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Remember this feel-good GoFundMe Story?

SDG

By SDG
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SDG

SDG 3319

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I remember this from TOS and thought there was an update with the homeless man sued the couple.  It's taken another turn.  

New Jersey couple and homeless man whose feel-good story went viral charged with GoFundMe scam.

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It was a feel-good story for the ages — a homeless military veteran’s random act of kindness and a New Jersey couple intent on helping him get back on his feet during the holidays — that inspired people to donate than $400,000 in an online fundraiser when it went viral last fall.

But prosecutors say Mark D’Amico, Kate McClure and Johnny Bobbitt Jr. fabricated the story in an effort to raise money for themselves.

 

“The paying it forward story that drove this fundraiser might seem too good to be true,” Burlington County Prosecutor Scott Coffina said at a press briefing in Mount Holly, N.J., on Thursday afternoon. “Unfortunately it was. The entire campaign was predicated on a lie.”

 

The three were each charged with second-degree conspiracy and theft by deception. If convicted on all charges, D’Amico, McClure and Bobbitt would each face 10 to 20 years in prison.

McClure and D’Amico surrendered to authorities on Wednesday and were released pending a Dec. 24 court date, Coffina said. Bobbitt Jr. taken into custody on Wednesday in Philadelphia, where he is awaiting an extradition hearing.

Coffina said that less than an hour after the couple’s online campaign went live, McClure texted a friend to say the story of Bobbitt assisting her was fake.

 

“OK so wait, the gas part is completely made up, but the guy isn’t,” McClure wrote, according to prosecutors. “I had to make something up to make people feel bad.”

 

Ernest Badway, the attorney representing McClure and D’Amico, declined to comment. An attorney for Bobbitt did not immediately return a request seeking comment.

 

In a statement to Yahoo News, GoFundMe spokesman Bobby Whithorne said that all donors who contributed to the couple’s campaign will receive a full refund. The company said it will process all refunds in the coming days.

“We have a zero tolerance policy for fraudulent behavior,” Whithorne said. “One fraudulent campaign is one too many, but when it does take place, we take action to protect donors.”

 

 

The tale of the homeless Good Samaritan and his would-be benefactors began in the middle of night last October, when McClure said she ran out of gas on a freeway ramp in Philadelphia.

 

According to McClure, Bobbitt approached her car, told her it wasn’t safe and went to purchase her gas with his last $20.

 

“Johnny did not ask me for a dollar, and I couldn’t repay him at that moment because I didn’t have any cash, but I have been stopping by his spot for the past few weeks,” McClure explained in her initial GoFundMe post. “I repaid him for the gas, gave him a jacket, gloves, a hat, and warm socks, and I give him a few dollars every time I see him.”

Inspired by Bobbitt’s selflessness, McClure and D’Amico launched a GoFundMe page with the goal of raising $10,000 to get him an apartment, a “reliable vehicle” and cover four to six months of expenses.

 

The story went viral, and the campaign raised more than $400,000 from over 14,000 donations.

 

“He will never have to worry about a roof over his head again!” the couple wrote in a subsequent post.

 

“She did not run out of gas on an off ramp, and he did not spend his last $20 to help her,” Coffina told reporters Thursday. “Rather D’Amico, McClure and Bobbitt conspired to pass off a fake, feel-good story that would compel donors to contribute to their cause.”

 

The net proceeds generated by their campaign amounted to more than $367,000, which was electronically deposited into accounts controlled by McClure.

 

Months later, their “pay it forward” story began to unravel over control of their haul.

In August, Bobbitt filed suit against the couple, alleging they were using the money for themselves and had failed to pay him nearly $300,000. The civil case caught the attention of Coffina’s office, and a criminal investigation was launched.

In an appearance on NBC’s “Megyn Kelly Live,” McClure and D’Amico denied Bobbitt’s allegations, saying they withheld some of the money out of fear Bobbitt would spend it on drugs.

 

“He wanted his fair share of the take,” Coffina said. “But the money was long gone.”

According to prosecutors, D’Amico and McClure spent the vast majority of the money raised by mid-March, buying a car, going on trips and hitting the casinos “hard.” About $20,000 was spent on gambling, Coffina said, and nearly $90,000 was withdrawn at ATM locations near casinos.

In September, police raided the couple’s south Jersey home, but they were not charged at the time.

That month, GoFundMe announced that it would pay Bobbitt the rest of the money owed to him. It’s unclear if the company did so, or whether it would seek to reclaim the funds.

Coffina said it appears the couple met Bobbitt, a homeless Marine veteran, near an underpass during a trip to a casino at least a month before launching their campaign.

Bobbitt’s arrest came after a stint in rehab.

 

“He deserves out appreciation for his willingness to serve our country as a United States Marine,” Coffina said. “And he has our sympathy and concern for the homelessness he’s experienced as well as his publicized struggle with addiction. But it is imperative to keep in mind that he was fully complicit with this scheme.

“This type of case can damage the psyche of the public,” Coffina added. “A case like this can make generous people skeptical and hesitant to help someone else in need.”

 

https://www.yahoo.com/news/new-jersey-couple-homeless-man-whose-feel-good-story-went-viral-charged-gofundme-scam-193432689.html

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Trey3216

Trey3216 15382

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10 minutes ago, SDG said:

I remember this from TOS and thought there was an update with the homeless man sued the couple.  It's taken another turn.  

New Jersey couple and homeless man whose feel-good story went viral charged with GoFundMe scam.

 

https://www.yahoo.com/news/new-jersey-couple-homeless-man-whose-feel-good-story-went-viral-charged-gofundme-scam-193432689.html

Sounds like Johnny deserves the John Sr treatment 

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FondrenRoad

FondrenRoad 4378

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17 minutes ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

Like many scams, greed got to them and they couldn't share the ill-gotten money.    

Even crooks can't trust crooks.  They could be sitting on a beach earning 20% on 130,000 each and none of the donors would have been the wiser.  Instead, they're going to jail.

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SHOOTER12

SHOOTER12 8859

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11 minutes ago, 52-80 said:

I cant feel bad for anybody who donates through gofundme.

The only one I have ever donated to was brought up at the old Shaggy for a poster or their family or something. Other than that I would never give them a dime and now have them blocked on my email.

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SDG

SDG 3319

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26 minutes ago, immortal13 said:

So the Bobbit guy outed himself for his own crime. What a dumbass.

I think in the interview the police chief basically said they probably would have gotten away with it were it not for the pending civil case.  This guy is a real Einstein.  Wonder what the pro bono lawyers that took the civil case think.  

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CooterBrown

CooterBrown 18116

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“He deserves out appreciation for his willingness to serve our country as a United States Marine,” Coffina said.
 

I love that we have to thank a piece of shit for his service because some fucking trailer trash wrapped in the flag will get triggered if you don’t suck off veterans at every opportunity.





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Vic Mackey

Vic Mackey 47434

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6 hours ago, 52-80 said:

I cant feel bad for anybody who donates through gofundme.

Fucking this. I can't imagine seeing some random story with people you don't even know and just donating your own money to them. 

These people did a great scheme and knew what they were doing. Preying on what people have high emotions about i.e. homeless and military. And they combined it and saw the cash roll in. But they all got greedy and it fell apart. But the scheme itself worked perfectly. So many people in this country are so fucking gullible. I am skeptical about most things like this. I think it's fake on the surface until otherwise proven. 

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Guest Lobo

Guest Lobo

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The people that donated to this are still not as dumb/naive as the Haiti relief concert attendees.  But feeling like you've done something is a very high-priced item.  

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Nice Guy Eddie

Nice Guy Eddie 13568

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I hate stories like this one:  https://www.foxnews.com/us/woolsey-fire-destroys-australian-directors-home-burns-savings-kept-in-fire-proof-safe

"Hollywood" couple loses their house to the CA fires.  I feel for anyone that loses their home.  The fire is 100% not their fault and it must be torture to lose personal items that money can't replace the memories.  But because they weren't fully insured, they are asking for people to give them $100K to restore their savings and home.  

Their decision to not get insurance now becomes everyone else's problem.  

 

 

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immortal13

immortal13 4059

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11 minutes ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

I hate stories like this one:  https://www.foxnews.com/us/woolsey-fire-destroys-australian-directors-home-burns-savings-kept-in-fire-proof-safe

"Hollywood" couple loses their house to the CA fires.  I feel for anyone that loses their home.  The fire is 100% not their fault and it must be torture to lose personal items that money can't replace the memories.  But because they weren't fully insured, they are asking for people to give them $100K to restore their savings and home.  

Their decision to not get insurance now becomes everyone else's problem.  

 

 

Username does not check out.

 

 

Just kidding....fuck those people

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Onboard 2.0

Onboard 2.0 9083

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18 hours ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

I hate stories like this one:  https://www.foxnews.com/us/woolsey-fire-destroys-australian-directors-home-burns-savings-kept-in-fire-proof-safe

"Hollywood" couple loses their house to the CA fires.  I feel for anyone that loses their home.  The fire is 100% not their fault and it must be torture to lose personal items that money can't replace the memories.  But because they weren't fully insured, they are asking for people to give them $100K to restore their savings and home.  

Their decision to not get insurance now becomes everyone else's problem.  

 

 

Sounds kinda like welfare to me.

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19 hours ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

I hate stories like this one:  https://www.foxnews.com/us/woolsey-fire-destroys-australian-directors-home-burns-savings-kept-in-fire-proof-safe

"Hollywood" couple loses their house to the CA fires.  I feel for anyone that loses their home.  The fire is 100% not their fault and it must be torture to lose personal items that money can't replace the memories.  But because they weren't fully insured, they are asking for people to give them $100K to restore their savings and home.  

Their decision to not get insurance now becomes everyone else's problem.  

 

 

You can't hold people's bad decisions over their heads...

 

That might cause folks to wake the fuck up and live with some accountability.

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Vic Mackey

Vic Mackey 47434

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On 11/16/2018 at 12:50 PM, Nice Guy Eddie said:

I hate stories like this one:  https://www.foxnews.com/us/woolsey-fire-destroys-australian-directors-home-burns-savings-kept-in-fire-proof-safe

"Hollywood" couple loses their house to the CA fires.  I feel for anyone that loses their home.  The fire is 100% not their fault and it must be torture to lose personal items that money can't replace the memories.  But because they weren't fully insured, they are asking for people to give them $100K to restore their savings and home.  

Their decision to not get insurance now becomes everyone else's problem.  

 

 

He said he doesn't trust banks. But if he had that money in a bank instead of his house, he'd be fine right now. Why the fuck would anyone donate to this clown? You decided to keep that kind of cash in your house and now it's gone. Deal with it.

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DejaVu

DejaVu 39

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On 11/16/2018 at 11:50 AM, Nice Guy Eddie said:

I hate stories like this one:  https://www.foxnews.com/us/woolsey-fire-destroys-australian-directors-home-burns-savings-kept-in-fire-proof-safe

"Hollywood" couple loses their house to the CA fires.  I feel for anyone that loses their home.  The fire is 100% not their fault and it must be torture to lose personal items that money can't replace the memories.  But because they weren't fully insured, they are asking for people to give them $100K to restore their savings and home.  

Their decision to not get insurance now becomes everyone else's problem.  

 

 

Is there any proof that the “savings” even existed? 

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SDG

SDG 3319

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7 hours ago, Vic Mackey said:

He said he doesn't trust banks. But if he had that money in a bank instead of his house, he'd be fine right now. Why the fuck would anyone donate to this clown? You decided to keep that kind of cash in your house and now it's gone. Deal with it.

They also make fireproof safes for under $500 so either he’s a dumbass who just learned a life lesson or a fraudster. 

Edit; article says they used a fireproof safe. If that’s the case he may be able to go after the manufacture for some of the money back.  

I quick google search shows that SentrySafe has a $50k guarantee and they aren’t even top of the line (I have one but trust banks so 50k is good enough)

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Nice Guy Eddie

Nice Guy Eddie 13568

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6 hours ago, SDG said:

They also make fireproof safes for under $500 so either he’s a dumbass who just learned a life lesson or a fraudster. 

Edit; article says they used a fireproof safe. If that’s the case he may be able to go after the manufacture for some of the money back.  

I quick google search shows that SentrySafe has a $50k guarantee and they aren’t even top of the line (I have one but trust banks so 50k is good enough)

I wouldn’t put much faith in a fireproof safe guarantee.  You would have to prove what contents were destroyed.   

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Trey3216

Trey3216 15382

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11 hours ago, SDG said:

They also make fireproof safes for under $500 so either he’s a dumbass who just learned a life lesson or a fraudster. 

Edit; article says they used a fireproof safe. If that’s the case he may be able to go after the manufacture for some of the money back.  

I quick google search shows that SentrySafe has a $50k guarantee and they aren’t even top of the line (I have one but trust banks so 50k is good enough)

Most safes have a fireproof rating for a certain duration.   Not fire-proof guaranteed.  

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