Fake Website Named After Liverpool Player, Diogo Jota Disappears After Raising £50,000

A website purporting to represent a charitable organisation in the name of late Liverpool forward Diogo Jota has vanished after allegedly collecting close to £50,000 in donations, despite having no connection to the club or the player’s family.

The so-called “Diogo Jota Foundation” appeared online just three days after Jota’s death in July, promising to continue his legacy by “empowering youth, uplifting communities, and bringing the joy of football to all.” Its site showcased professional branding and logos of Liverpool FC, Unicef, Allianz, and the Portuguese Platform of Development NGOs. However, three of those organisations later denied any involvement, and the website has since gone offline.

Family and Club Distance Themselves: Liverpool FC and Jota’s family publicly disassociated themselves from the foundation last week, stressing that they had no role in its creation. Instead, the club confirmed it would soon launch its own grassroots football initiative in the Portuguese striker’s honour, run transparently through the official LFC Foundation.

Earlier this month, LFC Retail also released a commemorative T-shirt bearing Jota’s silhouette, his chant, and the words Forever 20, with proceeds directed to genuine charitable projects.

False Claims and Cryptocurrency Suspicion: On its website, the alleged foundation claimed to have supported 25,000 meals, sponsored 300 children, and established 50 community partnerships. It also outlined ambitious plans in football training, scholarships, and youth engagement.

But further scrutiny raised red flags. Donations were only accepted in cryptocurrency, including USDT and and ETH, via an external payment portal. NOWPayments, the platform the site claimed to use, later denied processing any transactions for the group.

“We are aware of the fraudulent fundraising activity,” said NOWPayments CEO Kate Lifshits. “No payments were processed, and our widget has since been disabled from the website.”

No Official Registration: According to The Telegraph, the UK Charity Commission confirmed [quote]that the so-called foundation never applied for registration. Under British law, any charity earning more than £5,000 annually and operating in England or Wales is legally required to register.

The incident has intensified calls for tighter regulation of online fundraising platforms, particularly those using cryptocurrency, which remains harder to trace than traditional payment methods.

For now, the bogus “Diogo Jota Foundation” has disappeared, leaving supporters questioning where the promised £50,000 may have gone.