IRS and Better Business Bureau Warn of Charity Scams Following Hurricane Florence
Hurricane Florence may have left devastation behind on the east coast. But people across the U.S are on high alert for charity scams.
Officials are warning that not all charities are the real deal. Following Hurricane Florence, scam artists who pretend to be part of existing or fake charities could be lurking.
“These people are calling from over seas, they could be right next door to you,” says Montgomery County Sheriff Derrick Cunningham.
Cunningham says green dot cards are becoming one of the most popular ways to victimize people.
“If they’re posing to be a county government official, a federal government official, if you’ve got to go to Walmart to pay your funds it’s a scam. Don’t talk to them, hang the phone up,” says Cunningham.
Right now, the IRS is warning people about these schemes that usually are done by phone, email, social media or in some cases from door to door.
“Some of them claim to be working for or on behalf of the irs to help victims file casually lost claims for example to get refunds,” says Clay Sanford, an IRS Spokesperson.
For a charitable donation to be deducted on your tax return, you have to donate to an IRS approved charity, which can found by doing a tax exemption organization search online. A similar search can be done with the better business bureau who sees a spike in scams following disasters. One of their big examples is Hurricane Katrina.
“There was over 20,000 scams-well reports of possible scams taking place and consumers possibly being victimized by those scam artists, finding out that the money that they provided did not even make it to where it was supposed to go,” says Gigi Turner, a regional manager at the Better Business Bureau.
Officials say, never feel pressured to donate, instead be extremely cautious.
“Don’t fall for these gimmicks, don’t fall the nice ads. Go to something that you know and that you feel comfortable about giving to,” says Cunningham.
When in doubt say that you can always donate locally to agencies like the Red Cross. If you think you are a victim of a scam, you always want to contact your local law enforcement. You can also visit the better business bureau online to search for reported scams in your area.
For information from the Better Business Bureau’s scam tracker click here.
