Cancer Charity Scam: Telemarketer Dupes People Out of $110M With 1.3B Robocalls; How to Protect Yourself

The issue arises anew from a settlement just announced by the Federal Trade Commission with a telemarketer that it says barraged unsuspecting consumers with phone calls asking for money to support a variety of  causes, including those for cancer.

Associated Community Services often used realistic sounding, but recorded, voices to place 1.3 billion calls to 67 million phone numbers, said the FTC as part of its probe with agencies in 38 states and the District of Columbia. The system was even capable of responding to consumers' questions with recorded answers in a way that could have left many believing they were speaking with a real person.

The voices often weren't live, the FTC says, but ACS and associated companies were still able to collect $110 million from consumers. The telemarketers kept up to 90% of the funds they collected and knew that the organizations that said they said they were collecting on behalf of were using little, if any, of the donated funds for charitable purposes.

"Deceptive fundraising can be big business for scammers, especially when they use illegal robocalls,” said Daniel Kaufman, Acting Director of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection, in a statement.

For many consumers, the calls were unrelenting. ACS placed three or more calls a day to about 2.3 million phone numbers and also reached out to households via direct mail.

According to the complaint, the defendants' mailers tugged at both heartstrings and pursestrings. In asking for pledges, one mailer for the American Children's Cancer Fund warned of the possibility that a family would be evicted as they try to pay for their daughter's cancer treatments.

"It would be troubling enough to think you may be without heat, lights or even a roof over your head. But going through such trouble while caring for a son or daughter with cancer, well, that would almost be unbearable, wouldn't it?," the FTC quotes the solicitation as saying.

How To Protect Yourself Against Scams

The FBI says consumers should first make sure they are donating to charities they know and trust. It's not easy since many have similar names.  For the rest, several websites can help sort them out.

• Organizations like GuideStar  list financial reports from nonprofits and rate them for transparency.
• Charity Navigator  reports on charities in much the same way with an eye toward good governance. It also has Top 10 lists for those who want to give to a cause, but aren't sure which charity best fits their intentions.

Telephonic solicitations can be a minefield for donors. The FTC says that givers shouldn't fall for sob stories and should try to ask instead how their donation will be spent. Don't feel rushed to make a pledge and never offer donations in cash, with gift cards or by wiring money.

Also, beware of tricks such as being thanked for a donation you never made. If you want to give to cause, do it with credit card or check and keep records of the donation, the agency advises.

The FTC says it will continue to pursue telemarketing scams involving charities.

"The FTC and our state partners are prepared to hold fraudsters accountable when they target generous consumers with lies," Kaufman said in his statement on the ACS case.

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