Utah Mine Tragedy Scammer

With just about any tragedy, a community will come together and help, volunteer whatever services they can give to show their love and support. Sometimes, they ask the community to donate what they can- cash, clothing, and other goods or services. The majority of the time they are legitimate services, ones that are going to directly help the victims, loved ones, or a community as a whole.

Then you have the people that crawl out of the woodwork to use a tragedy to their own advantage. People like Hope Ellison.

Who really knows what Hope Ellison was thinking when she allegedly went from door to door collecting cash and checks from unsuspecting victims of a scam involving the Crandall Canyon Mine tragedy in Utah. She's just another person added to the list of people who make it difficult for legitimate charities to receive donations. Because of people like her, people are less trusting of giving their money and their time to the people that really need it.

Obviously, the people that were scammed are victims and would consequently be less trusting in the future. Most of these people probably donated against their better judgement because they didn't want to be seen as cold-hearted. Usually, legitimate charities, trust funds, etc., have bank accounts where you can go into any specifically named bank (Wells Fargo, for example) and donate directly. Then you will know that your donation is going directly to support that particular cause or person. If you still feel uncomfortable giving money, there are other ways to help just about any cause. Giving your time, canned goods, water, are good ways to help as well.

You don't have to be distrustful.........just cautious.