How To Avoid Holiday Charity Scams
How You Can Avoid Holiday Charity Frauds
No one likes being stolen from. Sadly, the holiday season comes rife with scammers and folks who have no qualms about taking your money away for fraudulent purposes. Below are some great ways to avoid scams.
Potential donors should ask these questions before giving money:
• What is the charity’s website, address, and mission?
• How much of your donation will go directly to services, rather than fundraising?
• How much of your donation will be used for the specific programs you want to support?
• Ask how the charity spends money in your area.
• Scammers often use a spoofed phone number to make their fundraising calls look like they’re from your local area code, a Washington, D.C., area code, or from an organization you know.
• Scammers will thank you for a donation you don’t remember making. Scammers do that to trick you into thinking you actually made a pledge and to guilt you into sending money.
Be careful how you pay:
• If someone asks you to send them cash, wire money, donate by gift card, or leave money under your front door mat for pickup, don’t do it. It’s safer to pay by credit card or check.
• If you’re donating online, check that the webpage where you enter your payment information has “https” in the web address. That means your information is transmitted securely.
• Avoid cash donations, if possible. Pay by credit card or write a check directly to the charity. Legitimate charities will give you a receipt that shows the amount of your donation. Keep that record and check your credit card statements to make sure you’re only charged for the donation you wanted to make.
Here are some resources for researching charities:
• Check out the Federal Trade Commission’s website, www.consumer.ftc.gov/features/how-donate-wisely-and-avoid-charity-scams.
• Search the charity’s name online with words like “complaint” and “scam.”
• Check out the charity’s ratings with groups like the BBB Wise Giving Alliance, Charity Navigator, Charity Watch and Guidestar.
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