A viral GoFundMe scheme has exposed three criminals who used the story of a homeless man at a gas pump into tricking donors into giving over 400,000 dollars.
New Jersey resident Kate McClure claimed, Johnny Bobbit a homeless person, used his last $20 to help her get gas after her car had broken down.
She and her boyfriend then started a Go Fund Me campaign to help this good samaritan get off the street.
n August, Bobbit accused the couple of withholding funds. The couple claimed that Bobbit was back on drugs and they were holding the money so that it would be safe and used for the right reasons.
But the couple was busted by police in November. Burlington County Prosecutor Scott Coffina said: “The entire campaign was predicated on a lie. Less than an hour after the GoFundMe campaign went live McClure, in a text exchange with a friend, stated that the story about Bobbitt assisting her was fake.”
That text apparently said: “Ok, so wait, the gas part is completely made up but the guy isn’t. I had to make something up to make people feel bad. So, shush about the made up stuff.”
Obviously, these people have not watched enough CSI… NEVER LEAVE A PAPER TRAIL PEOPLE! That’s like the first rule of being a criminal.
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GoFundMe, which has cooperated in the investigation, has agreed to refund money to the 14,000 people who donated to Bobbitt. “While this type of behavior by an individual is extremely rare, it’s unacceptable and clearly it has consequences. Committing fraud, whether it takes place on or offline is against the law. We are fully cooperating and assisting law enforcement officials to recover every dollar withdrawn by Ms. McClure and Mr. D’Amico.”
So what happened to all that money? Oh, it’s all gone.
The couple allegedly spent it all on things they otherwise would not have been able to afford. Like crazy vacations and a sweet trip to Vegas. They also bought a BMW and payed their relatives back for the over $9,000 they owed them. And we know that all this is true because they voluntarily surrendered to authorities on Wednesday and all of those fancy belongings have been seized by the police.
What do you think about this crazy scam? Let us know in the comments or on Twitter at @WhatsTrending.
