ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — "This makes my blood boil:" They're tough words coming from Attorney General Ashley Moody following a GoFundMe scam out of South Florida.
A Florida man created a GoFundMe page claiming he was raising $2,000 to buy masks for first responders.
Turns out he was selling those masks for $12 each. That is price gouging.
Moody had the post removed but, unfortunately, every time a crisis like this happens, there will be problems with gouging and scams.
And, our neighbors still need help from the right place. So, what can you do to make sure your donation ends up in the right hands?
Here are some tips:
- Research the webpage creator’s background and reviews before donating. It’s safest if you know who you are donating too.
- Check to see if the platform offers protections to donors if a campaign is fake.
- Determine what percentage of funds raised will go to the charity and what percentage goes to the platform.
- Search to see if there are any identical or extremely similar campaigns. It is possible scammers copied a legitimate campaign to fraudulently attract donors.
Remember if you see something suspicious, document it by taking a picture or screenshot and then report it to the Attorney General’s office.
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