Car Donation Scams

How to Avoid Them

Legitimate charities need your support, but don't fall victim to a car donation scam.  Follow these tips to avoid giving your charity car donation to a scammer. 

1. Always request identification from the solicitor first.  Fundaraisers should identify a bona fide charity that they're working for.

2. Look out for look-alike and sound-alike names.  Scammers deliberately choose names to confuse you - making you think they are affiliated with the 'real' charity they are pretending to represent.

Recently a couple of unlicensed charities, the "National Lung Foundation" and the "National Cancer Association" were found to be charging $200 in towing fees for every donated car - regardless of whether the car needed towing or not.

In another case, a Sacramento, CA man was convicted of fraudulently accepting almost $1,000,000 in donated cars for "The Foundation For Abused Children" - charity that does not exist!

3. Don't ever send money over the phone!  This includes giving a credit card number.  Even if the charity is legit, pay by check and make the check payable to the charity - NEVER the person soliciting the check.

4. Any charity that offers free stuff as an incentive for you to donate means less of your donation goes to the charity.  (They use donation $$ to pay for these incentives.)

5. Be alert for invoices claiming you made a pledge when you have not.

Check with the State Attorney General's Office to see if the car donation charity is listed with them.  If that state does not require charities to register with them, then check that the charity is listed favorably with one or moe of the following charity watchdog organizations:

Charity Navigator - http://www.charitynavigator.org/

Better Business Bureau Charities - http://www.bbb.org/us/charity/

GuideStar Charity Check - http://www2.guidestar.org/

Charity Watch - http://www.charitywatch.org/