Scammers Target Four-Year-Old Drowning Victim
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MOORESVILLE, NC — A case of greed has left a grieving family sending out a warning.
Scammers tried to profit from their four-year-old little boy’s drowning death.
“To use my child’s death to make money, that is ridiculous, and that is the most evil thing that you could do to somebody,” said Lacey West.
West says her son was playing outside their Mooresville home Saturday when she went inside for a minute.
Four-year-old Austin fell into the pool.
He knew how to swim, but the cold water still overpowered the child.
“I tried to do CPR on him, and nothing was coming up but water,” said West.
Crooks quickly took the nightmare in their own hands.
“As soon as it was put on the news that a child drowned in Mooresville, they started making those GoFundMe sites,” said Jordan Knox.
Knox is Austin’s dad. He says scammers created at least six links on the website GoFundMe.com, asking for funeral donations.
He says one collected more than $2,000.
The family may have never known if they didn’t need to create their own link.
“That makes me not trust all these people that I’ve donated to,” said West. “Could that money have really went to that child’s family?”
GoFundMe took the fake links down, and sent this statement saying: “In the rare event that we do find fraudulent activity on an account, we have the power to remove the account, refund donors and ban the user from ever signing up again.”
Site Spokesperson Kelsea Little also wrote, “GoFundMe and its payment processors have many systems in place to catch and deter fraudulent activity. Because crowdfunding creates such a robust paper trail of account holder activity, fraud on GoFundMe is incredibly rare.”
West works two jobs, and still isn’t sure how she’ll meet the thousands of dollars in funeral costs.
“I don’t know when we’ll be able to bury my baby,” cried West.
This is the second son West has lost in two and half years.
Her son, Jason, died at four years old after asthma complications.
The Iredell County Sheriff’s Office says Austin’s drowning was a tragic accident.
The family does not have a date for his funeral due to funding.
To visit the family’s GoFundMe account, click here
