Holiday charity scams

The holiday season is a traditional time of giving for many
Canadians. Unfortunately, fraudsters know that and take advantage of
our generosity. Before you give anything to a charity, you should
perform your due diligence.

The following is a list of things to watch for when considering donating to a charity: 

• Never give out your personal / financial information out over the phone, or at the door.
• Don’t donate cash if you can help it. Write the cheque to the
  charity – not to the person standing in front of you. This also helps
  you document the donation for your records and for your tax return.
• Carefully check the name of the company. Charity scams often
  use similar to original names to cause confusion and obtain your
  donations. Example: National Cancer Society (SCAM) instead of Canadian
  Cancer Society (REAL).
• Ask the charity to send you
  printed material via mail. If the material does not contain details on
  exactly how the money is used and the percent of donations which
  actually reach the given cause, do not contribute.
• Call the charity. Legitimate charities withstand scrutiny and never
  hesitate to prove who they are, what they do and how they do it.
• Don’t give in to pressure. If the charity representative
  pressures you to give money immediately or as soon as possible, get
  suspicious.
• Be careful if the “charity” accepts an online payment. It is easy to open up a fake online payment account.
• Reputable charities will have a street address and a phone number.
• Get a receipt with the name of the charity on it.
• Ask for the charitable registration number.
• Check the company with the Better Business Bureau.

Consult the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) Charities Listings or call 1-800-267-2384 to confirm that a charity is registered with CRA.

One of the best ways to avoid charity scams is to decide IN ADVANCE which charities you’ll support and contact them.

Fraud
Awareness is part of a national crime prevention campaign to increase
Canadians’ awareness of and knowledge about different types of fraud in
order to help citizens to not become fraud victims.