As our cooperation partner Wahtchlist-Internet reports, the earthquake in Turkey and northern Syria is triggering a wave of willingness to help. There are numerous options to support survivors financially. Criminals are abusing the humanitarian crisis and trying to exploit solidarity through fake fundraising appeals in various ways.

The earthquake catastrophe in Turkey and northern Syria shows how quickly fraudsters can take advantage of people's emergencies: It didn't take long for the fraudsters to publish the first websites with appeals for donations or send emails in the name of aid organizations. Criminals also call for supposed donations on social media. We provide an overview of the scams we know of and show you how you can donate safely.

Fraudulent social media posts

Numerous fraudulent fundraising campaigns for the earthquake disaster are currently appearing, particularly on Twitter. The procedure is different:

Criminals pose as organizations collecting donations. These can be fictional organizations, but well-known aid organizations are also imitated. Particularly problematic: Criminals often link to PayPal and use this reputable payment service provider as a fundraising tool. This ensures special trustworthiness.

Individuals are calling for donations. A wallet address for cryptocurrencies is usually given directly in the posting, so donations can be transmitted quickly and anonymously. Many of these individuals take advantage of celebrity reach and comment on fraudulent fundraising appeals on highly shared posts.

We assume that such fake calls for donations for the earthquake disaster will not only be spread via Twitter, but also via other social media such as Facebook or Instagram.

Fraudulent websites

help-turkey.org or helpturkeyandsyria.life : These are just two of the countless websites that call for financial support for people in Turkey or Syria. However, the “donations” end up in the hands of criminals.

You should not donate to these 10 fraudulent websites:

  • donateturkey.world
  • earthquaketurkey.world
  • help-turkey.org
  • helpturkey.world
  • helpturkeyandsyria.life
  • turkeydonate.world
  • turkey-fund.com
  • turkeyhelp.world
  • turkeystrong.org
  • wladimirfoundation.co

In its research, Watchlist Internet found more than 50 newly registered domains that are probably websites for fake fundraising appeals. However, the pages are not yet online or are already offline again. Watchlist Internet assumes that our list only represents a very small proportion of fraudulent websites.

Fraudulent emails about the earthquake disaster

The software company Bitdefender discovered the first fraudulent emails just 24 hours after the natural disaster. For example, the criminals pose as Unicef ​​and ask for donations for affected children and families. In another case, the email comes from a Ukrainian charitable foundation called the Vladimir Foundation. Here too, money is to be collected for the victims.

One of the well-known emails reads as follows:

We are launching support the people of Turkey and Syria who have been hit badly with The Ongoing Earthquake, this has displaced many families and children, leaving them homeless.
WLADIMIR FOUNDATION has taken it upon itself to render first hand Aid on ground to help as many people as possible. We are encouraging you to please donate to Victims for instant donation Please Use our automatic crypto wallets kindly visit our website to see some of our ongoing projects, and for other forms of donation please email support. Thank you for your support.
Vladimir Charity Foundation

The email contains wallet addresses for cryptocurrencies (which we have deleted), which can be used to donate directly. These addresses can also be found on the associated fraudulent website wladimirfoundation.co. Anyone who donates in this way only supports criminals.

How to protect yourself from donation fraud

  • Think about who is behind it: Regardless of whether donations are called for on a website, via social media or by email - in all cases it should be clear who is behind it and what the donation is being donated to. However, this is just as unclear on the websites mentioned as it is on Twitter profiles. This is an alarm signal!
  • Check the wallet address: You should only make donations via cryptocurrencies if you are familiar with them. Before you do this, you should enter the wallet address into a search engine to verify it. This way you can find out whether the wallet address belongs to an actual aid organization or whether there are already warning messages.
  • Donate through well-known organizations: If you want to support earthquake victims financially, we recommend that you donate to organizations or people you know and trust. Make sure you are on the organization's official website to avoid falling for fraudulent imitators.

DPA: After earthquake: number of deaths rises to over 20,000
Already over 20,000 dead - and there could be twice as many more. The hope of finding survivors in the earthquake zones in Turkey and Syria is coming to an end. The rescuers work tirelessly.


Sources:
Watchlist Internet
Bitdefender

Related to this topic:
Fake videos circulating about earthquakes in Turkey and Syria
WHO does not want to remove human rights from the “International Health Regulations”!


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