If you’ve been charged under the Florida Communications Fraud Act or fear you might be, it’s crucial that you seek sound legal advice from a Tampa defense attorney. 775.083.īasically, the penalties for this type of fraud depends on the amount made through the Go Fund Me campaign. If the value of the property obtained or endeavored to be obtained by the communication is valued at less than $300, the violator is guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as set forth in s. If the value of property obtained or endeavored to be obtained by the communication is valued at $300 or more, the violator is guilty of a third degree felony, punishable as set forth in s. (b) Any person who engages in a scheme to defraud and, in furtherance of that scheme, communicates with any person with intent to obtain property from that person is guilty, for each such act of communication, of communications fraud, punishable as follows:ġ. If the amount of property obtained has an aggregate value of less than $20,000, the violator is guilty of a felony of the third degree, punishable as provided in s. If the amount of property obtained has an aggregate value of $20,000 or more, but less than $50,000, the violator is guilty of a felony of the second degree, punishable as provided in s. If the amount of property obtained has an aggregate value of $50,000 or more, the violator is guilty of a felony of the first degree, punishable as provided in s. (a) Any person who engages in a scheme to defraud and obtains property thereby is guilty of organized fraud, punishable as follows:ġ.
What is Fraud?Īt its most basic, fraud is about deception.Īccording to Go Fund Me’s site, they consider the following as fraudulent activity: In addition, Go Fund Me makes it clear that they will work with law enforcement.
Beyond that, defrauding users could lead to criminal charges. You authorize GoFundMe, and GoFundMe reserves the right to provide information relating to your Campaign to Donors, beneficiaries of your Campaign or law enforcement, and to assist in any investigation thereof.”Īs stated, deceiving users is against Go Fund Me’s terms. “You, as a Campaign Organizer, represent, warrant, and covenant that (i) all information you provide in connection with a Campaign is accurate, complete, and not likely to deceive reasonable Users (ii) all Donations contributed to your Campaign will be used solely as described in the materials that you post or otherwise provide (iii) you will not infringe the rights of others (iv) you will comply with all relevant and applicable financial reporting obligations, including but not limited to laws and regulations relating to tax reporting, political contributions, and asset disclosures for your project and (v) to the extent you share with us any personal data of any third party for any purpose, including the names, email addresses and phone numbers of your personal contacts, you have the authority (including any necessary consents), as required under applicable law, to provide us with such personal data and allow us to use such personal data for the purposes for which you shared it with us. Go Fund Me’s terms of use, for example, state: They expect truthful campaigns where the money raised is used for the stated purpose. These platforms have clear (though generally pretty long) terms and conditions that state what is and what isn’t allowed.įor the most part, these crowdsourcing sites put the onus on the user.
Essentially, anyone can use the platform to share their story and why they need money. Go Fund Me and other crowdfunding platforms work on the premise of people supporting other people or ideas. Could you get in trouble? Is making a fake Go Fund Me a crime? Now your fake story is gaining traction and you’re receiving money. You come up with the idea to create a sob story and post it on a crowdfunding site to help you make ends meet. You need some money-your utility bills were higher than you expected this month, you had an expected car repair, and your paycheck is just barely covering your rent.