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Overview
Charity scams use a real or invented cause to collect money or personal information. They often appear after disasters, during holidays, or when a news event creates an immediate desire to help.
A scammer may create a name that resembles a well-known charity, impersonate a real organization, or build a fraudulent crowdfunding page. Other requests may involve a real person or cause but misrepresent who controls the fundraiser, how the money will be used, or what fees will be deducted.
Many legitimate organizations ask for donations by email, phone, text, mail, social media, and online fundraising platforms. The contact method alone does not determine whether a request is legitimate. Verify the organization and donation destination before paying.
How It Works
A charity scam may:
- Use an emotional or urgent story. The request may refer to a disaster, illness, military service, animal rescue, community emergency, or another cause likely to produce a quick response.
- Impersonate a familiar organization. The name, website, caller ID, email address, or social-media profile may look similar to a real charity.
- Pressure you to donate immediately. The fundraiser may discourage research or claim that waiting will prevent help from reaching people in need.
- Direct payment to the scammer. The request may use a fraudulent website, personal payment account, gift card, cryptocurrency wallet, wire transfer, or cash pickup.
- Collect more than money. A fake donation form may also capture payment-card information, account credentials, addresses, or other personal information.
Crowdfunding and social-media fundraisers require additional review. The platform may process payments without confirming every claim made by the person who created the campaign. A campaign supporting an individual is also different from a donation to a tax-exempt charitable organization.
Warning Signs
Be cautious when a fundraiser:
- Pressures you to donate immediately or becomes hostile when you ask questions.
- Will not provide the organization's full name, physical address, website, mission, or information about how the donation will be used.
- Uses a name that sounds almost, but not exactly, like a recognized charity.
- Thanks you for a previous donation you do not remember making.
- Guarantees that a donation will qualify you for a prize or sweepstakes.
- Requests payment by gift card, cryptocurrency, wire transfer, cash, or another method that is difficult to recover.
- Asks you to send money to an individual's account when the request claims to represent an established organization.
- Uses a website address, email domain, or payment recipient that does not match the organization named in the request.
- Provides vague answers about fees, the final recipient, or whether the contribution is tax-deductible.
- Uses caller ID, logos, photos, endorsements, or personal stories as the main proof that the fundraiser is legitimate.
A tax-exempt status does not guarantee that an organization is effective or that every solicitation using its name is authentic. It is one part of the verification process.
How to Protect Yourself
- Choose the organization yourself. Rather than donating through an unexpected request, go directly to the charity's official website or contact it using information you find independently.
- Confirm the exact name and web address. Look for small spelling changes or added words that may indicate an impersonation site.
- Research the organization. Search its name with terms such as “complaint,” “review,” “rating,” or “scam.” Review information from more than one source.
- Check tax-exempt information when relevant. The IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search can show whether an organization is eligible to receive tax-deductible charitable contributions. Some qualified organizations may not appear in the tool, and not every fundraiser for an individual is a charitable contribution.
- Understand who receives the money. On a crowdfunding or social-media campaign, identify the organizer, beneficiary, payment processor, fees, and refund terms.
- Do not let urgency replace verification. A legitimate charity should allow you time to research and donate when you are ready.
- Use a traceable payment method with appropriate protections. Be cautious when a fundraiser insists on gift cards, cryptocurrency, wire transfers, or cash.
- Keep a record of the donation. Save the receipt, organization name, date, amount, and payment method.
- Check for recurring charges. Review the donation form carefully and monitor statements to make sure you were not enrolled in an unintended recurring contribution.
- Limit personal information. A normal donation should not require your account password, MFA code, Social Security number, or remote access to your device.
What You Should Do at UM
If a donation request arrives through UM email, uses UM branding, or claims to come from a UM employee, student organization, department, or partner:
- Do not donate through the message until the request has been verified.
- Contact the named person, department, or organization through an official UM website, the UM directory, or another trusted method. Do not rely only on contact information in the solicitation.
- Use Outlook's Report Message tool and report the email as phishing if it appears fraudulent. Delete the message after reporting it. The Report Message tool may remove it automatically.
- Contact the UM IT Helpdesk or UM Information Security Office if the request impersonates UM, uses a UM account, or involves university systems, data, or financial processes.
If you manage a legitimate UM-related fundraiser or donation process, use approved university systems and established financial procedures. Do not ask community members to bypass those processes or send money to a personal account.
If you entered your UM password on a donation page, shared an MFA code, or approved an unexpected MFA request, change your UM password through the normal UM account-management process and contact the UM IT Helpdesk or UM Information Security Office.
For a personal donation that does not involve UM, work directly with the charity, fundraising platform, and payment provider. Contact UM only when a UM account, device, message, identity, or university process was involved.
Additional Questions
For a charity request involving a UM account, UM identity, university organization, or UM financial process, contact the UM IT Helpdesk and the UM Information Security Office. For an official UM fundraiser or donation process, work with the appropriate UM fundraising, foundation, student-organization, or financial office.
For a personal charity or crowdfunding concern:
- Contact the charity through contact information on its independently verified website.
- Contact the fundraising or social-media platform if the campaign appears misleading or fraudulent.
- Contact your bank, credit union, card issuer, or payment provider immediately if you made an unauthorized or fraudulent payment.
- Report a suspected charity scam to the Federal Trade Commission and, when appropriate, the relevant state charity regulator.
- Use IdentityTheft.gov only when identifying information has been used or is at meaningful risk of misuse. A questionable donation request by itself is not identity theft.
Additional Resources