Want to help after a disaster? Check the fundraiser before emotion decides

A fire, flood or one family’s tragedy creates a natural impulse: help now. A link, a moving photograph and a rapidly climbing total appear on social media. A friend has already shared the appeal, so donating feels safe.

Unfortunately, the same time pressure helps scammers. A fake fundraiser does not have to look amateurish. It can use a name resembling a known charity, copy somebody else’s photographs and appear at the moment people least want to pause and check details.

A friend’s share is not verification

An honest person can pass on a false link with the best of intentions. Reaction counts, emotional comments and a familiar name beside the share say something about a post’s reach, but prove nothing about who receives the money.

Instead of clicking immediately, type the organisation’s name into your browser yourself. Visit its official site and check whether it describes this particular appeal. Compare the domain, legal name, contact details and payment information. One extra letter or word in the name can lead to an entirely different recipient.

If the fundraiser supports one individual, look for information about who organises it, how they know the beneficiary and how the money will be accounted for. Missing answers do not prove fraud, but they are not a reason to pay faster either.

A “donate in one tap” text needs a second check

Charities genuinely use short codes and mobile payments. A scammer can nevertheless put their own number in a message, advert or graphic designed to resemble an official appeal.

The FTC recommends confirming any text-to-donate number directly on the charity’s website. It is a simple rule: the message may be a lead, but the number should come from a channel you reached independently.

Treat QR codes the same way. Read the address before opening it and compare it with the official domain. A charity logo on a payment page can be copied in seconds.

The payment method tells you a great deal

It is a warning sign when an organiser accepts only cash, gift cards, a money transfer or cryptocurrency. These methods make it difficult to recover funds and identify the recipient.

The option to pay by card does not automatically make a fundraiser legitimate. Check the recipient name and amount on the confirmation screen. Do not approve a payment when the banking app shows something different from the transaction you intended.

Nor should you provide an online-banking password, account-recovery code or full scan of an identity document merely to “confirm a donation”. An organisation may need information required to record the gift, but it should explain clearly why it collects that data and how it protects it.

Five minutes do not make your help less valuable

The pressure in a fake appeal often says that unless you pay now, it will be too late. Time matters in a real crisis, but the few minutes needed to find the official site rarely reduce the value of your help. They do change the likelihood that the money reaches the right people.

You can choose an organisation you already know or donate through its own service. If you cannot verify one fundraiser, you do not have to abandon the intention to help — support a verified organisation working on the same problem instead.

If the money went to a scammer

Contact your bank, card issuer or payment provider as soon as possible and ask whether the transaction can be stopped or disputed. Preserve the page address, receipt, message, profile name and screenshots. Report the false appeal to the platform where you found it so that further donations can be limited.

If you supplied sign-in details, navigate independently to the real service, change your password and end active sessions. Follow your card issuer’s instructions if you entered card data. Do not pay another person who promises to recover the donation for an advance fee — that may be the second stage of the scam.

What the sources say and what Breachroad recommends

On 27 August 2026, the US Federal Trade Commission reminded donors that scammers create sham charities or impersonate familiar organisations after disasters. It recommends researching the charity, confirming a text-to-donate number on its website and walking away if cash, gift card, money transfer or cryptocurrency is the only payment option. The FTC publishes a broader checklist in its Giving to Charity guide.

Breachroad recommends separating “I want to help” from “this is the correct link”. The first decision can be emotional; the second should rest on a brief, independent check.

The same trust mechanism appears in our article explaining why a social media ad is not proof that a shop is legitimate. We help organisations build these everyday habits through cybersecurity training.