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People aggressively soliciting for fraudulent charities have charged just over $170,000 from people in Boston across 11 recent incidents, police said Thursday, warning the public about the scams.
In one case, Boston police said, someone had $50,000 charged from their account without authorization, in a scheme being reported across the country.
The scammer or scammers typically approaches a woman in a parking lot asking for donations about a dead child or charity, then push the person to donate with their phone or credit card, sometimes using the payment method themselves.
Those tactics have recently been used by small groups trying to raise money for a football team near South Station, police said Thursday.
It’s a similar scheme to what police described last month in South Boston — though officials didn’t say if they were related. In those incidents, three people had money stolen outside of a Walgreens and a Whole Foods from a group of men claiming to be collecting donations.
In each of those incidents, three men approached someone and pressured them into giving money by credit card over a tragedy in the family, according to police reports. While they indicated they were charging a small amount of money, $5 or $15, they ended up charging thousands.
Experts have advice on how to keep your phone safe from thefts like several that are under investigation in Boston.
Police on Thursday urged people not to hand their phone or credit card to people and to verify charities themselves before donating. Anyone who suspects they’re being targeted by one of the scams was urged to get away and report the activity to police.
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Asher Klein
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