•Know how scammers tell you to pay: Never pay someone who insists you pay with a gift card or by using a money transfer service. And never deposit a check and send money back to someone.
•Stop and talk to someone you trust. Before you do anything else, tell someone — a friend, a family member, a neighbor — what happened. Talking about it could help you realize it’s a scam.
•Verify a charity’s registration before donating: All charities soliciting within the state of Florida (excluding religious, educational, political, and governmental agencies) are required to register and file financial information with FDACS. Consumers can use our check-a-charity tool to verify if a charity is properly registered, how much the charity is spending on administration and fundraising, and how much money goes to actual programming.
•If it looks too good to be true, it probably is: Ignore offers for COVID-19 vaccinations and home test kits. Scammers are selling products to treat or prevent COVID-19 without proof that they work. Stay up to date on the latest from the Federal Trade Commission on COVID-19 advice for consumers.
Background:
As the Florida consumer watchdog agency responsible for regulating charities and consumer complaints, FDACS and its Division of Consumer Services handles more than 400,000 consumer complaints and inquiries each year, oversees more than 500,000 regulated devices, entities, and products like gas pumps and grocery scales, performs over 61,000 lab analyses on products like gasoline and brake fluid, performs nearly 9,000 fair ride inspections, and returned over $2.8 million to consumers through mediations with businesses.