Thursday 21 May 2015

Charity Commission warns of scams

The Charity Commission is reminding charities and the public to be vigilant and look out for scams used by fraudsters to obtain bank details.
The commission says that it is aware of a recent scam designed to trick religious foundations in the USA, and possibly this country too. The foundations were contacted with news that they were due a large gift or donation from an organisation promoted as being a legitimate and registered charity in the UK, which did not exist.
In this instance, in an attempt to make the scam appear more credible, the fraudster used false documentation showing parts of the commission’s logo and a forged staff signature. The regulator was contacted by a number of concerned individuals.
Before giving out any information, particularly of a financial nature, to another charity, trustees can take the simple step of looking up the registered charity number and the charity’s entry on the commission’s online charity search tool.
Trustees who receive correspondence falsely claiming to be from a genuine charity or from the commission should report this to the commission and to Action Fraud, the UK’s national fraud and internet crime reporting centre. The commission has referred this matter to Action Fraud.

(Source: Charity Commission)

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