Online charitable crowdfunding has become a powerful tool for raising money for various needs. More than $625 million was raised on GoFundMe between March and August 2020 for pandemic-related hardships, with over 9 million donors supporting those efforts. The site forwards donations to beneficiaries for needs including health problems, disaster recovery, tuition, funerals, and legal bills. A survey released in April showed 91 percent of Americans were familiar with crowdfunding campaigns and 31 percent typically contribute to them.
GoFundMe.com fundraisers have helped countless families over the years as they deal with tragedies ranging from the unexpected loss of loved ones to life-threatening illnesses. The company, along with its sister platform, Classy, which specializes in nonprofit organizations fundraisers, announced in February that they had collectively facilitated more than $30 billion in donations globally, benefitting more than 30 million recipients in 190 countries.
However, the rise of crowdfunding has also attracted malicious actors seeking to exploit the generosity of donors. While such successes trigger publicity, so does greed. Only the rare GoFundMe campaign goes viral, other research has shown. GoFundMe said it has “zero tolerance” for fraud. “It's important to restate our commitment to our community's safety, which we invest heavily in to ensure we are the most trusted online fundraising platform,” the spokesperson said, declining to quantify refunds in general.
Trust keeps breaking in new places. Donation pages were created without consent, deepfakes are shaping elections, and satellites are connecting scam farms. Different stories, same lesson: integrity can’t be added later.
Here are some examples of GoFundMe scams:
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Global Alliance Ethiopia GoFundMe Scam
And in greater Las Vegas, the self-described mother of three acknowledged online on Aug. 9 that she was not their biological mother. She said her partner is their father. As a result, some donors sought refunds under a GoFundMe guarantee. Overall contributions to the woman fell from $234,000 on the day she posted her update to $184,000 by Aug. When the Nevada woman's authenticity was called into question, a GoFundMe spokesperson said that the company followed standard practices and placed funds on hold until it obtained more information. GoFundMe then required the woman to post an online update and contacted donors to offer refunds, and it said it will return donations to those asking for their money back within a 14-day period.
In June, a Florida woman was sentenced to prison for setting up a GoFundMe campaign ostensibly for relatives of the victims of a triple murder in 2020, The Ledger newspaper, of Lakeland, Florida, reported. Afterward, she went on shopping sprees, paid a utility bill and sent herself funds via PayPal. GoFundMe said it took down that campaign last year and gave refunds to all donors.
It's not uncommon for links to fundraising campaigns shared via social media to be promptly targeted with replies from automated accounts offering to provide the organizers with "help" in their efforts.
"Hi there, how are you?" reads one such message, posted within a minute of a post on X that included a link to a GoFundMe.com campaign. "I'd like to assist with your fundraising campaign, follow me back if you need the help."
Another account replying to the same post read, "You should consider reaching out to the influencer who's helping people achieve their campaign goals... I was able to raise $50K+ in just 4 days because of his help. You can follow him now on Twittier at (social media account)."
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A similar reply to another social media post stated, "I realized you owned a fundraising campaign I will like to help but firstly are you the real organiser of this campaign if yes you can Follow back I will like to ask some questions pertaining to your campaign."
GoFundMe spokesman Alex White said the company is mindful of the possibility of bad actors trying to take advantage of those who need help, or those who wish to give it.
"We keep a close eye on this kind of external activity," he said.
Sharing your GoFundMe fundraiser and properly engaging with your donor network is an important part of fundraising, and we want to help you achieve your goals in a safe and effective way. GoFundMe will never ask you to accept an individual donation. If the messages or links look suspicious, avoid opening them. Immediately contact our team to report concerns about your account activity. If someone you don’t know is reaching out to offer something that sounds too good to be true, we always recommend validating the individual before sharing any personal information. Donors and donor networks shouldn't expect anything from you in return for their generosity. While GoFundMe has tools and processes in place to help protect you from this kind of activity, we also encourage you to share relevant information with us as soon as it takes place. The sooner we’re made aware of a situation, the sooner we can help mitigate potential risks. A sweetheart or romance scam involves building trust by pretending to be romantically interested in someone and then using that trust to commit fraud. If you see a GoFundMe opening advertised on social media, you can always verify the job opportunity by visiting Careers at GoFundMe.
What to look for regarding fake GoFundMe accounts
GoFundMe’s Unauthorized Donation Pages
GoFundMe didn’t run a scam, but for nonprofits it felt like one: it represented organizations without their consent, confused donors, and blurred accountability. That’s what happens when reach and engagement is prioritized over trust.
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Nonprofits weren't happy about this. Not only did they reportedly not have notification, review, or approval of these pages, but in some cases the GoFundMe pages show better in search engine results than the non-profits own donation pages.
Nonprofits without their consent had donation pages created. The pages looked official, accepted donations, and included GoFundMe’s default tip to the platform - all without involving the nonprofits themselves.
For fraud fighters and product leaders, this isn’t a charity story, it’s a platform integrity one. When automation outpaces consent, even good intentions erode trust.
Integrity has to be designed in, not added later.
- Be transparent about who controls data and money
- Align incentives with your users, not around them
- Build systems that make misuse impossible, not just punishable
GoFundMe’s misstep is a reminder that trust fails when integrity isn’t built in.
Deepfakes Used in Scams
The voice, gestures, and tone were flawless. Even the fake journalist announcing her withdrawal looked real.
More than 160,000 people saw it before Ireland’s Electoral Commission convinced Meta to remove it.
This is what modern misinformation looks like: scalable, believable, and nearly impossible to contain once it spreads. Identity, authenticity, and proof-of-intent are collapsing into the same problem.
If your platform allows uploads, ads, or user-generated content, you need real-time detection, watermarking, and behavioral context. Deepfakes don’t just fake people, they fake trust.
Starlink Terminals Tied to Myanmar Fraud Farms
SpaceX confirmed it shut down over 2,500 Starlink terminals powering Myanmar’s scam compounds - massive operations running romance, investment, and pig-butchering scams built on human trafficking and forced labor.
Authorities raided one such site, KK Park, detaining more than 2,000 people and seizing Starlink kits that kept the fraud farms online. The terminals had been smuggled in and activated under fake accounts.
It’s one of the clearest acknowledgements yet that infrastructure can be weaponized just as easily as it can connect. The same tools that bring access can sustain abuse. Connectivity, payments, and content systems all need controls that assume misuse is inevitable.
When scale meets lawlessness, enforcement isn’t enough. Visibility, accountability, and design ethics are what keep technology from becoming the next vector.
NATE'S TAKE - OCTOBER 28, 2025
Top Three This Week
- GoFundMe’s 1.4 Million Unauthorized Donation Pages
- A Deepfake Nearly Hacked an Election
- SpaceX Pulls Plug on 2,500 Starlink Terminals Tied to Myanmar Fraud Farms
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