The South Dakota Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division reminds people to be careful about making monetary donations to relief efforts claiming to benefit victims of recent flash flooding in Texas.
If you are contacted in any way and asked to donate money in any form, consider these things:
- Only give money to a relief organization that you know is legitimate, such as the American Red Cross.
- If the caller represents a business or government agency, don’t trust the contact telephone number or other information they give you. Hang up. Independently research to find the organization’s contact information and call them directly.
- Talk to someone you trust before you provide money or personal information to someone who contacts you about a donation.
- Check and double check email addresses if they are asking you to send money.
- Organizations, including government agencies, do not ask for money by telephone or on the internet.
- Treat calls or emails demanding immediate action with suspicion. These are typically scammers attempting to get you flustered so you don’t think, you just react.
- Do not give into high pressured sales tactics.
- Do not provide financial or personal information over the phone or via the internet.
- Do not click onto pop-up messages that appear on computers or text messages on telephones from unknown sources.
Consumers who have questions or who believe they may have been a victim of any type of scam should contact the Attorney General’s Office’s Consumer Protection Division:
- at 1-800-300-1986 or
- at https://consumer.sd.gov/.
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