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WAR CRIME: CHARITY SCAMS ABOUND

As a patriotic guy, Edwin Reid of Roselle didn`t mind listening to the caller who had information about supporting American troops in the Saudi desert.

But Reid, a systems analyst, was turned off when the voice at the other end asked him to pay $9.95 for a ”pendant” to show his concern.

”I get solicitation phone calls all the time,” Reid said, ”but somebody was exploiting the war, and anything like that is not in good taste.”

Kathleen Kott of Palatine was even angrier after she hung up on a similar caller. She felt it played on her raw emotions, because she is eager to hear from her son, an Air Force lieutenant in the Persian Gulf.

”They have it worded so that you think you`re getting a message from your son or someone telling you he arrived safely,” Kott said. ”Then you get this message saying order your freedom bracelet for $9.95.”

Because of complaints from people like Reid and Kott, the Illinois attorney general`s office is investigating Voices for Freedom, an organization in McLean, Va., that has called people offering an ”Operation Desert Storm commemorative bracelet” in return for a contribution to a phone message center that purportedly connects troops in Saudi Arabia to their families.

If it concludes that the organization is not donating sales of the bracelet to a charitable cause, the office will seek to put it out of business, said Illinois Atty. Gen. Roland Burris.

Using charity as a means to deceive people into purchasing bracelets also may be a violation of consumer protection laws, Burris said.

At this time of war, the attorney general`s office finds itself gunning for various business ventures that may be preying on consumers` vulnerability and their concern for U.S. troops in the Persian Gulf, said Sally Saltzberg, chief of the consumer fraud division.

The office already has sued one New York manufacturer of a device that claims to improve a car`s gas mileage, Saltzberg said. Advertisements for the product suggest that using less gas will help the war effort.

The Better Business Bureau for the Chicago and northern Indiana areas also is looking into a number of different charities that sprang up as the gulf crisis accelerated, said James Baumhart, president of the bureau`s local offices.

Reid and Kott received calls from Voices For Freedom, the Virginia group. The organization has sold about 17,000 nickel-plated bracelets throughout the country. The group is not-for-profit and proceeds from the sales pay for the bracelets, postage and a phone message center that troops in the Persian Gulf can use to contact their families, said Barbara Wyatt, who runs the service with her son and husband, a retired Navy captain.

When Reid or Kott picked up their phones, they heard Wyatt`s husband, Frederic, identify himself as a captain in a tape-recorded message, she said. The message then asked them to dial ”1” on their telephones if they wanted more information about supporting the troops, she said. The call recipients were charged for the call if they dialed ”1,” she added.

Mrs. Wyatt said she and her husband told the telecommunications firm they were using to stop placing the phone calls about 10 days ago because people throughout the country started complaining about it, she said.

”Many people felt it was a call from the gulf,” she said, insisting the service is no scam. ”We`re as patriotic as they come, and in no way are we exploiting anybody.”

Nevertheless, Illinois Assistant Atty. Gen. Janice Parker is investigating Voices for Freedom on behalf of the dozen Illinois residents who have complained about it. The service has not filed forms to be recognized as a charitable organization in Illinois, Parker said. Wyatt said her service is in the process of doing so.