Fraudulent Solicitation
Door to door solicitations not authorized by Catholic Charities
Individuals going door-to-door seeking funds on behalf of Catholic Charities of St. Paul and Minneapolis aren’t connected to Catholic Charities and aren’t authorized to raise funds for Catholic Charities.
In the last several days, Catholic Charities received reports of an individual or individuals approaching people in their homes, sometimes late at night, seeking funds for Catholic Charities or Catholic Charities-related youth programs. In each situation, the person showed a badge purportedly issued by Catholic Charities.
Catholic Charities of St. Paul and Minneapolis doesn’t solicit donations by going door to door.
We find it distasteful that someone would capitalize on Catholic Charities’ reputation for personal gain. We find it to even more reprehensible that this would happen when the need in the community is so great. Catholic Charities has seen a significant increase in the number of people seeking emergency shelter and food assistance in the last several months.
An e-mail solicitation that first appeared last year seeking donations has resurfaced in the last several weeks. The fraudulent e-mails come in several forms, including one announcing recipients have received a grant. These e-mails are designed to ultimately solicit personal, financial and banking information from the recipients.
Catholic Charities of St. Paul and Minneapolis and Catholic Charities USA do not send unsolicited e-mails requesting this type of information. Catholic Charities of St. Paul and Minneapolis sends e-mail to people only with the recipients’ approval. Catholic Charities of St. Paul and Minneapolis never asks contributors to provide personal information via e-mail.
Contributions made to Catholic Charities through the www.cctwincities.org Web site are secure. Questions can be directed to 612-664-8556.
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