When GoFundMe pages first began to appear in approximately 2010, they were for genuine causes such as illnesses, sudden family deaths, and many more causes. Unfortunately, scam artists got wind of these heartfelt causes and turned them into a new way to scam people into parting ways with money destined for goodwill.
At the National Inquiry Agency, when these types of scams come to our desk to be investigated, it seems that the client approaching us is not the only one who has been electronically scammed. There is usually a group of unsuspecting donors who have also lost their money to these con artists
You may ask, what is GoFundMe?
It is a platform designed to assist people facing financial challenges.
Unfortunately, at times in our lives, an expense may come along that there is no way affordable and as such we may need to reach out to others, even strangers, to help cover the costs.
Some financial challenges may be a sick family member or animal, accidents not covered by insurance, natural disasters, unexpected funerals or cost of living expenses due to a family member no longer being able to provide financially.
How are you able to identify a fraudulent GoFundMe page?
Scam artists are adept at pulling at our heartstrings with stories of illness, medical emergencies, false accidents or disasters, and non-existent charities. You need to be particularly vigilant about these types of scams, although they are also the most common ones as to why people start GoFundMe pages.
How to avoid being scammed?
To avoid being scammed, you need to become inquisitive, which means doing some background checking.
- Does the story seem legit?
- Is there information missing?
- Can you contact the client by any form, be it email, social media, etc?
- Can you find the person on the internet?
Once scammers are alerted that they are being watched, they will remove the GoFundMe page to avoid being traced.
What to do if you have been scammed
Contact the team at the National Inquiry Agency. We have dealt with quite a few of these types of scamsthroughout our careers and know how to determine whether the GoFundMe page is legit.
We can collate information for your solicitor or the police to assist with their investigation.
