Long list of ways to spot a FakeCharity

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ImmiThrax 🏳️‍🌈🎃 Since: Apr, 2020

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20th Jul, 2020 07:01:14 AM

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Long list of ways to spot a FakeCharity

Fake Charity has a long series of bullets about Real Life fake charities, added by a mix of tropers rather than a single person. It reads to me like beyond the scope of the site, plus it's not about examples of the trope but instead in general. Checking to see if that's the read other people have before bringing out the ax and fire.

The stuff

Ways you can spot a fake (or potentially fake) charity:
- It is not registered with your local/state/provincial/federal government.
- Charity watchdog sites either do not list it, or have listed it as suspicious.
- A representative who is collecting for the charity either cannot or will not answer any questions you have.
- They ask for donations using wire transfers, cash, money orders, prepaid cards and the like.
- They don't provide either a mailing address or a physical address, or they do, but it's fake.
- They don't provide a phone number, or they do, but it's fake, or no one ever answers.
- You're made to feel guilty, or like you're selfish/a bad person/etc. if you don't want to donate, or don't want to donate now.
- A collector either cannot or will not supply identification, or their identification is bogus.
- They keep hounding you for donations, even after you've told them to stop calling or sending you mail.
- Their website looks almost exactly like that of a legitimate website, but the details concerning where to donate and whom to donate to are different.
- It purports to help a local fire or police department or hospital, but the actual fire department/police department/hospital has no knowledge of this charity or fundraiser.
- They solicit donations from you via email campaigns. Generally speaking, real charities don't solicit donations through email. (This could be a variation of the classic 419 Scam.)
- They ask for donations via store or online gift cards or online currencies such as iTunes. Once again real charities don't solicit donations in this way.
- They ask for wiring of money through a wiring service like Western Union. Once again this is also not typically a way that a real charity would solicit money.
- You get an email asking for financial help for a sick child (or occasionally adult), often sent as a Chain Letter, and (more importantly) with no information (such as an address, whether the child in question is being tended to at a hospital or at home, a diagnosis, a prognosis, perhaps the name of a doctor or hospital, etc.), but what is included is information on where to donate money to, usually via wire transfer.
- They don't accept material donations like food, razor blades, or clothing even when they say they intend to use the money on such items. ^note
- Of course, what can muddy the waters here is that even legitimate charities have been officially censured for the "hard sell" tactics used by paid agents; one of the most respectable names in the business, Oxfam, and several other big names, were publicly exposed by the UK's Charity Commission (the overseeing body) for their use of "chuggers" ^note and for their use of third-party call centres and agents who were paid by commission and were not too scrupulous over making sales. The results were horrendous. the chuggers used both the inculcating-guilt scam and the persistent nuisance calling of people who had already told them not to.
Various "watchdog" sites such as Charity Navigator, CharityWatch, and BBB Wise Giving Alliance rate real-life nonprofits on their transparency, accountability, and efficient use of funds.
One common complaint about crowdfunding websites such as GoFundMe is that it's very easy for any scammer to post a sob story and receive donations. The sites do have fraud reporting tools, but they also can be lax about following up on how people use the donations they receive.
- Of course, this is every bit as illegal as conning people out of their money by any other means, and people have gotten jail time for it when they've been caught.
Be wary of charities or fundraisers you've never heard of that pop up all of a sudden in the wake of a natural disaster or some other type of humanitarian crisis. While some of them are legitimate, at least an equal number of them are the result of Con Artists looking to take advantage of the chaos, and take advantage of the generosity of people who want to help. And you might not be able to tell which is which until it's too late. If you want to make donations towards disaster relief organizations, your best bet is to find a reputable charity through one of the aforementioned "watchdog" sites.

wingedcatgirl MOD (Holding A Herring)

20th Jul, 2020 07:10:29 AM

Yeah, that's a general "example".

Maybe it could go on the Analysis page? I'm still not sure what that namespace is for.

Trouble Cube continues to be a general-purpose forum for those who desire such a thing.

ImmiThrax Since: Apr, 2020

27th Jul, 2020 05:57:40 PM

Bump!

Covered in Star Wars Cleanup, Deadpool, and Web Video sand. I'm not coarse and rough, but I get everywhere.

mightymewtron Since: Oct, 2012

27th Jul, 2020 06:03:33 PM

Plus the description already has more general, concise ways to spot fake charities.

I do some cleanup and then I enjoy shows you probably think are cringe.

PlasmaPower Since: Jan, 2015

27th Jul, 2020 06:05:50 PM

Should we add this to No Real Life Examples, Please!? You could try proposing it for the thread.

Edited by PlasmaPower Thomas fans needed! Come join me in the the show's cleanup thread!

ImmiThrax Since: Apr, 2020

27th Jul, 2020 06:17:26 PM

^ Oh, I wasn't aware of that thread! I'll take it there— thank you!

Covered in Star Wars Cleanup, Deadpool, and Web Video sand. I'm not coarse and rough, but I get everywhere.

PlasmaPower Since: Jan, 2015

27th Jul, 2020 06:30:22 PM

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=13350380440A15238800&page=327#8161 Link is right here.

Thomas fans needed! Come join me in the the show's cleanup thread!

ImmiThrax Since: Apr, 2020

27th Jul, 2020 07:35:33 PM

Thanks again— I've now taken the discussion there. (Lock away!)

Covered in Star Wars Cleanup, Deadpool, and Web Video sand. I'm not coarse and rough, but I get everywhere.

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open Long list of ways to spot a FakeCharity

open
Long list of ways to spot a FakeCharity