What do the following organizations have in common? They’re all known and pursued by law enforcement as scammers disguising themselves as “charities” and raising big dollars from real people.
- American Association of Police Officers
- American Veterans Relief Fund
- Association for Firefighters and Paramedics
- Association for Police and Sheriffs
- California Police Youth Charities
- Coalition of Police and Sheriffs
- Disabled Firefighters Fund
- Homeless and Disabled Veterans
- Junior Police Academy
- Law Enforcement Apprenticeship Program
- Minnesota Disabled Veterans
- National Foundation of America
- Police Protective Fund
Avoiding “charity” scammers is an important part of smart giving.
Every dollar scam “charities” take in is a dollar that could instead have gone to a strong charity doing valuable work with the funds entrusted to it.
The U.S. is a very charitable and generous society. Unfortunately, the charitable, generous natures of many makes them the target of the unscrupulous — who often disguise themselves to look like charitable or humanitarian causes.
These schemers will always be with us. Building on their everyday activities, they seem to be especially active following up on well-publicized disasters across the world.