Online fundraising staff say they are working "around the clock" to squash bushfire fundraiser scams as donations roll in from more than 170 countries to help rebuild homes and farms and save wildlife.

Key points: Fake fundraising pages have tricked people into donating thousands of dollars to help fire-affected communities

Fake fundraising pages have tricked people into donating thousands of dollars to help fire-affected communities The consumer watchdog said more than 400 bushfire-related scams had been reported since September

The consumer watchdog said more than 400 bushfire-related scams had been reported since September Many fundraising platforms do not refund money donated to fake causes

Australia's GoFundMe regional manager Nicola Britton said since the bushfire season took full force in November, almost 500,000 donations from around the world had raised more than $30 million to support impacted communities on their platform.

More than $180 million has been donated to the relief effort by corporate donors, not including the $51 million raised so far by comedian Celeste Barber's fundraiser.

People from as far as France, Switzerland, Japan, Botswana, Nicaragua and Mongolia have donated to the relief effort.

But unfortunately, some families have had to endure fraudsters using the names and photos of their deceased loved ones to scam those wanting to help.

Bill Slade, 60, from Wonthaggi, died after being struck by a falling tree while he helped contain a fire near Omeo on Saturday.

Two days after his death, a fundraiser was set up on the website Donorbox, to raise money for Mr Slade's funeral.

Less than $140 was raised before the scam was reported.

His daughter Steph said on social media that the page dedicated to her dad was a scam and asked people not to donate to it or share the page.

A Donorbox spokeswoman said the company investigated every reported scam campaign and banned the account.

"We're working on improvements to our sign up process and scam detection tools to be more effective at blocking fake fundraisers like this," she said.

"We are currently in contact with those donors regarding refunds."

Scams referred for further investigation

Two weeks ago, less than a day after father and son Robert and Patrick Salway died at Cobargo on the NSW South Coast, scammers set up an online fundraising campaign to solicit donations from members of the public.

Almost $4,000 was raised from nearly 60 people before the fundraiser was reported and shut down.

Scammers took advantage of the death of Robert and Patrick Salway and created a fake fundraiser on Go Get Funding using the name of a relative. ( Supplied )

An Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) spokesperson said 425 reports of bushfire scams had been received by Scamwatch since September.

This included 198 online reports and 184 phone calls since a bushfire scams hotline was launched last week.

Total reported losses for bushfire scams this season total more than $3000 but many losses went unreported because not everyone was aware they had been the victim of a scam.

"Where we believe a fundraiser may be an impersonation scam, we speak with the entity being impersonated to confirm the fundraising is not legitimate," the spokesperson said.

"After this confirmation, we reach out to the platform to request the page's removal.

"We have also forwarded reports to other government agencies for further investigation."

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GoFundMe's Ms Britton said the company used trust and safety experts to monitor campaigns and verify thousands of donation pages.

"Before money is transferred to an individual, their personal information, including ID and banking information, must be verified. If someone is raising money on behalf of someone else, they rarely touch the money.

"Instead, GoFundMe will work to ensure it goes directly into the beneficiary's bank account," Ms Britton said.

If a campaign failed to meet the company's safety criteria, the funds would not be released.

"In the very rare case of misuse, donations are backed by the industry's only guarantee. The GoFundMe guarantee ensures donations reach the right place or will be refunded."

ACCC Chairman Rod Sims told ABC News last week that people wanting to donate to the fund should check if an organisation was a registered charity via the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission.

"If we catch these scammers misleading people, we can take them to the Federal Court. And then the penalties can be up to $1.1 million per breach, or up to $250,000 for individuals," he told ABC News.