Arizona vet victimized by scammer and a man from Scottsdale is accused of swindling thousands of dollars from Valley golfers in an alleged charity event scheme that police say never existed.

Lindsay Meisner is an Army veteran who lives in Scottsdale. She states that she has been victimized by this man at the end of June. About two months later, Scottsdale Police arrested the man she said she paid $10,000.

“I feel so violated,” Meisner says. “I’m just so grossed out.”

After a few hours on the course, she says he brought up a charity golf course event being hosted by the Wounded Warrior Project and asked Meisner to participate.

“I’ said, ‘I’m an Army vet!’ Like, how cool would that be?” Meisner says. She continued talking with Alexander when he brought up another supposed scheme he was running, according to police. 

He asked Meisner if she would like to purchase coupon books for schools. She said Alexander told her part of the money would be counted as a charity write-off. She then claims she paid $10,000 in cash. When she asked him why, “He said it’s just it’s better tax-wise,” Meisner says. That was the last time she heard from him.

Meisner said all of her calls and texts to Alexander weren’t going through. “I just was like, ‘What the hell is going on?’” 

Now, after learning what law enforcement has claimed she can’t believe she trusted him. “I felt sick, to be honest,” Meisner says through tears. “I haven’t slept since I found out.” 

She doesn’t believe she will ever see that money again but hopes other victims come forward. “He’s gonna just keep destroying so many people’s lives,” Meisner says.

Investigators claim Alexander ran this same alleged scheme on at least one other person. The document says someone wrote Alexander a check worth $5,000 that would, “buy school coupon books to sell”. The person would then receive a tax write off at the end of the year, the document alleges.

When authorities questioned Alexander on this, he told them he was never in possession of school coupon books. Believing Alexander would use money from victims to pay bills and living expenses.

Always be aware of scams and scammers. Con artists prey on the good nature of unsuspecting people. Always seek documentation, due your due diligence. Seek out online information, and even telephone numbers to call and verify different charitable programs.

Charity impersonation scams can be hard to spot

Not only are charity scams now on the rise but they are also increasingly difficult to identify. The methods of outreach are becoming more sophisticated. Scams have branched into charities being misrepresented or using that different organizations names or likenesses. Phone scams are on the rise and even social media scams (several Facebook Groups in Arizona are plagued with Social media group scams, mainly from overseas).

New reports show scammers are often impersonating better-known groups and applying for tax-exempt status. Since the IRS’ vetting process does little to determine whether a charity is legitimate, it can be almost impossible for donors to weed out fakes with names that sound like real charities and have IRS approval.

The IRS also recently issued a warning to taxpayers about fake charities. “Some dishonest telemarketers use names that sound like large well-known charities to confuse people,” according to the release.

So, be on the look out, watch your 6 (and 9, 12 & 3 – LOL).