Same here but I let my dog do most of the talking...
Posted on 11/23/2014 3:31:23 PM PST by IYAS9YAS
Today I was visited by a young man who claimed his brother was killed in Afghanistan. He claimed his brother was a Rifleman and gave the 0311 MOS. I don't recall the unit he claimed his brother was with.
Something about his story just raised a red flag.
The claim was he was raising money to send care packages to troops. I thanked him, told him I was sorry about his brother, but that I wanted to check the website first.
The site on his "receipts" stated the charity's site was www.thepatriotproject.com (which I found didn't exist), but the man said it was really www.thepatriotproject.net. There was also a phone number, (515) 782-1240 (Des Moines, IA) that was not only associated with the patriot project site, but also www.caring4combatants.org.
Both sites are short on details, use the same background, and same pictures. Red flag again.
The last thing I found was a facebook post that basically called out Caring 4 Combatants as a scam. It can be found here: https://www.facebook.com/wwpinc.fans/posts/10152713624638415.
There's no other information out there on any of these sites/charities.
There is what appears to be a legitimate charity, www.patriot-project.org, which does not share any association (phone number or location) with the two sites above.
Has anyone else here been contacted by these guys?
Just thought I'd share it here.
I’m in Rio Rancho, NM, for further information.
Nothing further to add but your analysis looks spot on.
Charitable scamming peaks around holiday time.
Nope, doesn’t pass the sniff test.
/johnny
charities should have “.org” for a website.
I agree. Stick with legitimate charities like The Fisher House.
I never run off Democrat-get-out-vote types. I talk to them as long as possible and try to delay them as much as I can.
I hope by doing so I am reducing their effectiveness by reducing the number of people they can see.
Same here but I let my dog do most of the talking...
/johnny
Can’t help you much bud. But having lost my first-born son in combat in Iraq, I am somewhat resistant to scams and whatnot. I open my arms to them and then, guess what, they back away.
I let my Doberman answer the doorbell. Usually people flee before I can even open the door.
http://www.patriot-project.org/
Doesn't sound like the charity your visitor represents.
A number of scams use the same name of or a similar sounding name m to a reputable charity. Beware!
It sounds pretty sketchy to me.
That was my first red flag. The secondary site "caring4combatants" did have the dot org, but was almost identical to the first, with the same phone number.
Check charity navigator.com
That was the one I found that I thought was legit, they appear to be soliciting chiropractors for helping troops.
I finally put a no soliciting sign on the front door even as tacky as it looks. If they knock, they deserve what they get... and I’m not at all nice about it. I have my favorite charity and I deal with it personally, door knockers or people walking up to my vehicle are shooed away in the most rude fashion possible. You get to that point in life where you just get so sick of the scams and games that you start to retaliate. The only ones I’ve ever been nice to are the Jo-ho’s. As irritating as they can be, at least I understand their plight.
What was funny was he mentioned 0311, which I knew, because my buddy at work was an 0311, and we talk about things on occasion.
He also asked if I served, and when I mentioned Air Force, by coinkydink, his mom and dad were both currently serving in the Air Force (not impossible, given his age, but improbable), with the mom at Hill AFB, UT and the dad right here at Kirtland AFB, NM.
I wonder if I'd have said Army, if the parents would have been in the Army.
He did actually get cash money from a neighbor, which ticks me off. My neighbor is a Marine Veteran. Playing on the heartstrings.
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