I've had several people messaging me asking
How do I tell it's a scam?
1. You've received more than one ask with similar content about donations or signal boosting for the same event in two days.
Scammers use current events to prey on good people.
They want to make you feel bad. If you don't pay, they want you to forward their message on to someone who will.
2. The GoFundMe page details are inconsistent with what the individual is saying.
The information is often duplicated, with minor edits, from other asks and GoFundMe pages you've been sent.
The location of the person organising the GoFundMe is not in the location the GoFundMe description claims them to be.
The images can be reverse searched and found on other websites. This one is more difficult now, as scammers have begun using AI to falsify the existence of real people.
3. Compare to other social networks.
Regarding this particular scam: Tumblr is not even in the top ten of social networks of Palestine, yet Facebook, Discord and Instagram users (social networks that are) have not noted an influx of people asking for donations from Palestine -- this is because those systems have automatically marked them as spam. As veteran Tumblr users know, Tumblr is not very good at filtering spam (remember the porn bots).
4. They say their donation has been "vetted", and link to another Tumblr blog or Google document.
Often these blogs or documents have been created by the same network of people. Read through the blog: they may have suspicious AI images, strange wording, or have been created in the last two months. They will have repeated content, reblogged themselves or similar blogs only, and may also ask for voluntary donations to "keep vetting".
There is no official vetting process for Tumblr blogs asking for donations.
5. The blog sending the ask has only been created recently and has only posted a handful of times, or has reblogged Tumblr accounts with similar names and content.
Tumblr accounts made solely with the purpose of asking for good will donations have been made to circumvent people turning off anonymous asks, so you are forced to see their request for money.
The best way to help is to look locally.
Your local community (be it your town, state, or territory) will have organisations or links to organisations that genuinely assist people displaced or impacted by tragic and ongoing events.
By donating to them, you keep up the effort, support local volunteers, and promote your stance to your governing body. In addition, if you do decide to donate to an organisation you may also get a tax benefit for your donation, forcing even more government funds into the places that need it.
Don't send money overseas through an individual's fundraiser. You don't know where it's going or who it's actually supporting.
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