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GoFundMe is comical, every day there is a new idiot asking for money for not buying (or invalidating) their travel insurance . Little Fred is sitting in hospital now with bills over $xx,xxx due to a motorbike accident whilst backpacking in XYZ, please give generously so Little Fred can keep his iPhoneX and his large family don't have to put their hands in their pocket.

e.g. https://www.gofundme.com/injured-by-scooter-accident

[hippich]

This is what bothers me... I once donated to a GoFundMe run by someone I know (not really friends) - their house got heavy water damage in Houston a couple of years ago.

Only a couple weeks later to see pictures of them buying a new car from a dealership to their son.

I do not know... Perhaps it is because me, who unlikely to ever buy a new car (despite having several Xs of income than that family) or perhaps the fact they were not committed 100% to solve their immediate problem themselves first and instead looked for someone to donate some extras - it pissed me off. Unlikely to ever donate to anyone ever again, unless I know for sure people are in genuine trouble.

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Happens all over the world. I walked into a expat bar a while ago and there was a cash collection for Joe (not his real name incase I get accused of doxxing again lol), he just been diagnosis with some form of cancer (high chance curable) and needed to do chemo. I was like WTF? This guy has top of the range health insurance, a full time job and supportive employer, and sat on a healthy stack of savings and investments. I couldn't believe what I was seeing, it wasn't going to charity or for some gift, just pure cash. Joe is fine now, doesn't drink as much, the money went into his bank - Joe isn't a charitable person - he is actually a consistent cunt (but when someone gets the Big C that all changes and no one has anything but the best to say about them)

[Gpetrium]

The example you have given seems to be targeted to close friends and acquaintances he may have or individuals that connect to his cause like others that had similar issues before. A place like GoFundMe allows this community to come together to help the individual without having to figure out how to wire money to him.

We don't know if a large portion of the fund comes from the family or not, neither do we know whether he has the latest generation foldable cellphone or not. You have to make your decision whether a GoFundMe like this falls under your profile or not, it does not mean others have the same profile as you.

[astura]

Yep... My original thought was "oh, please."

I hate to be such a negative nancy here but... how many of these are downright scams, that is people lying about being sick, or being sick but lying about the extent of their medical bills, or even people simply being greedy because they have a sob story.

I'm guessing a large percentage, or at least significant.

Call me cold hearted but I just really don't like GoFundMe as a concept. Seems to encourage all life challenges to become chances to collect money. I'm not uncharitable, I just think it breed greed.

[sawhit]

You can make your point without doxxing this guy

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This is just an example I found. There's a new one everyday usually Thailand, Vietnam or Bali. Do you really think this guys close friends and family couldn't pony up $6000?

It's not doxxing, no copy and paste, I've linked a random public shared GofundMe page of yet another someone begging for money, put in search term accident in gofundme whatever. I could easily choose the next result in the list but I don't see the issue here, examples serve to illustrate the point. I had no knowledge of this guy before opening a new tab to find a recent example.

[Gpetrium]

GoFundMe is a way for people he knows to come together and donate without having to figure out where/how to wire the money directly to him. That includes auntie Jane, the one you haven't spoken to for 3 years but still cares about your well-being, whether you made stupid decisions or not.

Raising this guys' specific Fund is similar to the media defaming you on international tv. Chances are you would call a lawyer and ask him to take it down or raise a defamatory libel towards the business.

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Err lol no. Begging pitches would be private (private link) then rather than publicly promoted and searchable, I think you're getting confused with Facebook or email. Not always, but GoFundMe is actually the opposite of what you suggest, these people don't want to hit their own pocket, immediate family (auntie Jane) or close friends - although they are happy for them to "raise awareness" . GoFundMe has reach beyond your private social network. And no one is going to sue anyone, people want their campaigns shared, I wouldn't be surprisd if GFM have affiliate promotions.

>Raising this guys' specific Fund is similar to the media defaming you on international tv.

:facepalm:

[Gpetrium]

It is pretty clear that you lack empathy towards something you don't fully grasp or doesn't conform with the way you see, that is unfortunate but understandable.

Places like GoFundMe have morphed into a multi-tool for different groups. There are legit and illegit cases even within areas you may perceive to be "right". I have worked with an individual that needed a transplant and he simply requested close friends and family to support his cause. We went with GoFundMe for a few reasons: (1) it is easier to have a page talking about the matter so people (close friends) can read and empathize, (2) it goes beyond a single social media tool, (3) can be transmitted to friends-of-friends, (4) has an annonymous component to it, (5) allow others that empathize with the cause to support, (6) is well-known [instead of a suspicious link for example]

Can other methods provide some, if not all the few points I bothered to list? Very likely, but that was the option we decided to go with.

Some people don't seem to realize the impact their actions can have on the internet, whether the scammers in places like GoFundMe (look at the reaction ppl are having about it in here) or defamers like you.

[mrhappyunhappy]

This is ridiculous and infuriating. I did not realize it was that easy to raise money to pay health bills. Here I was at 18 scraping 3 grand for an emergency room visit, while people are getting an easy pass just by talking about their shitty situation and taking some photos. I understand there are some legit cases where you are kinda screwed insurance or not, but this motorcycle accident abroad crap is a big Nope.