The holidays, especially Christmas, are a time of giving. People are more considerate of one another, and are more likely to give to the less fortunate. While giving to people you do not even know is truly generous, there are some people out there who take advantage of the increased generosity.
Sadly, there are hundreds, if not thousands, of scammers out there. These bad people are aware of the extra good nature out there, and seek to use that for their own advantage. They look for ways to convince people to give money to them, usually through trickery. They have plenty of different schemes that they can use. One that shows up a lot during the holidays is fake charities.
Scammers will try to present themselves as charities in order to get money from unsuspecting people. If a person is looking to make any donations this year, they need to be careful. They want to make sure that their money goes exactly where it was meant to. Here are a few tips to keep your donations safe from scammers this holiday season.
- Avoid charities that only accept cash, gift cards, or wire transfers.
- Keep a record of all donations.
- Monitor bank accounts after donations.
- Don’t be rushed into making donations.
- Research the charity in question.
- Search for complaints about the charity.
So long as a person keeps these tips in mind while making donations this year, they can be sure that their money is going where they are intended to go. Their money will be able to help those in need, just like they wanted.
