IRS Launches International Charity Fraud Awareness Week

WASHINGTON — The IRS is joining an international coalition in launching the second annual International Charity Fraud Awareness Week (ICFAW). October 21 through Oct. 25, the coalition will raise awareness and share practices to help charities and other not-for-profit organizations avoid fraud and stop financial crime.

A key feature of this year’s campaign is an online hub where charity professionals and counter-fraud experts can discuss and share ideas through a series of live interactive webinars, help sheets and case studies.

Those encouraged to participate in the week’s activities include:

• Trustees, staff and volunteers from charities, non-government organizations and other nonprofits

• People representing the interests of nonprofits

• Accountants, auditors and solicitors acting as professional advisors to nonprofits

• Regulators, law enforcers and policy-makers working to safeguard nonprofits

Fake charities are one of the IRS Dirty Dozen tax scams for 2019. Taxpayers can find legitimate and qualified charities with the Tax Exempt Organization Search tool on IRS.gov.

ICFAW is led by a coalition of over 40 charities, regulators, law enforcers, representative bodies and other not-for-profit stakeholders.

Anyone interested in participating in ICFAW can visit the Fraud Advisory Panel website to learn more about how to get involved. Also, individuals can follow ICFAW activities on social media by searching #CharityFraudOut.

Visit the Charity Fraud Awareness Hub to view resources on preventing charity fraud.