Charity scams associated to donations to Ukraine

Fraudsters will use the situation in Ukraine to target people for fraud possibly via charitable donations.

Therefore, people looking to donate to causes in Ukraine and neighbouring countries, should make a few simple checks before giving. The below is advice from the Charity Commission and Fundraising Regulator.

• check the charity’s name and registration number at www.gov.uk/checkcharity. Most charities with an annual income of £5,000 or more must be registered, and you can use the advanced search function to identify charities working in specific regions and countries.
• make sure the charity is genuine before giving any financial information.
• be careful when responding to emails or clicking on links within them.
• contact or find out more online about the charity that you’re seeking to donate to or work with, to understand how they are spending their funds.
• look out for the Fundraising Badge on charity fundraising materials, this is the logo which shows that a charity has committed to fundraise in line with the Code of Fundraising Practice.

If you think that a collection or appeal is not legitimate, report it to the police. If you think the collection is fraudulent report it to Action Fraud over the phone at 0300 123 2040 or online.