Well this is a new one, and for once it is absolutely not GoFundMe’s fault.
This “woman” (more likely a Nigerian Prince sitting in a cyber cafe in Lagos) posted the following plea in a Facebook group for cat lovers:
The first hint that this might be a scam is that web address. Helpa.us is registered to an Evelyn Watson Stevenson in the UK, it was purchased on February 8, 2017. The main website actually redirects to a carbon copy of a UK cat rescue group. The real Yorkshire Cat Rescue website is http://yorkshirecatrescue.org/, the copycat is at https://yorkrescue.org/ — you can’t tell the difference between the two.
The REAL Yorkshire Cat Rescue front page:
The FAKE Yorkshire Cat Rescue front page:
Clicking the PayPal donation button the fake page takes you to a shopping cart item.
Now, back to that spoofed GoFundMe campaign. At quick glance, it appears to be totally legit. It looks a little “off,” especially to, say, an independent journalist who spends her days mired in GoFundMe campaigns and scams *cough* but it looks legit enough that your Aunt Barbara with her heart of gold and $20 to spare out of each Social Security check might totally fall for it.
Clicking the “Donate Now” button takes you straight to a PayPal shopping cart.
Note: GoFundMe only uses PayPal for Certified Charities.
This is the real GoFundMe campaign for Oscar the kitten:
You can see just how sophisticated the spoof is. It even copies donations and comments left on the legitimate campaign.
You can report the PayPal link directly to PayPal by logging into your account and accessing the Resolution Center, I did. According to whois data, helpa.us is registered by Name Cheap, and can also be reported directly to them.
Hide yo kids hide yo wife they scammin errrrbody out here.