Scams abound targeting people that want to support humanitarians in the field, support soldiers serving abroad, or that want to work for the United Nations. The scam always involves the transfer of money or the sending of a money order – which is the same as cash – but the money doesn’t actually go to those humanitarians or soldiers working abroad, and once sent, the money can never be recovered..

I’ve created this post hoping it will get picked up by search engines, so that people thinking of sending money but who think there might be something up might find it and hold on to their funds instead.

Please note:

• Doctors working in the field for Doctors Without Borders, UNICEF or any humanitarian agencies do NOT request donations via email, online forums or dating sites to fund their work or money to help them travel. If an NGO is raising money for medical missions of its staff, it will do so via a web site and it will be easy to verify if the NGO is legitimate.
• NO doctors, surgeons or nurses on UN peacekeeping missions raise money for their missions. None.
• Soldiers on United Nations-related deployments – “UN Peacekeepers” – do not need money to take a vacation or access their bank accounts.
• The United Nations does not approve military vacations or pensions, or release packages in exchange for a fee.
• The United Nations does not charge a fee at any stage of its recruitment process (application, interview, processing, training) and does NOT request information on job applicants’ bank accounts. To apply for a job go to careers.un.org and click on Vacancies.
• The United Nations does not charge a fee at any stage of its procurement process (supplier registration, bids submission).  Visit the Procurement Division to see the latest business opportunities with the United Nations.
• The United Nations does not request any information related to bank accounts, Paypal or other payment systems.
• The United Nations does not offer prizes, awards, funds, certificates, automated teller machine (ATM) cards, compensation for Internet fraud, or scholarships, or conduct lotteries.

Want proof that someone claiming that they work for the UN in Iraq and that they need money from you is a liar? It took me all of 37 seconds using Google to find the official web site for the UN Mission in Iraq, which has email addresses you can use to contact someone there to confirm someone is or isn’t working for them. Same for Syria. Same for Afghanistan. Same for any other country.

Another popular scam targeting developing countries is one where a small NGO or charity receives an email claiming that the NGO or charity has been chosen to receive a grant from a well-known foundation or philanthropist, but that the bank account information is needed from the NGO, or a processing fee is needed, in order for the money to be transferred. When I directed the UN Online Volunteering Service, one of the NGOs using the service contacted us to say that they thought they had won a grant from the “Bill and Melinda Foundation” but they hadn’t received the money yet, even though they gave out their bank account information as requested – and, in fact, they were now missing all of the money in their account. I had to tell this small African NGO that they had been scammed. I pointed out to them that the email they had received was full of grammar and spelling mistakes and had even gotten the name of the Foundation wrong. The “foundation” also would never use a Hotmail or Yahoo account – they would have their own domain name. And, finally, foundations, famous actors and musicians and other philanthropists never send money out of the blue to an NGO – there is some kind of personal connection that has been made, with real names from trusted, real references, that leads to such a gift (such as when Prince made donations to PARSA, an NGO in Afghanistan – that happened because of an in-person meeting between the musician and someone associated with the NGO). It was a heart-breaking conversation: this NGO had gone from excitement and happiness to confusion and, ultimately, sorrow and embarrassment.

A better idea than looking for proof: just assume it’s a scam and don’t respond.

Also see:

Aid workers need to help local staff avoid scams

Folklore, Rumors (or Rumours), Urban Myths & Organized Misinformation Campaigns Interfering with Development & Aid/Relief Efforts, & Government Initiatives (& how these are overcome)

My voluntourism-related & ethics-related blogs (and how I define scam)