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How to Balance Care and Independence 1 Indulge Your Sweet Tooth With Less Sugar This Holiday Season Success Story 2 Have You Heard the Good News? 30-Minute Cauliflower Soup Have You Heard of the Walabot HOME? 3 Scammed for the Holidays 4
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STOP DONATING TO SCAMMERS
How to Spot Fraud This Holiday Season
During the season of giving, charities receive a much-needed rush of donations as people open their hearts to others. Unfortunately, criminals are all too willing to abuse this goodwill. According to a report from the Justice Department, Americans over the age of 60 lose over $3 billion a year to scams and fraudsters. As charity scams reach their peak, here’s what you need to do to ensure your donations aren’t lining the pockets of criminals. Never Give by Phone or Email. Charities regularly reach out to past and potential donors through traditional mail, email, phone calls, or text messages. This means fraudsters will mimic their approach with less noble intentions. Because it’s impossible to determine who is on the other end of a call or email, you should never hand over your credit card information to strangers. If you really are speaking to a representative from a legitimate charity, they will direct you to a secure avenue where you can give without worry.
Feeling Pressured?Walk Away. A lot of charities set goals they want to reach before the new year, but even groups that are hoping to raise a certain amount of money know better than to pressure donors into giving. Donations should always come from the heart, and it’s a bad sign if someone insists there’s a deadline for giving. As the Better Business Bureau says, “Responsible organizations will welcome your gift tomorrow as much as they do today.” Only Give to Reputable Charities. Do some research before donating to charities. Look up any prospective charity on Charity Navigator at CharityNavigator.org. This service flags “high concern” organizations suspected of fraud and ranks how reliable established charities are. Even legitimate organizations can be misleading about how they spend their donations. A good rule of thumb is to avoid organizations that spendmore than 25 percent of donations on salaries or administrative costs.
There are many amazing charities and organizations that do good work. Stay vigilant tomake sure you are bringing joy to the world and not falling for a criminal looking tomake a quick buck.
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