GoFundMe Scams: How to Spot Fake Fundraiser

Michelle Wilson - October 31, 2021

If someone is raising money for something these days, they’re usually doing it through GoFundMe. This is because the platform reassures donors that their money will go to the intended recipients, promising refunds if a fundraiser is found to be fraudulent. But, unfortunately, fake fundraisers still happen, despite the measures in place.

For example, take the case of Victoria Morrison. Morrison told people her son had a terminal illness then launched a GoFundMe campaign to raise money to fund her son’s bucket list. The campaign raised $2000 before Morrison was arrested in 2017 and charged with obtaining money under false pretenses.

The good people who donated to Morrison’s campaign were not cynical enough to believe that someone could be so callous as to pretend their son was suffering from a terminal illness to get money. Unfortunately, they were duped. To avoid getting fooled yourself, read our advice on how to spot a fake fundraiser.

Use External Source to Verify

There are a lot of good people in this world, many of whom feel compelled to do whatever they can to help when a fellow human is suffering. Fortunately, crowdfunding sites make it easy to donate using your credit card or external services like PayPal. However, before you donate, you should make sure the cause you’re funding is legitimate by using external sources. The easiest way to do this is to use Google or another search engine to look up one or more of the parties involved. If the cause is real, there will likely be news articles that support the story being told on GoFundMe. If you don’t find anything written about the cause, you should be suspicious. A real fundraiser will want as much attention as possible, whereas a fake one will hide from the media.

For instance, several fake fundraisers once used the name of a meteorologist from Alabama to raise money purportedly to rebuild his house, which a tornado destroyed. In actuality, however, the meteorologist’s house was fine; his yard was just a little damaged. Furthermore, he wasn’t involved in any of the fundraisers.

Examine the GoFundMe Description and Updates

Every GoFundMe campaign has a description of what the cause is about. Reading the description carefully can help you spot fraudulent campaigns. For example, the description should provide clear details about why the person needs financial assistance. On the other hand, if the description is vague or overly wordy, you should be cautious. Also, be wary of descriptions that seem too long or too short. If someone is trying to pull off a ruse, they will either provide as little information as possible or too much information in an effort to overwhelm the reader.

Additionally, a marked absence of photos is another sign that something is amiss. Furthermore, the photos should include the organizer. Lastly, look at the Facebook page noted in the description. If the account is fairly new and has less than 40 friends, they probably created the account to support their fake campaign. This is a huge red flag and means you should head the other way immediately.

The other place you should look on a GoFundMe page is the Updates section. If GoFundMe believes a campaign is potentially fraudulent, they will usually ask the people involved to clarify things for the site’s users. This might mean clarifying a person’s relationship with the subject of the campaign or providing more details about their financial situation. For instance, in one case, a woman raised more than $200,000 to prevent her eviction, but she’d described herself as a mother to three young girls. This was misleading as, in truth, she was a mother figure in their lives, not their biological mother. Consequently, GoFundMe required her to post an update stating the reality of her relationship with the girls. Therefore, as a donor, you’ll be well informed if you make sure to read the updates section.

Donate to Verified Charitable Institutions Instead

While you should feel good about donating to GoFundMe campaigns, this platform isn’t the only way to financially help someone in need. For example, there are a number of sponsor-a-child campaigns where you directly contribute to the communities where young people live, allowing them to have a better life. That being said, charitable organizations have had their fair share of scandal as well. However, it’s much easier to spot fraudulently philanthropic institutions. This is because verified organizations must file for charity status with the government, and they often provide transparency about where a donor’s funds are going. Furthermore, when a GoFundMe campaign raises more than its goal, the creators aren’t obligated to say what they do with that money, and so it’s possible they might not use your funds for what you intended.

Research and Read Previous Donor Comments

Another way to discern whether a GoFundMe campaign is legitimate is to read the comments from people who’ve already donated. You’ll want to look for comments from people who identify as the family or close friends of the beneficiary. If the campaign is for real, family and friends will surely want to show their support and help encourage people to donate. Therefore you should be suspicious of any campaign where only strangers are donating. Take the case of the woman who raised more than $2000 to cover her husband’s funeral and cremation expenses. Not only did none of her family or friends comment on the campaign, but her relatives were the ones to out her to the police. Her relatives alleged that she left her husband’s body at the morgue and used the campaign funds to pay her living expenses. This ultimately led to a police investigation and an indictment. However, just because a campaign doesn’t have friends or family support in the comments doesn’t necessarily mean the fund is fraudulent. Nonetheless, it should prompt you to dig deeper just to be safe, as it is a red flag.

Conclusion

If you’re an empathetic or giving person by nature, you might feel compelled to donate to a GoFundMe campaign after hearing about someone’s tragic situation. However, before you get out your credit card or log in to your PayPal account, take a step back and look critically at the fundraiser. First, do a quick Google search to ascertain the validity of the cause and then read the GoFundMe description, updates, and comments sections carefully. If you get a bad feeling at all about anything you read, then consider donating to a verified charity instead. For instance, rather than donating to an individual affected by a natural disaster, consider donating to the Red Cross, which helps numerous people after a natural disaster.