The National Fraud Intelligence Bureau’s (NFIB) Proactive Intelligence Team have identified an emerging fraud where social media platforms are being used to attract members of the public to donate money to animal welfare charities overseas that do not exist.

The NFIB has discovered that criminal groups based in Spain or Cyprus and are using social media to target donors from the UK. The money is then laundered from the UK to overseas and rather than be used to tackle animal cruelty it is simply used to support a criminal lifestyle in the sun.

They will canvass for contributions through their existing social networks which will expand over time, attracting more donors.

The NFIB were informed that the people committing this fraud are merely supplementing their income as they are always linked to organised crime groups in the UK and overseas.

Protection advice

Sometimes the article or post on social media may indicate the payments are for charitable organisation or a “worthy cause”. Sadly not in all instances are these genuine, and if any doubt please undertake your own due diligence.

If the collection is for a charity you know is genuine, check the collection is authorised by asking the charity directly, using contact details from the phone book or a website that you know is genuine.

Watch out for poor grammar and spelling.

Send your donation to the charity directly. This may mean going to a little more trouble, but at least you can be sure your donation will get to where it’s intended.

If you have any concerns you can also get further information from Gov.uk.