Money and safety
How do you spot a fake campaign?
Look for four warning signs: a promised return on your money, a creator you can't find anywhere else, pressure to pay outside the platform, and a plan with no detail. Any one of them is a reason to stop. Reward crowdfunding never pays a return, so a campaign that offers one isn't what it says it is.
Why is a promised return the loudest warning?
Because reward crowdfunding never pays one. You back a project for a reward, not for a share, so "double your money", "guaranteed profit" or "passive income" on a campaign is not something it can honestly offer.
Walk away, and report it. A real creator has no reason to promise you money back.
What if you can't find the creator anywhere else?
A real creator has a history somewhere: earlier work, a company, a portfolio, a name a search can find. Someone who exists only inside their campaign is asking for money from behind a curtain.
We don't verify identities, so the name on a campaign is simply what its creator typed. A minute of searching is worth it.
What does pressure to pay outside the platform look like?
A message asking you to send money straight to a wallet, a private deal that closes tonight, or someone who says they're from CoFunders and wants your login code. Paying outside the platform loses the escrow, and the transfer is final.
Watch for refund recovery offers too. Anyone offering to get a pledge back for you, for a fee or for your details, is running a scam.
Why nobody can do it for you
If the goal isn't met by the deadline, you take your pledge back from escrow with one tap, and nobody has to approve it. What comes back is the amount held for you: your pledge minus the fees taken when you backed (the platform fee, the flat fee, any tip and any share reward the campaign pays).
What should you do if a campaign looks fake?
Don't back it, and don't reply to messages about it. Use the report button on the campaign's page: a person reads every report.
To make sure a campaign is really on CoFunders, paste its escrow link into the escrow checker. It says whether the address is a CoFunders campaign, and names anything else for what it is.
If you already sent money outside the platform, tell your bank and the police, and keep every message.
Your next step
Next time a message rushes you, stop and open the app yourself instead of its link. For the checks that tell a solid plan from a hopeful one, see how to check a campaign.