Think, Check, Donate

It is acknowledged that charities, community groups, social enterprises, and good causes provide support for particular issues, groups, and needs or sign-post people to organisations that could provide these supports. Malaysians have been known for their keenness and willingness to donate. However, this generosity can sometimes be manipulated by those who are bent on misrepresentation, fraud, and scams as well as those who seek to exploit the causes, crises, and relief efforts for their own gain.

In the current situation, both online and offline hackers and scammers are taking advantage of the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, please be cautious of fundraising scams by taking the following steps:

Think:

• Exercise caution when people are collecting for “general causes”. Most charities support specific causes.
• Beware that criminals use text messages (SMS), WhatsApp, Facebook, and other social media messages, emails, websites, phone calls, fax messages, and even TAC messages from banks for their scams.
• Be wary of unsolicited emails from charities you have never heard of or are not associated to.

Check:

• Always check the charity’s name and registration number before giving. The safest option is to donate directly to the charity / organisation itself. As a general rule, you can check Hati.my, an open directory of NGOs and social organisations in the country. Most of Malaysia’s NGOs and their contact details are listed there.
• Do some research online /offline to check whether the charity/ fundraising is authentic. An authentic charity, fundraising, or organisation will never ask for username or password to access safety information, never send unsolicited email attachments, and never ask people to visit a link outside of its organisation.
• Check that the charity follows the federal and state’s laws on fundraising. For example, only those with a license/permit granted under the House to House and Street Collections Act 1947 from PDRM (Royal Malaysia Police) are allowed to solicit donations on the streets, public places, or places of business.

Donate:

• Be careful how you pay. With authentic charitable donations, people can donate money securely via credit card, cheque, PayPal, or online transfer.
• Keep a record or receipts of all donations that you made.
• Do not click on links or attachment in suspicious emails. To reiterate, authentic charitable donations will never ask people to visit a link outside of its organisation or appoint a representative to collect the donation on their behalf.

Do not feel pressured into making a donation. The key rule here is - when in doubt, don’t give.

We can always check the official charity’s details and make the donation at a later time.