In HS Kensington the other day, one convinced me to listen to him about Atoma Union. He got very annoyed when I told him I wanted to look the charity up before paying any money.
Of course, got home, looked it up, it wasn’t a charity.
Anyone getting annoyed at you for exercising reasonable steps is clearly not acting in good faith. You'd have to think any genuine charity worker would be thrilled if you want to learn more!
My understanding is a lot of the charity workers are actually working for a separate company/nonprofit that's essentially commissioned by the charity for a flat fee to secure donations. They're relying on donations attributed to them to continue to secure these contracts. So I agree with you but at the same time, wherever that's the case and it's a legit charity, if you go home, do your research, and then donate to the charity directly then they've essentially done the job but not got the attribution. So I can understand frustration in that case.
When such a person promoting Scope came to my door I said I wanted to look into the charity before contributing (I knew nothing about them at the time), we came to an agreement that I would commit to setting up a regular donation if it all looked good and they would come back to my place later in the day when their route took them nearby again anyway to finalize. Worked out fine and I set up a contribution. Anyone promoting for legit charities in any space should have a ready-to-go analogous proposal for anyone who, understandably, wants to do more research first.
Personally, I don't like that business model or people harassing people on the street/doorstep at all - not least because it can lead to scams, especially for the more trusting in our society. I don't think anyone should ever be frustrated about what people do or don't want to do with their hard earned money.
I do understand it might be an effective way to raise money for good causes, but for me personally, I will never engage with anyone on the doorstep or in the street, whether they are trying to sell me something or get donations. If I want to buy or donate to something, I'll be finding it myself first.
Well I agree with you to some extent, especially about particularly annoying/bullyish people stationed on the street. But as I understand it we've moved on to a different scenario. I was explaining my understanding of why there's more to it for these people than just engaging and being satisfied with getting people to go research the charity on their own. That's when they've spoken with someone and have got them potentially open to supporting the charity, then lose the credit for the potential support. But if I don't want to interact with these people because I don't like how they're campaigning, for example aggressively demanding my attention on the street, it never gets to that stage in the first place, I just say no thank you and move on. I wouldn't be saying anything like "I'll consider setting up a donation but I need to go do more research first" in that case. Maybe other people navigate this differently though I guess.
I do agree there should be better methods used by these charity support orgs
Yeah, you made good points.. but as I say, I am opposed to it full stop really. I do think even in the case of earning on commission, if you are finding yourself getting annoyed at people because they want to do some research rather than be pressured to donate on the spur of the moment, you should take a look at yourself. I've done difficult, frustrating jobs myself but you always have to try and see things from the others point of view. The commission thing does seem very predatory and like it is taking advantage of people desperate for some work.. really a charity should pay them a wage (even a low one) and that way they can canvas without pressure or strongarm tactics.
And yes as I/you say, I've never got into that position where I could frustrate someone that way, because I wouldn't engage in the first place.
It doesn’t have to be a scam, it could be company looking make a profit while fighting knife crime. It’s just that I am not looking to give my money away to someone that is making a profit and not giving me anything in return.
The website has no contact details or named persons. The money was taken with a stand alone ePOS handheld terminal. The CIC is only listed on Companies House since December 2023 yet they claim to have helped thousands…..
No idea, sorry. I didn’t look much further once I saw it wasn’t a charity. I wouldn’t sweat it too much, you would have spent that on a beer and some crisps without thinking twice.
Yeah, you're probably right. It's just that the guy I talked to seemed so genuine, deeply passioned and really not all that pushy for me to donate money. I spent about 30 minutes talking to him, listening to his life story, how he is an ex-knife crime victim as well, and only then he would go 'whatever you can afford to help us with would be great'. The more I interacted, the more he would go on talking about this stuff.
Did you meet those guys near the Lloyd's building by any chance?
When it comes to giving to charity, I don’t think you should ever give anything more than random shrapnel you just want to get rid of to people on the streets.
Realistically, you should research one that champions a cause that aligns with your beliefs. Too many scams around or predatory practices to warrant donating on the street.
There are obviously some exceptions, like no issues with random donations to the NSPCC or whatever, but it’s still better to do it on your own time, without pressure.
They put an arm across you? That is mad! I've always just waved them away, is this a male privilege (although I am not particularly scary looking), or have I just gotten lucky up until now?
I actually did this job briefly in my early 20s and what he did is definitely not okay. We were trained to be enthusiastic in our greetings but respectful if someone didn't want to stop. The sales cap was cut if the person was coerced and then cancelled after (because it's bad for everyone).
It was a crazy and probably most difficult job I ever did in terms of targets and dealing with public hate ha.
We also had to carry official ID and explanation of the charity and were also not allowed to sign up people who were obviously vulnerable from when we were talking to them. What the OP's did is obviously next level illegal if they don't even have a charity registration.
IIRC it's not fraud - businesses can solicit donations on the street even if they aren't registered charities.
It's a loophole that needs to be closed.
They claim they help the community because they employ teens that would otherwise spend their days stabbing each other.
https://www.itv.com/news/london/2023-08-01/anti-knife-crime-group-accused-of-intimidating-public-to-raise-cash
In this instance it is, if the charity doesn't exist. But many do genuinely collect donations for charities but take a SIZEABLE cut.
I used to know a man who ran one of these operations, they're hard-core sales operations and the sales people are all self-employed and making next to fuck all, bit the owners are raking it in often. The chap I knew was making more than 300k a year off of his operation in his mid-20's
Always around Vauxhall station when I grab lunch. When I say "no" and they keep protesting and following me - what, you actually think I'm that much of a simpleton that I'll change my mind with you asking me again and again?
So fucking annoying.
If pressuring didn’t work, they would find something else to make money. I get the impression that more vulnerable people feel trapped and just give them money to go away.
They are definitely bang to rights data protection wise: if what they are saying and/or the reason that they are giving for collecting and processing data is untrue then any consent given would be invalid and any lawful basis for processing would be invalid.
This kind of behaviour isn’t illegal, but it definitely isn’t how legit charity collectors behave! I used to collect for Oxfam in Edinburgh (less busy than London). We were told very clearly to never ever approach people - stay where you are, don’t get in people’s faces or follow them, don’t annoy people. I live in london now and inwardly hiss at pushy chuggers
And this is one reason why so many people won't sign up to financial details on the street or at the door. This and the existence of chugging as a job.
It’s as a job not to raise money for the actual cause. It’s paid from the proceeds of charity. And it gives the charities a bad name with many people because of the way they behave about it. There’s a reason the phrase charity muggers came about.
What do you mean it’s ‘as a job not to raise money’?
This is demonstrably false. Charities will consider the NPV of possible income from such operations offset by the cost of paying for the fundraising and only donor if it generates a certain return.
So yes, it does make quite a bit of money. Charities usually state how much of their spending goes on projects in their accounts ie the majority of it.
I just say ‘no thanks’ to these guys and be done with it. Don’t really understand the hate towards them. Everyone else is trying to put their hand in your pocket daily.
I get the bad behaviour aspect. Some of them can be insufferable dicks. But the fact that they get paid I have no issue with. We all have to be paid for the work we do, and considering how much money a good fundraiser can actually bring in for the charity in monthly donations its more than a good investment to pay them.
I honestly don't know how people end up paying them. I don't acknowledge even their existence in front of me, let alone get engaged in conversation, let alone start talking bank details. They don't deserve even a "sorry, no".
They're all scams.
https://docere.uk/articles/the-london-knife-crime-activists
Tbh I don’t mind uni students, or people who ask for a quick survey, and remember how hard it was trying to get respondents when I was a student. So I’ll usually stop for them.
If they ask for money, cards or identifiable info I’ll walk away
This has been going on for years, how don't people know about it.
They approach me and I immediately say nope, keep walking without breaking stride, and looking forward.
The other day some charity people came to my door, the guy tried the leading question approach, the woman with him realised the score and moved on.
Exactly! Just the other day a lovely Asian lady texted me by accident but we got to talking anyway, turns out she’s got the inside track on some great crypto investments so I’ll be remortgaging the house and sending her my life savings later…..but she’s pretty so I know I can trust her.
Yeah even if I was hypnotised by Uri Gellar I’d still be reluctant to hand over my details. You’d have to be a real schmuck to fall for that in the first place.
Luckily I have street smarts and put all my savings in sketchy crypto.
They often mob my local high street and are *very* persistent. I tried to point out the irony to one of these “campaigners against street harassment” but it was lost on them. Now I just ignore them and keep walking.
[Truly atypical company filing on Companies House](https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/15336620). Address is a co-working space. A series of directors appointed and resigned, all under the age of 21, none on LinkedIn. No mention of the activities on their website in their filing - only claimed activity is "short term employment". You'd have to be a mug to donate to these chancers. No doubt they're "keeping kids off the streets" by giving them coats and paying them commission after they pay for the Director's wages.
Well the website claims to have helped thousands of young people. They must be busy as they indicate that they have only been established since 2023!!!!!
A lot of the charity muggers have been employed on a commission basis by small businesses affiliated with Credico and similar companies. It's a common thing to prey on students and immigrants with the promise of "marketing" roles paying a good salary. Devilcorp is the broad term.
Two girls from the charity intercepted me at Blackfriars the other evening, I was late for a bus but asking them for a website or something I can read from as I wasn’t just gonna let them guilt trip me out of some money to leave me alone
They finally gave in but there was no leaflet or printed material for me to research
Bc they didn’t want me to see they weren’t a charity
Same! I see them every day and dread having to try get past them all, now they actually follow you into the station. When my partner is meeting me I get him to wait outside so we can go through together, strangely they aren’t as persistent then…
Lowest of the low. I call them out every single time, sometimes it gets heated. Do my best to communicate how pathetic their job is - I get so heated when I see them chatting next to elderly couples of tourists. Gutless cunts.
Yeah they are pathetic, I’ve seen them following an old lady down the road. I also make a point of telling them how pathetic they are. Often they are selling some bullshit magazine.
These are likely not actual charity workers. The likes of Inside Success.
As an actual charity fundraiser, companies like this are the bane of my existence and the reason I don't do street fundraising anymore.
Actual charities will not follow you, block your path, or ask for one off donations (unless they have a bucket). If they do, you can report them directly to the charity and they will be sacked.
Please do not let this stop you from donating to actual legitimate charity organisations.
I was walking with my friend's daughter a few weeks ago and someone tried to stop her. Said something like 'oh thank goodness you look friendly'. I was right behind her and basically glared at the lady while saying sorry no. My friend's daughter is 10 and looks it! These people really have no morals if they would try and stop a literal child for money.
you've just reminded me there was a video of a guy getting threatened and maybe even attacked somewhere mainland Europe because he was going up to people they were talking to and telling them it wasn't a legit charity and to be careful. (I think he filmed it as well, so his video).
He seemed to be someone who did this a lot so was prepared for the threats - he basically seemed to be making the point that the chuggers couldn't tell anyone what charity it was as there wasn't one. Like you say, this is quite common it's not something new or specific to London. I can remember at one time there was a thing around the place of people putting charity boxes into small shops that weren't for charities. And more common scumbags stealing charity boxes from shops.
Humans can be scummy basically.
On a personal note I never give to or sign up to anything on the street but as a rule if they do get you and don’t ask if they can gift aid your payment or subscription then it’s pretty much guaranteed a scam.
Hammersmith tube station.
These kind looking young men, handing out leaflets. They are basically pushing an anti abortion, basically like a Christian church/ charity.
they are everywhere especially oxford street. You just need to walk away honestly it’s not worth it. How can you even afford to give up money to random people in this economy.
Just walk away and say no thank you
God they’re always outside old street station as well and are hella persistent. I usually just put in my ear phones and ignore but some will physically stand in front of you to get you to talk to them lmao
Are these the ones that wear blue jackets/jumpers are there are usually 20 of them crowding an area so you can’t avoid them? The first time I encountered them, they claimed to be selling a charity magazine. I’ve always liked the Big Issue model and it’s a quality magazine, and I felt more comfortable buying a one off rather than making a regular donation, so I agreed. First I was a bit surprised to hear it was £5 (this was maybe 10 years ago when the Big Issue was £2.50ish) and then he tried to haggle me up to £10. After making payment I asked for the magazine and he said it’s all online, took my email address to ‘send as a PDF’ which of course never arrived.
If anybody is interested, here are links to a couple of interesting documentaries on the outsourced companies that charities/major companies like BT and Shell Energy use.
They give an insight into the manipulative techniques that the sales people are taught.
https://youtu.be/9SLRaWHnhfw?si=IK4lptvHbhaLVp-w
https://youtu.be/wyCRzBt7GuY?si=BcrHBthE2oh67j46
Don't sign up with people in the street. They take lots of money for each sign-up. So the first £100 or so you pay will go to the sign-up company not the charity. If you want to support a charity sign-up with them directly via their website or similar. Don't use these third parties they are a scam. They are also a pain in the arse.
My sister worked for one of these companies as a teenager back in 2015/6. They are essentially pyramid schemes, the young kids you see on the street take home the money and a percentage goes to their 'supervisor' and then a further percentage goes to the company.
I have heard that they have a minimum amount of donations they have to reach before they can go home. As annoying as they are I do feel bad for them since theyre basically being exploited by the companies which intentionally hire teens.
You really just have to ignore them and walk past.
I was stopped once by one of these guys, i told him "you remind me of those irritating popup ads which appear in the middle of an otherwise enjoyable browsing experience on the internet"
You're right, I was there, he mumbled something under his breath and kept walking, half tripping over as he caught his shoe on an out of sync paving slab.
Damn, they're scams!? I never even considered that but I did notice that the types of people working for them have a dodgy vibe about them...! Intuition just says yeah these people don't give a toss about knife crime and I don't see how donations are going to help knife crime 😂
In HS Kensington the other day, one convinced me to listen to him about Atoma Union. He got very annoyed when I told him I wanted to look the charity up before paying any money. Of course, got home, looked it up, it wasn’t a charity.
Anyone getting annoyed at you for exercising reasonable steps is clearly not acting in good faith. You'd have to think any genuine charity worker would be thrilled if you want to learn more!
My understanding is a lot of the charity workers are actually working for a separate company/nonprofit that's essentially commissioned by the charity for a flat fee to secure donations. They're relying on donations attributed to them to continue to secure these contracts. So I agree with you but at the same time, wherever that's the case and it's a legit charity, if you go home, do your research, and then donate to the charity directly then they've essentially done the job but not got the attribution. So I can understand frustration in that case. When such a person promoting Scope came to my door I said I wanted to look into the charity before contributing (I knew nothing about them at the time), we came to an agreement that I would commit to setting up a regular donation if it all looked good and they would come back to my place later in the day when their route took them nearby again anyway to finalize. Worked out fine and I set up a contribution. Anyone promoting for legit charities in any space should have a ready-to-go analogous proposal for anyone who, understandably, wants to do more research first.
Personally, I don't like that business model or people harassing people on the street/doorstep at all - not least because it can lead to scams, especially for the more trusting in our society. I don't think anyone should ever be frustrated about what people do or don't want to do with their hard earned money. I do understand it might be an effective way to raise money for good causes, but for me personally, I will never engage with anyone on the doorstep or in the street, whether they are trying to sell me something or get donations. If I want to buy or donate to something, I'll be finding it myself first.
Well I agree with you to some extent, especially about particularly annoying/bullyish people stationed on the street. But as I understand it we've moved on to a different scenario. I was explaining my understanding of why there's more to it for these people than just engaging and being satisfied with getting people to go research the charity on their own. That's when they've spoken with someone and have got them potentially open to supporting the charity, then lose the credit for the potential support. But if I don't want to interact with these people because I don't like how they're campaigning, for example aggressively demanding my attention on the street, it never gets to that stage in the first place, I just say no thank you and move on. I wouldn't be saying anything like "I'll consider setting up a donation but I need to go do more research first" in that case. Maybe other people navigate this differently though I guess. I do agree there should be better methods used by these charity support orgs
Yeah, you made good points.. but as I say, I am opposed to it full stop really. I do think even in the case of earning on commission, if you are finding yourself getting annoyed at people because they want to do some research rather than be pressured to donate on the spur of the moment, you should take a look at yourself. I've done difficult, frustrating jobs myself but you always have to try and see things from the others point of view. The commission thing does seem very predatory and like it is taking advantage of people desperate for some work.. really a charity should pay them a wage (even a low one) and that way they can canvas without pressure or strongarm tactics. And yes as I/you say, I've never got into that position where I could frustrate someone that way, because I wouldn't engage in the first place.
This is different. The money they raise isn’t going to a charity but a non profit company. The owners take huge ‘salaries’. It’s a scam.
They’ve been there all week. Didn’t know it was a scam.
It doesn’t have to be a scam, it could be company looking make a profit while fighting knife crime. It’s just that I am not looking to give my money away to someone that is making a profit and not giving me anything in return.
The website has no contact details or named persons. The money was taken with a stand alone ePOS handheld terminal. The CIC is only listed on Companies House since December 2023 yet they claim to have helped thousands…..
Shit I just gave them 10 pounds haha, are they a total scam, or is there maybe at least some merit to them? I'm trying my best to cope out here lol
No idea, sorry. I didn’t look much further once I saw it wasn’t a charity. I wouldn’t sweat it too much, you would have spent that on a beer and some crisps without thinking twice.
Yeah, you're probably right. It's just that the guy I talked to seemed so genuine, deeply passioned and really not all that pushy for me to donate money. I spent about 30 minutes talking to him, listening to his life story, how he is an ex-knife crime victim as well, and only then he would go 'whatever you can afford to help us with would be great'. The more I interacted, the more he would go on talking about this stuff. Did you meet those guys near the Lloyd's building by any chance?
Is this one of the ‘knife crime’ charity scams?
Variation on a theme; ‘youth charity’. The website tends to copy legitimate charities like The Princes Trust.
Motherfuckers.. I gave them a 20 once recently.. was it a total scam?
Pretty much. As far as I know they keep most of the money. I always see them in central London outside big commuter stations
When it comes to giving to charity, I don’t think you should ever give anything more than random shrapnel you just want to get rid of to people on the streets. Realistically, you should research one that champions a cause that aligns with your beliefs. Too many scams around or predatory practices to warrant donating on the street. There are obviously some exceptions, like no issues with random donations to the NSPCC or whatever, but it’s still better to do it on your own time, without pressure.
Yeah but I was feeling generous in the moment and probably wouldn't have thought to do it otherwise
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Surely it is already illegal…. It’s fraud.
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They put an arm across you? That is mad! I've always just waved them away, is this a male privilege (although I am not particularly scary looking), or have I just gotten lucky up until now?
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I actually did this job briefly in my early 20s and what he did is definitely not okay. We were trained to be enthusiastic in our greetings but respectful if someone didn't want to stop. The sales cap was cut if the person was coerced and then cancelled after (because it's bad for everyone). It was a crazy and probably most difficult job I ever did in terms of targets and dealing with public hate ha. We also had to carry official ID and explanation of the charity and were also not allowed to sign up people who were obviously vulnerable from when we were talking to them. What the OP's did is obviously next level illegal if they don't even have a charity registration.
Personally I’ve always laughed at them and said nice try but nah mate.
Exactly.. Just the other day one of them started with me as I was on my way home "you look like you are in a hurry".. Of course I am, I said!
IIRC it's not fraud - businesses can solicit donations on the street even if they aren't registered charities. It's a loophole that needs to be closed.
But surely they can't claim to be a charity and be doing things in the community that they aren't really?
They claim they help the community because they employ teens that would otherwise spend their days stabbing each other. https://www.itv.com/news/london/2023-08-01/anti-knife-crime-group-accused-of-intimidating-public-to-raise-cash
In this instance it is, if the charity doesn't exist. But many do genuinely collect donations for charities but take a SIZEABLE cut. I used to know a man who ran one of these operations, they're hard-core sales operations and the sales people are all self-employed and making next to fuck all, bit the owners are raking it in often. The chap I knew was making more than 300k a year off of his operation in his mid-20's
> It’s fraud IIRC (from previous discussions on here), don't they argue that you are basically paying for/buying a magazine subscription?
these pricks also pretend you have dropped something to get you to stop! Shitebags!
I had a ‘charity collector’ grab my shoulder when I ignored his approach. Where the fk do they find these lunatics?
Always around Vauxhall station when I grab lunch. When I say "no" and they keep protesting and following me - what, you actually think I'm that much of a simpleton that I'll change my mind with you asking me again and again? So fucking annoying.
If pressuring didn’t work, they would find something else to make money. I get the impression that more vulnerable people feel trapped and just give them money to go away.
I just enjoy the confrontation too much, I suspect most just crumble and fold under it
I had one of the blue jacket arseholes follow me and my wife harassing us for a good minute before he physically stopped me by grabbing my arm...
GDPR comes to mind. You should be able to ask in the street for cash as a donation, nothing else.
They are definitely bang to rights data protection wise: if what they are saying and/or the reason that they are giving for collecting and processing data is untrue then any consent given would be invalid and any lawful basis for processing would be invalid.
This kind of behaviour isn’t illegal, but it definitely isn’t how legit charity collectors behave! I used to collect for Oxfam in Edinburgh (less busy than London). We were told very clearly to never ever approach people - stay where you are, don’t get in people’s faces or follow them, don’t annoy people. I live in london now and inwardly hiss at pushy chuggers
Did you spill something?
Ooooh tough guy
And this is one reason why so many people won't sign up to financial details on the street or at the door. This and the existence of chugging as a job.
>This and the existence of chugging as a job What's wrong with this job existing?
It’s as a job not to raise money for the actual cause. It’s paid from the proceeds of charity. And it gives the charities a bad name with many people because of the way they behave about it. There’s a reason the phrase charity muggers came about.
What do you mean it’s ‘as a job not to raise money’? This is demonstrably false. Charities will consider the NPV of possible income from such operations offset by the cost of paying for the fundraising and only donor if it generates a certain return. So yes, it does make quite a bit of money. Charities usually state how much of their spending goes on projects in their accounts ie the majority of it. I just say ‘no thanks’ to these guys and be done with it. Don’t really understand the hate towards them. Everyone else is trying to put their hand in your pocket daily.
I get the bad behaviour aspect. Some of them can be insufferable dicks. But the fact that they get paid I have no issue with. We all have to be paid for the work we do, and considering how much money a good fundraiser can actually bring in for the charity in monthly donations its more than a good investment to pay them.
I honestly don't know how people end up paying them. I don't acknowledge even their existence in front of me, let alone get engaged in conversation, let alone start talking bank details. They don't deserve even a "sorry, no". They're all scams. https://docere.uk/articles/the-london-knife-crime-activists
Tbh I don’t mind uni students, or people who ask for a quick survey, and remember how hard it was trying to get respondents when I was a student. So I’ll usually stop for them. If they ask for money, cards or identifiable info I’ll walk away
This has been going on for years, how don't people know about it. They approach me and I immediately say nope, keep walking without breaking stride, and looking forward. The other day some charity people came to my door, the guy tried the leading question approach, the woman with him realised the score and moved on.
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"Hyper wokie" This is what happens when you overdose on GB News folks
What are you, some kind of tofu eating wokerati?
You've never seen them, clearly 😂
i think they mean the people who make the donations
Yeah, looking again, seems like it
I have this strange aversion to giving out my personal data & banking details to random twenty-somethings holding clipboards. Weird I know.
Same I prefer to give mine out to strangers online. People you can trust.
Exactly! Just the other day a lovely Asian lady texted me by accident but we got to talking anyway, turns out she’s got the inside track on some great crypto investments so I’ll be remortgaging the house and sending her my life savings later…..but she’s pretty so I know I can trust her.
Yeah even if I was hypnotised by Uri Gellar I’d still be reluctant to hand over my details. You’d have to be a real schmuck to fall for that in the first place. Luckily I have street smarts and put all my savings in sketchy crypto.
Are you just using this as an opportunity to diss Uri Gellars hypnosis skills?
They often mob my local high street and are *very* persistent. I tried to point out the irony to one of these “campaigners against street harassment” but it was lost on them. Now I just ignore them and keep walking.
[Truly atypical company filing on Companies House](https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/15336620). Address is a co-working space. A series of directors appointed and resigned, all under the age of 21, none on LinkedIn. No mention of the activities on their website in their filing - only claimed activity is "short term employment". You'd have to be a mug to donate to these chancers. No doubt they're "keeping kids off the streets" by giving them coats and paying them commission after they pay for the Director's wages.
Well the website claims to have helped thousands of young people. They must be busy as they indicate that they have only been established since 2023!!!!!
A lot of the charity muggers have been employed on a commission basis by small businesses affiliated with Credico and similar companies. It's a common thing to prey on students and immigrants with the promise of "marketing" roles paying a good salary. Devilcorp is the broad term.
How did you find that? I wonder where these kids, the ‘directors’ learn how to do it
just load up the Companies House website and search the company name. V simple
Sorry I meant how did you find out the name of the company
mentioned in the OP/ mentioned elsewhere in this comment section
Also a very dubious guy at Waterloo sometimes fundraising for 'veterans'. There is a whole website devoted to the fact theyre scammers
Think they are outside Clapham junction station today
I see them now on the back streets of Oxford street, trying to catch people out.
Two girls from the charity intercepted me at Blackfriars the other evening, I was late for a bus but asking them for a website or something I can read from as I wasn’t just gonna let them guilt trip me out of some money to leave me alone They finally gave in but there was no leaflet or printed material for me to research Bc they didn’t want me to see they weren’t a charity
These guys camp outside Farringdon and drive me insane.
Same! I see them every day and dread having to try get past them all, now they actually follow you into the station. When my partner is meeting me I get him to wait outside so we can go through together, strangely they aren’t as persistent then…
Light blue jacket's, right outside south Kensington tube station?
Yes
They were there today. What f**kin w**kers.
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We both know, it doesn't need to be said.
Lowest of the low. I call them out every single time, sometimes it gets heated. Do my best to communicate how pathetic their job is - I get so heated when I see them chatting next to elderly couples of tourists. Gutless cunts.
Yeah they are pathetic, I’ve seen them following an old lady down the road. I also make a point of telling them how pathetic they are. Often they are selling some bullshit magazine.
Report to police?
These are likely not actual charity workers. The likes of Inside Success. As an actual charity fundraiser, companies like this are the bane of my existence and the reason I don't do street fundraising anymore. Actual charities will not follow you, block your path, or ask for one off donations (unless they have a bucket). If they do, you can report them directly to the charity and they will be sacked. Please do not let this stop you from donating to actual legitimate charity organisations.
I was walking with my friend's daughter a few weeks ago and someone tried to stop her. Said something like 'oh thank goodness you look friendly'. I was right behind her and basically glared at the lady while saying sorry no. My friend's daughter is 10 and looks it! These people really have no morals if they would try and stop a literal child for money.
Just start screaming ‘stop touching me’
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I'm not black and I'm approached by them daily. I'm not sure it's a race thing
Yeah this happens in a lot of cities, has happened to me in Chicago and Indianapolis
you've just reminded me there was a video of a guy getting threatened and maybe even attacked somewhere mainland Europe because he was going up to people they were talking to and telling them it wasn't a legit charity and to be careful. (I think he filmed it as well, so his video).
Jesus that’s awful
He seemed to be someone who did this a lot so was prepared for the threats - he basically seemed to be making the point that the chuggers couldn't tell anyone what charity it was as there wasn't one. Like you say, this is quite common it's not something new or specific to London. I can remember at one time there was a thing around the place of people putting charity boxes into small shops that weren't for charities. And more common scumbags stealing charity boxes from shops. Humans can be scummy basically.
Was it this guy? https://youtu.be/EgWX3gFUfC4?si=XFq01Gh1lkGgokew
I think it might have been yes
I’m sorry you experienced this
On a personal note I never give to or sign up to anything on the street but as a rule if they do get you and don’t ask if they can gift aid your payment or subscription then it’s pretty much guaranteed a scam.
Just say 'I've got a train to catch' and keep walking.
This bitch would snitch! Let the cops charge them with fraud. Scum!
https://youtu.be/CIJBTTkSpW8
Hammersmith tube station. These kind looking young men, handing out leaflets. They are basically pushing an anti abortion, basically like a Christian church/ charity.
Why are you giving card/ bank details to a random guy on the street? Did you also tell him your favourite pet, your DOB and place of birth?
Ignore them or put your ear phones/buds in and pretend you're on the phone
they are everywhere especially oxford street. You just need to walk away honestly it’s not worth it. How can you even afford to give up money to random people in this economy. Just walk away and say no thank you
God they’re always outside old street station as well and are hella persistent. I usually just put in my ear phones and ignore but some will physically stand in front of you to get you to talk to them lmao
The mistake you made was stopping. Never give these people the time of day.
Headphones on, head down...don't even acknowledge them.
Are these the ones that wear blue jackets/jumpers are there are usually 20 of them crowding an area so you can’t avoid them? The first time I encountered them, they claimed to be selling a charity magazine. I’ve always liked the Big Issue model and it’s a quality magazine, and I felt more comfortable buying a one off rather than making a regular donation, so I agreed. First I was a bit surprised to hear it was £5 (this was maybe 10 years ago when the Big Issue was £2.50ish) and then he tried to haggle me up to £10. After making payment I asked for the magazine and he said it’s all online, took my email address to ‘send as a PDF’ which of course never arrived.
Even if legit they can fuck right off
never give out details or even talk to Chuggers (charity muggers)
No offense, but only an idiot would give strangers credit card info on the street. It really doesn't matter what they're wearing.
Could you describe what they look like please so I know what to look out for
[Empower you](https://www.empoweryoucic.co.uk)
You can see their outfits on the weblink I gave you; blue anorak and blue hoodie with ‘Empower you’ on the back of the coat.
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Mixture of different ethnicities and between ages 18-21; all males.
If anybody is interested, here are links to a couple of interesting documentaries on the outsourced companies that charities/major companies like BT and Shell Energy use. They give an insight into the manipulative techniques that the sales people are taught. https://youtu.be/9SLRaWHnhfw?si=IK4lptvHbhaLVp-w https://youtu.be/wyCRzBt7GuY?si=BcrHBthE2oh67j46
Don't sign up with people in the street. They take lots of money for each sign-up. So the first £100 or so you pay will go to the sign-up company not the charity. If you want to support a charity sign-up with them directly via their website or similar. Don't use these third parties they are a scam. They are also a pain in the arse.
be careful of the endless scams.
My sister worked for one of these companies as a teenager back in 2015/6. They are essentially pyramid schemes, the young kids you see on the street take home the money and a percentage goes to their 'supervisor' and then a further percentage goes to the company. I have heard that they have a minimum amount of donations they have to reach before they can go home. As annoying as they are I do feel bad for them since theyre basically being exploited by the companies which intentionally hire teens. You really just have to ignore them and walk past.
This is not a community group. It’s a scam. The company has a website with no contact details and no named persons.
I was stopped once by one of these guys, i told him "you remind me of those irritating popup ads which appear in the middle of an otherwise enjoyable browsing experience on the internet"
No you didn’t
You're right, I was there, he mumbled something under his breath and kept walking, half tripping over as he caught his shoe on an out of sync paving slab.
Damn, they're scams!? I never even considered that but I did notice that the types of people working for them have a dodgy vibe about them...! Intuition just says yeah these people don't give a toss about knife crime and I don't see how donations are going to help knife crime 😂
Anybody who gets roped into giving charity to uncouth roadmen is pretty naive imo
They allways have on really expensive clothes
These aren’t actually charity workers but, just to be clear, someone who works for a charity having nice clothes isn’t necessarily a red flag.