Charities are increasingly having to deal with a serious and fast-moving risk: online impersonation. Fake websites, social media accounts, messaging profiles and even entire organisations can be set up to mimic a charity’s name, logo, tone and content. In some cases, these platforms are used to claim affiliation, solicit donations or create confusion among supporters.
This is not just a brand issue. It is a safeguarding, fundraising, supporter trust and reputational risk issue.
For charities, a few practical steps can make a difference:
- Monitor regularly for fake websites, lookalike domains, social media pages and messaging accounts.
- Encourage supporters, staff and volunteers to report anything that looks suspicious.
- Protect key names, logos and digital assets through trademarks and domain name ownership, where possible.
- Keep evidence of impersonation, including screenshots, URLs, copied content and donation requests. Save the page (or use an archival tool) before it changes.
- If the impersonator solicits donations, identify the payment methods being used (card processor, cryptocurrency wallet, bank account, etc).
- Report the domain and hosting provider. Find who owns the website and who hosts it, using, for example, the who.is site, which maintains a register of domains. Submit an abuse report explaining the circumstances. Provide evidence of trademark infringement, copyright misuse and reputational harm when requesting takedown action.
- Report payment services by contacting any payment processors (e.g. card processors, digital wallets) used by the fraudulent site.
- Notify relevant authorities, such as Report Fraud and the Charity Commission (submitting a serious incident report), where appropriate.
- Warn supporters promptly, for example with a notice on the charity's official website and social media explaining which website is genuine.
- From a trustee governance perspective: document when and how the issue was discovered, explain the decisions and actions taken, preserve evidence, assess the impact of the impersonation attempt and consider making improvements to the charity’s internal controls. For example, consider specialist monitoring tools that can flag new domains or potential misuse of protected names and marks.
In summary: act quickly, document clearly, involve the right partners and make it as easy as possible for hosts and platforms to see where their terms have been breached.
As the charity sector becomes ever more digital, protecting public trust online has to be treated as part of core organisational resilience, not just a communications or legal issue.
What steps are your organisation taking to spot and respond to impersonation online?
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