She was only caught when her husband publicly said she didn’t actually have cancer.
Or the Pennsylvania mom who said she had colon cancer and crowdfunded over $10,000 from friends, family and the public. There have been some high-profile cases of crowdfunding fraud, like the American couple who raised over $400,000 with the help of a homeless man using a fake story - and then spent it on luxury cars and trips. "There are lots of sites that come up on social media but how does one know which groups are legitimate, and which groups are going to do the most good instead of channelling it into administrative costs?" "I know there have been problems with GoFundMe accounts in the past, people who collect the money and then don't know exactly where they're going to send it to," Leach says. Many of the charities that seemed to be involved she had never heard of, and she was hesitant to donate to an unverified crowdfunding campaign. "When you see the pictures of the animals on the news with the koalas with their bandaged paws, the baby kangaroos, the images of the kangaroos fleeing the fires, it's enough to make you weep," she says.īut when Leach searched online for somewhere to donate, there were too many options. But if you plan to donate money, there are a few steps you need to take to make sure a fundraising campaign is legitimate.ĬTV News Vancouver viewer Lynette Leach contacted McLaughlin On Your Side for help figuring that out. Tragedies around the world - Canadians killed in the Iranian plane crash, massive fires in Australia - may have you wanting to do something to help.