Cyber begging is the practice of asking for financial assistance or support over the internet, and its legitimacy and credibility may vary from case to case. While some of these practices are honest and legitimate, others may be fraudulent and intended to exploit the feelings of others.
Forms of electronic begging:
1. Presenting tragic stories: where individuals tell difficult personal stories, such as accidents or illnesses, with the aim of eliciting sympathy from others and asking for help.
2. Fake fundraising: Launching fundraising campaigns for fake purposes or fictitious projects.
3. Exploiting emotional images or videos: Using emotionally moving content (such as images or videos of sick children) to attract the audience’s sympathy and encourage them to donate.
4. Direct solicitation via private messages: Sending individual messages to users via email or social media platforms to request financial assistance.
Reasons for its spread:
1. Easy access to a wide audience: The Internet makes it easy to reach millions of people around the world.
2. Lack of adequate oversight: It is difficult to monitor content published online or on social media platforms.
3. Difficulty in verifying claims: It is easy for scammers to come up with fake stories that are difficult to verify.
4. Quick profit: Some people exploit people’s feelings to obtain financial donations without any commitment or real intention to help.
Ways to reduce electronic begging:
1. Verify the credibility of campaigns: Known and trusted platforms should be used to verify the credibility of donation campaigns.
2. Report Suspicious Activity: Users can report suspicious accounts or messages that appear to be fraudulent.
3. Spread awareness: People should be educated on how to verify online campaigns and be warned about fraud.
4. Strengthen laws: Enact deterrent laws to combat online begging and fraud.
The difference between online begging and crowdfunding:
• Electronic begging: It is often undocumented and there is no clear information about the beneficiary or the goal of the campaign.
• Crowdfunding: This is done through well-known and trusted platforms such as GoFundMe, where information is documented and clear details about projects or issues are provided.
In general, it is important for users to be aware that not everything posted online is true, and they should always verify the authenticity of any donation campaign before participating in it.
