Before You Donate to a 'Go Fund Me' Page Do Your Due Diligence

What began as an organic way to help average Americans raise money for good causes has morphed into a way to rip people off. 

The first GoFundMe page was officially launched on May 10, 2010, and was originally called "Coin Piggy" and later "Create-a-Fund" before becoming the platform it is today.

Created as a for-profit crowdfunding platform, GoFundMe allows people to raise money for events ranging from life events such as celebrations and graduations to challenging circumstances like accidents and illnesses.

It wasn't long before bad actors found ways to abuse the platform. GoFundMe controversies fall into two distinct categories: platform-wide corporate scandals and individual criminal scams.

Here's four ways that individual grifters have managed to turn a good thing into a bad thing:

1. The "Good Samaritan" Hoax. Perpetrators fabricate a heartwarming story that urges people to donate to.

2. The Faked Childhood-Cancer Hoax. A parent falsely appeals for help for their terminally ill child. At some point they post that the child died and has been cremated.

3. The "Degenerative Disease" Hoax. Someone begins by telling friends, family, and online donors that they have a rare, terminal degenerative illness.

4. The Faked Animal Cruelty Hoax. This scam targets animal lovers by claiming their pet suffered a grievous injury, and they need help to pay for medical bills. 

These examples are the most common ways people get scammed donating to a GoFundMe site but are far from the only ways the platform has been abused.

Platform wide abuse has spurred government investigations for years.

One of the biggest abuses stemmed from 1.4 million GoFundMe pages created for fundraising and donations that were formed without the prior knowledge or consent from the charities they featured.

As of March 2026, a coalition of 22 state Attorneys General launched an investigation and issued a scathing letter accusing GoFundMe of "identity plagiarism."

Update: GoFundMe has removed unauthorized donation web pages and is now requiring prior consent for charity web pages as of June 3, 2026. You'd think after all of these years this problem should have been addressed a long time ago.

Then there's spoofing threats that are still happening. Beyond platform fraud, scammers regularly "spoof" real GoFundMe pages - copying text and imagery verbatim-and re-uploading them to unmonitored alternative crowdfunding sites that request untraceable payment methods like Bitcoin.

There are good alternatives to GoFundMe for families. For example, SupportNow doesn't charge any fees to participate, unlike GoFundMe that charges 2.9 percent from every donation and asks for an additional tip.

The bottom line is do your research before giving away your hard-earned money to anyone.

As it Stands, I'm waiting for the MAGA man who dressed up as Uncle Sam in Trump's Great American State Fair to start his own GoFundMe page after being arrested for perversion.