November 6th 2025
Charity donors are being warned to avoid fake charity appeals following Hurricane Melissa, which has caused widespread devastation in Jamaica, Haiti, the Bahamas and Cuba. Natural disasters such as this always present heartless criminals with the ideal opportunity to release a wave of scams – exploiting people’s genuine good nature.
As always seems to be the case in such circumstances, we are anticipating a flood of emails, websites and social media activity claiming either to have exclusive video or pleading for donations for disaster relief efforts.
Some such messages may also malicious code designed to infect recipients’ devices with malware.
If you receive unsolicited appeals for donations or see an appeal on social media channels, you can check if they are likely to be genuine or fraudulent using tools like Check a Website and Ask Silver, available through Get Safe Online’s Self-Help Tool Centre.
If you decide to donate to relief to help the victims of Hurricane Melissa, make sure you do so directly to reputable charitable organisations. Make sure you know the charity’s physical address and phone number. And do not respond to any unsolicited emails.
