Beware of bogus charity collectors (From Worcester News)

Beware of bogus charity collectors

12:50pm Wednesday 3rd February 2010 in

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PEOPLE in Worcester are being warned to be on their guard after a bogus charity posted leaflets through doors asking for clothes donations.

One man became suspicious because the leaflet did not name the charity and was not accompanied by a collection bag.

Although the leaflet did contain a charity registration number, Graham McBride, of Grenville Road, Dines Green, Worcester, doubted the authenticity of the campaign and called the police who confirmed the number was fake.

Mr McBride said: “There was no mention of a charity name just a registered number. I remember something like this happening before. We left stuff outside and a dodgy looking van came to collect it so I ran out and asked the guys what they were doing. They scarpered pretty quickly. These guys can make a lot of money from clothes.”

When your Worcester News tried to call the number on the leaflet an answer phone message said the mailbox was full and it was not possible to leave a message. The hotmail e-mail address advertised for a Hope Warehouse was not recognised.

A spokesman for south Worcestershire police said: “Trading Standards have been informed of this incident and are investigating it. We ask people not to put out clothes or other items for charities unless they have checked it’s a genuine charity.

“We would ask anyone else who has received this leaflet to please contact Trading Standards.”

A spokesman for Trading Standards, Worcestershire, said such bogus requests were extremely common.

“We urge people to read the small print on the bags and check the charity has a charity number – then to check the charity with the Charity Commission,” he said.

Acorns Children’s Hospice in Bath Road, Worcester, is among the genuine charities which rely on donations from across the region to stock its chain of shops.

Janice McPherson, head of retail, said: “We were shocked that some of our collections were sabotaged by bogus collectors last year.

“We appreciate some households might get bombarded with charity collection bags through the door but they may not realise that some of the bags could be from bogus charities. It’s such a shame that our supportive community who think they are donating items for sale in our shops are being conned in this way.”

She said genuine charity collectors would always provide a bag labelled with the Association of Charity Shops logo, a registered charity number – which can be verified by visiting charity-commission.gov.uk or by calling the charity, and a direct landline telephone number.

For more information about guarding against bogus collections visit charitybags.org.uk.