Police Warn Donors Over Unknown Charity Appeals

TDT | Manama

Email: mail@newsofbahrain.com

Cash sent in good faith through unknown WhatsApp charity appeals can end up in the hands of terrorist groups, police have warned.

Colonel Dr Osama Bahar, head of Hidd Police Station, urged donors to check who is collecting the money and where it will go before making any transfer.

In an Interior Ministry video from its ‘Aman’ series, he said pictures of children said to need help can push people to donate before they stop to ask who is behind the appeal.

‘You receive a message on your phone asking for help for children in a certain area, and the picture stirs your generosity and sympathy,’ he said.

‘But that can stop you asking about the organisation. Is it licensed? Can you trust it? Is the website genuine, or is it simply a front to defraud you?’

Col Dr Bahar warned that money meant to help people in need could instead reach terrorist groups hostile to Bahrain and its people.

He urged the public to give through approved services rather than respond to appeals sent from unknown numbers or WhatsApp accounts.

Among the options he cited were the Zakat Fund and ‘Fael Khair’, which allows people to help those unable to pay their debts and see the details of individual cases before choosing whom to support.

‘Isn’t that better for you than an anonymous WhatsApp message?’ he said.

‘Isn’t that better and safer than transferring money only to find it has ended up in the hands of groups that are hostile to you, your country and its people?’

He said good intentions were no substitute for checking who is behind an appeal, where the money will go and whether those collecting it hold a licence.

Col Dr Bahar also reminded the public that collecting money without a licence from the Social Development Ministry is a criminal offence.