They have strange, fragmented names, such as Hope For Ever or Light And Love. They often claim to be raising cash for orphans in Eastern Europe. The bags and leaflets have weird fluorescent lettering and cheap print that rubs off on your fingers. And there’s always a charity number that can be duly checked and usually found to be fake.
Clothes collection scams are usually so obvious they are laughable.
Which is why a new batch of leaflets falling through letterboxes across the country from a company called Clothman Ltd are cause for concern. No evasive language here: the company brazenly claims to be collecting on behalf of Breakthrough Breastcancer.
A copy dropped through my letterbox the other day. The print quality was so tacky it was obviously fake, and I was about to bin it. Then I saw the Breakthrough name and pink ribbon logo.
A little Googling soon revealed Clothman Ltd to be a scam emerging this year, with leaflets falsely claiming to be collecting for the much-trusted Breakthrough and Northamptonshire Air Ambulance charities appearing in Essex, Manchester and parts of London.
I contacted Breakthrough, where a member of the supporter relations team confirmed the charity has no relationship with the company, and that the charity is considering legal action.
Could Clothman Ltd’s leaflets mark a new tactic by clothes scammers?