Collecting money has been around for centuries. From collecting money for showing where a ball is under a cup or shells. Or kids going door to door selling $2.00 Hersheys chocolate bars (I aged myself there, sorry!). Only in recent years, housing and homelessness crisis, as well as how simple it can be to scam another person who you don’t even need to have more than a few words with is incredibly alarming. Unsuspecting and gullible people are preyed upon by people who seem to want to help a cause that is either popular or close to their heart. It doesn’t have to be all a large lump sum either, it can be little bits of funds here and there in the way of weekly donations to “Toonie Tuesdays” or “Fiver Fridays” where you specifically send funds for said days. Not including the abundance of posts requesting for money for their causes. Today, we break this down. And hopefully you or your loved one can be prevented the tragic lose of finances in an economy that is quite literally working against us.
I’d also like to preface this as it is meant to be informative. If it sounds like something I’m talking about relates to something like a group, or a Facebook collection page, or anything along those lines it is purely a coincidence. If you read this and red flags are appearing in regards to an organization, group of people or whatever else collecting funds for a cause, trust those gut feelings.
An important bit of information also is anyone who thinks that a person or entity is scamming people, has to be the person to prove this for anything criminal to happen. This also includes past people working with said entity, non-profit, charity, or other groups. As an outsider it may be far more challenging. As a donator it may be easier in a way. If you donated money to “This” cause, and you don’t think the money is going to “This” but instead is going to “That” or you are unsure where it is going. Strength in numbers is also a bonus if you are a group of numerous people who have donated and not seen where you were told your money is going, that may be easier to report to the police as multiple people are experiencing this.
One major flaw in seeing through these groups is the people running them. They use various tactics in order to either persuade you to donate more, or they have their little warriors that will totally disregard your experience and belittle you into thinking you are wrong. This small group normally gangs up on anyone who questions the head person in charge. One famous line many use is “How can they be doing wrong when they are doing so much good”. This narrative makes you question your own gut instincts because the amount of times they say this to you is to brainwash you in to feeling horrible for ever questioning things. Have no fear though, let’s jump into some major red flags as to how you or a loved one may be getting scammed.
- One seemingly obvious red flag is the unwillingness to register as a “legit” entity. Whether that be a non-profit, charity later, or business. While there is a little more “work” in terms of a non-profit, it also requires fully declaring finances. Non-profits for example have a board of directors, they cannot be paid. They also need to have accountability. The argument has been seen across various groups that “Registering will limit who we can help” is a cop out excuse. When you create a non-profit you create a mandate. This can be as specific as you wish or more broad. This does however require keeping track of receipts and not just posting photos on Facebook.
– Only seeing partial or no transparency from these groups is another major red flag. Two sides of this. Showing no transparency would be when asked about funds, whether someone who donated, someone who will be donating, or perhaps maybe inviting their friends or family to donate, is denied. Partial transparency would be showing “enough”. This could be showing receipts, a small portion of a bill, or even a grocery order seemingly purchased. The reason for showing partial transparency is to give the donators or future donators or even critics the illusion that “business as usual” in terms of funds being spent. However this isn’t actually being transparent. The true way to gain transparency when collecting funds would be to become legit and register OR fully show bank statements to said account that donated funds would be sent. Whether sharing monthly the total amount of funds incoming and total outgoing to show every cent given is truly being used for what the intent was.
– Censoring and blocking people who question any “leader” or person who is in charge. This is very typical. And while most people with nothing to hide, don’t. This is the typical response from numerous groups over the past 2 years. I have seen it myself. Someone has donated a specific amount. Or maybe they regularly donate to the specific days that a group may hold as mentioned above. Eventually the person starts asking for transparency as in where has the money gone? Food? Bills? Rent? Repairs? Anywhere? And instead they are met with these “warriors” again, belittling the person asking because how dare someone question this “good guy” trying to “make a difference”. Or they are met with simply removing their questions and then blocked and removed from a group or page. This routinely happens when people who were close to the leader leave after eyeing something themselves that wasn’t proper, and they speak up. You never see them speak up in the original group but use their stories on their personal pages or other community groups to warn others to stop giving funds. This is because these groups while may be in thousands of members, a very very small portion actually donate. And as someone questions how things are run, more and more people also share their feelings of problematic behavior which again, anyone speaking out against them are silenced.
– “Poor Me” is just that. Typically once someone is called out. One tactic is to pause the group, let things blow over a bit, and then at some point make a statement of lots of words and not really clarifying anything that was addressed. Some groups have been known to do this for years. Routinely having drama that Snowballs to the point funds being donated may have staggered off then come back after a brief pause after plugging their group to all the provincial groups in hopes to bump their numbers.
– Empty Threats are very typical of anyone threatened especially people in these positions. I myself have questioned transparency with a particular local non-profit, except where they registered they have to declare their incoming funds and where it goes, to find out they lapsed their time frame to declare it. I’ve been told for the last year and a half that the police were coming after me for putting pressure on these collectors to be transparent, and truth be told, I don’t even think police have traveled down my street. Which is also a good reminder that even if one of these groups does register to become “proper” they may not properly play by the legal rules either.
– Previous helpers or people involved questioning things is a major red flag. You may be asking, how? Because they once knew more than the average person and suddenly they are against it? Truth is, most of these leaders and collectors bring people along the way. They also don’t share anything to them. In these situations I’ve personally heard of they also don’t ever see how much money is coming in. Normally something happens that they simply can’t ignore and when questioning the first person, they are again silenced. A good way to see this is depending how long these collectors have been operating, the chances are a few times a year people will become whistle-blowers. This is very rarely a one time thing. Or people are afraid of backlash and maybe they are in too deep. Or strength in numbers if multiple people have decided to leave they all feel able to tell their stories of what they seen.
– No registered lottery license for 50/50s, etc. While this isn’t “totally” required until a certain amount raised, a lottery license is free to obtain. A lottery license is also relatively fast to get. In today’s day and age of scammers and anything else, there really is no excuse not to get a proper lottery license. It is the easier thing to claim and will help legitimize any fundraising efforts outside of the standard “Send an Email Transfer”.
– Only one person on a bank account where funds are directed, or using personal bank account. This seems like an obvious red flag but in case it wasn’t here it is. Anytime someone collecting funds is reluctant to show any transparency, whether publicly or to their allies who also are collecting funds, should be a warning that something might be as it seems.
– Secretive with membership points and collecting. This was actually something that was brought up to me and something that I really never thought about. Many times there are different stores used that have loyalty points. And while some needs to be hooked up to an account, where are the points going? Are they being invested back into said group or are they just not being used period, or are they being added to a leader or helpers accounts for their personal use. And if say something is being invested back into the group, just be honest with the people funding these efforts. - And this goes without saying.. THEY ASK FOR PERSONAL, PRIVATE INFORMATION TO VARIFY YOU.. and before you start. Agency’s with the government also ask for information like bank statements. This is because the people employed with them sign confidentiality agreements. They also have checks in place and secure places to store this too. This isn’t some random on the internet asking for your personal banking statements using your vunerable states to decide if you are worthy to be helped. The truth is these statements are likely being sent in unsecured methods, kept in places with no safety or security process except for “trust me”. And on top of it, you could still send said fragile information and still find yourself not getting help. Protect yourself. Times are hard. And they won’t be any easier if this person/entity/group also doesn’t respect this information you share with them..
And before we finish too, Some ways you can donate and ensure that things are done properly are:
– Make sure you are donating to a registered charity, non-profit, etc. Any entity registered would be available to view online. Like in Nova Scotia for example that would be the joint stocks where you can search the name.
– Stick to long standing entities. Ones with years of experience and where you are able to check them properly declaring finances.
– Trust your gut. I cannot say this enough. If something feels off, it likely is.
– Check local places first. Local as in places that are within your community unlike a big city, chances are they may be also putting more into the community directly as opposed to a larger entity within a city.
Stacey J. Girard 