A mailer sent to Flathead County residents in early May exudes urgency and need from what looks like a local-based charity, but law enforcement say that the flier is the latest in a years-long scam based out of Washington that keeps swindling well-meaning Flathead Valley residents out of their money.

Flathead County Sheriff’s Deputy Travis Bruyer said that the Sheriff’s Office first noticed the scam a few years ago, when a group operating under the name of “Emergency Relief Services” started sending out mailers asking for donations that allegedly would be redistributed to local search-and-rescue groups.

“It looks legit, but we found out it was a scam,” Bruyer said. “Local search-and-rescue groups never received a dime.”

The Sheriff’s Office found that the charity was one of many run by the same man, who legitimately registers the charities in Washington but allegedly does not give the money back to local groups as promised and instead pockets the funds for himself.

“He owns just a ton of fake charities,” Bruyer said.

A couple of years ago the Sheriff’s Office served a search warrant on the local mailbox the charity was using and shut it down.

The mailers sent out on recently ask people to send money to 175 Hutton Ranch Road, Ste. 103 N0.189 in Kalispell.

Bruyer said the Sheriff’s Office has flagged the following charities as fake:

Needy Children’s Shopping Spree/Children’s Safety Bureau, Cancer Exam Network, Civil Air Patrol, Emergency Relief Services, Hope Cancer Fund/Donor Response Center, Emergency Children’s Hospital.

Bruyer said that legitimate addresses of local search and rescue groups are Flathead SAR, P.O. Box 358, Kalispell, MT 59901 or North Valley SAR, P.O. Box 2041, Columbia Falls, MT 59912.

Bruyer estimates that thousands of dollars have been scammed out of Flathead Valley over the years, with the prime targets being elderly residents on a fixed income.

Reporter Megan Strickland can be reached at 758-4459 or [email protected].