27AprID Theft – How Charities Protect Their Good Names

The public is aware that Toys R Us and other large corporations diligently protect their names against copy-cats and ID theft. The reason’s obvious: copycats and thieves cash in on the brand recognition, good name and national marketing done by these large corporations.

ID thieves try to steal the good name of well-known charities in the same way. It doesn’t get talked about much, but large, successful charities – those with both brand value and brand recognition – are often victims of attempted ID theft.

Charity Donors Being Deceived

ID thieves dupe consumers with variations on a good name; imagine the consumer’s confusion when approached to donate to the U.S. of  Red Cross (NOT the American Red Cross) or to look-alike names such as Cars for Causes, impersonating as Cars 4 Causes®.

We Take Legal Action

We in the charity realm protect our good names as diligently as do major corporations.

This often seems to come as a surprise to the thieves using the Cars 4 Causes name to drive donors to their Internet donation forms, and they seem surprised when we discover them. We usually do! Either a car donor calls to complain about shoddy service, mistakenly thinking Cars 4 Causes is the organization they donated to (Imagine their disappointment when they discover they’ve donated to some imposters!), or we see a series of bogus Internet links misleading trusting donors.

We Pursue ID Thieves

We’ve built our brands through marketing, creating our reputations and building well-deserved trust amongst charitable donors and organizations. So, we in the charity realm are getting the word out: we pursue ID thieves. We send 20-day cease-and-desist letters and we pursue violators in court. As a consultant for Cars 4 Causes, I’ve helped to pursue a China-based company using the Cars 4 Causes name, as well as other ID thieves here in the U.S.

We’re serious about protecting our good name. Car donors trust us; charities trust us; we follow through on our promises.