Donors beware. The charity you are supporting could be a scam.

The Federal Trade Commission and law enforcement groups from all 50 states have filed a complaint against the Cancer Fund of America, Cancer Support Services, Children’s Cancer Fund of America, and the Breast Cancer Society.

Officials accuse a Tennessee man and his family with spending $187 million it collected for cancer patients. The defendants told donors their money would help cancer patients, but, they kept the majority of the donations for themselves.

James T. Reynolds Sr., his ex-wife and son are accused of using the money to buy themselves cars, gym memberships and take luxury cruise vacations, pay for college tuition and employ family members with six-figure salaries, federal officials alleged Tuesday in one of the largest charity fraud cases.

WSB Consumer Expert Clark Howard says you should always check out a charity before you hand over any money.

“There are three watchdog groups that monitor charities. You can go to Charity Watch, Charity Navigator or Give-dot-org to make sure the charity is legitimate,” Howard said.