Two Ballard residents realized they had been scammed at their homes last week after giving money to a man claiming to represent a local non-profit organization.

Both people described a black man with a slight beard, 5 foot 11 inches and weighing about 170 pounds, approximately 35 to 40 years old as the person that knocked on their door last week. The man claimed to represent the Seattle Youth Academy, a summer teen program run out of the Green Lake neighborhood.

He had the academy's informational brochures and claimed the money would go towards supporting the teen program.

The scammer had even created an identification card to make him look more legitimate, said the director of the Youth Academy, Susan Mueller.

Mueller said her organization would never solicit funds in that way.

"It's important for the public to know that Seattle Youth Academy does not solicit funds in this way and any money they give to this man will not be going to our cause," said Mueller. "If he's doing it to me then he's probably doing this to other programs as well."

Mueller contacted the police but has not heard if the perpetrator has been caught.

It is unknown how many people were asked for money or if the scam has been attempted in other Seattle neighborhoods, but at least two people in Ballard agreed to a financial contribution.

One man gave the suspect $5 in cash and another man wrote a check of an unknown amount. He was asked to make the check payable to CA Burns.

The man who gave cash asked for a receipt but the scammer said he wouldn't give a receipt for a donation less than $20. This alerted the man, who at that point figured he'd been deceived. He called the academy to report the incident to Mueller shortly after.

These types of incidents are not uncommon, said Seattle Police Department spokesman Sean Whitcomb. If anyone was solicited at their home on behalf of Seattle Youth Academy and wrote a check they should immediately put a stop payment on the check, he said.

Mueller said the scammer likely got the academy brochures at the Ballard Community Center or the Ballard Library, where she had just dropped some off earlier that day.

"I feel really powerless as an organization to know someone can pick up our information and represent us," Mueller said. "If people think they are giving their hard earned money to an organization and it's not going to that place, they should know."

Rebekah Schilperoort can be reached at 783.1244 or rebekahs@ballardnewstribune.com