"One of the reasons that crowdfunding is so incredibly appealing is that it typically centers on one individual or one family,' said Laurie Styron, with the watchdog organization CharityWatch. 'It gives us that very personal, emotional connection, and it makes us feel like when we give money, it really will make an impact and help the person.'"
"But Styron says who you're helping may not be who you think it is. 'You don't really know if the person you're donating to could be located 6,000 miles away on a computer farm somewhere. There are people at the ready in any disaster to exploit it as a fundraising opportunity to scam you,' Styron said."
"'If you insist on donating through a crowdfunding campaign - at a minimum - do a reverse image search,' Styron said. 'Make sure that the images you're seeing or the story that you're hearing hasn't been repeated in multiple places across a lot of platforms. That's usually one sign that it could be a highly sophisticated type of scam.'"
- CharityWatch Executive Director, Laurie Styron, warns donors about the dangers of donating through crowdfunding websites in response to natural disasters. Newsy, 10/06/2022
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