Richmond Police Department is warning the public of scams involving a memorial fund for fallen officer Seara Burton.
The department posted screenshots of the phony fund which is on the crowdfunding website “Plumfund” titled “In Loving Memory of Seara Burton”.
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The fund claims to be started by a Julia Burton and said they are Burton’s mother.
The department said this is not true and is a scam.
“At this time we encourage anybody that wishes to donate to check and make sure it is a legitimate fundraising event or account,” Richmond PD said on social media.
At the time of this reporting, the account has collected more than $3,500 of its $15,000 goal.
Comments online show that people are disgusted someone would try to scam people during this time.
The Federal Trade Commission provides the following tips for making sure a crowdfunding website is not a scam:
- Find out who’s behind the crowdfunding request. If a friend posted, shared, or “liked” the request on social media, contact your friend offline. Ask what they know about the post. Do they know the person or group who’ll get the money? If not, try finding out who the campaign organizer is and look them up online.
- Do a reverse image search of the photos used on the crowdfunding campaign page. Search on your web browser how to do a reverse image search and see if the campaign images are associated with other names, or whether the details don’t match what the crowdfunding campaign is saying.
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