Along with the growth of the scale of charity during the war, the number of fraudulent schemes is also growing. Scams well-known to Ukrainians are replacing more and more new ways to cash in on people’s trust. Internet fraudsters not only play on the vulnerabilities of the population, but also compromise reliable charitable foundations that sincerely work for the benefit of the country. Unfortunately, fraudsters did not ignore our fund.
In this article, we will share our unfortunate experience, official documents confirming the legal status of our charitable activities, as well as effective advice on how to counteract fraudsters and help the country in a safe and responsible way.
How Fraudsters Used the Materials of the "International Unity Movement" Foundation for Their Own Profit
After almost 1.5 years of active and transparent work, our foundation became a victim of fraudsters. Actually, they took advantage of the transparency of our activities on the Internet. The criminals did not just pass off documents and photo reports from our website as their own, but acted on behalf of the head of the charitable foundation "INTERNATIONAL MOVEMENT OF UNITY". The fraudster’s goal was to ’sell’ the car under the guise of a volunteer and deceive a buyer who wanted to help a friend serving in the Armed Forces of Ukraine for money:
This incident took place on the popular Viber messenger. For the account, the fraudsters used the name and photo of the director of the fund, Vladyslav Spiridovych, and in correspondence, they blurred the buyer’s eyes by sending photo reports and documents stolen from the official website and personal account of the head of the fund.
All photos with the military, as well as documents, including Gratitude from military units and the Certificate of Volunteer Vladyslav Spiridovych, were stolen and used by fraudsters for their own profit. The specified information, namely the phone number in the fake Viber account and the bank card number, have nothing to do with the director of the foundation and the charitable organization "INTERNATIONAL MOVEMENT OF UNITY". Our foundation is not engaged in the purchase and sale of cars for the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The main direction of our activity is to provide military units with ammunition.
We are sad to realize that this may not be the only case of cynical deception of people and defenders under the guise of our foundation. But despite everything, this situation is not the worst thing that could happen. We will definitely cope and protect our honor and reputation. The terrible thing is that cynical thieves who parasitize on charity steal not only money, but the desire of Ukrainians to help and bring victory closer.
We are currently waiting for the Cyber Police Department of the National Police of Ukraine to consider our appeal, and we hope that the criminals will be detained and punished as soon as possible. In the meantime, let’s recall simple rules that will help check the reliability of foundations and individual volunteers, and will not allow you to be disappointed in the entire charitable society.
Don’t Give Scammers a Chance — Check Charitable Foundations
Registration Documents
The fact that a charitable foundation has a package of documents confirming its official activities is a good reason for trust. Despite the fact that all the documents of our foundation are always available on our website in the appropriate section, in the context of the article it will be appropriate to once again remind about the legal status and charitable nature of our activities.
The Charitable Foundation "INTERNATIONAL UNITY MOVEMENT" is an officially registered non-profit organization, which is confirmed by an EXTRACT from the Register of Non-Profit Institutions and Organizations. This information can be checked on the official web portal of the State Tax Service of Ukraine. And not only that.
The legitimacy of any charitable foundation can also be verified on the official website of the Ministry of Justice. To do this, just select the search option "Legal entity" and enter the full name of the organization. The status of a legal entity can be checked using the youcontrol.com.ua service.
Availability of official details
We urge you to be careful with money transfers to individuals’ bank cards. This is the method of payment that was offered by the scammer in the above-mentioned fraudulent scheme with the sale of the car.
Each legal charitable organization has its own current account, and our foundation is no exception:
CHARITABLE ORGANIZATION CHARITABLE FOUNDATION "INTERNATIONAL UNITY MOVEMENT"
IBAN: UA503052990000026002035021862
USREOU: 44797809
Purpose of payment: Charitable assistance
PrivatBank card:
Universal Bank Card: 4383 8398 6048 7479
Monobank: https://send.monobank.ua/jar/4R4Any2mZx
LiqPay: https://www.liqpay.ua/uk/checkout/card/checkout_1707916614270504_45763154_aRF8hcAIZXVNPjh69I0d
Use only the official details of trusted funds for donations and be careful in choosing where you send funds to help.
Transparency and openness on the Internet
The availability of official sources of information, such as a website and social networks, are key criteria for the reliability of a charitable foundation. Such organizations constantly initiate important meetings, report on expenses and talk about implemented projects, and therefore are sincerely interested in ensuring that information about volunteering is disseminated and available to people in a few clicks.
If the data on the Internet does not answer the question of what the charitable foundation does and where the funds of philanthropists are directed, this is a good reason to be wary. To check the organization’s website, you can use the free ScamAdviser service, which helps identify fraudulent resources thanks to a built-in algorithm. In turn, social pages need a thorough analysis of activity, completeness, and reporting.
We invite you to practice your analytical skills on the official sources of information of the "INTERNATIONAL MOVEMENT OF UNITY" Foundation:
- On the website: https://ruhednosti.org/
- on Telegram: https://t.me/UAednist
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ruh_ednosti/
- on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100088836247482
As you can see, a culture of responsible mutual aid begins with care and attention to detail. Be conscientious and prudent, but do not refuse charitable contributions and good deeds.
How to distinguish real volunteers from scammers?
While the rapid digitalization of the Ukrainian government’s work makes it easier to verify the legitimacy and transparency of a charitable foundation, the activities of individual volunteers require greater prudence. Our case is another proof of this. Given the active use of fake accounts, other people’s documents, and photos by fraudsters, we advise you to remember a few simple rules that will help check volunteers for honesty.
- Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Usually, scammers are not focused on details, but on playing on feelings and profiting from people. Therefore, clarifying questions such as "Who asked for help?", "Where can I see the reports?" and "Why is this amount necessary?" can cause a delay in the answer and drive you into a dead end. Real volunteers will not think long and will willingly talk about the state of affairs, After all, they understand and encourage the prudence of Ukrainians.
- Take information critically. Excessive emotionality and urgency of asking for help increase the desire to give money or repost on a social network. In this case, it is useful to mentally stop and ask yourself: "What do I or my acquaintances know about this charitable initiative?", "On what grounds or documents does a volunteer act?", "How can I check the reliability of a request for help?". Check if you have any common followers with the benefactor to learn more about their activities. Look at the average cost of a product when it comes to collecting money for a specific item. If the page of the person for whom the funds are being raised is listed, examine it and make sure that they really need help.
- Analyze the content. In the case of individual volunteers, this is usually an account on a social network: the content of the page, the availability of contacts and expense reports, as well as the veracity of photos. For example, a pseudo-volunteer who hid behind our photos would not pass Google verification: any user, using the image search function, would easily go to the original source of photos — the official website or page of our foundation on the social network. You can check suspicious volunteers in messengers by mobile number in the "Who are you" application.
We hope these simple tips will help you... help and be confident in the reliability of foundations and volunteers. And, please, do not give fraudsters and enemies the slightest opportunity to take away faith in charity and nullify the support that our compatriots and defenders are hoping for.
