Prosecutors in the US have accused a New Jersey couple and a homeless man of manufacturing a viral hoax that raised hundreds of thousands of pounds through a crowd-funding website.
Officials say the story of homeless man Johnny Bobbitt Jr giving his last $20 to Kate McClure when she ran out of petrol on Interstate 95 in Philidelphia, who then started a GoFundMe page as a way to say thank you, is false.
The campaign, which quickly went viral, raised more than £310,000, which McClure and her partner Mark D’Amico said they would release to Bobbitt once he had completed a drug rehabilitation program.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
“The paying-it-forward story that drove this fundraiser might seem too good to be true. Unfortunately, it was. The entire campaign was predicated on a lie,” Burlington County Prosecutor Scott Coffina said.
The story began to unravel when Bobbitt sued McClure and D’Amico, telling media that the couple had not provided him with the promised funds, The Guardian says.
CNN reports that Bobbitt, McClure and D’Amico face charges of “second-degree theft by deception and conspiracy to commit theft by deception”.
-
Strava vs. Garmin: the row splitting the running communityUnder The Radar The legal dispute between the two titans of exercise tech is like ‘Mom and Dad fighting’
-
Bad Bunny: Why MAGA is incensedFeature The NFL announced Latino artist Bad Bunny as the Super Bowl halftime headliner, sparking MAGA outrage
-
Supreme Court: Judging 20 years of RobertsFeature Two decades after promising to “call balls and strikes,” Chief Justice John Roberts faces scrutiny for reshaping American democracy
-
Sanae Takaichi: Japan’s Iron Lady set to be the country’s first woman prime ministerIn the Spotlight Takaichi is a member of Japan’s conservative, nationalist Liberal Democratic Party
-
Russia is ‘helping China’ prepare for an invasion of TaiwanIn the Spotlight Russia is reportedly allowing China access to military training
-
Interpol arrests hundreds in Africa-wide sextortion crackdownIN THE SPOTLIGHT A series of stings disrupts major cybercrime operations as law enforcement estimates millions in losses from schemes designed to prey on lonely users
-
China is silently expanding its influence in American citiesUnder the Radar New York City and San Francisco, among others, have reportedly been targeted
-
How China uses 'dark fleets' to circumvent trade sanctionsThe Explainer The fleets are used to smuggle goods like oil and fish
-
One year after mass protests, why are Kenyans taking to the streets again?today's big question More than 60 protesters died during demonstrations in 2024
-
What happens if tensions between India and Pakistan boil over?TODAY'S BIG QUESTION As the two nuclear-armed neighbors rattle their sabers in the wake of a terrorist attack on the contested Kashmir region, experts worry that the worst might be yet to come
-
Why Russia removed the Taliban's terrorist designationThe Explainer Russia had designated the Taliban as a terrorist group over 20 years ago
