Member Article

Pubs warned about bogus charities

Publicans have been told to look out for bogus charity collectors deceiving their customers this Christmas. The Charity Commission said it was commonplace at this time of year for people to collect money in pubs under the guise of representing a charity. It said legitimate collectors should be able to show a charity number, not just the number of a limited company, as well as written authorisation from the charity to collect in its name. The commission is launching its campaign because people often do not realise they are being scammed and publicans often do not know which questions to ask.

A spokeswoman for the Charity Commission said: “This sort of thing is commonplace. “Christmas is a good time to run a scam; the people who are running these know full well what they are doing.”

The commission has warned people to be on the lookout for “tell-tale signs” of bogus charity collections include vague claims that a collection is “for sick kids” or “the homeless” with no mention of a real charity. Another warning sign for publicans to look out for is the use of photocopied letters saying “thank you for your donation” rather than any proper printed authorisation.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .