After every tragedy, scam artists line up to take advantage of the kindness of others. This can occur by tricking would-be donators into donating to a fake charity or getting them to provide their personal information while signing up to help. In some cases, they even revictimize those who were subjected to the tragedy as they are trying to sign-up for assistance. These individuals are the lowest of the low—criminals preying on our most vulnerable in society.
Don't let your good intentions line the pockets of these would-be scammers by falling for wildfire charity scams. Integritas³ can assist in figuring out what organizations are legitimate and which ones are scams. The article below identifies some well-known charities and also provides a list of resources available to those in need. Finally, it's tax season and scammers are doing everything they can to take advantage of new credits and other tax scams to get your money. The Internal Revenue Service recently listed some of those most common scams and provides resources for you to figure out what is legitimate and what is not. We also encourage you to follow IRS Criminal Investigation for the latest examples of scams affecting taxpayers.
Local experts warn of LA wildfire charity scams: https://www.wmar2news.com/beware-of-la-wildfire-charity-scams
Originally Posted January 16, 2025
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