Mystery Diogo Jota Foundation website offline after taking £50k donations

A website for a foundation which claims to have been set up in memory of Diogo Jota has been taken down after it was alleged that it has no connection to his family or Liverpool. Jota and his brother tragically died in a car crash in July, just days after the footballer married his long-term partner Rute Cardoso.

The Diogo Jota Foundation has been accepting donations through a website, diogojotafoundation.org, which was set up three days after his death and claimed to have raised £47,715 as of August 21. A privacy screen via 'namecheaphosting' is seen when searching for the domain name.

The site is not believed to be affiliated with Liverpool or Jota's family at all. Liverpool told the Telegraph that both the club and the family know nothing about the foundation or the website. And on the morning on August 22, the website appears to no longer be active with users instead redirected to a domain hosting site.

The Charity Commission has also confirmed that the foundation has not submitted a registration application. Along with Liverpool, the website also features logos for Unicef, Allianz and the Portuguese Platform of Development NGOs and at least three of the four have confirmed they are not working with the foundation.

Liverpool already announced last month that the LFC Foundation has "committed to creating a grass-roots football programme in Diogo's name". The club also added: "If supporters would like to honour Diogo by having 'Diogo J. 20' printed on the back of their shirt in official club stores or via our official online store, all profits will go to LFC Foundation."

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An Allianz UK statement read: "We can confirm that we do not have a partnership, and our logo should not have been used on this website. We monitor illegal use of our brand and we are taking steps to get the website shut down by the suitable authorities. Misuse of branding is an ongoing issue in the digital world, and fraudsters will often try to add recognised brands to their fake websites to try and deceive the public."

The website directs users to donate through an off-site platform that only appears to accept cryptocurrency, stating that it "accepts USDT, ETH and other crypto through NOWPayments securely".

However, NOWPayments CEO Kate Lifshits says that they have not processed any payments to the foundation. "We are aware that the NOWPayments payment system may have been used for fraudulent fundraising activities on behalf of a foundation that is not affiliated with the Diogo Jota family," Lifshits said.

"I can confirm that no payments for this foundation have been processed through NOWPayments. As soon as we became aware of the alleged fraud, we stopped providing our services to the project immediately. Our widget is not active on the foundation's website. We often encounter such practices and respond immediately, regardless of whether they involve public figures."

Furthermore, the Fundraising Regulator has warned: "In the wake of tragedies and natural disasters, there are always some who seek to capitalise on the British public's generosity and sympathy.

"While most charity appeals are genuine, the regulator always advises the public to exercise caution when considering making a donation to ensure that their money goes to where it is needed, and where they wish it to go.

"In general, the Fundraising Regulator would not advise donating to a foundation which is not a registered charity, as there is a high risk of fraud. People should additionally look for tell-tale signs that an online appeal may be fraudulent, such as vague or inconsistent information on the website, grammar or spelling errors, or a lack of information about the organisation from any other source."

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