Please Protect Yourself From Scammers
A word of caution from our family — please read before you donate to anyone
This is not a pleasant post to write, but it is a necessary one.
Wherever people are kind, someone will try to exploit that kindness. Campaigns are copied, Facebook profiles are cloned, email addresses are faked. AI has made all of this far easier and far more convincing than it was even a year ago. A cloned page can look perfect. A voice on the phone can be generated from a few seconds of audio.
So please, protect yourself. Here is what to watch for.
🚩 Warning signs
A message that arrives first. We will never contact you out of the blue asking for money.
Anything to do with money on Facebook. We do not arrange donations through Messenger, comments, or any social account. Profiles are hacked and duplicated constantly. A message from "a friend of the family" is trivially easy to fake — and it is the single most common version of this scam.
Banking details posted publicly. We will never put account details in a post, a comment, or a reply. Anyone who does is not us.
A slightly wrong web address. Check it character by character. Scammers register lookalike domains differing by one letter, a hyphen, or a different ending.
A duplicate Facebook page. Open the Page transparency section and check the creation date, page history, and follower count. A recently created page with few followers is a copy.
An email that looks right at a glance. Tap the sender's name to reveal the actual address behind it. Display names are easily faked.
Urgency and pressure. "The surgery is tomorrow." "The account closes tonight." Real need is patient. Pressure is a technique.
Unusual payment methods. Crypto, gift cards, vouchers, or an unfamiliar app. Legitimate campaigns do not need these.
"Our banking details have changed." One of the oldest and most effective scams there is. Treat any change of details as fraudulent until verified by voice, on a number you already had.
Content that feels slightly off. AI can generate photographs, stories and updates. If the tone doesn't match what you've read from us before, pause.
✅ What to do before you pay a cent
Verify on two independent channels. A WhatsApp or Signal message and a phone call. An email and a voice call. Or check with another close family member you already know. Two matching channels is a reasonable bar. One is not.
Use contact details you already have. If a number or address is supplied by a possible scammer, contacting it proves nothing at all.
Do not trust a voice alone. Voice cloning is real, cheap and quick. Ask something a stranger could not answer.
Do not trust a social media account alone, even one that appears to belong to someone you know well.
Send a small test amount first, confirm it arrived, then send the rest.
When in doubt, use BackaBuddy — and double-check the web address before paying. The funds are handled by the platform rather than by an individual, which makes it the safest route available.
Check the padlock, but don't rely on it. A secure connection means the link is encrypted. It does not mean the site is honest.
If something feels wrong
Report the page, profile or message to Facebook. If you are able, flag it publicly in the comments here so that others can see it too. And if you have already paid, contact your bank immediately — speed genuinely matters — and open a case with SAPS.
Our only official channels
📘 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61592281607646 🌐 Website: https://www.helpconrad.com 💛 BackaBuddy: https://backabuddy.co.za/campaign/conrads-urgent-spinal-surgery-fund
There are no others. If it isn't one of these three, it isn't us.
We are asking for your help, and that means we owe you honesty about the risks that come with giving. Being careful is not an insult to us. Please check twice.
Thank you for looking out for Conrad, and for looking out for yourselves.
The Venter family
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