Dear Abby: I have an acquaintance, “Tina,” who I believe is fraudulently using her GoFundMe fundraising webpage. A close friend of hers set it up a few years ago to assist with medical bills related to a rare form of cancer that will never fully go away. When the page began, Tina was soliciting donations on Facebook and sending text messages to remind everyone to donate. Later on, when she and her husband went out of town for surgery, they posted about it as if it were a vacation.
Recently, she has had some legal bills for an unrelated matter, and a year after her last medical donation, she received a hefty donation that matched the amount of her legal bills. I suspect the person who donated the money was duped into believing Tina had another large medical bill, but she used that donation for her legal expenses.
On top of this, Tina has opened a new fundraising page with a sob story…
Trust your gut feeling—if a transaction or a conversation feels pressured, overly emotional, or “off,” stop all communication immediately and seek a second opinion from a trusted friend or professional.