Find out how to spot fraud, how to protect yourself and what to if you’re a victim of fraud
If somebody claiming to be from RNID asks you for money or asks for your personal details, and you are suspicious, it’s important that you let us know, even if it’s simply for peace of mind.
If you have any questions, worries or need to speak to someone about a possible instance of fraud, contact us – we are here to help.
- Phone
- 0808 808 0123
- contact@beta.rnid.org.uk
Protect yourself from fraud
We only ever fundraise in certain ways. If you’re approached by someone asking for your money or personal information in a way we normally use to communicate with supporters, it’s important that you let us know. We also have a strict privacy policy that we will always adhere to.
When people tell us about fraud being attempted in our name, we maintain a log to help inform others. Where appropriate, we will also inform the Fundraising Regulator and work with the police.
View a log of fraud that’s been attempted in our name
Spot fraud online
- If you click or tap on the ‘from’ box at the top of an email, you can see the sender’s email address. Emails from us will always have @beta.rnid.org.uk at the end of the sender’s email address
- The address of any online donation form you visit should start with https://secure.beta.rnid.org.uk/
- Any webpage should display our charity numbers; 207720 in England and SC038926 in Scotland. You can check if a charity number is valid by searching the charity register on GOV.UK
For more advice on protecting yourself from fraud online, visit Cyber Aware.
Spot fraud offline
There are certain things we might ask you, and certain details we’ll never ask for when we speak to you on the phone or face-to-face.
We’ll never ask you to provide your personal identification number (PIN), we will never approach you near a bank or cash point and you should never feel under pressure to provide any information to us.
If you ever tell us you feel uncomfortable speaking to us, that should be the end of the conversation. When we fundraise, we’ll always tell you that it’s for RNID and not more general causes like ‘deaf people’.
For more information on how we communicate and fundraise, read our promise to supporters.
If you’re ever approached in person, the people fundraising for us or agencies and suppliers working on our behalf should always wear an ID badge and any collection tins should be sealed.
Any documents we use should display our charity numbers (207720 in England and SC038926 in Scotland), name and a landline phone number. You can check if a charity number is valid by searching the charity register on GOV.UK
Our former names
In the past, RNID has also been known as or merged with:
- Action on Hearing Loss
- National Bureau for Promoting the General Welfare of the Deaf
- The National Institute for the Deaf
- The Royal National Institute for the Deaf
- The Royal National Institute for Deaf People
- The Hearing Research Trust
- Action for Tinnitus Research
- Defeating Deafness
- Deafness Research UK
- Sussex Deaf Association
- National Benevolent Society and Ex-Servicemen’s Fund for the Deaf
- Ulster Institute for the Deaf
- Royal National Institute for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing People
- The Wennington Home for the Deaf and Dumb
- The Bath Home for Deaf and Dumb Women
- The John Townsend Trust.
We will never use those names when we engage with, or fundraise from, members of the public.
Read more advice about protecting yourself from fraud on the UK Fundraising Regulator website.
Report fraud
If you think you’ve been the victim of fraud, you should report it to Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040 or on the Action Fraud website.
If you’re worried about fraud in your local area (for example, people fundraising on the street with no identification) you should also inform your local police.
Contact us
If you are deaf, have hearing loss or tinnitus and need free confidential and impartial information and support, contact RNID.
We’re open 8:30am to 5pm, Monday to Friday.