They lost their Centrelink payments to a fake charity—are you next?
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Online scams are becoming more sophisticated—and some are now targeting the very people who can least afford to fall victim.
When a trusted name in charity is used to deceive those already doing it tough, the consequences can be heartbreaking.
What unfolded in Canberra exposed not just the cunning of scammers, but a troubling failure by one of the world’s biggest tech companies to act.
Online scammers had turned a lifeline charity into bait—and despite repeated cries for help, the tech giant at the centre of the chaos stayed silent.
For over a year, Canberra-based St John’s Care fought a frustrating and, at times, devastating battle to shut down fake social media pages that had been stealing from vulnerable Australians.
Executive officer Jason Haines explained: ‘We give out food to anyone in need who comes through the door’—but impostors took advantage of that goodwill, tricking people into handing over their personal information and Centrelink payments.
Mr Haines said the scam involved fake promises of ‘interest free loans’, targeting people in crisis—those who were hungry, caring for children, or simply trying to keep their lives from falling apart.
The phoney pages looked convincing. The scammers lifted real photos and posts directly from St John’s Care’s official page, making it nearly impossible to tell what was real.
‘It was amazing to see,’ Mr Haines said. ‘They were using a liked organisation that gives out free food to anyone and they were saying: “Hey, we’ve got interest free loans”.’
But St John’s Care did not offer loans—never had.
To make matters worse, Mr Haines revealed that the scammers didn’t just impersonate the charity—they reported the real page as fake. ‘As of last month, there were 15 fake St John’s Care accounts all at once on social media,’ he said. ‘We actually lost our social media page for about six or seven weeks because the impostors said we were the fake ones and we got taken down.’
According to Mr Haines, the charity had been reporting the accounts for 15 months without receiving a single reply. ‘[Meta] just said that we’re a scam and they took us down. Even though St John’s Care has been working for 34 years. All our photos have been there for at least eight or nine years.’
One of the most disturbing elements was the possibility that the impostor pages were being promoted as paid content. ‘So, the [scammers] pretending to be us were paying to promote it. So, Meta was actually potentially making money,’ Mr Haines said.
The organisation had documented about 50 people who had fallen victim to the scam. In some cases, people handed over login credentials for their MyGov accounts, giving scammers direct access to their Centrelink payments.
‘So, if you’re already hungry, you’re desperate, you want to get the kids to school, the car’s broken down, or you want to wash your clothes or something. You might think, “Oh, interest free loans, oh, St John’s Care is really good”,’ Mr Haines explained. ‘So then people would give all their details.’
Despite the charity’s best efforts, and repeated alerts to ACT Policing and Centrelink, the scam persisted. Mr Haines described the scammers as ‘ingenious’, using every trick available to manipulate people already doing it tough.
In response to questions, a Meta spokesperson claimed the safety of users was of ‘utmost importance’, and said the company continued ‘to invest in tools and technology to prevent [scams]’. But it did not directly address the charity’s ordeal—or the suggestion that it had profited from the scam through paid promotion.
Mr Haines made it clear that St John’s Care never asked for sensitive personal information. Those wishing to support the charity could do so safely via its website, by phone, or in person.
Meanwhile, Scamwatch advised victims of such fraud to act fast—contact banks, stop transactions, change passwords and report the incident to help raise public awareness.
The fight for justice may not be over, but for Mr Haines and his team, the mission has always remained the same: to help those in need, even as they themselves have been caught in the crosshairs of a system too slow to protect them.
Scams like this aren’t just a one-off—they’re part of a worrying trend that’s catching more and more older Australians off guard.
If you’ve ever felt unsure about what’s real online, this is worth watching.
Source: Youtube/7NEWS Australia
With so many Australians relying on social media for updates and support, how can we better protect vulnerable people from falling into these traps? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
In a previous story, we looked at a man who faked a cancer diagnosis to swindle $1.2 million—shocking, especially when trust was so easily exploited.
For those who’ve spent a lifetime valuing honesty and community, seeing goodwill manipulated like this can hit close to home.
If this story struck a nerve, that one might too.
Read more: He lied about having cancer...then took $1.2 million—how did no one catch on sooner?
When a trusted name in charity is used to deceive those already doing it tough, the consequences can be heartbreaking.
What unfolded in Canberra exposed not just the cunning of scammers, but a troubling failure by one of the world’s biggest tech companies to act.
Online scammers had turned a lifeline charity into bait—and despite repeated cries for help, the tech giant at the centre of the chaos stayed silent.
For over a year, Canberra-based St John’s Care fought a frustrating and, at times, devastating battle to shut down fake social media pages that had been stealing from vulnerable Australians.
Executive officer Jason Haines explained: ‘We give out food to anyone in need who comes through the door’—but impostors took advantage of that goodwill, tricking people into handing over their personal information and Centrelink payments.
Mr Haines said the scam involved fake promises of ‘interest free loans’, targeting people in crisis—those who were hungry, caring for children, or simply trying to keep their lives from falling apart.
The phoney pages looked convincing. The scammers lifted real photos and posts directly from St John’s Care’s official page, making it nearly impossible to tell what was real.
‘It was amazing to see,’ Mr Haines said. ‘They were using a liked organisation that gives out free food to anyone and they were saying: “Hey, we’ve got interest free loans”.’
But St John’s Care did not offer loans—never had.
To make matters worse, Mr Haines revealed that the scammers didn’t just impersonate the charity—they reported the real page as fake. ‘As of last month, there were 15 fake St John’s Care accounts all at once on social media,’ he said. ‘We actually lost our social media page for about six or seven weeks because the impostors said we were the fake ones and we got taken down.’
According to Mr Haines, the charity had been reporting the accounts for 15 months without receiving a single reply. ‘[Meta] just said that we’re a scam and they took us down. Even though St John’s Care has been working for 34 years. All our photos have been there for at least eight or nine years.’
One of the most disturbing elements was the possibility that the impostor pages were being promoted as paid content. ‘So, the [scammers] pretending to be us were paying to promote it. So, Meta was actually potentially making money,’ Mr Haines said.
The organisation had documented about 50 people who had fallen victim to the scam. In some cases, people handed over login credentials for their MyGov accounts, giving scammers direct access to their Centrelink payments.
‘So, if you’re already hungry, you’re desperate, you want to get the kids to school, the car’s broken down, or you want to wash your clothes or something. You might think, “Oh, interest free loans, oh, St John’s Care is really good”,’ Mr Haines explained. ‘So then people would give all their details.’
Despite the charity’s best efforts, and repeated alerts to ACT Policing and Centrelink, the scam persisted. Mr Haines described the scammers as ‘ingenious’, using every trick available to manipulate people already doing it tough.
In response to questions, a Meta spokesperson claimed the safety of users was of ‘utmost importance’, and said the company continued ‘to invest in tools and technology to prevent [scams]’. But it did not directly address the charity’s ordeal—or the suggestion that it had profited from the scam through paid promotion.
Mr Haines made it clear that St John’s Care never asked for sensitive personal information. Those wishing to support the charity could do so safely via its website, by phone, or in person.
Meanwhile, Scamwatch advised victims of such fraud to act fast—contact banks, stop transactions, change passwords and report the incident to help raise public awareness.
The fight for justice may not be over, but for Mr Haines and his team, the mission has always remained the same: to help those in need, even as they themselves have been caught in the crosshairs of a system too slow to protect them.
Scams like this aren’t just a one-off—they’re part of a worrying trend that’s catching more and more older Australians off guard.
If you’ve ever felt unsure about what’s real online, this is worth watching.
Source: Youtube/7NEWS Australia
With so many Australians relying on social media for updates and support, how can we better protect vulnerable people from falling into these traps? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
In a previous story, we looked at a man who faked a cancer diagnosis to swindle $1.2 million—shocking, especially when trust was so easily exploited.
For those who’ve spent a lifetime valuing honesty and community, seeing goodwill manipulated like this can hit close to home.
If this story struck a nerve, that one might too.
Read more: He lied about having cancer...then took $1.2 million—how did no one catch on sooner?
