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
Long overdue action. Nail all these bastards. Even some of the “legitimate” funds spend most of the donations on salaries and promotions. Truly sad. And what about some prosecutions rather than “shutting them down”. They will just re-appear with a different name and continue the same old game.
Wish they would do more, what a shame!
If they REALLY wanted to fix the problems, they would make it easy to report them.. There aren’t enough investigators to cover all the scams. States don’t have the time to do anything about them. They should have something somewhere that allows people to report them to state officials and charges would be filed. A list of the people involved should be posted on line. BUT Law enforcement doesn’t usually get involved unless some “rich” person loses money. Just don’t give money out to any group that you can’t don’t know. Google them.
I say just make it legal for vets to beat these people down and upload the videos to YouTube as a warning.
“Vet Squad” The beatings will stop when the last dime is dropped.
Pay-Per-View, you mean. Proceeds delivered to charities that actually help the Vets and families.
JUST let me know when, my shillelagh and ball peen hammer are polished and ready…
Just googling them isn’t always enough to spot the bad ones. I have had to dig pretty deep to spot some signs that everything isn’t as above board as it looks.
My rule of thumb is if you send me nickels, quarters, or even a dollar bill, then you really don’t need anything from me. Oh, and this vet thanks you for the beer money.
That has been one of my rules as well.
I hope a lot of hides get nailed to the proverbial wall, a number of con gamers have been getting away with their shit for too long!
These crooks are lower than whale shit.
It’s about time. Unfortunately it will continue. Until the folks who have already been paid to properly take care of our veterans are made to do that job it will continue.
Not talking about a community coming together to do something special, or fill in a few gaps, for a local vet that everybody knows. That is indeed different and admirable.
Further exacerbating the problem is the time, energy, and money being spent on those who have not earned veterans benefits at all, and those who exaggerate their service. That is a national disgrace because money and care diverted to the undeserving deprive those who have earned it. It looks like those who are paid to provide care for vets either don’t care or are actually complicit in the stolen valor scam.
But it is very good that this part of the problem is finally being addressed.
Couldn’t agree more. Way overdue. Not just veteran “charities” are frauds though. It shouldn’t be allowed to spend more than 10% on staffing, fund raising, political contributions, etc. that so-called charities partake in.
Good news. I will be glad to see them crack down even more on these people. Lest see how ling it takes to add:
Wounded Warriors Project
Disabled Veterans of America
Veterans of Foreign Wars
The American Legion
Just to name a few. Doing “some” good work in the name of veterans while allowing fakes, frauds, and embellishers to flourish among the ranks has been unacceptable for a long time now.
When these organizations REQUIRE an SF-180 for officers and key staff then they will deserve our support…not before. I could give a shit less how much “good” they do in the mean time.
You left out the VA
The process I went through to get my VA card required I produce my DD 214 and my service was verified by St. Louis.
I have been informed all veterans are encouraged to register for their VA Card even if they are not requesting any benefit from the VA.
However, if there is some, and I am positive there are some, fake/embellished low life cock suckers in the VA boot their ass to the nearest lock up facility and make them pick up trash along the highways for a few months.
What bothers the hell out of me ( just as much as the membership = dues= money for the kitty) is all the ads in the A L magazine asking for OUTRAGEOUS prices for merchandise they are hawking. Nothing to do with charities, but mailers from some Joelsteen Co. to most vets…..hustling 10 K rings for a price that anyone having ever been around the jewelry business knows is overpriced by ten fold. While I’m on a rant, how about the phone company doing due diligence in allowing solicitors to get by with spoofing numbers when they call. Don’t tell me the phone company and communication companies have no idea how to put a stop to this nonsense!
Just -imagine- the societal good if all the effort wasted by our so-called “betters” on “investigating” Trump was instead targeted on fraudsters.
-crickets-………
I don’t donate to any charities. Instead I assist vets directly. Last December I ran into I guy I vaguely knew from when he was in and he wanted me to take him to a nearby shelter. I drove him there but once there I realized there wasn’t a chance in hell I was going to simply drop him off. Outside it stuck like a city dump and there were throngs of unsavory people hanging about. Christmas was right around the corner; as was New Years. I can’t turn my back on a fellow vet.
Instead I took him to base billeting and set him up for the next few weeks; which was all he needed until he could get into a newly built homeless vet housing complex. He had been on the waiting list for some while. He’s into me for over $1,000 and I feel just fine with that. Had I given the money to some charity maybe $100 of that would have actually gone to assist vets and I’m not into giving my money to those who claim to help when I can do it directly and know my money is well invested.
I donate to local groups I personally know are run by volunteers and that do good work. I actually sit on the board of one that gives direct financial assistance, after the intended recipient is fully vetted and verified.
Next up, let’s address those who claim to be of, for, by or about Gold Stars. Is there anything lower than someone running an organization for Gold Stars who is not a Gold Star who runs around speaking in the first person plural?
This one is an odd one for me. I know a woman who wears her gold star proudly and uses it for her advantage for sympathy. I’ve been to her house and have seen the room she’s built as a shrine for her “son”.
In my mountains there was a ceremony for the flag raised for this deceased member who was a Navy Chief about to retire but died in Iraq months before his 20. I attending in my class A’s out of respect. I was surprised when the local reporter went to another woman to interview her. It turns out the second woman was the true mother while the one I thought was the mother was actually the mother-in-law.
She left that small detail out when telling me about her “son”. I’d have never known had I not attended that ceremony.
He died before I could ever meet him;
http://www.eodwarriorfoundation.org/memorial/warrior/patrick-l-wade
I might as well include this article as well;
http://www.navy.mil/submit/display.asp?story_id=61581
Wow, that was one hell of a Navy Chief. I too wish i had the chance to meet him. Chief Wade had 4 RED Stripes reminds me of the Senior Chief with 7 Red Stripes – Great Lakes – 1976.
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