Fake medical fundraising scams involve fraudsters pretending to needfinancial help for medical treatments. They often share fabricatedstories about serious illnesses, using stolen images and medicaldocuments to appear genuine.
How This Can Happen to Us:
Scammers launchcrowdfunding campaigns or directly contact people through emails andsocial media, claiming they need urgent medical assistance. Some evenimpersonate real patients or use AI-generated content.
Example of Scam:
In 2018, a man raised$40,000 claiming his son had cancer. It was later revealed that hisson was completely healthy, and he had fabricated the entire storyfor financial gain.
How to Protect Yourself:
Verify the patient’s identity and check if their story is reported in credible sources.
Avoid donating to personal bank accounts without any proof of need.
Search for similar fundraising cases to check for inconsistencies.
Report suspicious campaigns to the fundraising platform.