As you have probably noticed, holiday solicitations for charities have already begun. If you are inclined to contribute, and are financially able to do so, by all means do, but do so wisely. There are many criminals out there who are anxious to have you make a donation to their own, private charities.

Even if you are registered on the national Do-Not-Call list, charities are exempt from honoring the list. You can request that a charity not contact you by telephone. The best course of action if called is to request written information about the charity be sent to you by mail. It is never a good idea to make a donation by phone using a credit card. Once the criminals have the credit card number, the account is easily compromised.