FTC cracks down on phony veteran charities

The Federal Trade Commission has launched an effort to combat the scourge of phony veterans’ charities. Named “Operation Donate with Honor”, the task force is made of law enforcement officials and charity regulators from 70 offices across the country and, together, they’ve shuttered more than a hundred of these phony charities;

“Americans are grateful for the sacrifices made by those who serve in the U.S. armed forces,” said FTC Chairman Joe Simons. “Sadly, some con artists prey on that gratitude, using lies and deception to line their own pockets. In the process, they harm not only well-meaning donors, but also the many legitimate charities that actually do great work on behalf of veterans and servicemembers.”

The FTC planned this ongoing effort with the National Association of State Charity Officials (NASCO). The initiative includes an education campaign, in English and Spanish, to help consumers recognize charitable solicitation fraud and identify legitimate charities.

From Forbes;

In one action, the FTC and five states forced Help the Vets agree to stop asking for money.

The bogus charity which also operated under the names American Disabled Veterans Foundation, Military Families of America, Veterans Emergency Blood Bank, Vets Fighting Breast Cancer, and Veterans Fighting Breast Cancer claimed donations would go to veteran medical care.

The scamster also falsely claimed a “gold” rating by GuideStar, which provides information about nonprofits.

Another FTC action succeeded in getting a temporary restraining order against Travis Deloy Patterson who used fake veterans’ charities and illegal robocalls to get people to donate cars, boats and other things of value, which he then sold for his own benefit.

Like with Help the Vets, this pretend charity operated under a variety of aliases: including Veterans of America, Vehicles for Veterans LLC, Saving Our Soldiers, Donate Your Car, Donate That Car LLC, Act of Valor, and Medal of Honor.

Charity Watch determined that “Help the Vets” spent a paltry 6% of their donations that were actually going to help veterans. The rest went to salaries and fund raising.

The FTC is launching a public education initiative to counter this scourge.

Category: Phony Vet Charities