Homeless Man and Couple Scam Donors Out of $400,000 on GoFundMe

GoFundMe is an excellent resource for groups to raise money for good causes. There have been many heartwarming stories shared across the internet that have inspired and pulled on our great strings. However, this is not one of them.

Katelyn McClure and her boyfriend, Mark D’Amico set up a fundraising page for Johnny Bobbitt saying that Johnny needed some financial assistance. 

GoFundMe is a well-known fundraiser website that allows anyone to contribute to a cause through a link. The causes can range anywhere from events and celebrations to causes and fundraisers. 

In 2017, Katelyn was driving in Philadelphia when her car ran out of gas near the I-95. Apparently, she was completely stranded and didn’t know what to do. It was late at night in October so she was alone in the dark and cold by a freeway exit.

Katelyn was so grateful for the man’s generosity that she remained in touch with the man. She would regularly stop by the area that he frequented and she repaid the money that he lent her. 

She was so inspired by the generosity of the man who gave her his last $20 that she decided she needed to do more for Johnny. She decided to set up the GoFundMe to see if she could raise more money for him.

People were inspired by the story she shared and were so generous that they blew the initial $10,000 goal out of the water. They couldn’t have predicted that over 14,000 people would donate.

With the donations from over 14,000 people, Johnny was able to get a roof over his head. She put him up in a hotel and even took him shopping over thanksgiving weekend to buy some essentials. 

Part of the allure that made people so eager to donate was the story about the gas money. Another part was how incredibly humble and grateful Johnny was for all the support.

Johnny was so overcome with emotion that people would be so generous to a man they had never met. He explained that he “couldn’t sleep” because he was so humbled by the donations coming in.

Donations continued to roll in and the campaign hit a whopping $100,000. At this, Johnny actually requested that the page be taken down because he couldn’t possibly accept any more money.

When the story gained a lot of traction the trio was asked to come on many television shows such as Good Morning America to explain the miraculous story and relationship.

It appeared to be the perfect “paying it forward” story. A man who has nothing finds a way to give and so the woman finds a way to pay him back 10 fold.

The story sounds almost too good to be true… because it is! As it turns out the entire thing was a scam orchestrated by the couple. The entire story about Johnny was completely false.

In November of 2018 the lies came to light. All three of them had been involved in the scam to take the money for themselves. Katelyn, Mark, and Johnny were all in on it and turned themselves in.

Katelyn and Mark apparently knew Johnny because they had run into him on many different occasions when they were on the way to a casino that they frequented often. 

As so often happens, holes started to appear in the web of lies that they weaved. The first mistake that they made was that Katelyn almost immediately let a friend know about the lie in a text message.

Additionally, a complaint was filed against the trio before they were inevitably arrested. It explained that the trio was not giving donors all the information that they would need to provide donations to the cause.

Any plan concocted between partners in crime that involves scamming people out of money is likely to end in someone becoming too greedy. One partner wants a larger cut and the other gets upset that they didn’t get what they think they deserve.

Johnny was obviously angry that the couple had cut him out of the deal. He wasn’t about to let them ride off into the sunset with what he felt should have been his money.

Katelyn and Mark continuously denied any claims of wrongdoing. They said that they were not at all misusing the money but that they were weary of giving any large sums of money to Johnny.

Mark constructed yet another story about Johnny to try and tarnish his characters. At this point they were scrambling to find a way out of the predicament and get away with the money.

The lawsuit became very public because so many people had followed the story and fallen in love with the trio. This public interest then made them take a closer look at the fundraiser itself. 

After trying to wiggle his way out of the consequences, Mark was considered the ringleader of the scam and pleaded guilty to mishandling the money from the fundraiser. 

Katelyn might not have been the ringleader but she was certainly the most public figure in the whole thing. Many people have called her the face of the scam. 

Johnny Bobbitt Jr. was sentenced to five years of probation in 2019. He faced sentencing in September of 2022 as well for the federal charges against him. 

After all was said and done, the judge demanded that Mark and Katelyn hand over what was left of the cash that had been donated. They had bought Johnny a camper that he stayed in on Mark’s property.

The scammers’ homes were raided after authorities gained a search warrant. They found many lavish items on the property which they took away.

One question that remains after all is said and done is: “Do the donors get their money back?” Johnny might have felt that he was scammed by Katelyn and Mark, but thousands of people were actually scammed out of their money.

Unforntatly, these three individuals took advantage of a platform that has done a lot of good for a lot of people. What’s worse is that they took advantage of people who really wanted to help someone in need.