Cryptocurrency is increasingly being used as a force for good, with several legitimate fundraisers being launched to aid the humanitarian efforts in Ukraine for the citizens affected by the ongoing military action in the country.
On February 26 the Ukraine government posted a simple tweet asking the worldwide twitter community to consider donating to them in Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH) & Tether (USDT), followed by a later Polkadot (DOT) address being setup — a move which has garnered donations ranging from cents up to a huge $5 Million pledge by Polkadot founder Gavin Wood.
Seperately, Binance has pledged a $10 Million donation via it’s charity foundation whilst simultaneously creating the Ukrainian Emergency Relief Fund which has raised a further $6.9 Million at the time of writing.
However, as sure as night follows day, scammers follow good deeds and publicity. There have been several reports of malicious actors using the desperate situation and public charitable mood to line their own pockets, with scant regard for the people suffering on the frontline in Eastern Europe.
ESET wrote about the worrying developments of fraudulent sites being created, showing graphic images of war and requesting donations to aid the country. None of the sites surveyed had any details about the companies or individuals behind them, their governance or the destination for the donations once received. It doesn’t take the largest cynic to surmise that they are fronts for money laundering and outright theft, in the name of charity. Domains to be wary of (amongst others) according to the report are:
help-for-ukraine(dot)eu
tokenukraine(dot)com
supportukraine(dot)today
ukrainecharity(dot)gives
ukrainesolidarity(dot)org
ukraine-solidarity(dot)com
saveukraine(dot)today
There are countless reports of emails being sent along a similar theme, purporting to be official Ukraine fundraisers, and giving cryptocurrency addresses to donate to. None can be verified as legitimate, and all must be treated as scams. Even our own Facebook account has had attempts of fraud in the name of charity, the Verify spoofers commenting on posts with a screenshot alleging to be the official Ukrainian government, in which the donation addresses have been doctored.
It is a timely reminder for all cryptocurrency investors to always DYOR before sending cryptocurrency anywhere, whether it be an investment or a charitable donation; always check thoroughly the destination of your transactions, trust nobody and never rush into completing a transaction until you are certain it is legitimate. The sector is rife with scams and opportunist thieves, who will think nothing about manipulating the public into parting with their cryptocurrency in the name of humanitarian aid, disaster relief or charitable fundraising.
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- Source: https://medium.com/@verifytoken/humanitarian-effort-brings-out-the-shady-underbelly-of-crypto-813a85e75880?source=rss——cryptocurrency-5
