MIAMI (WSVN) - The owner of a South Florida charity is speaking out after her organization’s PayPal account was targeted by hackers.
No More Tears is a nonprofit that helps victims of sex trafficking and domestic violence. But now it is dealing with a crippling blow after founder and president Somy Ali said their PayPal account was hacked, and not for a small amount.
“It’s such a difficult mission, and for us to lose $2,500, it’s really, really a major deal,” said Ali.
The leader said the loss of money is particularly devastating for her.
“This mission is my life, and it’s really sad for someone to do this to a charity, where no one takes a salary,” said Ali. “To take money away from us, it’s really, really heartbreaking.”
Ali said this all started last week, when she was receiving donations.
This all started last week, when Ali was receiving donations for the charity from friends.
Ali said she would receive emails that the donations were rolling in, but when she went to check the account, the money wasn’t there.
“They kept texting and said, ‘Hey, did you receive my $250.’ ‘Did you receive my $300?'” she said. “I was like, ‘I see that you donated it, ’cause I’m getting an email from PayPal that you have donated this amount,’ but when I log in to PayPal, there’s no money.”
Ali called PayPal, and she said she was told there might be an email issue, and that they were going to look into it.
“I called them, and the guy said, ‘Actually, it’s not an email issue. Actually, your website has been compromised, and someone has redirected whatever you’re receiving in terms of donations to their PayPal account,'” she said.
Ali said she broke down once she realized the money was gone, and she has been reeling ever since.
Now she’s hoping to somehow recoup the losses.
“So, PayPal, I asked them numerous times, I said, ‘Will we get this money back?’ And they said, ‘No. The likelihood is next to none,'” she said.
The link to No More Tears’ website has been disabled due to the hack, but you can still donate by calling 954-324-7669 or via the Venmo account @NOMORETEARS2007.
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