There were already plenty of good reasons to refrain from donating to that GoFundMe for the homeless man who allegedly gave his last $20 to a stranded woman at a gas station. It was a suspicious story from the start. Not because such an act of generosity from a homeless man is impossible or even implausible, but because any heartwarming story that ends with “by the way, here’s a link to give me money” must be met with extreme caution.
As it turns out, caution in this case was warranted. Police now believe that the homeless man, the woman, and her husband, all conspired to invent the whole thing and defraud the public. It’s just too bad that so many well meaning people had so little caution. The fraudulent viral story earned the scam artists over $400,000 before all was said and done.
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