than not, this is another scammer's trap. However, it’s easy to check the authenticity of the information.

• Upload photos from such posts to Google Photos. Perhaps the scammers are distributing ten-year-old photos taken from Internet;
• Do the same check with the text. It is likely that the fundraiser does exist, but the real volunteers have different credentials;
• Check the comments below the post. As a rule, scammers remove all negativity so as not to scare away potential "victims".

It is most difficult to recognize fraudsters in people who overestimate the value of objects. For example, a network user can announce the opening of his own charity collection for a car for a military unit and name an amount that is twice the market price. Eventually, he will buy the car, and will report about this on his page, so the followers continue to believe in his integrity. Of course, no one will know about the other part of the amount.

What to do in this case?

There is only one way out: to trust officially registered charities that work on transparent terms and report their expenses. If you doubt the integrity of a fund or a person whose story has been shared on social networks, ask for the contact details of the latter.