Fraud Alert: Charity Scams

Making the world a better place often starts by opening your wallet and giving generously to causes you care about. No matter how much you plan to donate, you want to make sure every dollar goes where you intend it. Unfortunately, scammers may see an opportunity to take advantage of your generosity, so it's important to do your homework before making a contribution to your favorite charity.

Here's how to check that your hard-earned money will go toward supporting a legitimate cause.

1. Make Sure It's Legit

Before donating to any charity (especially one that you're not already familiar with), it's a good idea to make sure it's a legitimate organization with nonprofit status. Search for the organization's name on a charity watchdog site, like GuideStar1 and Charity Navigator.1 Through these sites, you can review an organization's credentials and confirm that it is legitimate.

Take some time to also use a search engine to dig up more information about the charity's name. Adding words like "complaint," "scam," or "review" to your search term can help you figure out if charity is one that should be avoided.2

2. Evaluate Social Media Fundraisers for Organizations

Social media has become a common way for nonprofits to raise money. In fact, even as far back as 2019, 83% of nonprofits in the U.S. and Canada agreed that social media is the most effective communication tool for online fundraising.3

Fortunately for donors, Facebook and Instagram have partnered with PayPal Giving Fun to verify the legitimacy of nonprofits and streamline donations before allowing organizations to use Facebook's fundraising tools. 4

3. Scrutinize Personal Fundraisers Online

Individuals who aren't affiliated with a nonprofit can use social media and crowdfunding platforms (like GoFundMe) to raise money for just about anything, from a costly medical bill to a teacher's classroom supplies. But sometimes fraudsters try to cash in on personal hardships and set up copycat fundraisers, so how do you make sure you're donating to the right one?

Giving to people you know personally is the safest way to contribute to a crowdfunding campaign, according to the Federal Trade Commission.5 If you don't know the person, but you still want to help, see if you have any mutual friends on social media who could attest to their reputation. You could also research them online.

If a major mainstream news organization has written an article about a personal fundraiser, you can feel more confident in making a donation. Major newspapers, magazines, TV stations, and other major media outlets have fact-checking teams that work to ensure their stories are accurate and trustworthy.

Social media can give you additional clues about the authenticity of a personal fundraiser. Look to see if the fundraising campaign is being promoted through social media posts by a person who's directly affiliated with that particular cause.

Be wary of individuals who seem to have created their social media profiles around the same date as their campaign, which could be a red flag. Consider doing a reverse image search with photos from the GoFundMe page or social media fundraising page using TinEye.com.6 If the same photos the fundraiser is using to promote their campaign are all over the internet, it might be a sign that something's off.

4. Ask for Recommendations for Charities Outside Your Area

Tapping your social network can be a smart way to find charities in a location you don't know well. If you want to donate money to an area in another country that has experienced a natural disaster, you could ask your friends and family for suggestions of trustworthy organizations. An old college friend may have personal experience volunteering with a specific charity that works in the area you want to help and can tell you about its good work. Consider their recommendations as a jumping off point for your own research.

5. Protect Your Payments

Finally, when making a donation, you should take steps to ensure a secure transaction. If you're donating online, double check that the website is secure: you should see https (the "s" means secure) instead of just http in your URL bar. Do not donate over the phone; it could be a vishing scam, which uses a blend of voice and email to get personal info from you. And the Federal Trade Commission recommends avoiding cash, gift cards, and money wires as payments, suggesting you stick to credit cards or checks instead.7

Enroll in Credit and Identity Protection Services

As a Synovus Plus, Synovus Inspire, or Synovus Private Wealth customer, you can enroll in complimentary Credit and Identity Protection services. With this service, Synovus will monitor your credit reports and notify you any time any changes are made. Synovus will also scan the web to make sure your personal information hasn't been compromised by checking websites, blogs and peer-to-peer networks. Synovus also offers full-service identity restoration if you become a victim of identity theft.

Want to know more about how you can achieve peace of mind as a Synovus customer? Learn more.