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In everyone’s heart there is a desire to help their fellow man. This is commonly done by means of non-profit charities that have been set up for this purpose. Unfortunately, scammers have seen this as ‘easy money’ and have devised various schemes to take advantage of the situation.

One such charity fraud that has becoming increasingly common is through providing assistance to children and families in foreign countries. Pictures and videos of malnourished, emaciated children and impoverished needy families are portrayed in pamphlets and television spots. The recipient is told how much their money will help and given an addressed envelope.

While no one wants to see children or families suffer, donating money without a thorough knowledge of where it will go is not a wise decision. Scams revealed in the past few years have shown that the money collected in many supposed charity events actually went for the personal pleasure of the scammers rather than for the supposed recipients. This gives all charities a bad name and, actually, many work hard to ensure that donated dollars go exactly where they should.

Charitable organizations use magazines, mailings, television, the Internet, and other means to reach a wide audience. Typically, donations of at least ten dollars are requested. However, thinking critically for a moment, one would realize that the vast majority of the money is actually going to pay for these advertisements in the first place.

In one case, a charity organization was authentic, completely registered, and really did send money and resources to foreign countries. However, investigation revealed that ninety percent of the money received went for the overhead of the directors who received large salaries. As such, this organization was not considered a true charity and was considered a scam.

Charity scams come in many forms. They can be requests on behalf of the homeless, fighting animal cruelty, the poor, and nearly any other type of help. While there are many legitimate charities in existence there is always someone in the wings that will use any means to remove money from one’s pockets in order to fill their own.

To avoid being taken in by a charity scam it is very important to investigate the organization thoroughly. Investigations can be done yourself on the Internet or by checking with the Better Business Bureau, the Consumer Complaint Agency, or some other way. If the appeal contains a name and telephone number, then a telephone service such as cell-registry.com/305/830/ can be used to verify the authenticity of the person or organization.

One should be especially suspect of people coming to the door with cans supposedly collecting for a well-known charity. There is no way to tell if the money is actually going to that charity or is being stolen by the individual collecting the funds. For a well-known and trusted organization, a mailed or hand-delivered gift will ensure that the money actually goes for its intended purpose.

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This particular scam has its origins in the 1500s, where thieves took advantage of many victims and left them without any money. It’s called the Spanish Prisoner due to its origins. Apparently, the powerful nature of Spain left it with a lot of enemies, leaving suspicions high. “Marks,” or victims, would be notified that a royal person was being held prisoner and to set them free would require bribes. By offering their money to release the reward, not only would they be promised large rewards, but a princess would be offered as well.

As with any con it required some research in order to only contact “soft” yet financially solid targets, as well as a demeanor that’s hard to duplicate. This type of conman can sell anything to anyone and get away with not only the money, but with the mark not initially realizing they’ve been duped.

Similar swindles exist in assorted varieties in modern times. They still depend on secrecy and trust, covertness, and a sense of acute importance. They play on the fact that, at heart, people want to save the world and come out financially well-off in the process. As the game goes on, the victim is told that difficulties have arisen, and more money is required. Eventually the mark has invested so much they can’t pull out without risking losing it all, which they do in the end anyway.

The 419 fraud, or the advance fee fraud, is but one form of this extremely popular scam. With the Internet this has become easier than ever. Not only can names be pulled from email headers, but the last name can often be determined from that information. With this information, you can pretend to be a relative with the same last name as them.

An Internet contact often results in a follow-up call where an elaborate, intricate story is woven and the plan is designed. Since you’ll be using the phone, consult a telephone look-up service like www.tele-snoopy.com/Minnesota/Mountain-Iron/218/258 which can help you to figure out whether or not their claims are legitimate. Today there are several frauds with numerous modifications patterned after the Spanish Prisoner.

The advance-fee fraud, where operational fees are required up front to secure the release of far greater wealth, has generated many branches. People who have too much trust for things they read online have been duped by the lottery email, work from home, reshipping, employment, overpayment, and romance scams, leaving them destitute because they believed a lie.

Besides using telephone look-up services, there are several other safeguards available to guard against being scammed. One is to delete any emails which come from unknown parties. It’s important to remember that once opened, scammers can gain access to an entire address book with the touch of a button. All they have to do is keep sending out emails until they find the right person who will open it up.

If such an e-mail is accidentally opened, poor spelling and grammar, or an offer of free gifts or exorbitant sums of cash that can be obtained by sending a small sum of money, or opening an empty checking account, are clues that it is a scam attempt. However, despite the fact that no policing really exists for the Internet, there are government agencies who are attempting to find scam groups like this and put a halt to their operations. If you inform them of an impending scam, this process can go faster.

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