General Questions:

Do I have to register to use Wish Upon a Hero?
Only those who would like to make a wish or grant someone’s wish are required to register, otherwise, visitors may browse the website without registering.

Is there a fee for posting or granting wishes?
Wish Upon A Hero is a free community website. There are no costs to make wishes, or grant wishes.

What can I do when I see an inappropriate wish posted?
Every wish posted contains an icon that allows viewers to “flag” a wish that might be considered inappropriate or offensive.

I didn't receive my confirmation link email, what do I do?
If you didn't receive the confirmation link email you can have it resent to you by going to the resend confirmation link page. Also you should make sure wishuponahero.com is in your "safe" list so that the email doesn't get blocked by your spam filter. You may also want to check your spam/junk mail folder to see if the email was put into there.

How do I know if a wish is a "real" wish or if I am being scammed?
It is the responsibility of the granter to research the wisher before granting a wish. Most scammers will not give you much information. They withhold information such as: last name, address, a phone to contact them, and personal details. Where as most "real" wishers are happy that someone is helping them at all and will provide you with almost any information. Try to send gift cards or items instead of cash. If you feel that someone is trying to scam you or the Wish Upon A Hero website, please notify us at: admin@wishuponahero.com.

How do I identify scammers?
1. Read over our Scammers forum periodically. If you receive an email from one of them, DO NOT reply to them at all. Instead, let us know immediately at admin@wishuponahero.com

2. Never give out personal information such as credit card and bank account numbers… not even to people that you feel that you “know” from the site.

3. Never cash a check from someone who writes it out for more than the amount that you expected and asks you to send him the change. This is ALWAYS a scam!

4. If you receive an email that makes you feel uncomfortable in any way, forward it to us immediately. Do not reply to the message! Engaging in conversation will just encourage them.

Wish Upon A Hero is doing everything we can to block scammers from our site, and we appreciate you letting us know about any suspicious activity.

What do the colored stars represent?
The different star colors represent different account types.

Red Star : A Red Star indicates that the member's proof of identity has been confirmed for the accounts. To receive the Red Star status, a member must fill out the Certification Information located under Account Settings. Please allow 30 days for the security team to review the account.
Silver Star : A Silver Star indicates that the account is operated by a business or company. Silver Star accounts can only grant wishes. Businesses are encouraged to signup and grant wishes to promote their philanthropic endeavors.
Gold Star : A Gold Star indicates that the account is operated by an organization or a tax-exempt charity. Due to legalities, we can only allow registered 501c3 charities to make wishes.

Black Star : ONLY official site administration have a black star. If anyone claims to be a representative of the site and does not have a black star next to their name, please report them to admin@wishuponahero.com.


Orange Question Mark : A member account that is under review by the site security and the administration.

Questions About Posting Wishes:

How many wishes can I post?
Once registered, you may have up to 3 separate wishes posted at any given time – but each wish should only have a single grantable request. Remember only 3 wishes PER month, so it is wise to spread them out.

Can I post a wish that doesn’t involve money, or anything of material value?
The power of Wish Upon A Hero is its ability to connect people. For some, that means connecting with a person they’ve never met, a loved one they’ve lost, even a friend who you wish could be more than just a friend. It’s your wish.

Can I post a wish on behalf of someone else?
Yes you may, in certain cases. Parents or guardians are required to post wishes on behalf of children under the age of 18. In all other cases however you may not post a wish on behalf of a present or past member of wishuponahero.com.

If several people offer to grant my wish, can I accept?
Wish Upon A Hero is designed to disable a Wish posting once it has been granted. If a wish is only partially fulfilled--in the case of accepting donations for a family, an organization, or an entire community--a new wish may be posted using the same information.

Should I give out personal information to someone who offers to grant my wish?
Always use common sense. Under no circumstance should you give out personal information such as: social security number, credit card numbers or bank information. If would like assistance to complete a wish, you may contact one of our Wish Ambassadors at WishAmbassador@WishUponAHero.com.

What is a search tag?
A search tag is a word or group of words to help the members find your wish. If you wished for a Corvette your search tags may be: Corvette, car, sports car, vehicle, drive, auto, Chevy.

Questions About Granting Wishes:

How can I tell the difference between a legitimate need and a frivolous request?
Other than content that is prohibited by the website’s rules of decency, users are free to wish for virtually anything they like. Some wishes will be based on genuine need, while others might be considered quite extravagant. Wish Upon a Hero is designed to allow those posting wishes plenty of options to provide descriptions, photos and video to support their appeal for a Hero. In addition, the Wish Upon A Hero email system will allow registered users to communicate questions and answers regarding each wish. In the end, users of the Wish Upon A Hero site are encourage to use good judgment and common sense when it comes to posting and granting wishes.

If I grant someone’s wish, can I remain anonymous?
Yes, the choice be a recognized or anonymous Hero is entirely up to you.

As a business, are we permitted to publicize the wishes that we fulfill?
Yes you may. However, you may not publicize the names of individuals to whom you grant wishes without their express written permission.

If I grant a Wish, is it tax deductible?
Wish Upon A Hero’s core differentiator, when compared to charities and other “giving” websites, is enabling people to have complete control over the destiny of their gift by giving it directly to the recipient. Since gifts and donations are given directly to individuals, not filtered through a charitable organization, they are not tax deductible.

IP Address Questions:

What is an IP address?
Each computer or groups of computers that is connected to the Internet has a clearly identifiable, numeric address called the IP address.

What is an IP check?
The Wish System automatically runs the IP checks to confirm the number of IP address connected with an account. 1 Account indicates that this is the only user account associated with this IP address. 2 Accounts indicates that there are 2 accounts associated with this IP address. (Or 2 people from the same household). 3+ Accounts indicates that there are 3 or more accounts associated with this IP address. (Possibly friends or family sharing as single computer). Shared IP accounts indicates that there is an single IP used as a gateway for many computers. (AOL, offices and some ISPs will have shared IP address).

Why are we running IP checks?
Heroes can make a more informed granting decision if they know how many accounts an IP address has. Having only one account per IP address indicates that there is no one else using this computer. Only one account per IP address is allowed, anymore than that will be investigated and possibly removed.

Is an IP check 100% informative?
NO!!! There are several reasons why a person may come back as having multiple accounts on a single IP address. Many corporate networks and online services economize on the number of IP addresses they use by sharing a pool of IP addresses among a large number of users. For example, if you are an America Online user your IP address will vary from one logon session to the next because AOL is assigning it to you from a pool that is much smaller than AOL's base of subscribers. In these cases we will only provide the fact that there are multiple IP addresses associated with the account. It is up the Hero to decide if they would still like to offer to grant a wish.

Is my IP information publicly viewable?
We will never make your IP address publicly viewable. We only use IP address information for internal checking of accounts.

How many accounts can I have on an single IP address?
You are only allowed one account. We realize that people sometimes have a need to share computers, therefore we created the IP rules below. ONLY one account can be used for wishing. This programming was created as a security feature to stop people from creating multiple wishing accounts. It was created to protect the heroes. Please read the IP rules below carefully.

If you have only 1 account, then you can make and grant a wish.
If you have 2 accounts, then you can ONLY make a wish on the original account. You can grant a wish on both.
If you have 3 or more accounts, the you can't make or grant a wish and ALL your accounts may be closed.

If you have a Shared IP (AOL, Corporate Network) your account will be marked as a "Shared IP". Shared IP's do not register with our system, therefore we cannot guarantee them as an individual user. Heroes will be responsible for their own actions when granting Shared IP wishes. If we catch you creating multiple accounts on a shared IP address or switching your IP address to create multiple accounts, then ALL your accounts will be closed.