- Impersonating charities to get money or private information from well-intentioned taxpayers.
- Creating bogus websites use names similar to legitimate charities to trick people to send money or provide personal financial information.
- Claiming to work for or on behalf of the IRS to help victims file casualty loss claims and get tax refunds.
- Operating bogus charities to solicit money or financial information by telephone or email.
In IRS Newswire issue IR-2018-188, the IRS explains how you can help legitimately:
Comprehensive information on disaster-related tax issues, including provisions for tax relief, can be found on the disaster relief page on IRS.gov. In the case of a federally declared disaster, affected taxpayers may also call the IRS Special Services Help Line, 866-562-5227, with disaster-related tax questions. Details on available relief can be found on the disaster relief page on IRS.gov.
Donate to real charities
To help taxpayers donate to legitimate charities, the IRS website, IRS.gov, has a search feature, Tax Exempt Organization Search, that helps users find or verify qualified charities. Donations to these charities may be tax-deductible.
- Contribute by check or credit card. Never give or send cash.
- Don’t give out personal financial information — such as Social Security numbers or credit card and bank account numbers and passwords — to anyone who solicits a contribution.