WISCASSET, Maine — A man who calls himself Joe has been calling Wiscasset residents and requesting a $20 pledge for the Firefighter Support Foundation; it is a scam, Wiscasset Police Officer Nadean Crossley said.
The scam was reported to the Wiscasset Police Department on Monday, May 9. According to Crossley, the Firefighter Support Foundation has an address in Massachusetts, but payments to the organization must be sent to Milwaukee.
Joe identified himself as a member of the fire department, Crossley said. The Wiscasset Fire Department does not engage in fundraising and does not call residents requesting donations, Wiscasset Fire Chief T.J. Merry said. The fire department’s fundraising body is the Wiscasset Fire Association, he said.
The Wiscasset fire and police departments are warning residents to be wary of any fundraising call from the Firefighter Support Foundation or any out-of-state organization claiming to represent the local fire service.
According to Crossley, a good way to determine whether or not an organization is a scam is to research it on charitynavigator.org. Crossley was able to determine the organization was a scam by researching the Firefighter Support Foundation’s employer identification number, she said.
The organization had no official rating on Charity Navigator, which reviews and ranks philanthropic organizations; however, several different charities used the same number, Crossley said. “That’s one way to tell whether the organization is legitimate,” she said.