GoFundMe for Texas man who went viral carrying bags for his wife’s cancer bills is deleted due to ‘factual’ issues

GoFundMe has ended a campaign to raise money for an elderly Texas couple after the husband went viral for working a backbreaking job to cover his wife’s mounting bills for cancer treatment, the platform announced Sunday.

The digital fundraising site said it had “identified factual misrepresentations” but did not immediately reveal what type of misrepresentations were behind its decision to end the campaign that was expected to benefit Donald and Josephine Johnson.

The GoFundMe gained national attention and raised nearly $290,000 before being taken down.

The campaign was started by a concerned stranger, identified as “Erin H,” who said she spotted the 81-year-old husband on her Ring camera struggling to carry heavy luggage up a flight of stairs.

The organizer said she asked him why he was working such a physically demanding job at his age, and Johnson said his wife was battling cancer and it was the only job he could find to pay the crushing hospital bills.

But somewhere, GoFundMe said it found “false claims” in the campaign.

“Our Trust and Safety team has identified factual misrepresentations, which directly violate our terms of service,” the platform said in a statement to NBC News on Sunday. “As a result, the fundraiser has been canceled and all donors have been refunded.”

The platform said it had no choice but to take strong action in order to maintain donor trust.

“Ensuring GoFundMe is a safe and trusted place to give and receive help is our top priority. Taking steps like this allows GoFundMe to protect the generosity of donors and our continued ability to support people raising money to help others,” GoFundMe said.

“GoFundMe’s policies, as well as those of our payment processors, require authenticity and transparency for donors, and are strictly enforced,” it says. “Because that standard wasn’t met here, donors were protected by our GoFundMe Giving Guarantee, which guarantees a full refund in the rare case something goes wrong. »