Donors beware: Ebola fundraising scams popping up

http://www.livewellnebraska.com/health/donors-beware-ebola-fundraising-scams-popping-up/article_1d38a044-5639-11e4-ab03-001a4bcf6878.html

Posted: Friday, October 17, 2014 3:06 pm | Updated: 3:11 pm, Fri Oct 17, 2014.
By Bob Glissmann / World-Herald staff writer

The Better Business Bureau is warning consumers about a variety of Ebola-related scams and problematic fundraisers that have emerged recently.

A fundraising page on GoFundMe was created on Wednesday to raise donations for Amber Joy Vinson, the nurse who traveled from Dallas to Cleveland and is being treated for the Ebola virus at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta. The site may have been the work of a well-intentioned individual, the BBB said, but members of Vinson’s family say they did not authorize the effort.

Several BBBs also have reported on phone solicitations from an organization supposedly raising money to help with Ebola. When pressed, the caller says he is from a famous charity’s chapter in the Bronx, New York. BBB say no such branch exists and that the solicitation likely is a scam.

BBB warns donors to carefully research any charitable efforts, especially those that surface following an event that gains news media attention. Officials urge donors to check out charities at give.org, the charity reporting arm of BBB.