A General Warning About Online Charity Scams

A little over a year ago someone started a new pet charity called Pet Food Stamps, supposedly duly registered with authorities in the state of New York. Since I have writing talents to offer, I did so; first as a volunteer, and then after the workload increased dramatically, as an unsigned employee with promised complete status and lavish financial rewards in the very near future.

As you might guess, the Very Near Future never quite arrived. The PFS enterprise was already branching out into various commercial activities designed, they claimed, to fund the charity itself. When I informed the alleged director that the matter of my compensation needed to be addressed immediately if not sooner, he announced he was considering cashing out and walking away from everything. At that point I told him I wouldn't do any more work for them but would continue to press for what was already past due.

Not long afterwards the board kicked him off and made him post a formal notice of his ouster on at least two of their webpages. Since he continued his incredibly stupid practice of cc'ing board communications to me, I know their names as well and the fact that their severance package to him was due on the 22nd of May. I immediately contacted one of the lawyers again and remarked that while they were dispensing funds, they really ought to fulfill their obligations to me as well. After a long time that one asked me for a detailed breakdown of exactly which hours I'd worked for the various web IDs. When I replied that the best I could do was to send copies of the emails where I turned the work in, he eventually asked the same question again. I told him then it was up to him to apportion the billing between the various enterprises - I'd not be burdened with something he should do.

After warning them that I'd not wait to proceed legally past midnight tonight, I've heard nothing from them at all, which is the usual situation since I quit. So on Pet Food Stamps, Pet Social Network (both theirs), Pet Food Stamps Scam?, RIP Pet Food Stamps, and on my own timeline, I posted notice that tomorrow I'm turning over my complaint to the NY Atty Gen'l and will also post the names of the 2 board member lawyers on all 4 websites since there's a veritable horde of angry applicants who'd love to know where to contact these people directly. Their contact info can easily be googled by anyone who wants to do so. Very few people ever received any pet food at all.

So if you know anyone who signed up with them and never got anything after turning in a lot of their own personal data, let them know that I'll be posting the identities of the two board attorneys tomorrow. They claimed in an unsigned public announcement that a professional had been hired to run the charity several months ago, but so far no one I know has received a scrap. I certainly haven't.

Am I in the mood to kick shins? Count on it.