866-329-7266

This number came up on my account with out my approval it came up as MC-866-329-7266 HOMELESS PORTSMOUTH and charge money to my account.

The same thing happen to me also and I am canceling my card now.

Well it appears that some other company got my approval prehaps to do a monthly donation of $5.00 for 12 months.  The approval was given in October and started December.  With me being in Michigan I see they have Coliation on Temporary Shelter (COTS) as an affilation.  I called COTS and they did confirm that they receive money from Build American but they do not have a name of who sends it.

Well I canceled the addition monthly payments to think about continuing later and I am going to get a receipt for what was donated.  I do not remember anyone signing me up over the phone but maybe I did because the name Build America sounded familier.  I guess the key is to make notes when you do things like this so you can remember.

I also go a charge on my credit card with this number attached. Number wrang busy busy. Mine said Homeless Don. I am reporting it to the police with the advice of my credit card company.

My husband has a Virgin Mobile cell phone.  Thats where Build American obtained his account information and started taking $5.00 out of our checking account every month.  I have since filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission.  The organization that Build American receives money from is called COTS. They are located in  Burlington, VT.  Their address is COTS, P.O. Box1616, Burlington, VT 05402, phone #802-864-7402. Hopefully this helps you.

Build America foundation does wonderful work providing assistance and support for homeless families. I was once a donor and when I needed help they were there to help me no questions asked. Why is it that people are so ready to cast ridicule over a potential mistake then priase for the work that gets done by the effort put forward. I guess its easier to be nasty than nice.
A grateful donor

A simple mistake in processing a one-time donation versus a twelve month donations was made. The situation was corrected with the donor and an apology for the error was extended. It should be known that any conncetion between Build America Foundation and COTS in Vermont is wrong. COTS in Vermont has no connectin to BAF - this posting is in error. If you have any questions please contact the Build America Foundation at 866-329-7266 or by e-mail at Info@buildamericafoundation.org

I don't believe that anyone is questioning BAF or any homeless organization as fraud.  It's the method in which they are subscribing credit card holders for donation(s).  I have received two different charges on my CC  (one from Build America Foundation and one from 866-329-7266 Homeless Don) both were not authorized by me.  It would appear that I am victim of the same scam that others have posted.  

I realize that you are trying to defend the organization. But if you go back and re-read this posting you will see it's the unauthorized subscription to CC holders that is being discussed, not the organization operations.

the same thing is happening to me but let me tell you those sons of b....
better give me All my money back or im taking legal action!!!!

This message is from the Build America Foundation. First we would like to thank our generous donors who have been helping us this past year. We appreciate your support and hope we can count on you in the future.

To those few who have had donations procesed in error please accept our sincere apologies. As a viable method of achieving our donation goals we have enlisted the help of call centers who ask for support on our behalf at the end of their own product presentations. Occaisionally errors have been committed and we have corrected the errors with refunds when requested and our apologies.

Although the number of complaints are small we want you to know that your messages are heard. We take stock of all complaints and research to see how we can eliminate them in the future. We have come up with viable solutions which may put a damper on call center success rates, but better we loose a few donors than gain a few mistakes.

During these hard economic times please do not judge so quickly the methods just the results.

So once again, thank you for your support, our apologies for any errors and if we can be of service to assist you please contact us at 866-329-7266 or e-mail us at info@buildamericafoundation.org

Sincerely,
Rob J
BAF Donation Dept

I just found out I got charge $5 on a monthly basis.  I called American Express to report these unauthorized charges.  Meanwhile, I found this web pages about all the people who got scam.  I don't think the organization can make up any excuses to cover up how they scammed people by mistake. Their statement sounds skeptical and non-sense.  Please spread the words and tell people to be aware.

add another person as scam victim here, apparently since January 09, $5/mo never authorized by me, and I never talked to a call center!  

Oddly Chase actually asked whether I might have authorized over the phone - the answer is definitely "no" since I'm cranky about such calls and never say "yes" to a phone solicitation - give only locally, and even if it's my own card company calling with a great offer I ask them to mail me the info before signing up.

And, of course, this just about my only credit card with any available credit - most of the rest of mine are 'chasing the balance' (lowering my credit limit to my current balance & raising my rates - hooray for the federal legislation that makes that really difficult starting in 2010).

Live and learn!