As we head into the holiday season, good tips today from the Chicago Tribune in regards to secure giving to charities.

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Fraudulent charity schemes are plentiful during the holidays, with scammers seeking to take advantage of the traditional giving season to impersonate legitimate organizations or steal credit card information through fake Web sites. Here are some tips to make sure your money is going to the right place:

--In Illinois, charitable organizations must register with the attorney general. Check the office's database at ag.state.il.us/charities. You also can look up charities through the Better Business Bureau (bbb.org/charity) or GuideStar (guidestar.org).

--Be wary of e-mails that contain links to sites asking for donations. It's safer to manually type the address of the organization's home page into your browser. And double-check your spelling. Many fake or "spoofed" Web sites use common misspellings and copied logos to fool consumers into thinking they're on the real site.

--If using a credit card online, make sure the Web address reads "https://" -- the "s" means the data is encrypted. There also should be a small icon of a closed padlock in the lower right corner of the browser window.

SOURCE: Tribune reporting