Mark Gaetani, National President of the St Vincent de Paul Society in Australia, recently read in Cybercrime Magazine that cybercrime is considered the world’s third-largest economy, after the U.S. and China, and that global cybercriminal activity has grown so large and expanded so rapidly, largely abetted by AI, that cybercrime is predicted to cost the world $12.2 trillion USD annually within five years (2031), according to Cybersecurity Ventures.

So it’s little wonder that organisations, including charities like the St Vincent de Paul Society, and individuals—are under siege from a rising wave of digital scams, writes Gaetani, in a Eureka Street article. Without serious investment in cyber capability, Australia’s not-for-profit (NFP) sector will struggle to keep doing the work government and the community rely on it to do. Impersonation fraud is not only stealing donations to worthy causes; it is eroding public trust in charities at a time when demand for their help keeps growing.

Fake charity websites and social media pages now mimic legitimate organisations so closely that even experienced donors can be fooled. Scammers clone logos, copy language and hijack campaigns, then funnel ‘donations’ straight into criminal pockets. Every fraudulently obtained dollar is money that never reaches a real family struggling to remain housed, a student trying to stay in school, or an older person skipping meals to pay medical bills.

For organisations like St. Vincent de Paul Society, this is becoming a relentless ‘whack-a-mole’ exercise; as fast as one fake page is reported and taken down, another appears, most often using AI-generated content that deceitfully and convincingly mimics the original. The human cost is significant. When donors discover they have been scammed, the sense of betrayal transfers to the charity brand they thought they were supporting. Over time, this breeds a cautious, mistrustful public who would rather not donate than risk being scammed again.

Australia’s NFP sector is an integral pillar of the national economy, not a sideshow. More than 300,000 organisations, including around 60,000 registered charities, of which the Society is one, employ about one in ten working Australians and mobilise millions of volunteers. These organisations deliver essential services on behalf of government in housing and homelessness, poverty relief, domestic violence, food aid, disability, aged care, mental health, disaster recovery and more.

One reason Australia’s safety net is stretched to breaking point—in addition to working-age income supports not keeping pace with the increased cost of living—is that reputable charities are being undermined by sophisticated online scams.

St Vincent de Paul Society was founded in France in 1833 by a group of dedicated Catholics who put their faith into action to support the poor in their community. Today, the organization is active in 150 countries through 800,000 members and 1,500,000 volunteers, and it helps over 30 million people every day.