14,000GoFundMe donors who gave to a story that was invented
A fabricated story about a homeless veteran giving his last $20 for gas raised more than $400,000 from over 14,000 GoFundMe donors before any of it was real.
The money was spent on a BMW, an RV and casino trips within about a month. All three people behind it pleaded guilty, and GoFundMe refunded every donor.
Source: WABC-TV (ABC7 New York). Read more: crowdfunding fraud · case file