November 17, 2025
Generosity is a magnet for grifters. For higher education institutions, the stakes are dramatically higher: massive foundation funds, vulnerable alumni/donor data, and an institutional reputation built on trust. During peak giving seasons (year-end, capital campaign sprints), scammers pounce, turning the goodwill of your university, staff, and donors into devastating financial fraud.
Just a few years ago, a massive telefunding operation was shut down after authorities discovered the perpetrators had made 1.3 billion deceptive donation calls and collected over $110 million from unsuspecting donors. Meanwhile, online, researchers found over 800 social media accounts pushing donation scams on platforms like Facebook and Instagram.
Your university is a high-value target. One fraudulent donation or employee misstep can connect your institutional brand to a public fraud story, instantly eroding donor trust, community goodwill, and the integrity of your development efforts.
The Three Red Flags That Signal a Phishing Attack
Fraudsters use the exact same psychological tactics for charity scams as they do for phishing, invoice fraud, and wire transfer scams that target your finance and procurement teams. Teaching your staff to vet external requests is essential security training.
A legitimate request—whether for a donation or a wire transfer—should never make you work to find the facts.
- Impersonation & Vague Connection: Who is organizing this, and what is their concrete, verifiable connection to the recipient? Scammers often impersonate trusted colleagues (faculty, administration, or development VPs).
- Unclear Use of Funds: How exactly will the funds be used, and what is the clear timeline for delivery or impact? Evasive answers prevent verification.
- Compromised Payment Method: How are they demanding payment? Demand for gift cards, wire transfers, or cryptocurrency are definitive red flags. Legitimate transactions use traceable methods like ACH or checks.
If any of these answers are vague or missing, ask for clarification. Silence or evasive answers are a definitive red flag.
The Higher Ed Risk: It's More Than Just the Cash
When your university foundation or department gives—or when staff handle donor inquiries—that generosity becomes part of your institutional identity. A connection to a donation scam carries three catastrophic risks:
- Reputation Damage: A public fraud story instantly weakens donor confidence, directly threatening future capital campaigns and alumni giving.
- Data Breach: Phony fundraising emails often lead to phishing sites that harvest employee credentials, providing criminals with a doorway into your network and access to faculty, student, and alumni PII.
- Financial Fraud: The same urgency and impersonation tactics used in charity scams are immediately recycled into Business Email Compromise (BEC) attacks that result in six-figure or seven-figure fraudulent wire transfers from your finance department.
Your 5-Step Institutional Protection Checklist
These steps ensure your institutional giving is secure, compliant, and benefits your university's reputation, rather than harming it.
- Establish a Clear Donation Policy: Define how and where the university or foundation will donate, and put clear, multi-step financial approval thresholds in place for all non-routine transactions.
- Centralized Charity Verification: Train development and administrative staff to use established vetting sites (like Charity Navigator or GuideStar) and always donate through the charity's official, vetted website, never via an unsolicited email link.
- Mandatory Social Engineering Training: Educate all employees—especially those in Finance, HR, and Development—to double-check and verify any urgent request for payment or purchase, regardless of the apparent sender.
- Enforce Payment Security Protocol: When conducting any online transaction, check the website for the 's' in 'https' (the padlock icon) and never pay with untraceable methods like gift cards, cryptocurrency, or peer-to-peer apps.
- Audit Access and Information: Review which employees have access to donor and foundation information, ensuring the Principle of Least Privilege is consistently applied to minimize the damage from a successful phishing attack.
Don't let your institution's mission-driven generosity become a security liability. A few simple checks not only protect your funds but, more importantly, future-proof your reputation and the integrity of your research for years to come.
Stop the Scams Before They Hit Your Foundation.
The most effective way to prevent catastrophic wire fraud and data theft is to train your team to spot the exact social engineering tactics scammers use, whether it's a fake fundraiser or a bogus payment request. We secure your most vulnerable asset: your people.
Book Your Complimentary Security Assessment and Customized Training Plan Today.
The best gift you can give your university (and your donor community) is a layer of trust that cannot be compromised.
