Rockford – The Better Business Bureau is warning consumers that emergency responders are not the only ones closely tracking the storms on the east coast, as scammers often see emergencies as a prime opportunity.

There will certainly be reports about storm scams and fake 800 numbers to make donations. BBB urges all potential donors to do a little homework and seek out charities like BBB Accredited Red Cross and others at give.org. The BBB rates charities nationwide and offers some tips to help people decide where to direct donations to assist storm victims and their families:

“As people try to assist storm victims and their families, there will be dishonest people creating fake donation campaigns to exploit the situation and try to scam those wanting to help,” Dennis Horton, director of the Rockford Regional Office of the Better Business Bureau said. “While there may be a sense of urgency, we encourage people to carefully consider who exactly they are giving to and making sure they provide relief to those in need.” 

Rely on expert opinion when evaluating a charity at Give.org

Be careful when relying on third-party recommendations such as bloggers or other websites, as they might not have fully researched the listed relief organizations. The public can go to BBB Wise Giving Alliance to research charities and relief organizations to verify that they are accredited by the BBB and meet the 20 Standards for Charity Accountability.

BBB Tips to wise 

giving

Be cautious when giving online.

Be cautious about online giving, especially in response to spam messages and emails that claim to link to a relief organization. If you are seeking to give to a charity organization involved in relief efforts, go directly to the charity’s website.

See if the charity’s website clearly describes what they can do to address immediate needs. Watch out for charities that don’t already have staff in the affected areas as they may not be able to provide assistance quickly.

Be wary of claims that 100 percent of donations will assist relief victims.

Despite what an organization might claim, charities have fund raising and administrative costs.    

Find out if the charity is providing direct aid or raising money for other groups.

Some charities may be raising money to pass along to relief organizations. If so, you may want to consider “avoiding the middleman” and giving directly to charities that have a presence in the region. Check to ensure the organizations are equipped to effectively provide aid.

Donations made via your mobile device.  

The BBB Mobile Giving Foundation works with the wireless operators to ensure that mobile giving campaigns for emergency relief efforts adopt this same degree of caution before launching fundraising efforts.  Wireless operators do support all qualified mobile giving campaigns without taking any fees, although billing platforms such as the BBB Mobile Giving Foundation, do recover transaction costs. All campaigns are compliant to industry best practices and regulatory requirements.  Official mobile giving campaigns in support of emergency relief efforts are restricted to qualified campaigns, and can be verified by visiting www.mobilegiving.org.

Understand 

crowdfunding

While this method of assisting individuals in need is popular, keep in mind that some crowdfunding sites do very little vetting of individuals who decide to post for assistance after a disaster, and it is often difficult for donors to verify the trustworthiness of crowdfunding requests for support.