David Bunguke, 17, died after a car accident on October 18. His family said the community rallied after his death, sharing many condolences and supporting two online fundraisers. John Bunguke, David’s father, said a GoFundMe page, which has raised nearly $7,000, was set up by one of his son’s friends. The other GoFundMe page, which raised nearly $12,000, was set up by someone she didn’t know but assumed was another friend. “But this person was not in touch with the family, so we began to doubt this GoFundMe, maybe it was fake,” Bunguke said. Bunguke said he noticed that the beneficiary’s name had changed once the fundraiser closed. “It’s a big scam to make money through someone’s death and it’s very shocking,” he said. “The family is very shocked.” CTV News reached out to the page’s creator through the site’s message function, but did not receive a response. GoFundMe said fraudulent fundraisers are rare, but it is looking into the situation. “I can confirm that our trust and security team is investigating and has contacted the organizer for more information,” a GoFundMe spokesperson said in an email to CTV News. “It’s important to know that the platform is backed by the GoFundMe GoFundMe guarantee, which protects donors and their generosity. We guarantee a full refund of the donation in the rare event that something goes wrong.” GoFundMe said donors who don’t want to wait for the investigation can request a refund online. As Bunguke waits to see what happens with the crowdsourcing company, he plans to contact the police. He worries that people may not be as willing to help others in similar situations on the road because of incidents like this. “People will not continue to help each other through this kind of raising money to help,” Bunguke said. Bunguke said he saw the kindness of the community and felt very loved by those who contributed to the campaigns. CTV News has reached out to police but has not yet heard back.
