Watch out for charity scams during holidays

Giving to charities during the holiday season is high on the list of many people — and unfortunately scam artists, the only criminals we call artists, are well aware of this fact. Charity scams occur throughout the year, but they reach new heights at this time of year. However, armed with a little knowledge, you can make sure that your holiday donation does not end up in the pockets of a scammer.

It is common at this time of year to receive calls from telemarketers asking for charitable donations to a wide range of charities. It is important to remember that even if you have put yourself on the Federal Do Not Call List for telemarketers, there is an exception for solicitations by charities, so you may be receiving a call on behalf of a real charity. Unfortunately, however, there is no way of knowing when you do receive a charitable solicitation by phone whether the person on the other end of the line is a scammer or not.

Whenever you are contacted by a charity, whether by text, phone, e-mail or otherwise, you can never be sure that the person contacting you legitimately represents the charity he claims to work for or, even if the charity itself is legitimate. Caller ID won't help you either because through a technique called "spoofing" a scam artist can make it appear on your Caller ID as if the phone call really is coming from a charity.

Many phony charities have similar names to real charities, particularly those purporting to collect for local fire and police departments at this time of year. Earlier this year Montana residents received letters soliciting contributions to the Firefighters Support Foundation, an organization that appeared to support Montana firefighters. In truth, the organization was not a legitimate entity promoting the welfare of firefighters, but is a scam intended to raise money only for the scammers operating the phony charity.

Always check out the legitimacy of a charity first before making a contribution. A good place to find out if a charity is real or merely has a name that sounds legitimate is www.charitynavigator.org. This website also will provide you with important information as to how much of the charity's collected donations actually are applied to its charitable works and how much go to administrative fees and salaries. As a rule of thumb, if a charity spends more than 25% of its donations on salaries and administrative costs, you may wish to consider giving to a different charity.

Since you can never be sure when you are contacted by phone, text or e-mail by someone soliciting on behalf of a legitimate charity, if he or she actually does work for the charity, your best course of action is to contact the charity directly either through its website or by phone to make your donation. It should go without saying, but I will say it anyway, that you should never give your credit card information to someone soliciting on behalf of a charity who has called you, texted you or e-mailed you.

Another thing to think about when considering making a charitable donation in response to a telephone solicitation is that even if the caller is legitimate many of the people making these calls are paid solicitors who receive a portion of the money collected as a commission. If you are truly interested in making sure that more of your money goes directly to the charitable works of your favorite charity, you are better off making your charitable donation either at the charity's website or by calling the charity directly.

Not all charitable donations qualify as a tax deduction on your income tax. If that is a concern to you, you can use the Exempt Organizations Select Check tool at www.irs.gov to see if the charity of your choice qualifies.

Finally, unwittingly many charities have put their donors in jeopardy of identity theft when filing Form 990 tax returns which are required to be filed by tax-exempt organizations. Although it is not required, many charities have included the names and Social Security numbers of people making donations. These Form 990s are public records, and identity thieves can easily access these forms and harvest the Social Security numbers for purposes of identity theft. The fewer places that have your Social Security number, the less your chances of becoming a victim of identity theft. There is no reason for you to provide your Social Security number when making a charitable donation.

So make your charitable donations safely and securely while helping your fellow man.

Steve Weisman is a lawyer, a professor at Bentley University and one of the country's leading experts in scams and identity theft. He writes the blog www.scamicide.com, and his new book is Identity Theft Alert.