War reveals the best and the worst in people. That is why, against the backdrop of unity and mutual assistance, we often see news about corruption in the government or the army and fraudulent volunteers who profit from other people’s grief.

We need to be vigilant, but we should not stop donating because of news of corruption or fraudsters, since donations are an important part of our fight.

And today we are going to talk about how to distinguish true volunteers from fraudsters.

Offline volunteers.

🚩Red flags that may signal a potential fraud:

They accept only cash (officially registered charities must also have an official bank account).

Cannot provide supporting documents and/or react to such requests in an irritated and aggressive manner.

Online volunteers.

🚩Red flags that may signal potential fraud:

A newly created page or a page without real photos.

Lack of reports from past fundraisings.

A few subscribers, but there were reports on closing the fundraisings for large amounts (relatively speaking, over 50,000 UAH).

Too emotional caption to the fundraising (mostly with the message “everything is lost” and “betrayal in the government”).

How to check offline volunteers?

Ask for confirming documents (extract from the state register of charity organisations)

Ask about the possibility of donating to a bank card (officially registered charity organisations must also have an official bank account)

How to check volunteer foundations that work online?

Carefully check the correct spelling of the name of the social media account or website (fraudsters often create copies of the pages of well-known and trusted foundations with a difference of one or two letters), check activity on the page or website.

Don’t hesitate to ask for confirming documents (extract from the state register of charity organisations, past reports with receipts showing the list of the goods and the amount of money spent, acceptance acts showing what exactly and to which unit was transferred).

You can check on your own whether an organisation is registered at https://opendatabot.ua/open/volunteers

How to check volunteers (e.g., volunteers who are relatives of military personnel, etc.) who operate online?

Check the activity on the page (whether there are photos with the relative for whom they are fundraising, whether there have been previous fundraising and reports).

Do not hesitate to ask questions if you are concerned about something.
Watch the reaction – an honest person will give a straight answer.

Donate to people you trust and can personally check the purchase and delivery of the aid.

What should you do if you do bump into fraudulent volunteers?

Collect as much evidence of fraud as possible.

Call 102.

Report it to the cyber police.

The NGO Ukrainian Women’s Battalion is an officially registered organisation.

All aspects of our activities and reports on fundraising are covered in our social media and on our website.

If you have any questions about our work, don’t hesitate to ask. We will be happy to answer them.