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Sage Advice for Senior Citizens Who Wish to
Donate
It is a sad fact but senior citizens are the group that are
most often scammed when it comes to cons that are being run by
people who pretend to be representatives from well known
charities. A great deal of these cons are done by way of the
telephone and seniors fall victim to these clever and
unscrupulous scam artists all of the time. The reason for this
is not exactly clear. Many senior citizens have such a strong
desire to help others that they either cannot or do not take
the time to research the charity in question and simply take
everything they are told at face value. Many senior citizens
are alone and have no one who is able to help them do the
necessary research. Still, con artists who know their game all
too well easily bully seniors.
Having someone in a senior citizen’s corner who can teach and
educate them on charities and on charitable giving is
essential. Many seniors lack the resources to learn what they
need to know. Many senior citizens home have financial advisors
who can sit down with the residents and discuss financial
matter with them, either in a group setting or one-on-one. One
topic that is worth discussing is donating money to charities.
Senior citizens can sometimes lose sight of how much money they
have and where it is going so it is helpful if they have
someone who they can trust to keep them on track.
Having a trusted family member or friend who can research a
charity is a good idea if the senior is unable to do so him or
herself, such as someone who physically finds it difficult to
move around. Start a search at the IRS before allowing your
senior mother or father to donate money to any charity. This is
true even for the most well-known, popular and reputable
charities around. You can never be too sure when it comes to
your money or anyone else’s. The Internal Revenue Service is
able to do a search for all charitable organizations and can
let seniors know if the charity they are interested in is on
the “up and up” or not.
Telephone solicitations are a common way that senior citizens
are bilked out of their hard-earned dollars. If you are called
on the telephone by a so-called solicitor of a well known
charity always ask to be sent brochures or pamphlets of
information from the organization before you agree to donate.
The majority of scammers will not have any information to send
you ands will therefore be scared off and are not likely to
ever bother you again.
When called by a telephone solicitor, never ever give any
personal information about yourself to the person, no matter
what. Do not disclose your full name, your address, your birth
date or your social security number. This includes any
financial information such as your bank account number(s) or
your credit card number. The same works for solicitors who
contact you via e-mail- do not give them any personal
information and it is better simply to delete the e-mail and
not to respond at all. The only exception to this rule is if
you are contacted through e-mail by an organization that you
are personally well acquainted with, such as one you have
donated money to in the past and/or have volunteered for.
It is important for senior citizens to bear in mind that many
scam artists and phony charities will use the name of a
reputable organization to solicit donation. If you are
contacted in any manner by a charity and have suspicions about
the legitimacy of the organization then take the time to get in
touch directly with the head office in your town or city to
verify that the solicitation was indeed legitimate. Do not get
caught in a scam artist’s web of lies and deceit!
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