Beware of scam donation appeals to help Ukrainians, police say

If an organisation offers Twint as a payment option for donations, the police recommend first checking whether the organisation is listed on the official Twint website. © Keystone / Christian Beutler

Zurich police have warned that scammers claiming to be collecting funds for people caught up in the Ukraine war are using email solicitations and fraudulent websites to defraud donors.

This content was published on March 26, 2022 – 14:29

Keystone-SDA/gw

The cybercrime unit saidExternal link on Saturday people should be wary of emails containing promises of money or investments allegedly coming from desperate wealthy Ukrainians. Scammers are also setting up websites that claim to be collecting money to help Ukrainian refugees and victims of the war.

Some perpetrators have even posed as Ukrainian hackers in an attempt to extort payments in cryptocurrencies. In an email shared by police, for example, hackers threaten to launch an attack on the victim’s website if a payment in cryptocurrencies “in support of Ukraine” is not made.

Police urged people to not respond to suspicious emails and to avoid making donations by credit card, transferring cryptocurrency funds or sending gift voucher codes, such as for Google Play.

To check if a donation website is legitimate, police recommend checking payment methods. If an IBAN (international bank account number) is offered, it should include a plausible payment purpose, such as the name of an…

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