TOLEDO, Ohio — Reggie Williams, executive director of the Frederick Douglass Center, is warning the community about potential scammers trying to sell candy under the guise of benefiting the center.
"I was getting responses from persons in the community, family and friends stating that they had an encounter with some youth in regard to trying to sell them some candy," Williams said.
Williams says the sellers have been spotted at local restaurants, the mall and even at people's homes. He said every time, it's a child selling the candy.
Lane Montz, the president and CEO of Toledo's Better Business Bureau, said there are oftentimes adults pulling the strings behind scams like these.
"I'm going to call it a scam boss," Montz said. "They will get kids and younger people to go door-to-door and just pretend that they're representing something that has a good name, something that the community supports."
As the weather warms up, Montz said scammers will increase alongside organizations legitimately trying to raise money for themselves.
"That is especially true for fraudsters that claim to represent charities, non-profits or community centers. They step it up," he said.
Williams said he hopes the scammers are caught and would like the money raised to be given to the center.
"We would like to see that submitted to the Frederick Douglas Center," Williams said. "Since you're going to raise it for [us], we need to have those dollars turned in."
Montz says to protect yourself from scams like these, you should re-consider any spur-of-the-moment donations even to legitimate organizations. Instead, he said to go directly to who you want to donate to.
As for the Frederick Douglass Center, you can donate on its website.