1:58pm Wednesday 23rd December 2009
By Brian Gomm
CHARITY clothes scammers are busy bagging sackloads of garments from generous house-holders.
But these donated gifts aren’t going to the needy say trading watchdogs.
Wigan Council’s Trading Standards’ team has become increasingly alarmed about the growth in bogus clothes collections. As the gangs become more sophisticated, a further development has seen a number of old collection bags belonging to some reputable, registered charities also being used by the scammers.
“What usually happens is you get a leaflet or bag through the door saying that there is going to be a collection of old clothes in your area and that all donations will be sent to third world countries to help clothe people in need,” said Cllr Paul Prescott, the Council's champion for lifestyles with responsibility for licensing and regulation.
“While some may be genuine, other commercial practices involve using deceitful techniques like this to collect goods that are then sold and exported for a profit.”
A good way to tell the difference between real charities and the con-merchants is to make sure the organisation’s full details, such as address and telephone number, are on the leaflet. It should also have a registered charity number. Better still, if you can, call the charity or check out their alleged websites and see what information is available.
“Commercial companies can collect on behalf of a charity but they must state how much of the donation will go to the charity,” said chief trading standards officer, Julie Middlehurst.
She advises the easiest way to avoid falling foul of the charity collection scam is to give directly to the charity of your choice, and to hand your donations into high street charity shops.
If you are unsure about a charity you can contact the Charity Commission on 0870 333 0123 to see if it is registered.
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