Turkey Earthquake Charity Scams Alert
Author: Trend Micro
As we saw with the Russia-Ukraine War, whenever and wherever there is a human tragedy, scammers will swoop in to prey on people’s kindness in an effort to make a quick buck, most commonly in the form of fake charities or percentage donation schemes.
On February 6th, two devastating earthquakes hit southern Turkey and northern Syria: the confirmed death toll is well over 40,000. Amidst the destruction, the only consolation has been the international outpouring of aid from governments, and from civilians via NGOs.
The latter is where the scammers come in. Here at Trend Micro, we have been tracking scores of fake Turkey earthquake charities run by scammers. Some are entirely fictitious, others are malicious copies of existing charities; both use authentic, but old and/or unrelated photographs and stock footage to appear convincing and bait donating victims.
The scams have come in many forms, from phishing emails to Twitter profiles, from TikTok videos to PayPal fundraising pages. Scroll down for some examples — and don’t fall for this horrendous scam. Lastly, if you want to donate to a charity, head to the IRS website to find a list of legitimate charities.
Turkey Earthquake Phishing Email Scams
Turkey Earthquake Fake Twitter and PayPal Scams
Source: Twitter
The above image has been generated by AI. One clue is the fact that it’s messed up and given the firefighter SIX FINGERS! It has also inexplicably paired a Greek firefighter with a Turkish child.
Meanwhile, this fake NGO Twitter profile suddenly appeared, had no affiliations, and had just 31 followers — including bots. Thankfully, these Twitter profiles have been taken down after they were reported — unfortunately, the latter’s corresponding PayPal page still appears to be live.
Source: BBC
As observers have pointed out, the creator of this page donated to his own fund to increase the figure and make it appear more convincing! There are many similar fake funding pages. Two red flags to watch out for are: suspiciously low amounts of money donated so far, and if they claim to be based in Turkey — which is highly unlikely.
In response to these fake pages, PayPal has stated:
Turkey Earthquake TikTok Scams
Source: TikTok
The image on the left has been making the rounds on TikTok and purports to show a child victim of the earthquake — accompanying it are pleas for donations and various tugs of the heartstrings. Unfortunately, this picture is unrelated: it was taken during the Afrin campaign during a phase of the Syrian Civil War.
In response to posts like this, TikTok has stated:
What You Can Do
To summarize, watch out for the above schemes — don’t let the scammers get away with it. Remember to do your research, and stick to the big names. For further reference, this Middle-Eastern news website has published a good article with some helpful suggestions for who to donate to.
We would encourage readers to use our FREE Trend Micro Check tool and detect scams with ease: Trend Micro Check is an all-in-one browser extension and mobile app for detecting scams, phishing attacks, malware, and dangerous links.
After you’ve pinned the Trend Micro Check extension, it will block dangerous sites automatically! (Available on Safari, Google Chrome, and Microsoft Edge.)
You can also download the Trend Micro Check mobile app for 24/7 automatic scam and spam detection and filtering. (Available for Android and iOS).
Check out this page for more information on Trend Micro Check. And as ever, if you’ve found this article an interesting and/or helpful read, please do SHARE it with friends and family to help keep the online community secure and protected. And don’t forget to leave a like and a comment.
This article was published in collaboration with Trend Micro
Image source: Unsplash.com
Report a Scam!
Have you fallen for a hoax, bought a fake product? Report the site and warn others!
Scam Categories
Help & Info
Popular Stories
As the influence of the internet rises, so does the prevalence of online scams. There are fraudsters making all kinds of claims to trap victims online - from fake investment opportunities to online stores - and the internet allows them to operate from any part of the world with anonymity. The ability to spot online scams is an important skill to have as the virtual world is increasingly becoming a part of every facet of our lives. The below tips will help you identify the signs which can indicate that a website could be a scam. Common Sense: Too Good To Be True When looking for goods online, a great deal can be very enticing. A Gucci bag or a new iPhone for half the price? Who wouldn’t want to grab such a deal? Scammers know this too and try to take advantage of the fact. If an online deal looks too good to be true, think twice and double-check things. The easiest way to do this is to simply check out the same product at competing websites (that you trust). If the difference in prices is huge, it might be better to double-check the rest of the website. Check Out the Social Media Links Social media is a core part of ecommerce businesses these days and consumers often expect online shops to have a social media presence. Scammers know this and often insert logos of social media sites on their websites. Scratching beneath the surface often reveals this fu
So the worst has come to pass - you realise you parted with your money too fast, and the site you used was a scam - what now? Well first of all, don’t despair!! If you think you have been scammed, the first port of call when having an issue is to simply ask for a refund. This is the first and easiest step to determine whether you are dealing with a genuine company or scammers. Sadly, getting your money back from a scammer is not as simple as just asking. If you are indeed dealing with scammers, the procedure (and chance) of getting your money back varies depending on the payment method you used. PayPal Debit card/Credit card Bank transfer Wire transfer Google Pay Bitcoin PayPal If you used PayPal, you have a strong chance of getting your money back if you were scammed. On their website, you can file a dispute within 180 calendar days of your purchase. Conditions to file a dispute: The simplest situation is that you ordered from an online store and it has not arrived. In this case this is what PayPal states: "If your order never shows up and the seller can't provide proof of shipment or delivery, you'll get a full refund. It's that simple." The scammer has sent you a completely different item. For example, you ordered a PlayStation 4, but instead received only a Playstation controller. The condition of the item was misrepresented on the product page. This could be the
