Ukraine Donation Scams

Every time there is an event that captures the attention of people globally, scammers are the first to jump in and try to exploit the public for their own gain. As reported in our Global State of Scams 2021 Report, online scam reports increased by 90% in 2021 and this massive growth was caused mainly due to the COVID pandemic. 

Now in early 2022, the Russian invasion of Ukraine has become a global hot topic. People all over the world are showing solidarity with Ukraine and scores of people wish to help in any manner that they can. There are several legitimate organizations working in Ukraine that are accepting donations in cash and kind to ensure the supply of essentials to Ukrainians.

It should come as no surprise that scammers are trying every trick they know in order to capitalize on the kindness of people who wish to extend a helping hand. At the time of writing this article, it has only been a few days since Russian forces made their way into Ukraine. Despite this, several types of donation scams have already been reported to us. Below are some of the Ukraine Donation Scams that you need to watch out for. 

At the end of the article, we have also listed legitimate organizations to donate to for the aid of Ukraine.

Fake Pleas for Help

Desperate pleas for help from complete strangers is an old trope of email scams. In this latest iteration, scammers are pretending to be people stuck in Ukraine who desperately need Bitcoin for various reasons such as feeding their family, bribing authorities and more.

This scam is almost old as email itself and there is absolutely no reason to believe that this is a genuine request from someone in Ukraine. The real sender is likely to be a scammer in a different continent who wouldn’t be able to locate Ukraine on a map.

This scam is not limited to email alone. Scammers are also active on social media soliciting donations from strangers by pretending to be Ukrainians. Scammers prefer Bitcoin because the transactions are irreversible and practically untraceable.

Fake Donation Campaigns

Fake donation campaigns are another favourite tactic of scammers. Scammers set up fake campaigns on crowdfunding sites under the pretence of benefiting Ukraine, but the money is used for the benefit of no one but the scammers themselves. 

Take the example of the site Fund Ukraine (fund-ukraine[.]com) which states the following:

We are a group of students from Lviv Polytechnic National University, Ukraine. Out goal is to together try and make use of this platform with a small help to collect whatever we can by reaching out to the world and provide help to our fellow Ukrainians.

We'd like to keep it simple and meet basic needs in abundance during the crisis, HELP US STOP THE WAR.

#UkraineNeedsYou

The domain registration data of the website shows that it was created on 25th February 2022 (three days ago at the time of writing this article) and yet there is no verifiable information that it is indeed a legitimate campaign. The only external link on the website is for an Instagram page @saveukraine_official which doesn’t exist.

The site is operated anonymously and only contains crypto wallet addresses. Therefore, the donations are also accepted anonymously and there is no accountability regarding whether the donated funds are indeed being used for the intended purpose. There is a high chance that Fund Ukraine might be a scam.

NFT Scams

While the above scammers are directly soliciting funds, other scammers are doing it in a roundabout way. As if there weren’t enough NFT Scams to be on the lookout for, Ukraine Donation Scams have infested the NFT space too. 

Check out the campaign below claiming to donate proceeds from the sales of NFTs to help Ukraine. The Twitter profile has been created in February 2022, which means this is a brand new initiative with no background information available. There is no way to ascertain whether the funds will actually be used for the welfare of Ukrainians which makes it highly possible that this may just be a con.

This is just the beginning and we are sure to see a lot more creative Ukraine Donation Scams utilizing different tactics to trick people into thinking they are donating for a good cause. Only donate to verified legitimate organizations to ensure that the people who need help receive it and you are not lining the pockets of scammers.

Want to support the people in Ukraine? Here's how you can help

Here is a non-exhaustive list of organizations that are asking for assistance. Donations can be made through the links to their websites or social media pages.

• UNICEF
• Médecins Sans Frontieres/Doctors Without Borders
• Voices of Children
• Sunflower of Peace
• International Committee of the Red Cross
• Save the Children
• UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR)
• CARE
• International Medical Corps

Source: NPR