I've got elderly customers falling for telemarketing scams left and right. I've been looking each of these "companies" up and usually are finding that they're scams.

Sometimes though, they have the customers write out checks only to their initials, which makes it harder to find out info. The initials typically come together to sound legitimate. This particular one is made out to:

"C.O.P.S." - anyone heard of it? The customer wasn't sure what it stood for, but thought it was California somethingorrather Police Society. Of course it was a phone call asking for donations for a non-profit.

As a general rule, consumers are well-advised NEVER to succumb to telephone appeals from purported charities, and to ask instead to have written material sent to them.

Even if a consumer feels that an organization's phone call is legitimate, it's never a good idea to provide over the phone account information that would permit the caller to access the consumer's credit or deposit accounts.

Charity is a wonderful thing, but consumers should make informed choices in this arena. That means getting written materials, and researching the organization using government, Better Business Bureau and other internet resources.

Good source of information on charity fraud.

http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/telemarketing/tel01.pdf

You could consider printing and giving to a local newspaper so they could publish it. You can even print it out and give to your customers. Sometimes, FTC will provide brochures free of charge.

Are there any endorsement stamps on the checks? We had a customer writing a ton of $20 (average) checks to 3-letter acronyms. One of them finally had an endorsement stamp that I could read. I googled it and found some reports of fraud.

I personally tell my family to request literature from the telephone "charity" callers. Most scammers are not going to print fancy brochures to mail to people. They'll just say "we'll send that right out" and that will be the end of it.

Thanks guys, I know it's fraud, I just haven't been able to prove it yet. And I've been told that we can't stop our customers from donating. It's interesting that C.O.P.S. didn't endorse the check.

The elderly are a growing target for con artists. Find out why, what frauds to look out for, and how to keep from being scammed.

Read the full story here: http://www.fbi.gov/page2/april08/senior_fraud041008.html

Most of these checks are stamped automatically by the depositing bank "Absence of Endorsement Guaranteed." This means the depositing bank has guaranteed that the payee received the funds properly. Depending on your timeframe, you can always return the check for lack of an actual endorsement if you want COPS to sign it or use a business stamp to obtain additional information. If there is still a concern, contact the depositing bank's fraud dept and tell them what is happening. Most are very helpful.

Oh, that's a great idea. I didn't realize we could return it for lack of endorsement. I like it