There has to be a special place in Hell for people who take advantage of other people’s kindness. It’s just the worst kind of crime. One woman, who with 3 others scammed people using GoFundMe will at least be spending some time in prison.
In 2017, 14,000 good souls donated to a GoFundMe created by a New Jersey couple and a homeless man. They gathered more than $400,000 from these sweet people. As it turns out, it was all a scam. Now, Katelyn McClure will spend one year and one day in prison, after accepting a plea deal.
McClure, along with Mark D’Amico, and a homeless man, Johnny Bobbitt Jr. made up the whole thing, with McClure and D’Amico telling people “they met Bobbitt when he gave his last $20 to McClure, who was stranded on Interstate 95 in Philadelphia, so she could put gas in her car, then started the GoFundMe campaign as a way to thank him,” reports CNN.
“Prosecutors said the then-couple spent the money on a BMW, a New Year’s trip to Las Vegas, gambling in casinos, Louis Vuitton handbags, and other items. Bobbitt, who received $75,000 from the fundraiser, according to prosecutors, took civil action against D’Amico and McClure,” reports CNN.
Johnny Bobbitt Jr. was sentenced to a five-year special probation period in 2019. Also in 2019 D’Amico agreed to a five-year term in New Jersey state prison, as well as restitution of GoFundMe and the donors.
Fortunately, GoFundMe has refunded every person who donated to the GoFundMe scam. “All donors who contributed to this GoFundMe campaign have been fully refunded. GoFundMe always fully protects donors, which is why we have a comprehensive refund policy in place,” a spokesman for GoFundMe said.
What kind of people do this? Maybe they think it’s okay because each person only gave a little. The average donation would have been about $28.00. But there is no way to make what they did okay. Do you ever donate to things where you don’t really know where the money goes? Did these people get off too easy?
