Help Me Hank: Unsolicited Check Raises Concerns For Local Autism Organization

"We got the check in the mail," Ohman said.

She'd seen the stories on fake foreign lotteries and Internet auction scams.

"It looked a little suspicious," Ohman said.

She knew about the phony offers for government grants, and most disturbingly, had seen the counterfeit checks mailed to hapless victims.

"You’re not sure with all the scams that are going on nowadays whether or not that’s legit or not," Ohman said.

So when a check for $194 arrived that was made out to her charitable organization, the Autism Alliance of Mero West, she was certain she was a target.

"We were very leery to deposit it," Ohman said.

Were bad people out to hurt her good agency? She did some checking online.

"Tried to do some research on my own," Ohman said. "Couldn't come up with anything."

Then she called some friends.

"Asked a few people, they didn't know," Ohman said.

Every time she looked at the check, from a place called "Network For Good," she got more and more worried it was bad.

"I was concerned that if I deposited it that I would be committed to some sort of obligation to the company that sent it to us in some way," Ohman said.

Was it real? A dubious Nannette knew where to check it out, and called Help Me Hank.

We found the "Network For Good" website, and it did look authentic, but we were dubious too, until we connected with the ultra-reliable charity-checker Guidestar

Guidestar calls network for good "one of the Internet's leading charitable resources." We found their headquarters are located in Virginia.

"Our mission is to increase charitable giving," CEO of Network for Good, Bill Strathmann said.

The CEO also explained at their online network, where every charity in good standing with the IRS is automatically listed, all you have to do it choose one and you can donate instantly.

"We have over a million charities featured in our database," Strathmann said.

Someone had clicked on Autism Alliance, and good news for Nannette, the donation check was real.

"Terrific, its a wonderful feeling," Ohman said.

Now Nannette can cash network for goods check and put the money to good use.

"It’s great that people who don't even know us want to donate to our organization and think that much of us," Ohman said.

If this inspires you to make a donation to your favorite charity, that’s good! The links posted below can guide you in the right direction.

http://www.autismalliance.org/

http://www.networkforgood.org/

http://www.guidestar.org/