Here are a few of the worst GoFundMe stories!
9 - Victoria Morrison She used a GoFundMe campaign to
raise money for her terminally-ill 10-year-old son. However, her son was just fine. According
to the local media, Victoria Morrison even faked her son's death with a memorial service.
How did she manage to do this if her son was very much alive? Well, she made it
her mission to convince the little boy he had leukemia and that he was dying. She used fake
medical documents that fooled the boy, his school, their friends and family, and the general public.
According to Morrison, her "baby" had a bucket list of things to do before
he died. They obtained a helicopter ride, multiple gift cards, and cash.
Things got serious a month later when she posted on social media that the boy was dead. But,
after her case went public, and she managed to get $2000 via GoFundMe, her scam ended.
Victoria forgot to get one significant person in on the scam…
the boy's father. A woman offered her condolences to the father, who, in turn,
said the boy was fine. That woman contacted the local sheriff's office and told them what she
knew. Police officers found the family at a Carson City motel and noticed the boy was indeed alive.
She was charged with getting money under false pretenses, and since her son had missed school
for several months and she had convinced him of a made-up illness, she was officially charged!
8 - Brandy Holder
Barry Sutton died while serving as a civilian contractor in Afghanistan. In his hometown of
Rome, Georgia, hundreds of people paid their respects to his memory and his family– he had
three daughters. While paying tribute to his work and life, a family friend named Brandy Holder came
up with a lovely idea: she would organize a hunting trip in his memory with his three
daughters. The Sutton family loved hunting together, so the idea made plenty of sense.
She used a GoFundMe page to raise awareness for the event, going as far as posting
pictures of Sutton and his daughters with rifles and the American flag.
Donations started pouring in. Overall, the campaign raised $4800
in donations from close relatives, friends, and the community. But, things went sour
when Sutton's ex-wife started asking about the event. It seems Holder –who was the only person
in charge of the campaign– had withdrawn the money from the account. She didn't expect anyone
to notice she had stolen the money, even though the whole town showed up to pay their respects.
Authorities aren't clear on what happened with the $4800
that Holder took out of the account. Holder ended up giving Sutton's family a mere
$400– this after she stopped answering their calls. Holder finally faced justice
and pleaded guilty to theft. She spent two years in jail and eight more on probation.
7 - Cindy Smith She was very public
on Facebook about her ongoing struggle with CIDP, a neurological disorder considered to
be treatable but very debilitating. Once the news of her illness broke,
Cindy disappeared briefly from social media– close relatives took over her page and started
a special group to help save Cindy's life. It was almost as if she had created a very
affectionate following that was interested in her story. Through this group, they informed people
of how Cindy's condition was getting worse and decided to create a GoFundMe campaign
with a goal of $1.6 Million to undergo a $500,000 experimental treatment. According to the group,
she had lost her vision, and the nerves in her brain were severely affected.
The people around were so passionate that, at one point,
one of her closest friends sold his home to donate the money to Cindy's cause. She
kept out of the public eye because her immune system was compromised; she couldn't have any
visitors. People were willing to take Cindy, her friends, and her family for their word.
As details on her condition lessened, people grew suspicious,
especially after a garage sale to raise funds was abruptly canceled. A local
reporter conducted interviews with Cindy's sister and best friend and noticed there
weren't any precise details about her condition. How could they know so little?
A colleague contacted the police, who immediately launched an investigation.
Later on, it was confirmed by a neighbor that Cindy wasn't blind and that she had left her
apartment one day to do laundry. The investigation showed she never had CIDP, and she was perfectly
healthy. Cindy was arrested for faking an illness and soliciting money through charity.
6 - Martin and Jolene LaFrance
The LaFrances, who were both 35 at the time, found themselves dealing with their nine-year-old son
CJ's cancer diagnosis. The New York couple claimed CJ was diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma. According
to their GoFundMe page, the couple quit their jobs because of CJ's constant hospital visits.
After going public with their campaign in 2017, the LaFrances enjoyed the sympathy of many,
including the Syracuse University Football team, who even invited CJ to participate in their summer
camp. CJ played with the athletes and spent a whole afternoon in their practice session– he
even went home with a football signed by the team. But of course, surprise, CJ didn't have cancer!
After this and more, their GoFundMe campaign managed to score $3,334 in donations. But it
would all come to a dramatic end when, in 2018, a close relative of the LaFrances contacted
the police with suspicions about the boy's condition. An investigation revealed the boy never
received a cancer diagnosis. Every awful disease his parents claimed he had was a total lie.
5 - Jordan Fogg
She’s a Canadian woman who wanted to help an older man she'd been caring for. The whole
idea was to raise money to get a new motorized scooter for Jimmy Filipello since he depends on
one to get around. Jordan decided to create a GoFundMe page to raise money and help him out.
However, Filipello never asked for any of it, nor did he know anything about it.
Fogg went through with her idea anyway and received $1200 from 40 people who donated
to the campaign. And that's where things went wrong. According to Filipello, he only received
$100. A friend of Filipello's, and an employee at the Ontario County Office for the Aging,
smelt something fishy and notified police.
Police confirmed the story that she'd only given him $100.
He thought that's all there was and never thought anything of it. What Fogg did with
the rest of the money, only she knows. Fogg was charged with fourth-degree grand theft.
4 - Matt White
There are indeed good intentions behind creating most GoFundMe pages– people care about the cause
they're supporting and put the money to the intended use. The story of Chauncy Black,
a teenager from Memphis, Tennessee, is such an example. Unfortunately, the GoFundMe campaign
didn't change his life for the better. Living with his grandmother in a house they couldn't afford,
Chauncy set out to the streets to get money for groceries. He offered to carry people's
groceries outside the supermarket in exchange for cash or food. Here is where he met Matt White.
White was moved by the teenager's intentions and decided to get him some food and groceries.
While they talked about his life, the pair drove to the teenager's house. White was shocked to
see where Chauncy lived. White decided to create a GoFundMe page to raise $250 so Chauncy could start
a small landscaping business. It wasn't long before they doubled their goal. People seemed
hooked on the positivity and hopefulness of this story, so money kept pouring in.
Matt made sure the public knew every detail about their donations and Chauncy's newfound
luck. He would post daily heartfelt updates about Chauncy's adventures. After a week,
they made $10,000. A reporter caught wind of the story and made Black a national sensation,
raising $100,000 for the boy and his family.
In a matter of 3 months, the campaign managed to make $342,106, a large part of which was
used to buy a new home in a safer neighborhood– something Chauncy's grandma thought impossible.
But as time went by, Matt noticed attitudes in Chauncy that worried him: his ego was inflated
because of all the attention his story had received, and he dropped out of high school.
Matt noticed how Chauncy's family became dependent on him whenever they needed anything. Then, Matt
learned Chauncy's girlfriend was pregnant. Matt realized there was nothing more he could do to
change the boy's life. Sadly, Chauncy was caught in a mentality that he wasn't willing to change.
3 - Irovando & Long In Florida, Ginny Irovando and Robert
Long were charged with 9 counts of fraud after convincing their 13-year-old son that he had been
diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. The weird thing is that police wouldn't identify the boy's
relationship with the couple, even if Irovando said the boy was her son in her Facebook posts.
A school official notified police of possible wrongdoing when the boy started telling his
classmates that he would die soon. His parents even sold T-Shirts to support the boy's cause.
According to Irovando, surgery was too risky, as the boy might slip into a coma. Police found the
GoFundMe page the couple set up had reached $1000 in donations before exposing the scam.
2 - Kate McClure Kate McClure, a 27-year-old from New Jersey, found
herself stranded on the side of I-95; her trip to Philadelphia had gone wrong. She was alone, with
no gas on her car and without a penny to save her. She was approached by an odd-looking man, Johnny,
who made her feel uncomfortable at first– he was clearly homeless. He told her to lock her doors,
and he would find help. He came back with a small tank of gas, on which he'd spent his last $20.
McClure was so moved by his gesture that she promised to come back with something. She and
her boyfriend started visiting Johnny, giving him cash, snacks, and gift cards to buy whatever he
needed. After a few visits, McClure felt she needed to do much more to repay him, so they
launched a GoFundMe campaign with the ambitious goal of $10,000 to get Johnny back on track.
The campaign went viral; thousands of dollars started pouring in. While it all sounded movingly
convincing, it turned out to be a total scam. The "gesture" made them instant stars, with
Johnny being featured on national TV. But when Johnny noticed he wasn't getting his
cut of the money, he decided to sue the couple, publicly exposing the charade.
McClure and her boyfriend met Johnny at a local casino, approached him,
and convinced him to go along with the scam. When asked why Johnny hadn't gotten any money,
the couple said they were worried he wouldn't spend it right. However,
the couple's spending habits included parties in Las Vegas, Broadway tickets, and shopping sprees.
After Johnny's initial lawsuit, Mark D'Amico, McClure's boyfriend, was federally charged
with conspiracy to commit fraud based on the homeless man scam that gathered almost $400,000.
1 - Anonymous Jared Aguilar from Arizona woke up
dead on Christmas morning. A Facebook post said that he had tragically died on Christmas morning,
and 15 people shared the sad news with the rest of the world. Attached to the post was a link to
a GoFundMe page asking for a $5000 goal to help bury him. Of course, Jared was very much alive.
His brother broke the news to him, and confusion took over.
Jared received multiple calls and text messages from people he hadn't seen in years.
An unknown scammer had decided to find a way to make some money using Jared’s identity.
Jared took things very lightly and even joked about the Facebook post–
much to the surprise of his friends.
Fortunately, Facebook deleted the post before anyone donated any money. Jared wasn't interested
in pressing any charges since he didn't care. Being dead was just a funny moment for
him. And his mom hadn't seen the post before Jared had a chance to explain what happened!
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