You can avoid these scam artists by taking a few simple steps. Charitable organizations rely on tax- deductible contributions as their primary funding source. Before an organization can offer benefit of a tax deduction for donations, it must be classified as such by Internal Revenue Service. The process is arduous and effectively acts as an informal investigation of legitimacy of charitable organization in question. Fortunately, IRS makes this information available to public.

You can check legitimacy of a charitable organization by either contacting IRS or accessing agency list of charitable organizations on Internet as follows:

IRS Customer Service: 1-800-829-1040

http://apps.irs.gov/app/pub78

The above link to IRS takes you to a page where you can conduct a publication 78 search. Publication 78 is a list of all charitable organizations that have qualified for tax-exempt status with IRS. Scam artist and unsavory characters are not going to be listed with IRS. If organization you are considering does not appear in Publication 78, you may wish to consider another organization that is on list.

E-mail Scams

When your winter vacation takes you to secluded, covered in snow, corner of Ontario; and you just discovered that perfect winter paradise scene; now you want to get it on film, or store it for latter so you can plaster it all over your desk top... Or maybe your children build that perfect snowman and you need to make a digital record of it, so you can show it to their children someday...

There are countless reasons to take pictures in winter time. But heard horror stories about underexposed snow scenes, or foggy lenses...

If you are convinced that trying winter photography will only leave you with less then perfect prints, you don’t need to worry.

The art of winter photography is no longer reserved for professional, you too can have exceptional results with your digital or 35mm camera.

First things first, if you plan to take spectacular winter landscape photographs, you will need to get yourself ready for cold. As with dressing for any other winter outing, it is best to put on layers, as opposed to one bulky piece of clothing. You can always take off layers if weather changes.

Wear appropriate winter walking shoes, ones that will grip snow and ice and not slide on it. We don’t want you dancing on ice, sliding and slipping. You may not only fall, damage your camera but also become a suitable object for other photo enthusiasts out there. So lets get some good winter boots.

Other things that you need are warm hat and a pair of thin, warm gloves. It is so much easier to take pictures wearing a slim glove and not fat, bulky one. If you wear thick gloves, it may be nearly impossible to operate your camera, especially if it is a manual focus one. You may need to take gloves off, exposing your hands to cold, winter air. Your hands will quickly become cold and stiff and photo session will be over...

Since you are ready, now we have to take a look at your camera. First thing that will happen when you step outside, will be a fog on your lens. To overcome this, simply wait couple of minutes and let optics adjust to temperature. The fog will disappear with time. Please be patient and do not try to wipe it off. You may not only damage lens, but also smudge it, so when it does adjust to cold, smudge will dry up and be impossible to remove on spot.

Make sure that your camera is protected from snow and water. If snowflake lands on your lens it will melt and smudges will form, just like described above. So keep your equipment well protected and covered, if it is snowing outside.