Concern Worldwide charity accidentally charges up to 100 times the amount donors pledged

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A charity has accidentally charged tens of thousands of donors up to 100 times the amount that they pledged.

Concern Worldwide, a global development organisation, said an “administrative error” caused their system to erroneously process about 25,000 of its supporters’ normal monthly direct debit donations at a far higher rate.

It apologised and promised to pay all of the money back and to meet any additional charges its supporters may have been hit with as a direct result of the error. It said it had been unable to stop the payments from going through and promised to write to each donor to explain.

Supporters vented their frustration on social media.

Iain Moss wrote on Twitter: “How do you think it's acceptable to not transfer me the £1600 you erroneously took from my bank account immediately?

“Mistakes happen – it's how you respond to them that will keep people supporting you. You have to cancel these direct debits now.”

Chrissi Taylor added: “I've been charged £800 instead of £8. I don't even make that much in a month. Sorry, but I can't continue to donate.”

Concern Worldwide responded to Ms Taylor's tweet, saying: "We're really sorry this has happened – we are working to return money as soon as we possibly can and will reimburse any costs."

And statement on its website said: “An error has been made processing the monthly Direct Debits of some of our supporters. Because of this, we have requested a larger amount than the normal monthly donation.

“On discovering this error we did our absolute utmost to stop the payments but unfortunately this was not possible. If this has affected you, we deeply regret any problems caused and will refund you the full amount.

“In the meantime, we would like to apologise again to our supporters. We are hugely appreciative of the donations they make, which do so much for the world’s poorest people.”

Concern Worldwide is a charity focussed on nutrition and tackling worldwide hunger problems. In 2014, it said it had helped 17.5 million people in 26 countries and received £23.5m in the UK to support its work. On its website, it notes: “Concern is supported by generous donors. We also receive money from governments and other partners.”