We got scammed, too.  We asked the right questions to protect ourselves.  We asked whether we were talking to the charity itself or to an agency collecting for the charity.  Answer:  The charity itself.  We asked what percent of the donation goes to the charity.  Answer: 100%.  So they lied (fraud).

Now, when doing taxes, we find that there is no address for the PPF, making it impossible to claim a deduction for our donation.  My solution was to use the address of the domain registrant for their website (policeusa.com):

Registrant:
   AAPO
   Paul Kutac        (pkutac@policeusa.com)
   1009 W. 6th Street Suite 205
   Austin
   TX,78703
   US
   Tel. +1.8009619773
   Fax. +1.5122335920


If you call paul, please give him our regards.

SO the guy calls from the "Rockville Maryland Office" of the PPF and tells my wife he's from the "Maryland Police, Rockville Maryland Office" and asks for me. With a panicked look, my wife hands me the phone,  I answered, he asked, " am I speaking with John Doe?!" - "yes" - "Mr. Doe, this is Mr. Callahan from the office of the Police Protective Fund and I need to verify your address so that I can send you a letter which you'll need to respond to promptly to prevent further action, why have you been avoiding our calls Mr. Doe?!" Stop, thinking it was a goof-ball prankster friend of mine, I told him to p****off and hung up on him. Mr. Callahan called right back and advised me that "this is a matter of public safety" and that I needed to verify my address, which he again repeated, then sternly asked, "Is this correct, yes or no Mr. Doe?!" I asked him to hang on, and examined the caller ID which showed "The Pol Protect" with the following phone number 301-881-0606. Now I'm all for a good prank & a laugh, but this one really pissed me off for a number of reasons. Being of quick reaction, I asked him for his operator number and phone number, he responded, "Oh just Fxxx off a$$xxxx, pay the bill and we'll get off your a$$." He hung up.
***
So I ask, would a legitimate charity use such tactics especially involving the "police" name? Not likely, so scam or no? Yup, technically, it's a legitimate scam! I can't imagine the fun they must have with some who are even slightly gullible... Do yourself a favor, when the caller ID pops with their name on it, just feed the answering machine.  :-)
***
This is Rich...

said I gave last year---no I didn't.

My father just a call from "The POL Protect", but from another number: 301-881-0606. I've been doing some research and, apparently, they call from four numbers:

804-225-9092 (the one mentioned here)
800-225-9092
217-483-9596
301-881-0606

I answered, because I was closer to the phone than my father. The caller said he was Nick Wright or something...the call quality was horrible and he sounded like he was in a crowded place. I swear his voice was slurring, as well. He asked for my father, and I pressed the phone to my chest and asked my father if he knew who Nick Wright was. He said he did not. I lifted the phone and told 'Nick' my father wasn't available, he said he heard me talking to him. (Fail on my part.) I told him that my father didn't know who he was and he didn't want to talk to him. 'Nick' said, "What? I'm from-" Paused, then said "I don't want to talk to you." Then hung up.

This is the first time he's ever called my father, it seems. I am not looking forward to the second.

I received a call from this number on 10/16/07 at 12:43pm. A man asked for me by name and I asked who was calling (I have caller ID and it showed The Pol Protect and phone number). He said he was Robert from the police, and I cut him off at that and told him I was not interested and to not call my number again. He said OK sort of irritated. Will see I guess. I have gotten calls before for police donations and always refuse. It becomes irritating to keep getting calls most especially since my number is listed on the National DO NOT CALL list.

A bunch of BS. I do freelance web and graphic design and its not uncommon for a company to call me when their in house staff is over booked. Was hoping it was a customer and ended up getting a bunch of crap about envelopes and money. This came in on my business line and I am not at all happy about it. From what I can tell Graphics Lab does actually exist (or did) in Richmond VA, and is (or was) actually a graphic design firm. Gave the guy on the phone that I hope hurt. I'm too busy for this crap. You get the call, assuming their legit and using shady marketing practices, tell them not to call you and to remove you from their list. If you don't mention that last part they'll call you again.

Fraudulent Activities

Someone called my home phone number from 804-225-9092 (caller id Graphics Lab)and asked for me.  My niece answered and she told the person on the other line that I was at work.  The caller then told my niece to wish me good luck.  I've been calling that number and it just rings off the hook.  Kind of scary.  Good thing I haven't had any lab work done lately!!!

I get a call from this number a couple of times a week.  (Thank goodness for caller ID.)  Does anyone know who this is?

Im at work and i checked my call long online @ Verizon. The (804) 225 9092 number called at 12:21pm today.  I was about to call the number back but then i decided to check it out online. Thankfully this is the website that popped up because i would have really wasted my time.

Got another call today.  Is there nothing that can be done about these people?

I live in Carytown and got a call from this same number. The caller id said Graphics Lab. Thanks for the info.

Already reproted this once on another forum.  The caller said he was from Police Protection, but the Caller ID said Graphics Lab and had the Richmond Phone Number: 804- 225-9092.  I did a *57 trace on the caller after  he hung up or I hung up.  He said he was not sliciting money at first, then later asked fo a $10 -15 donation, which I delcined and said i was on a strict budget-- I am-- I am unable to find employement because there is anotehr person who has  a similar name to my own and applies for jobs at just about every venue to which I apply, but that's another story!

If there is collusion between the scam artists, the damn b***h who keeps using my name ought to stop applying to the same postions for which I apply, and let me become employed, and I might become generous one day and write out a donation to one of these scam artisits who claim to be collecting for some kind of charitity, Police Protection, Police benevolent Fund, American Diabetic Asociaiton, American Lung Associaont, etc, etc-- and the last two collectors were also bogus and did not rperesent their  repsective "associations," either!

However, crooks are sledom smart!  So when one has had one's academic identity stolen, and is competing with crooks  who are using bogus but similar resumes, then one becomes a lttle more cautious about where one spends her money.  So if the scam artitst doen't get a donation from me, it's their own damn fault.  Had I ben employed with my REAL credentials, I might have been generous!

At any rate, I don't know what do to with academic identity theft either.  Apparently, no one researches inflated reseumes, or checks out academic credentials anymore.  Alos, whne an impersonator uses un gramaitcal English and claims to be a graduate of a public Ivy league school on the East Coast, it never raises any eyebrows, although it should.  BTW, I have met  my impersonator.  We both showed up for the same job using the same name-- and both of our respective applications were thrown out!

So, go figure!

The Police Protective Fund uses the "GRAPHICS LAB" caller ID to get callers to pick up.  Are they purposely misleading us?  I had the impression the call would be from a medical office, another type of graphics business, or a photo lab.  They are not a local charity (at least not where I live), despite misleading claims of representing local police.

The Police Protective Fund uses the "GRAPHICS LAB" caller ID -- a creatively simple deceptive technique giving an impression the call is from a medical office, another type of graphics business, or a photo lab.

I get these calls every few months. They don't leave a message.

NOt home but dont answer this:
Caller ID Number: 804-225-9092
Caller ID Name: The Pol Protect

got a call from 804-255-9092, I let the machine get it. Just heavy breathing for about a min then hang up.

Repeated calls from this number.  I live in Henrico County (ajoins Richmond). We do NOT answer the phone when the calls come in.  Caller ID is a wonderful thing!

This number called my mother last week. She was suspicious and called me to have me track them down. The number is fake, it does not really exist. It's a caller ID spoof that has also been seen with the name "Graphics Lab" and "Pol Protect". Also comes in 434-225-9092 (notice only the area code is different). WSET13 (a fairly local (to me) ABC affiliate) has on their webpage some information about the scam. The number I'm posting here is what I recieved from them. My mother got 434 area code, same for the rest. Hers said "Pol Protect"

Got a call from this number at 8:37pm and woke the baby - thanks. Anyway, the guy asks if he could get permission to send me information on how much I can donate to the "Police Protective Fund". I inquire about why I have to name an amount before any literature is sent and he gets huffy. Sorry, not interested, its a simple request, send me literature and I will look it over, I shouldn't have to offer a set amount to a LEGITIMATE organization to get their literature.

Smells like a scam.

Caller claimed he was from 'The Police Protect' and wanted to send me an envelope which I would return to him with a donation. Caller ID showed 'the Pol Protect. I said 'no, thanks' and hung up. We occasionally get similar calls from alleged police/fire/handicapped organizations, but this is a first for this group.

Called approximately 4:15 pm.  I attempted to answer, but the answering machine got it right before I picked up.  I said hello, but there was no one there.  No idea who this is or why they would call my house.    DON'T TRUST ANYONE!!!---(Sad to say.)

Just an update to the call.  Did not speak to anyone, DAMN.

I let the answering machine pick up, but no message.
I'm so glad I didn't answer.
I typed in "graphics lab richmond va 225-9092" in Google,
and got the whocallsme.com site.
Now I'm more informed.

Thanks!

Someone from this number called and left me a message (by name!) asking that I call "Mrs. Player" back at 804 649 0761. I didn't...thanks for the warnings!

Probably usual deal, though some are claiming this particular org may even be a fraud - at best they probably give pennies on the dollar to the cause and pocket a vastly larger share for themselves. Pretty stupid they keep calling people on the do not call list (yeah, they're not required to obey it as fundraisers, but still stupid). Even more stupid are people who give out money to some chucklehead who just called them! Just don't do it. Give to the charity of your choice directly, or better yet, just hook up with United Way or some reputable organization and tell these idiots to go pound salt.

Complete fraud, according to Henrico County Police personnel.

Also under inditement, I understand.

I received a call requesting donations for the police protection fund and the caller ID showed 804 225-9092  Graphics Lab.  When I asked why the number was showing up on caller id as "Graphics Lab"...the caller stated that "they had a problem with the wrong name showing up on id's in my area."  I wasn't born last night so I told him not to call again!    Please don't give them any information or donations.

Received a call from 8042259092. Picked up and there was nothing there.