Protect Your Interests When Giving
The Cancer Association of South Africa (CANSA) values and protect its supporters by urging them to be aware of scammers who seek to imitate legitimate organisations like CANSA and take advantage of their goodwill towards those affected by cancer.
Elize Joubert, CANSA CEO says, ”The difficulty is that scammers often pose as legitimate organisations in a convincing manner, making use of non-official websites, social media, online giving pages, or direct email, imitating company branding. It’s important that the public verify CANSA fundraising initiatives by visiting our official website https://cansa.org.za or by making direct contact with local CANSA Care Centres. We also recommend that CANSA volunteers be vetted by the CANSA Care Centre they are affiliated to.”
Here are warning signs to take note of and certain steps you can take to make sure you are giving legitimately to CANSA:
The only time that CANSA requires your personal and financial information like your identity number, date of birth or bank account number is when we institute a debit order process either via the tele marketing team or you may be asked to complete the debit order processing form.
Never feel pressured to give immediately. We will welcome your donation whenever you choose to make it. Verify first if feeling unsure and then donate.
Secrecy – scammers may not be clear about what the money you are donating will be used for. CANSA is transparent regarding how our funds are used.
If you receive a phone call thanking you for a donation received by us, but don’t recall making it, then it is most likely a scammer trying to trick you into making a donation. CANSA does do Tele Marketing, however, if you feel uncomfortable please report the incident to info@cansa.org.za . Make careful notes of who you spoke to, when and from what telephone number you received the call.
CANSA’s Tele Marketing calls are all recorded for safety, security and verification purposes and donors have the right to request a copy of the call.
Take note of our official fundraising events and Act4CANSA initiative and use legitimate and safe methods of making payments to CANSA – see our personal donation page; wish list, online fundraising projects, and CANSA Care Centre banking details on our official website.
Don’t click on links in unsolicited email, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or WhatsApp fundraising messages, as they can unleash malware. Always be sure that you are on the official CANSA social networking platforms (links displayed on our website) before clicking on a link.
Always check that online fundraising projects for CANSA are legitimate and not benefitting a scammer. CANSA makes use of the GivenGain, BackaBuddy, Forgood, Quicket and Payfast platforms to raise funds. Check each fundraising profile / project to ensure the platform says funds will be directed to CANSA and not an individual.
“At the end of the day we would like the money you donate to reach its intended goal, to help support those affected by cancer through our care and support programmes. We urge you to be alert and to report any suspicious activity to info@cansa.org.za,” Joubert concludes.
(For more information, please contact Lucy Balona, Head: Marketing and Communication at CANSA at email lbalona@cansa.org.za. Call 011 616 7662 or mobile 082 459 5230.)
Queries CANSA
0800 22 6622 Toll Free
072 197 9305 English and Afrikaans (text only)
071 867 3530 isiXhosa, isiZulu, Sesotho, Setswana and Sepedi (text only)
CANSA Care Centres
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