Wisconsin Senior Medicare Patrol

The Better Business Bureau headquarters issued a nationwide alert against Help4Troops of Spring Green, a supposed charity that sends care packages to troops.

Also know as Work4Troops, the BBB says it’s all a scam to grab financial information like bank account numbers. From the BBB news release:

Help4Troops promises to each volunteer a salary of $20 per package shipped, and requests personal banking information in order to deliver these payments via check, wire or money transfer using Western Union or PayPal. While boasting “powerful sponsors who help us to provide troops with this service and to pay our volunteers,” Help4Troops does not elaborate on important financial information.

A consumer contacted the Wisconsin BBB in mid-April to report her concerns about Help4Troops, which “hired” her as a “Volunteer Shipper” after she posted her resume on the online employment site CareerBuilder.com. After two weeks of receiving and repackaging items, she received a call from a Chicago resident whose bank had contacted him about a suspicious attempt to access his account to purchase gift cards. The gift cards were listed under the consumer’s mailing address.

The Idaho Statesman offers up an excellent editorial on this scam, which preys on the patriotic.

Before you enlist to help a charity or other business, be sure to check them out with the BBB and local law enforcement to see if they have complaints on record. If you want to help out a military charity, visit t www.ourmilitary.mil, which offers up a list of charities with a stamp of approval from the federal government.