Giving Compass' Take:

• The Identity Theft Resource Center offers advice for donors to engage in safe charitable giving that does not expose their data and personal information to scammers. 

• How do scammers hurt the nonprofit sector? How can funders work to prevent scams that prey on charitable givers?

• Learn how to judge nonprofit effectiveness. 

In order to ensure that your donation goes to the greater good while your funds and your personal data remain secure, here are a few tips to guide your giving:

Be Careful with the Impulse Donation: Before sending in any donation, do your homework. Make sure you find out who the organization really is and how the funds they collect are used. It’s also important to know what information they will gather on you as a donor and how they will use and/or store that information. By using a vetted portal that sets up campaigns for an organization, you’ll have a better sense of the legitimacy of the cause and the security of your data.

Don’t Fall for Phishing Attempts: Whether via email, text message, social media, or phone, phishing attempts increase around the holidays. Some of the messages will entice you to send money, some will go after your personal identifiable information for identity theft purposes, and others may be after both. Phishing messages can even contain malicious links or attachments that can install harmful software on your computer.

Spoofed Emails Look Like the Real Deal: A spoofed email appears to come from an organization you know, such as the Red Cross, Salvation Army, or the ASPCA, but it’s actually a malicious replica using cut-and-pasted logos from the real website.

There are a few ways to spot a spoofed email, though. Even the best of scammers can make a grammatical error, something that major companies with PR departments work very hard to avoid. Also, if you hover your mouse over the sender’s email address, it will pop up and show you who sent it. Finally, there’s no reason to respond to an email or other message; if you do want to support that charity, log out of the email and simply go directly to the charity’s website.

Are You Thinking about Wi-Fi When You Give? Scammers Are: The combination of a charitable donation and the wide-open, unsecured connection offered by public Wi-Fi means you might be putting yourself at risk.

Read the full article about safe charitable giving from the Identity Theft Resource Center at GuideStar.