Christmas is a time for giving, but Australians are being urged to be “generous but cautious” when donating this year as the number of fake charities is on the rise.
The Australian Charities and Not-for-profits (ACNC) has issued a warning over an alarming number of data breaches and fake charities, and wants you to think carefully before giving to charity this Christmas.
ACNC acting commissioner Deborah Jenkins says it is more important than ever to check that the charity you are giving to is listed on the official Charity Register.
“Hundreds of thousands of dollars have been lost to fake charity scams so far this year, according to data from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC),” she says.
“Scammers prey on this season of generosity and goodwill, bombarding us by text, by email, on social media or calling us out of the blue. They pull at our heart strings asking us to dig deep, wanting a snap decision.
“But it is important to stop and ask yourself, ‘Who are you giving your money to? Who are you giving your data to?’”
Read: Scams targeting Australians on the rise
You may have noticed an increase in scam texts, calls and emails on the back of the high-profile Optus and Medibank data breaches.
The ACCC revealed last month it’s expecting total Australian losses to scams this year to be more than $4 billion – double the amount lost a year earlier.
The ACCC received more than 166,000 reports between January and September, and that number vastly understates the real losses as only about 13 per cent of victims report the scam to authorities.
Read: Most common scams and how to avoid them
“With millions of Australians more vulnerable to scams following the recent spate of large-scale data breaches, there has never been a more important time to know the tell-tale signs of a scammer,” said ACCC deputy chair Delia Rickard.
“We know scammers are relentlessly targeting Australians. Research commissioned by the ACCC shows that 96 per cent of the population was exposed to a scam in the five years to 2021.
“Half of the survey’s respondents were contacted weekly or daily by scammers, a figure expected to rise given current cyber security concerns.”
Ms Jenkins has again urged Australians not to click links or open emails from charities asking for donations, but to instead use the charities’ website directly to confirm its validity – after checking the charity is legitimate via the Charity Register.
Read: Foreign call centre raided over alleged links to scam
“Our Charity Register makes it simple to verify that an organisation is a registered charity,” she said.
“It instantly shows you details, such as an organisation’s ABN, or if it is up to date with required reporting. These are basic signs that a charity follows the rules – that it is accountable and transparent.
“We strongly recommend that rather than clicking on a link you were sent, it is better to go to a charity’s website. Follow the steps provided there to give as generously as you can.”
Have you had any texts or emails soliciting donations? How do you confirm if an email or text is legitimate? Let us know in the comments section below.
You mean stolen by those who work for the charity? Those big wigs on huge salary packages and luxurious offices? No – if I donate anything, it is directly to affected persons, the end line, never to a third person.