Dear fellow Hanoverians:
Today I received an e-mail from a reader expressing concern about a
possible telephone scam that has been making the rounds here in
Hanover. I did some digging with both Mike Thorp, our town’s
Veteran’s Agent, and the Public Charities Office within the Attorney
General’s Office and have the following information to share.
First and foremost, if you receive a telephone call from ANYONE asking
for money, I suggest always asking them to send you something in
writing that supports their verbal request, and don’t offer anything
until you receive the written request. If you don’t know the
organization, ask for a return phone number and address so that you
can do your own digging before donating money. I will add that most of
the time, if I don’t know the organization, I simply say “please
take me off your call list”, and do not donate.
The specific calls that have allegedly been occurring here in Hanover
are from a group called “Bay State Veterans”. I have been unable
to substantiate any information regarding this group. There is a
similarly titled legitimate organization called “Bay State Vietnam
Veterans” that has been registered with the Attorney General’s
Office since 1999, but they do not appear to be the group that is
making the phone calls. Veteran’s Agent Mike Thorp has received
similar inquiries and complaints from residents regarding “Bay State
Veterans” solicitation calls. Mr. Thorp can be reached at
mjt-soma@comcast.net
or 781-829-0968 if you have further questions about veterans’
organizations.
Diana of the Public Charities Office within the Attorney General’s
Office was also very helpful. If you ever want to substantiate a
Massachusetts charity, just call their office at (617) 727-2200,
x2101. Their website is undergoing renovations, but there is a way to
search for public charities annual filings on-line, too. For general
information, go to:
http://www.mass.gov/?pageID=cagoterminal&L=3&L0=Home&L1=Non-Profits+%26+Charities&L2=Public+Charities+Annual+Filings&sid=Cago&b=terminalcontent&f=nonprofit_charities_database&csid=Cago
. To search for a charity’s “Annual Filing Document”, go to
http://www.charities.ago.state.ma.us/
. If you have trouble finding the exact charity you are looking for,
Diana suggest searching on a word by using percentage signs as
brackets. So, to search on the word veterans, type %veterans% and all
of the registered groups in Massachusetts with the word “veteran”
will come up. You can also review charities’ records and find out what
percentage of their funds go directly to services, etc.
As the daughter of a veteran, it pains me to challenge the work of any
group who may be trying to benefit our country’s veterans. If anyone
has further information about Bay State Veterans or their related
fundraising calls, I would be more than happy to follow-up on this
e-mail.
For “Around Town on the Web”,
Cathy H-B
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