Possible scam McCann Go Fund Me page

https://www.gofundme.com/madelinemccann

This has been set up by someone calling himself Adam Cruz. He was a member of the Abduction or Scam Facebook group but has been banned from there. I've never seen donations described as offline before.

PLEASE READ
Members and readers please note: we do NOT endorse any post by ADAM CRUZ regarding a gofundme page against the McCanns, and urge anyone who reads his plea to NOT donate to this. It has not been verified and our group has NO assosiation with this fund or person.
Adam only became a member today. There was nothing to say Adam is who he said he is, or indeed where any money would be going.
We WANT justice for Maddie, but we don't want our members to be our of pocket to someone who took it upon themselves to make a page and ask for money.
That is no better than the McCanns themselves. We are willing to support this, but with the right people and the right legal representation into the bargain.
Something that is LEGAL and above board. Written up by a solicitor and not some guy we don't know on fb who has been a member a few hours.
Thankyou, Admin

This Adam chap has made a fair few quid in the last 14 hours or whenever it was set up.

How do you make an 'offline' donation?

I was hoping that someone might know what offline donations are!

From the link, it seems to be donations handed directly to the person who started the campaign.

https://support.gofundme.com/hc/en-us/articles/203604304-What-if-someone-gives-me-cash-or-a-check-Offline-Donations-

So in other words this chap has made up these offline donations (which appears to be the majority of them), to try and boost some credibility and make out people are donating to the cause in the hope that real people will do the same.

I should imagine Gofundme is rife with opportunist scammers from all over the world.

I will just chip in and say I totally disagree with this in and this forum does not support or endorse this fund.

This will of course be printed in the papers no doubt, another way to inform the public of the internet trolls attacking the McCanns...... so transparent, to me anyway.

Normally of course when you make a donation, you have to enter valid credit or debit card details.

So, unless there's some way round this with offline donations, those details must be being input and the money will be sent.

All but one of the current 22 donations is offline.

I didn't think of that, CF, but yes you could well be right. Probably be in the Sun by the end of the week then.

Freedom wrote:Normally of course when you make a donation, you have to enter valid credit or debit card details.

So, unless there's some way round this with offline donations, those details must be being input and the money will be sent.

All but one of the current 22 donations is offline.

And the one that isn't is the very first donation. A legit one to get things up and running.

Offline donations are not the responsibility of Gofundme, so this Adam chap can literally say what he wants. There's no 'real money' passing through unlike a 'real' donation.

That's how I read it from your link anyway.

No wonder that some donations are so generous then!

£2,500
David Latent
11 hours ago (Offline Donation)

Keep me updated please.

£1,000
Jack Nicholson
12 hours ago (Offline Donation)

I hope the aim is achieved




Jack Nicholson could have afforded more than that!

No doubt now in my mind, this is a scam.

He's certainly set himself a big target. Most Gofundme's are 5k, 10k, 50k but he's exceeded that by some distance at 1.5 Million.

Must be some sort of record on there asking for an amount as high as that.

It looks as if he's having to take some time away to knit more socks as the last donation was six hours ago.

Just saw this on twitter story from 2008...


GrahamRichard ‏@GrahamUserr8477  · 1h1 hour ago  

@walkercan10000 @ChezMcCann Someone tried it before and failed #McCann


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/madeleinemccann/2270467/Madeleine-McCann-Kate-and-Gerrys-fury-at-club-devoted-to-prosecuting-them.html

A bit of a difference though between charging a £10.00 membership fee and trying to raise more than a million pounds from the public.

I wonder whatever happened to the Mr Bennett who tried this first!

A few more 'offline donations' since I last looked earlier on this morn.

He'll reach the 1.5 Million target in no time.

It's a bit like the old charity phone-ins on TV. People ring in to say they will give X amounts of dosh - it doesn't mean they actually will.

I've never seen a GoFundMe page before which consists almost entirely of offline "payments".

This should, and by the looks of it is, being treated as absolute bullsh♐t. Its obviously a scam (possibly a McScam)with the end reultğ7 being in a newspaper tarnishing our image(which doesnt take much tarnishing)and the only winners being the press.

Update from earlier this evening. The only genuine payment so far of £10.00 has been put on hold!

5 hours ago


Firstly, thank you to all for the generous donations towards a very difficult, long and expensive but a worthy cause nonetheless.

Secondly, I have been informed by the Go Fund Me "safety team" that all funds received on this page have been put "on hold" due to complaints and we have to provide paperwork to prove the authencity of this campaign. We would like to do this immediately but due to the nature and sesitivity of the case, the Lawyers in charge have refused to divulge any information until they can be sure that it will not harm our chances at getting justice for Madeleine McCann.

I understand that there will be people out there who want to protect those that we would like to question under oath about a little child that simply vanished from the face of the earth. Shouldn't we all be working hard towards delivering justice for a little child instead of posting hate online against those who are actively seeking justice?

Thirdly, a few individuals who would like to remain anonymous (for now atleast) have shown an interest in this campaign and have agreed to help fund our financial target of £1.5 million if by 31st December 2016 23:59:59 the target has not been reached.

This is looking very promising and I will keep you updated with new information about the cause.

Thank you once again for all your generous donations.

Wonderful.....so let's not donate and they will still do it anyway. ......or maybe it was just a scam or "gamble" that's fell flat on its face!

http://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/latest-news/557001/Madeleine-McCann-fundraiser-probed-police-over-scam-lawsuit-against-girls-parents

So no surprises here! Just what i thought.....more mischief  ......you would think that the police would have waited a while instead of moving so quickly. Will we see an attack on forums too....so much to do so little time before next year.....They dont want another aniversary do they? Maybe forums will be next and we will all implode? Nah that could never happen could it?

That didn't take long did it. And the Star not the Sun.

Although reading it a couple of times, I wouldn't say it was a bad article as such...

His McCanns: Private Prosecution page says: “Let’s deliver the justice Madeleine McCann deserves.”

But last night police were investigating after some critical internet users branded Adam Cruz’s webpage a “scam.....

Critical internet users.. ..first time ive heard that one.... usually trolls ....or hater scum type descriptions!

It also names the Facebook group MM Abduction or Scam without denouncing its members as vile trolls.

Yes, critical internet users is quite good really.

And there are lots of them about when it comes to the McCann case.

And as Freedom says, it's a nice little plug for A or S for people to look up too.

I quite like that article.

£10,000
Anonymous
1 hour ago (Offline Donation)

Someone's feeling generous

A spokesman for the McCanns said they would not comment.

Who is the spokesman these days?