{
 "@context": "https://schema.org",
 "@type": "FAQPage",
 "mainEntity": [
  {
   "@type": "Question",
   "name": "How do I verify a charity is legitimate before donating?",
   "acceptedAnswer": {
    "@type": "Answer",
    "text": "Two free checks cover it. First, the IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search (apps.irs.gov/app/eos) confirms the organization is a registered tax-exempt nonprofit \u2014 search the exact name or its EIN. Second, Charity Navigator, GuideStar/Candid, or the BBB Wise Giving Alliance show ratings, finances, and how donations are spent. A charity absent from the IRS database cannot legally accept tax-deductible donations, and a legitimate one will hand over its EIN the moment you ask. Refusal or evasion on that question is a complete answer."
   }
  },
  {
   "@type": "Question",
   "name": "Why do charity scams spike right after disasters?",
   "acceptedAnswer": {
    "@type": "Answer",
    "text": "Because disasters create the perfect fraud conditions: intense emotion, urgency, saturation news coverage, and millions of people actively looking for a way to help. Scam campaigns launch within hours \u2014 sometimes before legitimate relief operations are accepting donations at all \u2014 using names, photos, and footage from the actual event. The emotional logic is \"act now, victims can't wait,\" but the practical truth is the opposite: relief operations run for months and your donation helps just as much tomorrow, after sixty seconds of verification, as it does tonight."
   }
  },
  {
   "@type": "Question",
   "name": "Is it safe to give through GoFundMe and other crowdfunding sites?",
   "acceptedAnswer": {
    "@type": "Answer",
    "text": "With eyes open, yes \u2014 but understand what the platform does and doesn't verify. Crowdfunding sites confirm payment processing, not the truth of the story or where money ultimately goes; fabricated campaigns using stolen photos appear after every major event. Prefer campaigns organized by people you actually know, or ones a named, verifiable person or organization publicly vouches for. For strangers' campaigns, check whether local news has covered the story independently. For maximum certainty after a disaster, established relief organizations remain the safer channel."
   }
  },
  {
   "@type": "Question",
   "name": "Are police, firefighter, and veterans' charities usually real?",
   "acceptedAnswer": {
    "@type": "Answer",
    "text": "The causes are real \u2014 which is exactly why this category is a perennial fraud favorite. The FTC has repeatedly shut down fake badge-and-uniform charities that spent almost nothing on the people in their names. Legitimate versions exist and are verifiable like any other charity: ask for the EIN, check the IRS database, and look up the organization's program spending on Charity Navigator. Be especially wary of phone solicitors invoking guilt or implying local officers know who donated \u2014 real public-safety charities don't operate on social pressure."
   }
  },
  {
   "@type": "Question",
   "name": "Is what I paste here stored anywhere?",
   "acceptedAnswer": {
    "@type": "Answer",
    "text": "No. Per our Security Policy Framework \u00a73.1, nothing you submit is stored in our database. The appeal is processed server-side, analyzed, and discarded immediately after your result is returned. We never retain, sell, or train on your submissions."
   }
  },
  {
   "@type": "Question",
   "name": "I think I donated to a fake charity. What should I do?",
   "acceptedAnswer": {
    "@type": "Answer",
    "text": "Contact your payment provider first \u2014 card issuers can dispute charges to fraudulent entities, and banks can attempt recalls on transfers; speed improves every outcome. Report the fake charity at reportfraud.ftc.gov and to your state's charity regulator (usually the Attorney General's office), and if the appeal impersonated a real organization, notify that organization too \u2014 they actively pursue impersonators. Then, if you're able, make the donation you intended through the verified channel: it turns the experience into exactly the outcome the scammer tried to steal."
   }
  }
 ]
}