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By Derek Craddock

CHARITY SCAMS

Reports of Ukraine charity scams begin to surface

Mar 9, 2022 | 11:00 AM

Saskatchewan residents are donating by the millions to help Ukraine, unfortunately, a few scammers are trying to take advantage of that goodwill.

According to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, three different scams have been reported to them in the past couple of weeks, mostly through social media.

One report stated someone posted a message in a Facebook group telling people to send her money personally so she could forward it to her friend in Ukraine.

However, she could not provide proof that she actually knows the person and was asked why she was not using GoFundMe, GiveSendGo, or another fundraising app. In a response, which has since been removed, she claimed to not use those sites or organizations like The Red Cross because she wanted to make sure the money goes in the proper hands.

Another reported scam is on Instagram, where a user posts that she’s holding a raffle, asking people to deposit money through e-transfer. She is asking for people to send $20 for one ticket and $50 for three. Currently, there is no charity linked to this post and while she claims it’s a raffle, she is not sharing where this money will go after the draw.

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According to the report, the user has done this in the past by trying to raise funds for natural disaster relief, but the funds were never allocated to any charity.

Finally, the Anti-Fraud Centre said one person reported being contacted by someone posing as the British Red Cross soliciting money to buy bitcoin to support relief in Ukraine.

The Centre said none of those who filed the reports fell victim to the scams and all reports were sent anonymously.

Saskatchewan RCMP told paNOW that so far, they have received no complaints regarding charity frauds for Ukraine. They encourage anyone who sees such a scam to contact them and the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre.

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derek.craddock@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @pa_craddock