What a piece of news this was. For those who are unaware there was a story going around before where a lady named Kate McClure and her boyfriend Mark D’Amico posted on social media about how they ran out of gas in their car and could get home. Afterwards a homeless marine veteran named Johnny Bobbitt offered them his last $20 to pay for the gas and they got home.
Because of his kind actions the couple then decided to share the story on social media and then used the platform GoFundMe as a way to hopefully crowdfund money to help this generous person get back on his feet. It was a huge success as they raised over $400,000 and it seemed like everything turned out great for everyone. The story then got sticky as apparently the couple was spending all the money themselves while withholding funds as they claimed they wanted the homeless man to get off things like drugs before handing him any money as they were afraid he would misuse it. This created a legal battle over the funds.
As everything unfolded it turned out the whole situation was a scam as the story was made up and the three were essentially in it together. This was an eye opener for so many on how when it comes to crowdfunding there are a lot of people who will go to extreme lengths to make up a story in an effort to get money. Think of how many places they lied about this with a smile too such as all the TV interviews they did about this story.
It’s sad as experiences like these will probably discourage people from helping those who truly do need it.