Scammers create fake crowdfunding of sick children to get easy money: ‘They raised R$35,000 in one month’

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Report from ‘Fantástico’ showed that criminals used images of real children. They even opened a bank account in their mother’s name to receive the money. Scammers create fake crowdfunding of sick children to get easy money: ‘they got R$35,000 in one month’ In 2022, the couple Madelaine Morigi and Renato discovered a tumor behind their daughter Nicolly’s eye. Unable to pay for all the treatment, they decided to create an online fundraiser. What they didn’t imagine was that scammers would take advantage of this to create a fake kitty with information from Nicolly, to obtain illicit money. “We started saving money to help with exams, MRIs and transportation to take her to the doctor,” Madelaine tells Fantástico. In the campaign, they managed to raise R$13,000 – the entire amount was used for their daughter’s treatment. Nicolly’s surgery was performed in April 2023. Later, another MRI indicated that the tumor had returned. Madelaine then opened a new crowdfunding campaign and spread the word on social media. Soon after, she was called a scammer on a platform. “I told this person who insulted me that the girl in the photo was my daughter. She showed me a print and link. When I saw it, in one month, the scammers had gotten R$35,000 from my daughter’s fake crowdfunding, she says. The surprise was even greater when she received a phone call from Rio de Janeiro. In the call, Stephani Santos Barbosa had revealed that her brother, Luiz Antônio dos Santos, and her sister-in-law, Tainara Ribeiro, were running a scam in the name of Madelaine’s daughter. Stephani says who became suspicious of his family and started investigating Luiz Antônio and Tainara. “Once I saw my sister-in-law editing a photo of a child. I managed to film her doing that”, he reveals. Luiz Antônio dos Santos and wife Tainara Ribeiro Reproduction/TV Globo Luiz Antônio used his mother’s account in the scam. During the investigation, it was discovered that Luiz Antônio used the bank account of Hosana Rodrigues dos Santos, his own mother, to carry out the scam. Hosana said that, initially, her daughter-in-law, Tainara, asked to use her account to receive money from the family who lives in Rio Grande do Sul. “I have nothing to do with it. I was used like many people there are being used by them,” said Hosana. Hosana Rodrigues dos Santos, mother of Luiz Antônio dos Santos Reproduction/TV Globo She remembers that her daughter-in-law and her son took a photo of her, with the excuse that the facial recognition was necessary to unlock a card. According to her, this was how they managed to open a new account to receive money from the scams. Alerted by Stephani, Hosana says she reported the couple to the police. Fantástico found that in at least five states already police reports were registered involving fake Tainara profiles. o Other cases The report also showed another similar case. In Gravataí (RS), Winnie dos Santos and her family opened an online fundraiser for her little daughter Agnes, who needed a mechanical respirator, which cost around R$100,000. A year later, Winnie discovered that her daughter’s information was being used in a scam. “Her official profile is called ‘Agnes Bueno’. The scammers’ account was as ‘Help Ágata'”, said the mother. The Rio Grande do Sul Police did not provide information about the case to Fantástico. This week, the scammers were called to testify at the police station. Tainara and Luís Antônio were indicted by the crime of embezzlement. By note, their defense informed that their clients have already given a statement to the police and that they will not comment on the couple’s indictment. The lawyer also did not want to talk about the other cases registered in other states. For Ronaldo Lemos, lawyer and technology expert, these false campaigns are crimes of fraud and false identity. “This type of scam has a horrible effect of discouraging people from showing solidarity,” he says. “It is important that the person who discovers these scams makes a report occurrence. If there is a cybercrime police station, look for that police station”, he advises. READ ALSO: PIX copy and paste, fake telephone exchange and more: the virtual scams that marked 2023 ‘Subway Money’: scammers create deepfakes of famous people to promise money at stake false What is deepfake and how it is used to distort reality Listen to the Fantástico podcasts THIS IS FANTASTIC The Isso É Fantástico podcast is available on g1, Globoplay, Deezer, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts and Amazon Music bringing great reports, investigations and fascinating podcast stories with the Fantástico journalism seal: depth, context and information. 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