Donors Beware! More Scammers Are Targeting Crowdfunding Sites
A little more than a year ago when Tabatha Fautuex died unexpectedly in Los Angeles, her grieving family in New Hampshire learned a shattered heart can break even more.
Thousands of dollars raised to cover the costs of transporting Fauteux’s remains and honoring her memory vanished, allegedly wiped out by their daughter’s best friend, who had started a crowdfunding campaign on the 26-year-old’s behalf.
“Just made it harder, just made things go deeper than deep. They were already at their saddest point, but to do what she did was even deeper,” said Fauteux’s mother, Sheila.
In May, Krystal Gentley will stand before a judge, accused of spending the money on shopping and bypass surgery.
“I couldn’t believe how pathetic she would be to do something like that,” said Tabatha’s father, Guy.
Consumer advocate Adrienne Gonzalez said this is not an isolated case, despite what fundraising sites would like you to believe. This kind of fraud is not rare.
“I wouldn’t have anything to do all day if it was that rare,” Gonzalez said. Every day, she adds new scams on her Facebook page – gofraudme – to warn donors.
She said cons are not unique to GoFundMe, but its size makes it a popular target.
“It’s impossible to police the site because a new campaign goes up every 18 seconds,” Gonzalez explained. “They see a story in the news. They copy the news story word for word. They take pictures from it. They don’t know who this person is, and they put up a GoFundMe campaign.”
Read more:
http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2017/02/23/donors-beware-more-scammers-are-targeting-crowdfunding-sites/