Fake charity

Dear Competition Bureau,

I would like to file a complaint concerning XXXXXX, which claimed to be a Toronto-based registered charity raising funds for books and school supplies for low-income families.

A few months ago, I received a phone call around dinner time from a nice young woman with XXXXXX, who told me all about the program and then asked if I would like to give a donation. She also insisted that no donation is too small. She explained that I could make a monthly contribution, or give a lump sum payment, which would help the charity keep administration fees at a minimum. In a few days, I would receive a receipt for income tax purposes and some literature highlighting all the good work that XXXXXX does in the Toronto area.

I did not need to pause for too long before agreeing that it would be nice to help someone else out. I’m a mother of two small children and I know how expensive it is these days to buy school supplies and other necessities, and both my husband and I have good paying jobs. I opted for the lump sum payment of $100, since I felt would help XXXXXX keep costs down.

After a few days, I checked my credit card statement and noticed that the donation had gone through. Two weeks later, I still had not received any information or tax receipt so I decided to go to their web site. There didn’t appear to be any Toronto-based charity matching the one I had just given $100 to. I tried calling the number stored on my phone’s caller list several times, but I kept getting the same message, “The caller you are trying to reach is unavailable. Please try again later.” I then followed up with a search of charitable organizations registered with Canada Revenue Agency, only to discover that XXXXXX is not on the list.

I contacted my credit card company. Unfortunately I approved the transaction, so there was nothing they could do, except make a note of the organization as a fraudulent one.

Turns out being scammed by these guys wasn’t enough. I began to receive an unbelievably high number of calls from other charities, claiming to be fundraising for AIDS patients, hurricane victims and breast cancer research. I called the police, only to discover that my phone number has most likely been placed on a “sucker list,” which is apparently used by deceptive telemarketers to harass those who they believe are gullible enough to fall for another scam.

No one truly knows the financial loss caused by scam artists capitalizing on disasters and the unfortunate situation people may find themselves in. I don’t expect I’ll ever see my $100 again, but thought it was important to tell you about this scam, so you can inform the public and help protect them from losing their money too.