Charity fakers grab $220k from NY City
Charity Fake News
Come on – public agencies. Check the identity and tax status of “charity” groups before you give them money.
From (Staten Island) SILive.com:
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Two Staten Islanders — one of whom was twice convicted in schemes where he impersonated an attorney — set up a fraudulent non-profit organization and pocketed more than $220,000 in funding the city provided to the charity for services that were never provided, authorities allege.
Charity Fakes
Whether tying themselves to a prominent cause or preying on compassion related to a natural disaster, “charity” fakes are a year-round plague. And “charity” fakers do double damage — they steal from you and they steal from those you want to help with your donated dollars.
Check before You Donate
The key to avoiding charity fakes is to check if the group is recognized by the IRS as a nonprofit or charity. CharityCheck101.org helps you do that for free with its Directory Search and Reverse Lookup pages. Get the organization’s EIN and then dig deeper.
Fakes can be non-existent “charities” and can also be groups that spend little or nothing on their purported mission. It’s easy to check spending by reviewing the group’s public IRS Form 990. Find a 990 super fast and free.