'Evil Person' Creates Fake GoFundMe After 5 Kids Killed In HV

"Scam alert." A very "evil person" created a fake fundraiser, trying to take advantage of New York State residents helping a family deal with an unimaginable tragedy.

Connecticut State Representative Mary Welander took to Facebook to warn about a fake GoFundMe made to help out the family who lost five youths in a fatal accident in the Hudson Valley.

"Scam" GoFundMe Created After Fatal Crash In Westchester County, New York

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Earlier this morning, Hudson Valley Post reported on a GoFundMe the family made to help pay for funeral costs.

The link in our article is the real GoFundMe. However, after reporting on the fundraiser we were shocked to learn about a different fake GoFundMe trying to take advantage of giving Hudson Valley residents.

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"Scam Alert. I am so discouraged to report this: a fake GoFundMe has been created in the name of the five children from Derby lost in the tragic car accident," Connecticut State Representative Mary Welander stated on Facebook.

The children who died recently moved from New York State to Derby, Connecticut.

GoFundMe

"Unreal Evil," Georgette Jett Kostopoulos wrote on Facebook after learning of the fake GoFundMe.

Welander points out the fake account ends with ".agency" and the correct GoFundMe ends with ".com."

"Please DO NOT DONATE to any fund with a *gofundme.agency* address. The legitimate fund is a .com website," Welander added.

The fake GoFundMe used the same photos and wording as the legitimate fundraiser.

"Whoever the evil person who created it used the photos and the exact wording on a fake site. It is sickening. I pray they go to jail for this," Jane Kostopoulos wrote in the comment section of Welander's post.

GoFundMe told Hudson Valley Post an investigation into the fake fundraiser is ongoing.

"Committing fraud is illegal. GoFundMe has a zero tolerance policy for misuse of our platform, including imitating a GoFundMe fundraiser, and we cooperate with law enforcement investigations of those accused of wrongdoing. We have reported the fake website, and it should be taken down immediately," a GoFundMe spokesperson told Hudson Valley Post in an email.

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