Corey Baker gofundme UPDATE plus resources for recovering funds

[Maru Kitteh]

Last edited Thu Feb 23, 2017, 12:16 AM - Edit history (3)

There have been a few threads on this subject, but I wanted to provide ideas and resources to those who may have given to the Corey Baker GoFundMe (or any suspect campaign) that was solicited here and now appears to have been been intentionally deceptive in nature.

Even if you did not give, you may still be able to help the many kind DU'ers who did give, see their funds returned. DU is a very kind community predisposed to extending our hands to those in need. While of course caution is always prudent, this solicitation was posted under an account that has been active at DU since 2004, and played on the trust we have for one another.

When making a report to gofundme, it may be helpful to include the words "intentionally deceived" or some variation thereof when describing what you feel was done. This is a part of their language in describing what circumstances allow for a refund of money given. You do not need to be a contributor to make a report on a campaign.

Here is a direct link to file a report on the Corey Baker gofundme account: https://www.gofundme.com/contact?t=donation_page_report&url=27-year-old-injured-in-car-accident

Here is a link to file a claim with gofundme for the return of your funds from any gofundme campaign: https://www.gofundme.com/mvc.php?route=contact/form&pid=3349
You will need the URL of the campaign you contributed to. I have included the Corey Baker URL here for anyone who should need it. https://www.gofundme.com/27-year-old-injured-in-car-accident

ALSO: If you give to a charitable fund with a bank card or credit card, and you soon after find the charity to be fraudulent, call the number on the back of your card. Many times customer service will be able to reverse the charges for you without any cost to you.

Some DU'ers have already succeeded in having their funds returned, so this is good news. Although I did not give, it matters to me that the good, kind people who did give see their money returned. It matters to me that something like this does not erode the community and trust we have for one another, so that DU'ers in genuine crisis are still able to get the help they need here.


This post is not intended in any way to pass judgement on the as-of-yet still active account of Corey_Baker08. It is meant only to assist the many good DU'ers who were misled and exploited into giving money under a false pretense with an emotional and manipulative chicane.

----------------------------------------------

UPDATE: I was contacted tonight at 7pm by the Richmond Indiana Police Department, and informed that they will be taking this matter up.

The Facebook account connected to the gofundme in question listed Richmond Police officer Mark Sutton as a friend, which should prove of some value to them.

[Maru Kitteh]

1. kick

I will likely kick this a few times over the next 24 hours so that hopefully those that need the information will have a chance to read it.

~MK

[Cha]

2. Mahalo, Maru

[Maru Kitteh]

4. Oh yes Cha.

Hate to see generous, kind people get scammed.

[Agschmid]

3. I hope the people that gave get their money back.

I didn't pay any attention to the threads in realtime I only saw the aftermath.

[Maru Kitteh]

5. The Richmond Police Department contacted me tonight.

So hopefully this matter will be settled soon and peoples' money will be returned.

[bathroommonkey76]

7. Awesome news! n/t

[demtenjeep]

6. drop this witch hunt

give David his praises and move the f on


jesus

we are better than this

[Maru Kitteh]

11. So may we mark you down as being in favor of emotionally malipulative

scams, then?

What objection exactly do you have to ensuring that the good and kind people of this community are not taken advantage of by an act of deliberate, and quite frankly cruel deception?

People who gave in good faith and kindness deserve to have their money returned. That's what this thread intends to help them accomplish, so I thank you for kicking the thread.

[Hekate]

32. Well spotted

[Iggo]

14. Nope. That fucker walked in here and conned good-hearted people out of their money.

Drive him into floor, through the floor, into the ground, and straight to fucking hell.

Fuck
That
Shit

[Initech]

15. +1. Fuck that guy.

[Warren DeMontague]

8. Scams make otherwise compassionate people feel like suckers, or less willing to help others out.

I support exposing this kind of crap to the fullest extent possible.

[demtenjeep]

9. expose is one thing-driving it to the ground for praise is quite another

and honestly I am still not sure if it is a scam

the right reports have been made.

its time to drop it

[Warren DeMontague]

10. if it's not a scam, that should be easy enough to prove.

if it is one, people should have some recourse to get their money back.

[cwydro]

22. Curious as to why you are so dead set against DUers knowing the truth.

I find it odd.

I'm aware you use gofundme pretty frequently

[bathroommonkey76]

28. It is 'odd'.

This woman has been attacking me for a few days with her smarmy comments about this scam.

[Maru Kitteh]

16. People often feel helpless after being taken, and ashamed. As I said,

caution is always advisable, but shame belongs with those who commit these acts.

[Maru Kitteh]

12. People are continuing to get their money back, totals have fallen from $1782 to $1222

So for those who would like to see their funds returned, it's not fruitless.

[bathroommonkey76]

18. It's down to $1,047. n/t

[Maru Kitteh]

20. Holy smokes. I'm so glad people have gotten thier money back!

[NurseJackie]

44. TOTAL IS NOW DOWN TO $847 ... Oh no! :-D

[NCTraveler]

13. So much good with this community.

The people who perpetrated this scam don't get what just happened. They just highlighted what kind of low life thieves they are while highlighting our compassion. Now we have your post looking out for our kind brothers and sisters.

Well done DU.

[Maru Kitteh]

17. DU is full of the most resourceful, kind, thoughtful

and informed community on the webs.

DU came together to protect each other from malicious intent in this incident. We have each others' backs, and that support is a very good thing to have.

[NurseJackie]

19. Excellent work! You're to be applauded for your efforts! Thank you!

[cwydro]

21. K and R.

Thanks for posting this.

[Crabby Appleton]

23. Corey was in an accident Feb 16

in Richmond and transported to a local hospital according to this link:

http://www.pal-item.com/story/news/crime/2017/02/23/record/98309958/

scroll down to the heading "Accidents"

7:12 p.m. Feb. 16: Two injuries in a two-vehicle accident at National Road West and North West 19th Street. Drivers: Corey A. Baker, Richmond, and Skylar J. Bales, Centerville. Baker and Bales were transported to Reid Health with head pain.

so at least some of the story is true.

[bathroommonkey76]

24. Yeah, at least the scammer didn't lie about the entire story.

n/t

[anneboleyn]

26. To me this makes it even worse.

[bathroommonkey76]

27. I was being sarcastic.

The scammer's story fell apart once people on DU started asking questions.

My advice to others is to donate to verified campaigns- because anyone can post a sad bastard pic and story that hasn't been verified.

[anneboleyn]

25. Not in critical condition and not in Ohio. I suspect that the account may have been used by

someone else, perhaps even a friend or associate, but who knows. It was clearly a scam, whoever was posting it was lying, which is a really shitty thing to do to people at DU. The poster clearly lied and manipulated virtually every detail to scam money from DUers.

The poster (who claimed to be Corey's brother) claimed a drunk driver t-boned Corey at a high rate of speed in OHIO. The poster claimed he was in a certain hospital in Ohio, and DUers followed up and found no accidents in Ohio in the area/time listed and no patient named Corey Baker at the hospitals. We may hear another update when the police investigation concludes. The incident above was obviously a minor accident, (no life flight, no severe trauma, etc), and nothing at all like the one the poster calling himself Corey Baker's older brother reported, with massive critical injuries (not "head pain&quot .

[LisaL]

38. Whoever that poster was, he was able to make the facebook account private,

when it was pointed out that there were things being posted on facebook when Corey Baker was supposed to have been near death in a hospital in OH.

[Hekate]

33. Someone with a stolen password can wreak havoc on social media. If this was not the real Corey...

...it might have been a houseguest or the person claiming to be his brother or anyone really. A newspaper account of an accident or a death is just so tempting to those with ill-intent.

My son got taken in for several gutwrenching hours by some lowlife who stole the cellphone of an old lady he had helped with home repairs. They got his number off her phone and claimed they had kidnapped her, giving various brutal details. She was fine and had no idea this was going on.

Corey Baker -- if he had no part in this -- should close his account here and start clean with a new name. If it can be proven that he was in any way involved in this scam, that's another story.

[bathroommonkey76]

29. Kicking for those who haven't seen this post.

There's still $847 out there from his page that needs to be refunded. https://www.gofundme.com/27-year-old-injured-in-car-accident

[Phentex]

30. Thank you

This is very much appreciated.

[Maru Kitteh]

40. You are most welcome.

[JenniferJuniper]

31. Kicking as there is still money unreturned

and it appears he only targeted DU members, at least for this scam.

As for a hacking, the hacker would have also had access to Corey Baker's Facebook page which was made private immediately after questions started being asked. Corey was happily posting there two nights after his "near fatal" car accident.

This individual should not be allowed an account here. I've read some of his older postings, and many are odd to say the least. He's been around a long time, but I suspect he's always been something of a troll.

[Maru Kitteh]

43. I have been informed by some people that the account has hit people up for money before.

Seems like it might be a bit of a habit.

[Hekate]

34. Maru Kitteh: thank you thank you thank you for your service to this community

Thanks to all the other DUers who checked into this -- and to those who gave.

[TheBlackAdder]

35. Thanks MK. Following your instructions I was able to recover my donation.

[Maru Kitteh]

39. Oh! AWESOME BlackAdder :-)

That makes me very happy.

Even though this time it was not an honest request, thank you so much for being kind enough to extend your hand to a stranger. I'm glad your money was returned.

[AgadorSparticus]

36. Thank you for your time and work on this.

[Maru Kitteh]

41. Too much did not add up. There is only one Level 1 trauma center in the area described

There were a few things that tipped me off to the fact that not only did this person not have a dire situation with a hospitalized family member and a family at the brink of financial ruin, but they have never actually been in such a situation.

I have worked in hospitals for many years, so for me, many things in this story did not add up in the least, some of them medical, but also the insistence they couldn't stay near the hospital & driving to and from the new location was going to drive the family under immediately.

In the matter of just the few days since "Corey" was hospitalized the family had utility disconnects looming? Really? Do they pay utilities by the day?

No mention was made of any assistance from the hospital (either one of them) at all, of any kind. I have yet to work at any hospital that did not have a staff of social workers ready to assist with temporary housing, financial relief, transportation resources, etc. The whole story was just too overblown, too breathless, too desperate. Too much SEND MONEY RIGHT NOW and not nearly enough credible detail, nothing verifiable, and no accountability.

Medically, why would a patient in critical condition be transferred from a facility with a level 1 trauma center to a hospital 3 hours away? No reason is given for this sudden and unlikely transfer. Furthermore, the only level 1 trauma center near Dayton (where "Corey" was supposedly transferred from) was awarded by US News & World Report as being one of the best hospitals for neurology and neurosurgery. Exactly where you want to be with a head injury. https://www.miamivalleyhospital.org/Neurosciences/

The breathless assertion that "Corey" had suddenly gotten so much worse after the bleeding had been stopped, after he had "regained some mobility" would be extremely unusual to say the least for someone of his age. And no reason, cause or explanation is given as to why or how he suddenly got worse. If he had gotten worse, again, he was at a level 1 trauma center. You don't transfer an unstable patient to a different facility without a reason. A top neurosurgery center sends him to a hospital hours away? Don't think so.

None of it added up.

[moriah]

37. Kick -- I reported it as well even though I didn't donate.

It's terrible how people get tkheir trust shattered AND can't get their money back.

[Angry Dragon]

42. kick

[Hekate]

45. Kick

[Wash. state Desk Jet]

46. Good work

Your time and effort is appreciated. Thanks for all the good information.