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Articles: Family - Avoid
Charity Scams
By
Richard A. Chapo
The pictures and videos of the devastation
caused by Hurricane Katrina are sadly stunning. As is true for our
great nation, millions are lining up to donate to help those that
have been impacted. While your actions are a shining example of the
best traits of people, a few unsavory groups are trying to make a
profit off of the tragedy.
Scam Artists -
You can avoid these scam artists by taking a few simple steps.
Charitable organizations rely on tax-deductible contributions as
their primary funding source. Before an organization can offer the
benefit of a tax deduction for donations, it must be classified as
such by the Internal Revenue Service. The process is arduous and
effectively acts as an informal investigation of the legitimacy of
the charitable organization in question. Fortunately, the IRS makes
this information available to the public.
You can check the
legitimacy of a charitable organization by either contacting the IRS
or accessing the agency list of charitable organizations on the
Internet as follows:
IRS Customer Service: 1-800-829-1040
http://apps.irs.gov/app/pub78
The above link goes to a page where you can
conduct a publication 78 search. Publication 78 is a list of all
charitable organizations that have qualified for tax-exempt status
with the IRS. Scam artist and unsavory characters are not going to
be listed with the IRS. If the organization you are considering does
not appear in Publication 78, you may wish to consider another
organization.
E-mail Scams - You should be
cautious if you receive an e-mail requesting money for the relief
effort. The e-mail may not be from a legitimate organization.
Fraudulent e-mail campaigns are at an unbelievable level. If you are
determined to make a contribution because of an e-mail you received,
make sure that you check out the organization with the IRS as
indicated above.
Unfortunately, there is a second problem
with responding to an e-mail solicitation for monetary donations.
Assume that you regularly make donations to a large charity
organization and you receive a request for a donation from that
organization to help with the tragedy in New Orleans and beyond. You
can safely click the link in the email and make a donation, correct?
Maybe not. There is still a risk that the email is a scam. Many
online businesses have ongoing problems with scam artists copying
their sites, logos, headings, etc., and sending e-mail solicitations
to scam individuals. There is no reason to believe that charitable
organizations would be any less of a target, so be careful.
If you still are compelled to respond to an email
solicitation with a donation, you should use a search engine to
search for the organization listed in the email. Once you click on
to the site, you can make a donation in confidence.
The
devastation cause by Katrina is there for all to see. By following
the above recommendations, you can make sure your donation gets to
the people in need.
Richard A. Chapo is with http://www.businesstaxrecovery.com- providing tax help to small
businesses that overpay their taxes.
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