Verdant Volunteers is now Ravel Volunteers: the Verdant Charity withdrawal scam has a new name

The Verdant Volunteers scam, earlier called Verdant Charity, is now operating under the name Ravel Volunteers at ravelvolunteers[.]org. It still blocks fundraiser withdrawals until you earn or buy Impact Points and badges. Do not pay to unlock donations.

Checked Friday, October 23, 2026.

What readers need to know

The Verdant Volunteers scam is now operating under the name Ravel Volunteers, at ravelvolunteers[.]org. It is the same scheme ScamArchive recorded as Verdant Charity, whose activity appeared focused on Kenya.

The site lets you run a fundraising campaign, shows donations arriving, and then says you must reach a set number of Impact Points or earn a badge before you can withdraw. Points can be bought, so the "badge" works as a fee you pay to get your own money.

Do not pay for points, badges or any unlock fee to release donations.

What we found

On October 23, 2026, Leonard Melnik of CSRF reported that the operation had moved to a new address. We checked the public website and records the same day:

Same phone number. Ravel Volunteers lists the US number +1 385 233 9891. Verdant Volunteers listed the same number in June 2026, and a CSRF web check recorded it with verdantvolunteers[.]org on July 30, 2026. Both sites also list the same Canadian number.
Same withdrawal rule. Ravel's "Impact Points and Badges Terms" say that after an account review, Ravel "may determine that a Campaign Organizer must obtain a specified Impact Badge before the Organizer's next Withdrawal can be completed." The terms say one Impact Point is earned for each US dollar donated.
Same website. Most of Ravel's homepage text matches the Verdant Volunteers homepage word for word with the name changed, and the two sites use the same website build files. The web addresses ravelvolunteers[.]org, verdantvolunteers[.]org and verdantcharity[.]org all point to the same hosting target. Reviewer photos on Ravel's reviews page load from a storage bucket named "verdant".
New site, many reviews. ravelvolunteers[.]org was registered on September 30, 2026. Its reviews page says it began collecting reviews on October 1, 2026, yet it already showed 111 reviews averaging 4.6 out of 5.

How the name changed

January 6, 2024: verdantcharity[.]org was registered.
By March 4, 2026: the verdantcharity[.]org homepage was titled Verdant Volunteers (Internet Archive capture).
March 9, 2026: verdantvolunteers[.]org was registered.
July 31, 2026: a CSRF web check found that verdantcharity[.]org redirected to verdantvolunteers[.]org.
September 30, 2026: ravelvolunteers[.]org was registered.
October 23, 2026: ravelvolunteers[.]org was online. verdantvolunteers[.]org returned "410 Gone" and verdantcharity[.]org returned "404 Not Found."

What we could not establish

We did not create an account, so we did not see the withdrawal screens on Ravel Volunteers. We could not establish who operates the sites. Ravel's terms name "Ravel Global LLC" as the operator; we have not verified that this company exists. We do not know how many people have used the Ravel site.

What you can do

Do not pay for Impact Points, badges or any fee to unlock a withdrawal. Being asked to pay before you can withdraw donations is the warning sign of this scam.
Do not use the phone numbers, WhatsApp contacts or links in messages from Ravel Volunteers, Verdant Volunteers or Verdant Charity.
If you already paid, keep receipts, screenshots and messages. Contact your bank or mobile money provider, such as M-Pesa, through its official number, and report the scam to your local police or fraud reporting service.
Search ScamArchive before trusting a fundraising or volunteer platform.

Read the full records on ScamArchive:

Cybersecurity Reach Foundation (CSRF). Free scam protection and cyber safety help for everyday people, small businesses and community organizations. cybersecurityreach.org