False information and scams that follow disasters and big news: what to check before you share or donate

The short answer

When posts appear right after a major disaster or big news event, do not share them straight away; first check where they came from and when the information dates from. Donate through organisations you have looked up yourself, and do not send money directly in response to phone calls, home visits or social media posts.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC) says it is important not to take what you see at face value, and not to post or share casually when you cannot judge whether it is accurate. The Consumer Affairs Agency points out that public bodies do not ask households for disaster donations by phone.

What happened after the Noto Peninsula earthquake

MIC's 2024 White Paper on Information and Communications says false and misleading information that could hinder rescue and recovery circulated on social media after the January 2024 Noto Peninsula earthquake. According to the operator of X (formerly Twitter), the main posts containing such information included about 21,000 about "rescue requests" and about 350 "support requests" soliciting fake donations.

An analysis by the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT) found that of 1,091 reports asking for rescue in the first 24 hours, 254 were contradicted by other reports and 104 were judged likely to be false. In the 2016 Kumamoto earthquake, only one such report appeared to be false. The white paper notes copied rescue requests apparently posted to gain views, and fake rescue requests and payment requests apparently aimed at taking money.

Common forms of false information

MIC's guidance lists the following as examples of posts to be careful about after the Noto Peninsula earthquake.

• Posts with a QR code asking for donations or contributions
• Posts recommending home repair work that is not needed
• Posts reporting damage with images taken from a different, earlier event
• Calls for rescue giving an address that does not exist

The white paper also warns that advances in generative AI may make more convincing fake images and videos easy to produce, and that false information could increase sharply. Looking real is not evidence of being real.

What to check before you share

MIC lists four ways to check information when you are unsure whether it is true.

Say an acquaintance shares a post saying "People are waiting for rescue in X town." You may want to pass it on out of goodwill, but first check that the address exists and that the local authority or news media are reporting the same thing. If you cannot confirm it, not sharing is also a way of helping. MIC notes that some information is posted simply to cause a stir.

What to check before you donate

The Consumer Affairs Agency says that after past earthquakes it received reports such as a phone call from someone claiming to be from the city office, saying a staff member would come later to collect donations, and emails from groups calling themselves recovery support organisations asking for donations. The agency asks people to check the following.

• Public bodies do not ask households for donations by phone. If in doubt, contact that body yourself
• Check what the organisation does and how the money will be used, and donate only once you are satisfied
• When paying into a bank account, check that the account name matches the organisation's name

If something seems wrong or you have been caught out, you can call the consumer hotline on 188 or the police advice line on #9110.

Points to watch

This article sets out general ways of checking information. No method catches every piece of false information. As a rule of thumb: when in doubt, do not share, and when in doubt, do not pay.