Scammers steal Calgary Foundation brand, target personal info and money
Anyone targeted by the scam should call local police.
Why It Matters
Non-profits and charities continue to be targeted in cybersecurity and scamming incidents, while simultaneously not having the funding to invest in security. As the Calgary Foundation has highlighted, there are both emotional and financial impacts of these scams.
The Calgary Foundation is the latest to warn of scam artists trying to appropriate its name and brand identity to defraud individuals (Photo: Calgary Foundation / Facebook)
The Calgary Foundation has warned of an ongoing scam that is using its name, logo and branding.
“We have recently been informed of a scam targeting individuals in Canada and the United States, falsely claiming to represent the Calgary Foundation,” the organization wrote in an announcement.
“These scammers are using our name, logo and fabricated contact details to offer fake grants in exchange for personal information and money.”
Grantees should never have to make a payment before receiving funding, nor should they receive communications through WhatsApp and other messaging platforms, Calgary Foundation added.
They also urged those who have received messages to report incidents to local police. It can also be reported to the RCMP through reportcyberandfraud.canada.ca.
Future of Good reached out to the Calgary Foundation for comment, but did not immediately hear back.
According to research by the Charity Insights Canada Project, less than one in five charities are “very confident” in their data security and privacy measures.
In recent years, several high-profile security incidents have targeted the Canadian non-profit sector.
In 2023, the Hamilton Community Foundation was also subject to a cybersecurity incident that resulted in the loss of nearly $1m.
In the same year, the Toronto Public Library experienced a major cyberattack that simultaneously destabilized the library system and exposed some staff members’ personal data.
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