Reforestation scams

By Rae Schembra

What is reforestation?

Reforestation is the action of replanting forests that have been affected by deforestation. Reforestation has a large amount of economical and ecological benefits, and many companies and charities use their profit to benefit reforestation.

Why is the topic of reforestation used in scams?

Although it may seem the opposite, many websites actually use the idea of taking donations to benefit reforestation as an excuse to make more profit. These companies use the subject of replanting trees and forests to lure customers into making donations into the website while saying it goes to a specific charity, but instead they take the money for themselves.

How can you identify this type of scam compared to a legitimate website?

First, you may want to do some research on the website you open. If they have reviews, read them. If you can, see if you can discover the following:

• Who or what will be planting the trees?
• Where are the trees being planted?
• Are the trees cared for?
• Who or where are these trees beneficial?
• What type of trees are being planted?

There are many other questions to think about in this scenario.

If you cannot find any of these throughout the website then that may be a sign it is fake. Another way to discover scams such as this is by attempting to discover where the money goes; what charities and/or organizations are the profit going to? Although it may seem there are few ways to discover scams like this, you can help benefit avoiding these scams in order to help get the money to where it is needed. Be careful when donating to websites and charities.