Crowdfunding campaigns are effective ways for people to help others in need. But news that a couple conspired with a homeless man to create a heartwarming Good Samaritan story to scam people out of money highlights the importance of vetting viral feel-good stories before donating.

Kickstarter is a dangerous place full of (what appear to be) shiny, shiny toys. How do you know what projects will give you said toys, and how do you know which will end in extreme disappointment? We've dug up an easy list of questions that'll help you decide the viability of any crowdfunding campaign.

Crowdfunding site Kickstarter announced a reboot of the patronage service Drip, putting similar services such as Patreon and Flattr in its crosshairs. The subscription-based Drip could provide artists, side-hustlers, and anyone with a creative bent yet another way to bring in some dough.

There are literally thousands of different protective phone cases, car mounts, mike mounts and arm-bands for today's smartphones. But there are relatively few systems that let you use the same case across different scenarios. Instead of having to extract your phone from its case when you use an arm-band or want to clip your phone to your bike, why can't you simply clip the case to whatever mount you need? That's what Australian-designed Quad Lock does. It's system that lets you use one case with several different mounts.

Most of us love the idea of getting in on the ground floor of some new tech and being one of the first to show off the newest and shiniest gadget. Participating in crowd-funding campaigns like those run by Indiegogo and Kickstarter is a great way to do that but they don't always deliver.

Most VPN are subscription based affairs: pay per month, per quarter, per year. That's fine, but wouldn't you rather just pay one fee and be done with it? That's what a local VPN service, 4TFY, is offering.

A ton of fake GoFundMe donation pages were set up for the family of Robert Godwin Sr earlier this week after he was murdered in the US. It's a nasty trick, no doubt, but this isn't the first time scammers have preyed upon sympathetic contributors, and it won't be the last. Here's how to spot the fake campaigns before you throw your money away.

It's called Joey Crowd, and it's marketing itself as crowdfunding 3.0. Its main goal is to combine a number of aspects of the average crowdfunding campaign -- letting you manage your social media from your campaign on Joey Crowd, and even connecting you with influencers in your niche.

3D printing is alive and well, even if we're not all manufacturing our own Warhammer figurines just yet. For example, portability is still an issue, though for the smartphone-wielding and less-serious 3D printing enthusiast, the OLO 3D presents itself as an interesting options.

Crowdfunding sites such as Kickstarter and Indiegogo are a great way to get new inventions off the ground -- but for every success story there are countless far-fetched pipe dreams that crashed and burned. If you're currently sitting on a product idea that you think has mass appeal, it pays to see what the market is currently funding. This infographic counts down the 13 biggest success stories of 2015: from the bee hive "honey tap" to a card game about exploding kittens.

You may have toyed with the idea of launching a Kickstarter for your awesome idea or product, but for whatever reason, haven't gone through with it yet. If you do have a few nagging concerns, then this tale of crowd-funding failure from software developer Ryan Brink might help address some of them.

Dear Lifehacker, I've seen a lot of Kickstarter campaigns lately that promise great rewards and have awesome ideas. Some of them are already fully funded, others need a little help. Is it safe to give them my money if they're already funded? How can I tell if the end result is going to be as awesome as they promised?