Fake charities

Do you get calls for charitable contributions?

After every big natural disaster fake charities mushroom, but even in pretty quiet times a lot of crooks are ready to take your hard-earned money and spend it on themselves instead of people you intended to help.

How do you avoid being scammed?

Send money to well-known organizations, such as Doctors Without Borders or Red Cross. Before contributing to a new charity find out as much as possible about it. Use official sources of information to prevent crooks from deceiving you by providing glowing recommendations for themselves. Even if it’s an honest organization, finding out that it spends 80% of the money it collects on administrative expenses can convince you to invest your charity money with more bang for the buck.

Being generous does not require being gullible or impractical.

Even if your unexpected caller claims to represent your favorite organization, make sure you don’t provide any personal information over the phone. You can pledge money, if you want, but then use the address you know to send your contribution.

This way you can assure your money goes where you intend it to go.