Texas delivery driver Donald Johnsons viral $700K fundraiser taken down after organizer revealed to be his daughter

A Texas daughter used the persona of caring neighbor to help her elderly father — who went viral as a delivery driver to help pay his wife’s cancer bills — collect more than $700,000 before the fundraiser was pulled over “factual misrepresentations.”GoFundMe yanked the page set up to help raise money for Donald Johnson and his wife, Josephine, after a tip it received on Sept.25 that raised questions about who was running the campaign, NewsNation reported on Monday.GoFundMe’s Trust & Safety team discovered that the organizer, who had identified herself only as a neighbor named “Erin Howell,” was actually the couple’s daughter, Amy Johnson.“Our Trust & Safety team identified factual misrepresentations, which directly violate our Terms of Service,” GoFundMe told the outlet.Johnson’s daughter told the fundraising platform that she used the persona because she believed her parents’ story would connect better with potential donors if it came from someone outside the family, NewsNation reported.Amy said she received the doorbell camera footage from a neighbor who wanted to remain anonymous.

She insisted that the video was real and insisted every other detail, including her father’s job, her mother’s cancer and their money troubles, was true.She used her existing GoFundMe to help raise the funds; but changed the username.However, GoFundMe said misrepresenting an organizer’s identity or relationship to the beneficiary violates its terms of service, regardless of intent.“As a result, the fundraiser has been removed and all donors have been refunded.Ensuring GoFundMe is a safe and trusted place to give and receive help is our top priority,” the statement said.“Taking action like this allows GoFundMe to protect donors’ generosity and our continued ability to support people who are fundraising to help others.”The fundraiser launched on Sept.

2 and had collected the donations before GoFundMe deactivated the page and refunded all...