KIND OR CONNED?

How charity scammers prey on donors

If you got a call from the Cancer Fund of America in the last few years, it might have sounded something like this:

“We help cancer patients all over the United States. ... Men, women, children, um with over 240 different types of cancer. ... And 100% of our proceeds go to hospice care.”

Now the Federal Trade Commission and attorneys general of all 50 states are investigating whether any of that is true. Yet from 2008 to 2012, CFA and three similar charities were able to raise $187 million.

CFA did not respond to a request for comment. “Right now, only about 30% of people check out any information before they give to charity,” says H. Art Taylor, president and CEO of Better Business Bureau (BBB) Wise Giving Alliance. “(This case) makes people aware that they do have to do more before they give to charity or they run the risk of wasting their money.”

Americans are donating more to charity than ever. Donations hit an inflation-adjusted high of $358.5 billion in 2014, according to The Giving Institute and Indiana University. But where there’s more giving, there’s more taking — and scammers are using both new and tried-and-true methods to fleece kind souls.

ANATOMY OF A SCAM

So how can you protect your hard-earned alms? The answer is to recognize red flags. There’s a certain anatomy to many scams, according to the FTC. Some warning signs:

Pressuring you to donate immediately.

Asking you to wire cash.

Offering to send a courier or overnight-delivery service to pick up your donation.

You should never be required to donate money to win a sweepstakes, either — any giveaway that says otherwise could be pulling a fast one, the FTC says. A bona fide charity should be willing to provide proof that your donation is tax deductible and details on their finances and mission.

Unfortunately, if you get a call asking for donations, you have no way to know if the person on the other end is really representing a charity, wrote Steve Weisman, expert in scams and identity theft. Con artists can even “spoof ” your Caller ID to make it look like they belong with a charity.

WHAT TO DO

The best way to arm yourself against any scam, according to the IRS, is to avoid giving personal information or cash and doing good old research.

Step one is to avoid donating over the phone. Hang up and check out the charity online, Weisman says. Even legitimate non-profits may pay telemarketers, so donating by mail or online ensures that none of your cash goes to commissions.

Next, do your research. Confirm the precise name when you look up the charities — rackets sometimes create names similar to authentic organizations to hoodwink you. One of the accused sham cancer charities was Breast Cancer Society, Weisman says, while a highly reliable charity has a similar moniker: Breast Cancer Alliance.

Once you’ve looked up the correct charity, check how much it spends on projects, vs. fundraising or administration. For instance, Guide-Star’s free service focuses on how much of charities’ donations goes to the cause and how much goes to overhead.

“Phony charities will have administrative costs way up there, because they’re greedy,” Weisman says.

The government can also be a good resource. In most states, valid non-profits are registered with the Attorney General or Secretary of State’s office. IRS Select Check will tell you whether a donation would be tax deductible.

21ST CENTURY CHALLENGES

The safest way to give is online by credit card, Weisman says. It gives you the option to check out the charity beforehand and limits your liability if your info is stolen.

But even the Web shouldn’t be safe from healthy skepticism. As Weisman points out, even just typing in a charity’s Web address requires care: If you mistype the name, you could end up at a phony site.

Meanwhile, email, text message and social media solicitations can contain malware for identity theft. Make sure you see the “https://” at the beginning of the website — the “s” indicates your information is being encrypted. And never click on links in messages.

The good news is that with more research tools available, good charities can prove their merit. “This is something I believe will help us as we move forward,” Taylor says.

“Phony charities will have administrative costs way up there, because they’re greedy.”

Steve Weisman, expert in scams and identity theft