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Investigate before donating for holidays
With the season of giving come fraudsters and charity scams. 7 On Your Side reporter Carissa Lehmkuhl looks at ways to avoid falling victim while donating this holiday season.
AUSTIN, Texas - It’s the season of giving, but some are acting more like the Grinch.
"We want to help people, right? We're in the mood and it makes us feel good to help other people," said Mark Kapczynski, senior vice president of strategic partnerships at OneRep. "Fraudsters come after us as potential victims in so many different ways."
They may pull at your heartstrings to get to your pocketbook.
"A few weeks ago, when it was Veterans Day, everything was about military donations…now it's about Israel and Hamas funds. And before it was about the fires in Hawaii," said Kapczynski. "You have to be on red alert as a consumer to be able to sniff out, ‘Is this something legitimate that I should donate to?’"
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Online shopping tips for this holiday season
The Better Business Bureau is warning consumers to be careful when shopping online this holiday season. According to the BBB, in recent years online purchase scams have been the costliest.
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- Texas consumers can vet companies ahead of time through TDLR resources
It can be harder in the digital age, but there are still ways to vet organizations. Double-check any URLs using sites like Charity Navigator or Charity Watch.
Consumers should also look up the history of the domain itself to see if it has a history of fraud or malicious activity.
"Combining those two elements will give you either comfort or raise the red flag that this is not a legitimate site or a legitimate charity that I should be trying to donate to," said Kapczynski.
MORE CONSUMER NEWS
- What is the 'card draining' scam? Police warn holiday shoppers purchasing gift cards
- Experts warn hidden risks of Buy Now, Pay Later
- IRS warns of uptick in charity scams during the holidays
Those who wish to make donations can also use the IRS's Tax-Exempt Organization Search (TEOS) tool to help find or verify qualified, legitimate charities.
Consumers should also be wary of businesses making holiday promises.
"There are a lot of businesses out there, both brick-and-mortar retail as well as online, that are like, ‘Oh, I'll give 10% of the proceeds to XYZ charity," said Kapczynski. "I'd just be careful of those and just make sure that there's some evidence that the business is being legitimate about donating those funds to the said charity."
For more tips from the FBI, click here.