Some people and companies will stoop very low in the Bitcoin world, and even organize seemingly charitable events to defraud people. Although there are plenty of legitimate charities accepting Bitcoin donations, individual efforts should usually not be trusted by community members. After all, there is no way to determine whether or not somebody’s intentions are honest or not, and there is a very real chance someone is just looking to steal some bitcoins.
Also read: Bitcoin Scam Education – Cloud Mining Companies
Not Every Charity Is What They Claim To Be
It is very noble of Bitcoin enthusiasts to donate to a good cause, as there are lots of people in need of financial aid. Bitcoin is an incredibly valuable tool in this regard, as the digital currency is borderless, cheap to transfer, and it can be converted to any local currency with relative ease.
Even though the list of charities accepting Bitcoin donations has grown a lot over the past few years, there is still a lot of room for improvement. Unfortunately, this also makes it much harder to cull the weed from the chaff, as anyone can claim to collect money for a good cause and just run off with the Bitcoin donations.
It would not be the first time somebody claimed to run a fundraiser for some good cause, and just keep the money for themselves. Although this happens very rarely with companies – or it hasn’t happened yet in Bitcoin as far as we know – individual users have attempted to defraud digital currency enthusiasts in the name of charity in the past.
There are no lows people will not stoop to in the Bitcoin world, unfortunately. Pulling on the emotional strings seems to be a great way to collect a lot of money from digital currency enthusiasts, even though people should be a lot more careful before sending money to a random wallet address.
Most people claiming to collect funds for a charitable cause will not even include any photos in their post. Considering how this cause must be in “dire need of money”, it would only make sense to provide some evidence of why people should throw their money at you to begin with.
Moreover, some basic internet search skills will usually depict whether or not such a charitable cause exists in the first place. Any effort to collect donations without any mention on the Internet is most likely not legitimate. Users should ask more information about the cause as well, such as address, phone number, names of other people involved, et cetera. People collecting donations who are unable or unwilling to give up that information, are trying to defraud you.
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