Page 42 - 201004 - The 'X' Chronicles Newspaper - April 2010

April 2010_june_july_2009.qxd 22/04/2010 11:27 PM Page 42 42 7 Signs Of A Charitable Disaster Scam 7 Signs Of A Charitable 3 Avoiding questions • Federal Trade Commission 7 Signs Of A Charitable The organization should not only Disaster Scam welcome questions, but also encourage your • Federal Bureau of Investigations Disaster Scam SFGate.com SFGate.com curiosity about its origin and financial • State Attorney General's Office distribution. • State Bureau of Charitable Organizations 4 The name of charity Scammers are always seizing Watch out for those scam artists that The Bottom Line opportunities to make a profit. Their activities select official-sounding names resembling don't halt during times of disaster - in many reputable organizations. It's prime-time for scammers when cases they increase. These schemers exploit tragedy strikes. When a disaster occurs, protect tragedy, capitalizing off of people's generosity 5 Providing credit card information to your finances and your good intentions, avoid and loss and eventually multiplying the horror solicitors. giving out your personal and financial of the event by swindling donors and victims Phone solicitors and unsolicited spam information to questionable solicitors and ask out of cash. emails may commonly request your financial for identification when approached. Find out if Various crises have seen the worst of data. If you prefer to make the donation over the the charity is registered or is filing with the these culprits. September 11, 2001 disaster phone, make sure the relief organization is well Attorney General's Non-Profit scams included requests for money to hire known. Call the organization yourself, Organizations/Public Charities Division. computer experts to track down Osama Bin especially if you are contacted. Don't respond Laden, according to the Associated Press, and to and avoid clicking on links of an unsolicited Text donations don't occur immediately, donate to the fraudulent "Firefighters In Need" email. Some of these emails have been known according to the Better Business Bureau, and fund. During the aftermath of the 2004 Sri to contain a virus. may take as long as 30 to 90 days before it gets Lanka tsunami, the Federal Bureau of to the appropriate recipient. Always read the Investigations received reports of how 6 Newly-formed organization fine print involved with this communication. concerned family members and friends could Determine whether the organization has receive assistance locating loved ones who may the infrastructure to distribute relief efforts. Consider sticking with organizations have been victims of the disaster for a fee from that have successfully handled large portions of posted email addresses. The devastation of money and clearly state where you want your Hurricane Katrina gave rise to scams that 7 Requests to write the check to the solicitors money to go. Most importantly, if you are included inflated prices for repairs and charity Attorney Generals suggest not giving uncomfortable with an organization don't fraud schemes that misappropriated funds. cash and making the check out to the charity donate to it - find a more reputable agency. Scams have evolved with the using its full name and not to the fundraiser, and advancement of technology. Days after the to mail the check directly to the charity. terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, millions of Americans reached into their wallets Investigate the Charitable Organization for their debit or credit cards to make donations via the internet. They were misled by fraudulent Research the charities to know which sites and bulk email solicitations from can provide the most assistance and gauge their spammers posing as the Red Cross. swiftness to take action. Attorney Generals want Hurricane Katrina and the earthquake you to verify the address, phone number and disaster in Haiti saw the realm of new platforms other contact information; learn about the expand for scam artists. Instead of the out- charities history, purpose and track record of pouring of money over the internet, donors success. You'll also want to ask plenty of punched a couple of numbers on their mobile questions, such as: phones to make their contributions. The FBI cautioned donors against texting scams. A donor • What percent of donations will actually would have to follow up the text with a phone be used for the charitable cause? call and give out personal information. Fraudulent solicitations have flowed through • Does the money go to a professional exchanges and updates among friends, fundraiser? If so, how much? colleagues and associates on social networking sites. Scammers had posed as quake victims or • Who employs the telephone solicitor? represented a government or charitable official collecting donations on these sites. • Is the contribution tax deductible? Don't let your well-intentioned contribution get swallowed by fraudsters. Pay • What will happen to the excess attention to their scheming ways and protect contributions? your money. Check out the security of the website of Know the Red Flags the charitable organization where you are making your donation by looking for a lock icon Scam artists may be skilled but they do or making sure that URL starts with "https." The give away plenty of clues. A savvy donor is wise FBI suggests verifying the legitimacy of a non- to their strategies. Keep an eye out for the profit by checking with internet-based following seven red flags: resources. See if other legitimate charitable organizations, watchdogs or government 1 On the spot donations agencies are linked to the site. Don't let a heart-felt story followed by an urgent demand for cash have you fooled. Check with the following organizations. Some compile a list of reputable charitable 2 Refusal to provide written verifiable organizations. information They should be able to back up their • Better Business Bureau claims and intentions with evidence.