Beware of scam donation appeals to help Ukrainians, police say
Zurich police have warned that scammers claiming to be collecting funds for people caught up in the Ukraine war are using email solicitations and fraudulent websites to defraud donors.
The cybercrime unit saidExternal link on Saturday people should be wary of emails containing promises of money or investments allegedly coming from desperate wealthy Ukrainians. Scammers are also setting up websites that claim to be collecting money to help Ukrainian refugees and victims of the war.
Some perpetrators have even posed as Ukrainian hackers in an attempt to extort payments in cryptocurrencies. In an email shared by police, for example, hackers threaten to launch an attack on the victim’s website if a payment in cryptocurrencies “in support of Ukraine” is not made.
Police urged people to not respond to suspicious emails and to avoid making donations by credit card, transferring cryptocurrency funds or sending gift voucher codes, such as for Google Play.
To check if a donation website is legitimate, police recommend checking payment methods. If an IBAN (international bank account number) is offered, it should include a plausible payment purpose, such as the name of an association and purpose for the donation.
With Twint numbers for payment, people should first contact the organisation that is named to verify the purpose of the donation. The police also recommend checking the official Twint websiteExternal link to see if the organisation is listed before paying via a Twint QR code.
The war in Ukraine has prompted an outpouring of generosity in Switzerland. Earlier this month the independent charity Swiss Solidarity raised CHF82.6 million ($89.1 million) in a fundraising campaign for victims of the war. Tens of thousands of Swiss have also offered to put refugees from Ukraine up in their homes.
By Saturday the State Secretariat for Migration had registered 15,388 people arriving in Switzerland from the war-torn country.
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