GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) – Today is Giving Tuesday, but as donors reach out to support charitable services across the state, it’s important to make sure your money is actually going to the cause you’re trying to help.
While we’re entering the season of giving, not everyone is Tiny Tim. Scammers often use phony websites and high-pressure pitches to get funds for fake charities, and Scrooge you out of your money.
“If they receive a phone call and someone is doing outreach asking for money, you certainly never want to make any payments over the phone. I would hang up and go online, make some other phone calls to verify that particular charity is legitimate,” said Michael Domke, Director of the state’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “Emails, text messages, social media posts, things that people are on just about every single day – and they have links or attachments. You definitely don’t want to open those. More often than not, you’re going to get re-routed to a scammer site.”
It’s also important to pay attention while online. Websites and social media profiles can often be a dead giveaway of a shady operator.
“They always say to check the spelling and look at the grammar. It seems so obvious, but you’d be shocked at how many times fake websites have terrible grammar mistakes,” Domke told WTAQ News. “If you don’t recognize some of the things on the site, or if you don’t recognize names or associations, I would certainly steer clear of those.”
Domke says some sites even have stolen images that have nothing to do with the supposed cause of the charity.
Certain requests of payment methods can also be triggers for a red flag.
“If they’re trying to solicit you to make that donation by cash or cryptocurrency or by wiring money, you never ever want to do that. It’s almost impossible to reverse those transactions, and even more difficult even to trace where it’s going,” Domke said.
Other tips include:
- Ask for the name, address, and phone number of the organization asking for the donation.
- Ask how your donation will be used and what percentage of your donation will be used for program services (also referred to as the organization’s charitable purpose) rather than for administrative, management, or fundraising costs.
- Ask a caller to send written material about the organization.
Review DFI’s webpage on charitable organizations, which includes tips for donors and a database of state-registered charitable organizations: https://www.wdfi.org/CharitableOrganizations/default.htm.
Visit DATCP’s website for more information on protecting yourself from charitable donation scams: https://datcp.wi.gov/Pages/Publications/CharityRequests120.aspx.
Research the charity at https://www.charitynavigator.org/ or https://give.org.
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