GO FRAUD ME
Follow these simple rules
THOUSANDS offered support to Sgt Dave Evans as he faced retirement without his beloved police dog Ivy.
They dug deep for cash to halt the pair’s separation, as Ivy faced another four years of service without him.
But now a GoFundMe page to raise funds to reunite the pair is at the centre of an investigation by the website – amid suspicions that £20,000 in donations had vanished overnight.
It is understood police are also aware of the claims and donors fear it could be yet another example of the dark side of online fundraising.
We have never given more online, with more than £2billion donated annually to good causes through websites, smartphones and social media.
But while the internet makes it easier to give money in seconds, fraudsters are also at the ready to exploit the explosion in online donations.
The Sunday People investigated after being tipped off about the fundraising appeal which we discovered was one of a number of alleged online donation scams.
Donors were touched by the story of Sgt Evans when he was separated from Ivy in Market Drayton, Shropshire.
Police dogs normally work for eight years, and she only had four under her collar – meaning the German Shepherd was too young to be considered for early retirement alongside Sgt Evans, who is nothing to do with the scam.
Following a petition signed by 140,000 people, fundraiser “Jacob Windsor” started a page to raise the £24,000 needed to train a new dog.
After concerns were raised, the Sunday People’s investigators started examining what checks were in place to prevent charity fundraising fraud.
West Mercia Police insisted Ivy was “not for sale” and released a statement warning donations to the GoFundMe page could not be accepted. They said: “The force has no association with this fundraising whatsoever. Police are prohibited by law from receiving any monies raised in such a way.
“We advise members of the public not to contribute.”
Despite this, cash kept flooding in until earlier this month the page vanished, as did its owner from social media. Some donors began demanding their cash back. GoFundMe has launched an inquiry, leading panicked supporters to fear they will not be refunded.
One said on Facebook: “This man has fooled everybody into donating.”
We set up a GoFundMe page using a fake name, asking donors to help raise £120,000 – and it was live in seconds with no identity checks needed.
Cancer
It comes just a week after JustGiving, another donation platform, took control of an account raising cash for a Westminster terror attack victim.
Nearly £ 10,000 was donated for Aysha Frade, 43, before users raised suspicions. They spotted that someone with the same name as the page’s founder was convicted of benefit fraud in 2013. JustGiving seized the site.
Another case saw a dance teacher convicted for inventing a story about a nine-year-old “pupil” who was dying from cancer and asked for donations to pay for a dream trip to Disneyland.
Andrew White, 34, created a bogus bucket list for Nicole Walker and used a fake family photo on a Virgin Money Giving Page to back up his scam. He was fined £85 and given a two-year conditional discharge last September.
Kids’ football coach Darren Head, 39, got a 14-week suspended jail term in 2015 for stealing about £4,500 he raised on JustGiving in memory of dad-of-two Stuart Blunden, who died after a brain haemorrhage.
A court heard Head spent the cash on rent, alcohol and gambling.
JustGiving apologised for emailing donors to ask if they wanted to nominate him for a fundraising award.
Investigation
Last October a page to raise £1.5million to prosecute missing Madeleine McCann’s parents was taken down amid fraud claims. Police investigated after £6,615 was pledged in 24 hours.
And in August it emerged scammers had hijacked a web fundraising campaign to send a little girl with leukaemia on a dream trip to Disneyland. More than £4,000 had been raised for Kimberley Newton-Robinson, six.
GoFundMe said less than a tenth of 1% of campaigns on its site were fraudulent.
It added “multiple layers of protection” are in place to protect donors and charities, and urged users who suspect fraud to flag it up with them.
GoFundMe confirmed it is investigating the Ivy campaign and promised to refund donations.
TO donate online visit the charity’s own website. Always type the website address into the browser yourself, and never click on a link sent via email.
FRAUDSTERS can create fake but convincing homepages, so check the web address online with the charity regulator or charity itself.
AT the “donate” stage check that you are using a secure website –the address should begin “https” (not “http”) and a padlock symbol should appear in the address bar or the bottom right-hand corner of your browser.
BE wary of unsolicited emails from unknown charities.
IGNORE requests to donate through a money transfer company.
REAL charities will happily advise you on other ways to give.
FINALLY if you think you may have given your account details to a bogus charity, contact your bank immediately.