Brain Top Off!

In everyone’s heart there is a desire to help their fellow man. Many do this through donations to various non-profit organizations. Sadly, scammers have begun to take advantage of people’s goodwill and generosity, creating schemes to deceive.

Popular deceptions in recent years are charities supposedly set up to help needy children and families in foreign countries. Pictures and videos of malnourished, emaciated children and impoverished needy families are portrayed in pamphlets and television spots. The viewer’s feelings of sympathy are appealed to and an address or envelope is provided for easy giving.

Of course, no one wishes to see children or families suffer starvation or disease, but donating any money to an organization without complete knowledge of how it will be distributed is never a smart idea. Scams revealed in the past few years have shown that the money collected in many supposed charity events actually went for the personal pleasure of the scammers rather than for the supposed recipients. This gives all charities a bad name and, actually, many work hard to ensure that donated dollars go exactly where they should.

Often charities advertise through various media channels, such as television, magazines, and the Internet. Typically, donations of at least ten dollars are requested. However, thinking critically for a moment, one would realize that the vast majority of the money is actually going to pay for these advertisements in the first place.

In one instance, the organization was properly registered and did send money overseas. Unfortunately, federal investigate showed that almost ninety percent of all donations were used to pay the large salaries of the directors for the charity. As such, this organization was not considered a true charity and was considered a scam.

Charity scams are often very difficult to spot. It can be a plea for the homeless, the destitute, animals, and just about anything else. Although there are hundreds of charities that are authentic and do help, there are always those who are looking for an opportunity to profit from people’s generosity and use it to their own means.

In order to avoid this from happening, it is vital that you take the time to research the organization completely. An investigation can be conducted through sources such as the Internet, consumer complaint divisions, government agencies, the Better Business Bureau, and other such methods. In the event that a name and telephone information is given, it is essential to use telephone services such as phonelookupagent.com/218/981/ to validate the identity of the person.

One should be especially suspect of people coming to the door with cans supposedly collecting for a well-known charity. One has no way of knowing if this is where the money is going or if it is going into the collector’s pocket. In the end, direct donations through the organization’s channel is your best solution.

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