If You’ve Ever Donated to a Charity, Please Read This

Many of the UK’s best-known charities have been affected by a cyber security incident involving Beacon CRM, a platform used by more than 1,500 charitable organisations to manage donor and supporter information. Beacon has advised customers to assume that data stored within the platform may have been accessed and downloaded by an unauthorised party.

If you’ve ever donated to, volunteered for, or supported a charity that uses Beacon CRM, your contact information could potentially be affected. Data may include names, email addresses, phone numbers, postal addresses and donation history. Payment card details are not believed to have been compromised.

What should you do?

• Be cautious of unexpected emails, texts or phone calls claiming to be from charities.
• Don’t click links or share personal information unless you’re certain the request is genuine.
• Watch for phishing attempts that use charity branding or donation-related messages.
• If you’re unsure, contact the charity directly using details from its official website.

Cyber criminals often exploit high-profile breaches to launch convincing scams. Stay vigilant. If something doesn’t look right, don’t click it.