Door-to-door Books for Charity Scam?

Question

I thought it was legit when the nice looking couple, kids of neighbors (they said) came to my door selling children's books. If I didn't need the books myself, I could have them sent to a school or hospital. It would help them earn their way to a school trip to London. I told them our House Policy - we never buy or donate to anyone who comes to the door, no exceptions.

The next day I was visiting my daughter in a nearby suburb and a different young man came to her door - with pretty much the same story. He was raising money for a trip to London and the books would benefit children with cancer. When I started to tell my daughter about my previous experience, he got mad, accused me of being rude and not caring about cancer patients and left.

The cancer center he mentioned knew nothing about this and were investigating. The local sheriff's office said "Oh, I think they are legit - one came to my house last week".

My question is - how do we get the word out that this is a scam?

Answer 1

I never open the door to strangers. They may "Look" or "Sound" Legit, but you will never know. And that man was rude to even tell you that. That will tell you right there, he was lying.

Answer 2

In my area-you needa  permit (the sponsoring agency gets it) to do this-ask the seller about the permit and call the police right away-they may have already robbed someone.

Answer 3

I get this same scam every year - usually they try to sell magazine or newspaper subscriptions, and if you don't go for that they fall back on "books to donate to charity".  And the seller gets a chance to go to Europe or win a college scholarship.

Often they avoid prosecution because they deliver one magazine to you many months later, or one box of books to the charity, so they can prove on paper that they did and are "legit."  But it's a total rip-off, and they keep the profits.

So unless you know the seller personally and recognize them, and you are familar with the product (Girl Scout cookies, your nephew selling calendars for his school, etc), don't fall for it.  

I work for non-profits, and no legitimate charity is going to waste time going door-to-door; it's far more effective for legitimate non-profits to use those same "volunteers" to as telemarketers or envelope stuffers.

When these guys come around, I flatly point out the holes in their story (the newspaper they are trying to sell doesn't deliver in this city) and say that if I choose to support the charity, I will donate directly to charity, not to a middleman (or I might offer them a stack of old books as my donation, which he won't take).  Then I warn them that the apartment manager doesn't allow solicitation and will call the cops if he sees them.  (I would actually be the one to call the cops, but it puts the fear of prosecution in them without endangering me as the snitch.)

Due a little research to prove this agency isn't legit, and then share your proof with your neighbors.