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LIVE REPORT:  By Simba Chikanza|A United Kingdom campaign set up for cancer sufferer, Esther Mhuri which during the week raised over £3,926 in donations has been dismissed by the patient as totally fake, ZimEye can reveal.

ZimEye can reveal the campaign is nothing but a scam.

While the 38 year old Esther Mhuri is on the verge of losing her second breast to cancer and selling all her assets including her house, a UK campaign led by one woman named as Patience Tich (real surname – Murapata) from Coventry, has been found questionable. The poor Gweru woman, Mhuri has been robbed of the thousands donated by sympathising Zimbabweans in the UK since the 7th March this year.

In correspondences seen by ZimEye, Patience Murapata claims she has informed Esther Mhuri of the £3,926 raised. But Mhuri reveals there is nothing like that and no communication has ever been made to her about it. To this Patience Murapata then suddenly shifts the story and starts suggesting she has communicated to “a lotta people contacting me portraying to be you (Esther Mhuri) and this has gone outta hand.”

But Esther’s contact numbers were fully in the public domain and can be reached within seconds of a telephone call, yet the said Patience Tich claims she is not reachable.

ZimEye is now digging further into this scam after Mrs Mhuri further told us, “I don’t know anyone from the US, I don’t know anyone from the UK. But I am just hearing that there are GoFund accounts which are being opened concerning my illness. But I have never even received any money from [the] US even from England.”

Asked if she has not received even a notification, she replied saying, “I don’t have any money, especially from the GoFund accounts you are talking about, even if you can trace on me, I don’t have anything I have received.”

Contacted for a direct comment Sunday morning, the campaigner, Patience Murapata had not responded to inquiries. But in correspondences with other donors, she replied claiming that she was struggling to access part of the money.

The said, Patience Tich uses the below pictures taken at a UK university said to be in Coventry.

 

REFRESH THIS PAGE FOR FULL UPDATES CONCERNING THIS CASE AS THIS IS A DEVELOPING STORY.

 

Four ways of checking a fund raising campaign.

 

1. There’s no traceable information on the charity/nonprofit campaign anywhere.

It can be hard to spot a fake charitable campaign or nonprofit organization from a real one, since there are so many genuine charities in existence.

Do your research first before clicking the send button or signing your name on a cheque. Does the person have a phone number (cellphone and land number)? They must have a physical address before they can be trusted. Does the organization have a web presence? Even if they do, it doesn’t automatically make them legitimate.

Avoid dealing with charities who use a name or website resembling that of a real nonprofit, but presenting themselves as a separate entity. One giveaway is misspellings in the site’s URL(link), phony-looking emails, scant (or zero) social media presence, or a slightly different title to fool people into believing a fake nonprofit is real. Many look so genuine to a real-life nonprofit that the only detail changed is the address to send donations.

 

2. They guilt you into donating money.

We’d expect a debt collector to use strongarm tactics — not a selfless nonprofit organization. Most charities, elated if you’ll even think about giving a monetary gift, will give you as much time to make a decision to donate.

Consider it completely (and suspiciously) out of character for them if they try to cajole, persuade, shame, force or guilt you into giving money. A genuine charity will bring out the selflessness in you with a donation, not make you feel selfish for failing to donate.

 

3. They’re vague, ambiguous or evasive about their mission.

Any charitable agency — from the national March of Dimes to the local food pantry — should be transparent and forthcoming about who they are, their mission statement, and how and where your donation will be spent.

A fraudulent charity won’t be. They’re hoping to snag donations from people who won’t notice or bother to ask questions of the representative calling or emailing them. If you’re contacted by an organization that seems suspicious, don’t hesitate to ask them some specific questions. Will my donation be tax deductible?

 

4. They solicit cash or offer odd donation arrangements.

PayPal, automatic transfer, credit card, check, money order — real charities allow you to donate money in a variety of ways. If you’re called or emailed by someone seeking a charitable gift, but they insist on cash, allow the red flags to be raised; you’ll never see that money again, even if you can prove they’re fake.

 

5. Details emerge after you’ve made a donation.

The fake fundraiser may have created a convincing ruse and an unsuspecting person took the bait and gave them money. Sometimes, you might not be aware you were scammed until after the fact. Did you fail to get a receipt? Did you check your checking or credit card account statement, and the name on the transaction doesn’t match the name of the alleged charity? Take these as signs of a scam.

If you try to follow up with the organization, but their website is down, and their phones shut off, it becomes clear that it was a fly-by-night setup, not a real charity. Or, if the scammer pretended to be a real charity (for example, St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital), and the real agency has no record or recollection of you donating, you may have been duped.

 

Give yourself the gift of security

Don’t boycott all charitable donations this year in fear of getting scams. Just keep this checklist top of mind when making donations: