New York Attorney General Letitia James alerted the public Sunday about potential scammers, after the Buffalo supermarket shooting on May 14. James warned that scammers take advantage of such incidents to obtain donations for themselves, and not the intended beneficiaries.
James urged people to carefully check and review who they give their donations to. Using checks, and not cash, is suggested. One tip is to check if the charity is registered, as registered charities are required to file reports with the Office of the Attorney General’s Charities Bureau. Another tip is to ask and confirm how the donations are going to be used, to which organization the money is going, and what are the recipient’s existing programs and services. Sadly, after such tragedies, new organizations are created to solicit money. Therefore, it is important to verify that these charities are legitimate.
Caution should be exercised over solicitations done through text message, email, social media, and other websites. If you receive emails asking for donations, it is important to double check the email’s legitimacy as well, to prevent being scammed. Credit card information should never be given over the phone, in text messages, or on social media.
Charitable scams may be reported to the Charities Bureau of the attorney general’s office at [email protected]
The shooting, which killed 10 people and injured three, was said to be a “hate-filled terror attack” since 13 of the victims were black. Accused 18-year old Payton Gendron admitted that he is a white supremacist. In his 180-page “manifesto,” he said that he is afraid that white people are being replaced by other races. His writings strengthen the conclusion that the shooting was an act of “racially-motivated violent extremism.”
In her words, Attorney General James emphasized that, “Scammers often use incidents of crisis to perpetuate frauds to divert donations away from the intended recipients,” and cautioned the public to heed her warnings and follow her tips before making a donation to organizations claiming to assist victims of the “hate-filled terror attack in Buffalo.”