AUGUSTA — Maine’s attorney general has joined the other 49 states and the federal government in a lawsuit against four phony cancer charities that have collectively scammed more than $187 million from consumers, according to a news release from the Attorney General’s Office.

The charities are: Cancer Fund of America Inc., Children’s Cancer Fund of America Inc., Cancer Support Services Inc. and The Breast Cancer Society Inc.

According to the release, the joint complaint “alleges that the nonprofit corporations portrayed themselves as legitimate charities with substantial nationwide programs that provided direct support to cancer patients, children with cancer and breast cancer patients in the United States. In fact, most consumers’ donations benefited only the operators, their families and friends, and professional fundraisers that often received 85 percent or more of every donation.”

The plaintiffs claim that the defendants misrepresented that contributions would be used for charitable purposes, misrepresented specific program benefits, misrepresented revenue and program expenses related to international gifts-in-kind, and misrepresented that the primary focus of their reported programs was to provide direct assistance to individuals in the United States, the release states.

Maine Attorney General Janet Mills urged Maine consumers to make informed decisions about donations and not succumb to pressure by charities.

Consumers can call the Maine Office of Professional and Occupational Registration at 207-624-8603 or go online at www.pfr.maine.gov/almsonline/almsquery/SearchCompany.aspx to see if the charity and its professional fundraiser are registered.

Mills suggested always examining the organization’s purpose, how it uses its donations and what percentage of every dollar donated will go to the charity.

“The law cannot limit the percentage that a professional fundraiser can receive from money raised, but you can choose to give to a charity that receives and uses more of the donations raised on its charitable mission,” the release stated.

One source of that information is www.guidestar.org.