Kansas City-area nonprofit shares warning after nearly being scammed - by Regan Porter

RAYTOWN, Mo. — A Kansas City-area nonprofit nearly got scammed. They got lucky, because we’re told, other groups lost thousands of dollars.
The founder of Midwest Animal ResQ says someone tried to scam them out of $1,000, posing as a reputable company.
She says it’s happening to nonprofits across Missouri and Kansas.

Right now, the Midwest Animal ResQ in Raytown is taking care of Speedbump the dog and hundreds of others.
Founder Erin Morse said about a week ago, a scammer tried to take advantage of the nonprofit.
“It’s heartbreaking, because right now, it has been a difficult time for nonprofits in general,” Morse said. “This is especially despicable.”

Morse said they got an email asking if someone could send a donation check in the mail. She was ecstatic to receive more than $2,600.
The next day, the “donor” asked for a tax receipt. Then, they demanded a portion of the donation to be returned.
Morse spotted the red flags, so she called the company listed on the check.
Jimmy Stallings is the general manager of the car dealership in Texas. They’ve been in business for nearly 100 years. He said they did not send that check. In fact, he believes someone is reproducing fake checks in their name.

“We’re all victims in this, the nonprofit obviously, we are and the bank as well,” he said.
Stallings said a fake check showed up at their bank last week and the bank opened an investigation.
“Hopefully they’ll get caught,” he said. “So it doesn’t surprise me if they did it once, they could do it multiple times.”
KC Pet Project said that’s happened, they received the same check as Morse and the same thing happened.


Morse posted a warning online. She said about 20 nonprofits responded, saying they were scammed, some out thousands.
“Anywhere from a thousand dollars to tens of thousands of dollars,” Morse said.
Morse said scammers are using other companies’ names. She encourages nonprofits to stay vigilant.
“Every dollar that we have goes to help our communities,” Morse said. “So, you’re not just stealing from us, you’re stealing from the community as a whole. So, I know times are tough out there, but there are other ways to make a dollar, than to steal from those that need it most. “