Beware of fraudsters targeting charities, warns Richards Bay-based NPO

Scammers are going to extreme lengths to defraud members of the public – even targeting community organisations that work extremely hard to help the needy and vulnerable.

Founder of Richards Bay-based NPO Walk in Faith Merinda Ackerman confirmed they have been victims of unscrupulous fraudsters who have pretended to run raffles, as well as food and clothing drives on behalf of their organisation.

“These individuals pretend to collect funds on behalf of charities. People should contact the chairperson or director of the charity to make sure there is such a collection drive or raffle, and to also verify the bank details,” said Ackerman.

“We had a woman who took our logos from social media and held a raffle. She collected a large sum of money and then disappeared.

“Often, people do not check if the account details are the same, and end up paying into a fraudulent individual’s banking account.

“We encourage donors to always verify details for donations and make contact with organisation directly.

“We also had people going door to door collecting clothing and food, pretending to be from our organisation.

“All our campaigns or collections are posted on our Facebook page, or we share it to various WhatsApp groups.

“It is a daily challenge to get sponsorship, and now the scammers make it harder for us because businesses are scared to donate and afraid to fall victim to fraudsters,” she said.

Meanwhile, Richards Bay SAPS Lt Colonel Debbie Ferreira confirmed that scams and fraud incidents continue to rise, saying members of the public must be cautious and verify the details when supporting organisations to ensure they are contributing to the legit organisation.

Don’t have the ZO app? Download it to your Android or Apple device here:

HAVE YOUR SAY