GREENSBORO, N.C. —
The war and refugees in Ukraine, tornadoes leaving folks homeless in the Triad or somewhere else, and the latest Supreme Court decision on abortion rights.
Scammers see these things as an opportunity to get your money, by posing as a fake charity or political group.
“If it’s in the news, the scammers will use it. The sad thing about charity and imposter scams, they're not only taking your money, but they're taking money away from the real charity that's out there,” said Mark Hensley, Associate State Director, AARP NC Triad Region.
Hensley says we just need to stop. When we think we want to donate, we need to stop, at least just for a minute.
“Don't make a quick decision. That's the first thing a scammer wants to play on your philanthropic heart to help people, and we all want to help people, but most people give without researching,” said Hensley.
Before you give, Google the name of the charity.
Check it against sites that rate charities like give.org,
Charity Navigator, even the North Carolina Secretary of State Charity site.
Some of the most common scammer tricks:
Charity name that sounds like or is similar to the real charities
Donations by cash, gift card, wire transfer, or a cash app
“Don't give cash and don't give gift cards, but if you decide to give a charitable donation, do it with a credit card. Then that gives you power that if an hour later, you can report it to your company as a potentially fraudulent charge, they can research it and stop that charge from going through,” said Hensley.
Charity scams are big business. In 2020 Americans gave $471 Billion to charities. Scammers see this as an open door to money.