SUMMARY
The FBI’s Counterterrorism Division assesses that Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs), including ISIS and al-Qa’ida, continue to exploit non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and charities by diverting funds to subsidize FTO operations. The earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria on 6 February 2023 has resulted in more than 50,000 deaths and has been described as one of the strongest earthquakes to hit the region in the past century. Any diversion of funds intended to aid earthquake victims will exacerbate the existing humanitarian crisis in the region. Prior to the earthquakes, an estimated 4.1 million people in northwestern Syria alone — over 90 percent of the area’s population — already depended on humanitarian assistance following a decade of civil war in the country. FTOs operating in the region will attempt to capitalize on this tragedy in order to raise funds for their own violent objectives.
THREAT
FTOs and their supporters have been known to establish fraudulent charities or engage in fraudulent fundraising, often on social media platforms, to target unwitting individuals into providing funds to the FTOs. FTOs have also targeted established charities and NGOs to funnel funds or humanitarian relief items.
- An al-Shabaab finance leader, who was designated as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist in 2015, was collecting money from NGOs as of early 2022.
- An Australian citizen was indicted in 2017 in the United States for providing material support to a terrorist organization used a fraudulent charity called “Orphans Children and Human Care Foundation.” The charity claimed to be working in Syria to assist orphans, children, and the Syrian people by supplying food, water, medicines, and other commodities. One of the individuals who often appeared in the charity’s social media posts was later identified as a deceased member of al-Qa’ida’s then Syrian affiliate, Jabhat al-Nusra.
- ISIS-Khorasan (ISIS-K) set up a fraudulent charity called “Nejaat Social Welfare Organization” to facilitate the transfer of funds to, and support the activities of, ISIS-K in 2016. Nejaat collected donations from individuals in Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Iraq, and other Middle Eastern countries and transferred money via the global banking system to Asia, where ISIS-K used the Nejaat funds to recruit ISIS-K fighters in Kabul, Afghanistan.
RECOMMENDATIONS
While donating to NGOs and charities provides a means to help those in need, law enforcement officials recommend individuals consider the following mitigation strategies to avoid inadvertently providing funds to terrorist organizations:
- Verify the legitimacy of the NGO and charity soliciting funds;
- Look for secure site indicators, such as URLs beginning with “https” or a lock symbol. URLs beginning with “http” or that lack a lock symbol at the beginning of a URL could indicate an unsecure site.
- Do not share personal account information or passwords with any groups soliciting funds; and
- Do not click on links from unknown sources.
If you become aware of FTOs exploiting NGOs or charities to divert funds in support of terrorist operations or other nefarious activities, please contact your local FBI Field Office. Individuals associated with the above activities could be charged with violations including, but not limited to, 18 US Code § 2339(b), 18 U.S.C. § 1344, 18 U.S.C. § 1956, for provision and attempted provision of material support or resources to foreign terrorist organizations, bank fraud, or money laundering.