Teresa Glidden, the outreach and education coordinator for the Corporations and Charities Division of Washington’s Secretary of State, works closely with Consumer Protection Washington, a consortium of state and federal agencies, as well as the Better Business Bureau, all of whom are dedicated to educating and alerting the public on consumer issues, scams and investigations in Washington State.Teresa provided Rotarians several questions to ask telephone solicitors:
What is the caller's name?
- What is the name and address of the charity?
- Is the caller paid to make the call?
- Who is the caller working for?
- How will my contribution be used?
- How much of my contribution will actually go to the charitable purpose?
- Is my contribution tax-deductible?
- Is the charity and telemarketer registered with the WA Secretary of State as required?
Teresa referred Rotarians to the following resources for more information about preventing fraudulent charity scams:
She suggested friending the agency's Facebook page for hot-off-the-press news about new scams: