The Modesto Bee is reporting that the Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Department is warning donors of at least one fraudulent GoFundMe campaign purporting to benefit Deputy Jason Garner and CSO Raschel Johnson. Garner and Johnson died Saturday in a car accident.
“As with any tragedy there are always those criminals who find a way to take advantage of the great people in our community who want to help. We are aware of one go fund me accounts using a photo of Deputy Garner and Community Service Officer Johnson,” reads the news release from the Sheriff’s Department.
“This is fake account and detectives are currently investigating who the accounts belong to. Also be aware of people attempting to collect donations via phone calls. The Sheriff’s Department, nor any other group, association, or organization is collecting money or donations via phone call from community.”
Sheriff Adam Christianson stated, “Exploiting the Garner family and the Johnson family by soliciting fraudulent donations is a despicable criminal act. If identified, those criminal cowards will be arrested and prosecuted.”
A sanctioned GoFundMe campaign for the Johnson family can be found here.
Back in November, the Stanislaus Sheriff’s Department sent out a similar warning after fraudulent GoFundMe campaigns popped up in the name of Deputy Dennis Wallace.