{"id":851,"date":"2019-10-24T11:29:12","date_gmt":"2019-10-24T15:29:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/cap\/?p=851"},"modified":"2019-10-24T11:29:12","modified_gmt":"2019-10-24T15:29:12","slug":"charity-fraud-awareness-week","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/cap\/charity-fraud-awareness-week\/","title":{"rendered":"Charity Fraud Awareness Week"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading\" style=\"text-align:center\"><em>October 21-25, 2019<\/em><\/h1>\n\n\n\n<p>Charity fraud is, unfortunately, all too common. But don\u2019t be discouraged. You can still make your charitable giving count by following the tips below to identify the bad actors from the good:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Tip #1:<\/strong> <strong>Do\nyour Research<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Visit websites like <a href=\"https:\/\/www.charitynavigator.org\/\">Charity Navigator<\/a> or the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbb.org\/new-york-city\/charities-donors\/charity-review-for-donors\/\">Better Business Bureau Charity Information for Donors<\/a> to learn more about a particular charity. If you receive a call asking for donations, ask questions like: <\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p> <em>\u201cWho are you and what is the name of this charity?\u201d<\/em><br \/> <em>\u201cWhere is the charity located?\u201d<\/em><br \/> <em>\u201cHow would my donation be used?\u201d<\/em><br \/> <em>\u201cAre you a paid fundraiser?\u201d<\/em> <\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Tip #2: Learn about Paid Fundraisers<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Some charities hire paid fundraising companies to help them solicit donations. In Vermont, any charity using a paid fundraiser must register with the Vermont Attorney General\u2019s Office, and report how much of the donations received go to the fundraiser. <a href=\"https:\/\/ago.vermont.gov\/charities-paid-fundraisers\/\">Visit the Attorney General\u2019s website<\/a> to learn more and access donation information, or call the Consumer Assistance Program: <a href=\"tel:800-649-2424\">800-649-2424<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Tip #3: Spot the Scam<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Scammers use phone calls, mailings,\ndoor-to-door solicitations, and emails to trick people into \u201cdonating\u201d to their\n\u201ccause.\u201d &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignright is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/cap\/files\/2019\/10\/Donate-Wisely-1-661x1024.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-853\" width=\"360\" height=\"562\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">Phone<\/span> calls: Scammers will pressure you to give money right away. They might ask you to send cash or wire money, and they will not give many details about what the donation is for. <\/li><li><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">Mailings<\/span>: You might receive a letter in the mail thanking you for a pledge you never made. This is a signal that the mailer is a scam. If you receive a mailer that you\u2019re unsure about, do your homework by searching online, or call the Consumer Assistance Program.  <\/li><li><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">Door-to-door<\/span>: When someone knocks on your door to ask for a donation, the pressure is on. Remember that you are under no obligation to give. Ask for more information and do your research. If you cannot get legitimate information about the charity, odds are it is a scam.  <\/li><li><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">Emails<\/span>: Think before you click! Phishing emails look similar to messages from legitimate sources and use email addresses that seem familiar. Be cautious with suspicious emails and call a charity directly if you have questions. <em>Don\u2019t use a phone number on the suspicious email; look it up separately.<\/em><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Some common charity scams in\nVermont include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Pastor imposter scams: a scammer posing as a local religious leader asks you to donate to a cause using gift cards via email. <\/li><li>Fire or police organization imposter scams: a scammer calls asking for donations to a local or national first responder organization. If you get a suspicious solicitation, hang up the phone and call your local firefighter or police station to get more information.<\/li><li>Disaster scams: Scammers ask you to donate to a charity that provides relief for people who have experience natural disasters, except the charity doesn\u2019t exist or they are impersonating a real charity. Always do your research before giving money or personal information. <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Tip #4: Call the Consumer Assistance Program!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you feel unsure about a charity\nsolicitation or believe you have donated to a scam, call the Consumer\nAssistance Program! The Consumer Assistance Program can help identify warning\nsigns, provide paid fundraiser information, and help you recover from scams. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Consumer Assistance Program<\/strong>:  <a href=\"https:\/\/ago.vermont.gov\/cap\/consumer-complaint\/\">ago.vermont.gov\/cap<\/a> or <a href=\"tel:800-649-2424\">800-649-2424<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>October 21-25, 2019 Charity fraud is, unfortunately, all too common. But don\u2019t be discouraged. You can still make your charitable giving count by following the tips below to identify the bad actors from the good: Tip #1: Do your Research &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/cap\/charity-fraud-awareness-week\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4483,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[609406,505527,481474,494301,482450],"class_list":["post-851","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","tag-charityfraudout","tag-charity-scam","tag-consumer","tag-consumer-assistance-program","tag-scams"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/cap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/851","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/cap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/cap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/cap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4483"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/cap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=851"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/cap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/851\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":854,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/cap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/851\/revisions\/854"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/cap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=851"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/cap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=851"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/cap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=851"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}