"Online donors were guided into weekly recurring contributions. Demands for refunds spiked. Complaints to banks and credit card companies soared. But the money helped keep Donald Trump’s struggling campaign afloat." Writing for the New York Times, Shane Goldmacher revealed how an "intentional scheme to boost revenues by the Trump campaign and the for-profit company that processed its online donations, WinRed. Facing a cash crunch and getting badly outspent by the Democrats, the campaign had begun last September to set up recurring donations by default for online donors, for every week until the election."
"The tactic ensnared scores of unsuspecting Trump loyalists — retirees, military veterans, nurses and even experienced political operatives. Soon, banks and credit card companies were inundated with fraud complaints from the president’s own supporters about donations they had not intended to make, sometimes for thousands of dollars."
"The recurring donations swelled Mr. Trump’s treasury in September and October, just as his finances were deteriorating. He was then able to use tens of millions of dollars he raised after the election, under the guise of fighting his unfounded fraud claims, to help cover the refunds he owed."
The solicitations included small pre-checked boxes that most donors did not realize set them up for monthly or weekly, rather than one-time donations. This wasn't the first time that the trump campaign used gimmicks to fuel their fund raising.
Were you or your parents a victim of Trump's fraud? If you are monitoring or managing your parents' finances it would be prudent to check if they had multiple contributions charged to their credit cards or from their bank accounts.
Get the sordid details at:
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/03/us/politics/trump-donations.html?referringSource=articleShare
No comments:
Post a Comment