You can also listen to the article in audio version.
The Ostrava project Give treatment collects money for oncologically ill children. As Seznam Zprava found out, on its website it publishes stories copied from the website of the charity organization Donio. It is not clear where the money collected for sick children ends up. Donio has now called on the company that covers the project to correct it.
“We asked PressNow, the operator of the web portal Doprejlecbu.cz, to remove the textual content taken from the stories on the Donio.cz website, as no consent was given to such use of the texts by us, nor by the founders of the collections,” spokeswoman Donia Cristina told Nauzal -Carmen Baron.
The stories copied from Donia are on the Give a cure website in the column “Whom we have helped”. However, it follows from Donia’s statement that the people to whom the fundraisers are concerned did not cooperate with the charity from Ostrava, nor did they know about this activity.
“If these texts are not removed in due time, we will discuss the situation further with our legal representatives,” added spokeswoman Donia.
Fraud?
The Allow treatment project raised suspicions that it is a scam. Not only because of the copied stories, the texts of which are sometimes completely identical to those of Donia. But also for other reasons.
For example, because the described fates of sick children and adults have photos of completely different people. Taken, for example, from photo banks. It was only after the publication of the report on Kristina Ciroková’s Terén program that information appeared about the images that they were illustrative photographs.
The managing director and sole owner of the company PressNow s.r.o., which is behind the project, 28-year-old Dominik Šerák, told the Seznam Zpráv reporter over the phone that he did not think they were misleading people.
“I certainly don’t think so,” said Šerák, adding that he would answer further questions in writing. He did not respond to e-mailed questions about, for example, how much money was collected and where it ended up, even after more than a week.
The police are already looking into the case. “We received a report from a woman who suspected that it might be a fraudulent act,” Eva Michalíková, spokesperson for the Moravian-Silesian Region Police Regional Directorate, said last week.
A piece of wood for almost 2000 crowns
The Dopřej treatment project raises money not only through its website, but also addresses potential donors by phone. He often calls seniors. Lenka Šerá from Zlín confirmed this in the video report of the Terén program.
“They contacted my uncle, with whom I live, he is 79 years old. With the offer of whether he wants to donate to sick children. And that he will then receive a gift for the contribution,” Šerá described.
Her uncle then received a cash on delivery package worth 1,890 crowns with a wooden heart and a thank you letter. He came to Lence Šeré as a suspect. For example, because it was not on the letterhead and the only person who signed it was a kind of project coordinator Dominik. No last name.
Photo: List of News
A letter of thanks that came to Lenka Šeré’s uncle.
“It seems completely spineless to me, because this is exactly what the seniors seem to listen to, the sick children,” Lenka Šerá commented on this experience with the Allow treatment project.
After the report was published, other people came forward and were persuaded by the call center operators to make a financial donation.
“Some woman called me three times. For the third time, in a rather rude and emotional way, and for me in a time crunch, she forced me to order a cash-on-delivery package by phone with the final approval of the contract over the phone,” wrote one of the readers from Vsetínsk, for example. Like Lenka Šeré’s uncle, he paid 1,890 crowns for the package.
The staff of Seznam Zpráv also managed to reach the Ostrava call center directly. In the house where he lives, he doesn’t have a name tag on the mailbox or doorbell anywhere. But the locals know about him. There were about six women and one young man sitting in the small room. When the reporters walked in, one of them just said on the phone: “It’s to help sick children.”
They did not want to talk about their work with the reporter. “Don’t be angry, I won’t answer this for you. That’s why he’s the boss,” said only one of the operators.
And what does the job description look like and what is the financial evaluation of call center operators? Seznam Sprápy also found that out. With the legend that she was responding to a job advertisement, the reporter called Dominik Šerák and he willingly explained everything to her.
“It’s nothing complicated. You’re just reading from paper. You go through normal training, we sit you down at a computer and you only call people. From each contract, you get a commission of three hundred, with the payment being every Friday,” Šerák described the conditions in the call center.
