Attorney General Adam Laxalt warns of veterans charity scam

Attorney General Adam Laxalt is warning Nevadans to beware of a phony charity scam asking for donations to help veterans.

“Nevadans are cautioned not to fall for these scams that take advantage of patriotic generosity,” he said.

He said callers claim to represent Veterans Helping Nevada Veterans and ask them to send contributions to a specific location. In reality, Laxalt said, the contributions go to the residence of the scam artist.

He said legitimate charities should provide information about their identity and how the donations will be used. Before making online donations, he said people should check to make sure the website belongs to a legitimate, established charity and matches the name of the charity.

He said legitimate charities also should be willing to provide the name, address and phone number of the operators of the charity.

He said it’s also wise to search online for the charity name in combination with the words “complaint” or “scam” to see if there have been problems reported by other people.

If solicited by a professional fundraiser, he said people should call the charity and verify whether that fundraiser is authorized to act on its behalf.