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CBC
02-05-2025
- CBC
This campaign raised $57K to repatriate a 'loving mother' killed in Lapu-Lapu festival tragedy. It was fake
Less than 48 hours after the deadly Lapu-Lapu Day Festival tragedy on Saturday evening, a GoFundMe fundraiser for a woman named "Reyna Dela Peña" began circulating. The campaign described Dela Peña as a "loving mother and a great friend who worked tirelessly to support her two sons on her own" and claimed she had died while walking toward a food truck at the Filipino street festival in Vancouver last weekend, where an SUV driven into the crowd killed 11 people and injured dozens more. The organizer of the fundraiser claimed to be a "dear friend" of Dela Peña and asked for financial contributions to return her body to family in the Philippines and support her surviving sons. The money poured in, earning $57,680 in donations from more than 1,700 people by Tuesday morning. However, that same morning, the fundraiser was paused, with a message from GoFundMe saying that the organizer had been contacted and "donations will resume once the issue is resolved." The following day, the campaign was gone. In a statement to CBC News on Wednesday, a GoFundMe spokesperson confirmed the campaign had been removed from its platform, and that the company had banned the organizer from any future fundraising, but it did not respond to questions about why, exactly, the fundraiser was removed. "At no point did the organizer have access to the funds," the company said, adding that all donations to that campaign were refunded. "GoFundMe has zero tolerance for the misuse of our platform and takes swift action against those who seek to take advantage of the generosity of our community." The company urged people who want to donate to victims of the tragedy to visit its centralized hub of fundraisers verified by its "Trust and Safety team." On Thursday afternoon, a Vancouver Police Department (VPD) spokesperson said four of the victims who survived the attack were in critical condition and two others were in serious condition. Kai-Ji Adam Lo, 30, has since been charged with eight counts of second-degree murder in relation to the crash. In a statement Sunday, the VPD said further charges are anticipated. Campaign's story 'didn't add up' Raquel Narraway was compiling a list of fundraisers for victims of the tragedy when she felt something in the GoFundMe for Reyna Dela Peña "didn't add up." "I don't blame people who donated right away, because the story was really heart-wrenching, right?" said Narraway, a realtor based in Chilliwack, B.C., who said she wanted to use her social media platform to draw attention to the fundraising efforts. But when she couldn't find any information about Dela Peña or the campaign organizers, Narraway became skeptical, sharing her concerns on social media in the hope that someone would come forward with information that could lend credibility to the campaign. "I still wanted to give them the benefit of the doubt," she said. When no one among Narraway's 21,000 Facebook followers recognized Dela Peña, her suspicions grew, and she reported the campaign to GoFundMe and police. She says that people who take advantage of tragedy to scam others make her angry. "But at the same time, we know that there are evil people out there." Soon, a Filipino woman living in Nevada commented on Narraway's Facebook post to say her photos were used in the fundraiser without her knowledge, and noted that she had also reported the campaign. CBC News has not been able to independently verify the Nevada woman's story, but the public images on her profile appear to show the same woman seen in photos used in the GoFundMe. After CBC News told Narraway that GoFundMe would be refunding the donations made to the campaign, she was relieved to hear that the fraudsters hadn't been able to withdraw the funds. "It's basically stealing from people, right? So I couldn't bear the thought of that." Police urge caution when donating Speaking at a news conference Wednesday afternoon, Const. Tania Visintin said that while the VPD hasn't received any reports of fraudulent fundraising accounts, "that doesn't mean these accounts don't exist." "We are just asking people to be aware, be mindful that fraud could happen," she said. "If anybody feels that they're looking at a page and this page could be fraudulent, we ask that they reach out to the GoFundMe organizers directly … and they can confirm if the account is legitimate or not." WATCH | Police caution people to 'be aware, be mindful': Vancouver police warn about possible fraudulent fundraisers in wake of tragedy 2 hours ago Duration 0:43 Const. Tania Visintin of the Vancouver Police Department says misleading fundraising accounts could exist and the public should be 'aware' and 'mindful' of potential fraud. She says people should contact GoFundMe directly to confirm whether or not a campaign is legitimate. She noted police cannot confirm the legitimacy of certain GoFundMe pages themselves due to victim privacy concerns — the same reasoning the VPD gave Narraway when she called to report her suspicions about the page. GoFundMe says it has the "most robust donor protection processes of any platform of our kind" and that it will "always work with law enforcement when our platform is misused."
Global News
01-05-2025
- Global News
GoFundMe for victim of Vancouver Lapu Lapu festival removed due to fraud
In the days since the Lapu Lapu festival tragedy, where 11 people were killed when an SUV drove into a crowd of people, hundreds of thousands of dollars have been donated to victims and their families. GoFundMe has been verifying fundraisers to make sure the donated funds will benefit grieving family members and aid in recovery efforts. However, one fundraiser caught the eye of a Vancouver Filipino resident and she thought something didn't seem right. Raquel Narraway said she was devastated to hear what happened at the Lapu Lapu festival on April 26. 'I think it's (an) understatement to say that because it's my community,' she told Global News. Narraway was not at the festival but is heavily involved in the Filipino community. Story continues below advertisement 'Every time something happens in (the) Filipino community, in the Philippines, or in Canada, or even in the Canadian community, I always want to do something. It's just in my nature.' She wanted to compile all the GoFundMe pages on her Facebook so people can find them easily to donate. However, there was one GoFundMe that had received a lot of donations but it was not on the verified list. 2:10 Calls for public inquiry into Lapu Lapu festival tragedy Before Narraway shared the post, she decided to ask other Filipino groups on Facebook if anyone knew the people. Get breaking National news For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen. Sign up for breaking National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy 'I already searched them on social media, and nothing came out,' she said. 'So, like, huh, this is very suspicious.' Narraway said that the names associated with the fundraiser are not Filipino names but she still didn't want to jump to conclusions. Story continues below advertisement 'I promised myself that if it turns out that I am wrong, that they are legit, then I'm going to donate as well,' she said, 'because I have done a lot of fundraising in the past as well, and I have started like GoFundMe myself for a lot of people.' She said she was hoping it wasn't a scam, but after her Facebook post, she found out it was. Narraway said that someone commented on her post saying they knew the person in the picture. They asked that person to comment on Narraway's post and she did saying she was not involved in the Lapu Lapu festival and that someone was using her picture fraudulently. As it turns out, that person lives in Las Vegas and some of the photos used were on this person's profile. Narraway added that she's happy she was able to help people avoid donating to a campaign where the money wasn't going to help a victim and she also helped people ask for a refund if they had previously donated. 'I have chatted with GoFundMe today because I am really worried that the people who donated are not going to get their money back,' she said. 'So they assured me that if the fundraising is proven fraudulent, they will return the money automatically, but they couldn't tell me what's the status of the investigation now.' Story continues below advertisement 1:50 Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim calling for stronger mental health support On Wednesday afternoon, GoFundMe confirmed that the fundraiser has been removed from the platform, all donations have been refunded, and the organizer has been banned from any future fundraising. 'At no point did the organizer have access to the funds,' a spokesperson stated. 'GoFundMe has zero tolerance for the misuse of our platform and takes swift action against those who seek to take advantage of the generosity of our community.' The spokesperson stated that the organization will work with law enforcement when its platform is misused. Desmond Reid who works in one of the nearby schools and came to the memorial at East 41st Avenue and Fraser Street on Wednesday said it doesn't surprise him someone might try to capitalize on the tragedy but people need to focus on the good. Story continues below advertisement 'We stand with the Filipino community and again, I'm just proud to be Canadian,' he said. Mark Dizon, who came to the memorial on Wednesday, said it's terrible that people would try to make money in a situation where people are grieving and loved ones lost. 'I saw it through an Instagram story where someone said don't donate, this is a scam, but a lot of people had already donated,' he said.
