My wife got a receipt last week for giving $100 to a local church. She did not give this money, we have never heard of the church. We have no idea how they got her name and address.
Anyone have a clue how this happened? I don’t think it’s a scam. My only guess is someone gave the money in my wife’s name?
I’d try calling the church.
The most likely scenario that I can think of is that the church did fundraising under another name, perhaps as part of some particular campaign, or they had other people doing fundraising for them.
For example, a bank chain here in the NW is accepting donations for Haiti Relief. Those donations are actually going to the Red Cross, and any giving statement would come from the Red Cross. The bank is just a middleman, but people may not remember that a year later.
Another scenario is that your wife bought something and part of the purchase was considered a donation. This happens all the time with church auctions or rummage sales. PBS does it with the promo packages they sell during fundraisers.
Someone donated in her name?
That’s what I’d guess… is that someone donated on her behalf. I second calling the church to confirm though.
Did she recently give money to a memorial fund for a deceased person? I ended up on the mailing list for an animal shelter in Florida that way (I’m in Wisconsin). I e-mailed them and told them I wanted off their list and why, and they gladly took me off the list.
No donations for memorials of $100 this year. They listed the date as 3/1/09 and we can’t find anything on that date. Can’t think of anything she bought either.