A man from Ghana (Africa) asked me for food. What would you do?
I don’t know the man from Ghana. Just from Facebook. He sent me the following request:
“OH GLAD TO HEAR FROM YOU.
BUT EVERY THING IS NOT OKAY WITH ME AND MY FAMILY, LACK OF HEALTHY AND FOOD PROBLEMS, RIGHT NOW WE ARE STARVING FOR HUNGER AND MY SIBLINGS ARE CRYING FOR HUNGER THE NEEDY TO GET FOOD IS NOT EASY…
I WOUNDER IF YOU CAN HELP US HERE TO HAVE BAG OF RICE AND VEGETABLES WE CAN MANAGE THAT HERE FOR BETTER DAY?.........?????”
I’m thinking about asking him for his address and donating to the Red Cross to help him. But I don’t know if that is possible. I do know that last year they had a big flood that cause a large amount of death and destruction.
What are your thoughts?
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17 Answers
Delete and block. These are invariably phishing scams.
Send a donation to the Red Cross.
It’s a scam. Find a reputable charity and donate there.
It’s a scam. Report him and block him.
It hurts to think that you are directly hurting someone if this is legit. However, this request strikes a chord of uneasiness. I would indeed contact the Red Cross or the UN’s food relief programs. I believe they would be very quick to be helpful in pinpointing or dismissing any truths or scams. The blunt and to the point- almost clipped language of the message is a little suspect. What hard decisions people must make about these type of requests. This area of the world is rife with corruption and you may have your funds funneled into a cause or group you would definitely not wish to support. Times and life are very fluid there. You are very kind hearted. I wish you luck and I hope this works out as you wish.
Surely this man realizes that if you are thousands of miles away, getting a bag of rice and vegetables to him is almost impossible and not practical. It seems like a scam to me, or a setup and then he’ll hit you up for money once he realizes you are sympathetic. I would not even respond. How did he get your info on Facebook? Just out of the blue or are you friends?
My mother in law used to come to me about these people all the time. It all boils down to them being “within a day’s walking distance” to a Western Union.
No food. Yet he has internet, a computer, a mailing list, and a script.
Scam. Don’t be a sucker. Delete with no reply.
Never answer those requests!!!. If you do, you are giving him your IP address as well as verifying your email and telling him you are a potential sucker/future victim.
@gondwanalon: You friended a man on FB that you have never met?
I would shrug my shoulders and delete any info from him. One simply can’t help all people all the time, and should be especially wary of such requests from a online source. They are most likely looking for bleeding hearts to take advantage of.
You can only truly help if you ‘donate’ using the right channel. Try charity NGOs that have operations in Ghana. Give reliable details of this request to the NGOs concerned. If there is no such details or the requester can’t provide it, then you might as well forget about him. In any case, do not send any money by yourself to him/whatever. You surely do not want to be conned by phishers.
Ditto. Ignore and delete. But go ahead and donate food to your community.
Thanks for all of your help. How can I help the guy when I have no idea who he is. He could not give me his mailing address or a bank account number.
I unfriended him, blocked and deleted the messages.
@jca I’m not sure how I accepted his friend request. I likely did by accident. I’ll try tobe more careful.
If he can’t afford any food how the fuck is he using facebook?
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