Scamming people out of money is unfortunately very common after a disaster, and New York has seen a few disasters lately.
When donating to charities to help with disaster relief, people are urged to use caution due to the scams that come out of it.
There are three major scams that pop up regularly when this happens:
A scam where thieves create a fake charity that may sound very similar to the name of a real charity.
A scam where the name of the fake charity uses the disaster/storm name in it.
A scam where the scammers call to thank you for making a previous donation before they proceed to ask for money.
In order to avoid being scammed, the best things to do includes not letting someone pressure you into giving them money before researching the charity, not giving cash, gift cards, or a wire transfer, and ignoring unsolicited messages on social media or through email.
In order to safely donate, a credit card with consumer protections should be used as well as finding out how much money donated actually goes toward the cause.
Websites like Charity Navigator, the Better Business Bureau’s Wise Giving Alliance, and GuideStar can help show which charities are legitimate when doing research.
FingerLakes1.com is the region’s leading all-digital news publication. The company was founded in 1998 and has been keeping residents informed for more than two decades. Have a lead? Send it to [email protected].