While these scams can happen at any time, they are especially prevalent after high-profile disasters. Criminals often use tragedies to exploit you and others who want to help.

Charity fraud scams can come to you in many forms: emails, social media posts, crowdfunding platforms, cold calls, etc. Always use caution and do your research when you're looking to donate to charitable causes.

After a natural disaster or other emergency, unethical contractors and other scammers may commit insurance fraud, re-victimizing people whose homes or businesses have been damaged. Sometimes these fraudsters even pretend to be affiliated with the government, when they are not. If you need any post-disaster repairs, do your research before hiring any contractor.  

Protect Yourself 

The following tips can help you avoid these schemes:

• Give to established charities or groups whose work you know and trust.
• Be aware of organizations with copycat names or names similar to reputable organizations.
• Be wary of new organizations that claim to aid victims of recent high-profile disasters.
• Do your research. Use the Federal Trade Commission's resources to examine the track record of a charity.
• Give using a check or credit card. If a charity or organization asks you to donate through cash, gift card, virtual currency, or wire transfer, it's probably a scam. Learn more about this trick from the FTC.
  
• Practice good cyber hygiene:
  • Don't click links or open email attachments from someone you don't know.
  • Manually type out links instead of clicking on them. 
  • Don't provide any personal information in response to an email, robocall, or robotext.
  • Check the website's address—most legitimate charity organization websites use .org, not .com.
• After a natural disaster or other emergency, carefully vet any contractors before hiring them to work on your home or business.