Memphis, TN - November 6, 2007: Many Americans want to help the thousands of Southern Californians displaced by the wildfires, and the most common way people across the country can do this is by making donations to the many relief agencies and charities already at work.
However, as with every natural disaster, there are some unscrupulous people who will attempt to take advantage of the public’s eagerness to help victims.
The Knoxville BBB has reported a scam in their area regarding a man who is calling people soliciting donations to help animals affected by the fires in California. He claims to be from the Humane Society, but it’s a scam.
The Internal Revenue Service has also issued warnings to taxpayers to be on the lookout for a new e-mail scam that appears to be a solicitation from the IRS and the U.S. government for charitable contributions to victims of the recent Southern California wildfires.
“In the face of any disaster, Americans will immediately step forward with donations to aid the victims and their families,” said Randy Hutchinson, CEO of the BBB of the Mid-South. “Unfortunately, as we saw after Hurricane Katrina, scammers will try to take advantage of the generosity of the public; that’s why it’s important to take your time and do your research before donating to a charity relief effort.”
The BBB offers the following advice to make sure your donations go to worthy charities and relief efforts:
- Before making a contribution, go to www.bbb.org/charity to obtain detailed evaluative reports on many of the relief organizations providing assistance.
- Be wary of charities that are reluctant to answer reasonable questions about their operations, finances and programs.
- Do not hesitate to ask for written information that describes the charity’s program(s) and finances such as the charity’s latest annual report and financial statements.
- Do not give cash. Checks or money orders should be made out to the name of the charitable organization, not to the individual collecting the donation.
- Keep an eye out for fake charities that imitate the name and style of well-known organizations in order to confuse people and potentially steal personal information such as credit card numbers.
- Don’t give in to excessive pressure for on-the-spot donations. Be wary of any request to send a “runner” to pick up your contribution.
- Think twice about donating to any charity that is inexperienced in carrying out relief efforts but is suddenly soliciting for aid for Southern California. Although well intentioned, such organizations may not have the ability to quickly deliver aid to those in need.
- Be wary of appeals that are long on emotion, but short on describing what the charity will do to address the needs of victims and their families.
- Do not give your credit card number or other personal information to a telephone solicitor or in response to an e-mail solicitation.
- To help ensure your contribution is tax deductible, donations should be made to charitable organizations that are tax exempt under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Go to IRS Publication 78 on www.irs.gov for a current list of all organizations eligible to receive contributions deductible as charitable gifts.
To view more than one thousand BBB Wise Giving ReportsTM on charities across the nation go to www.bbb.org/charity.