GoFundMe scammer who used story of homeless US veteran gets five years

D'Amico, of New Jersey, who made up a story about a homeless veteran helping out his then-girlfriend and used the tale to solicit more than US$400,000 in online donations was sentenced to five years in state prison on Aug 5, 2022. — The Philadelphia Inquirer via AP

A New Jersey man who made up a story about a homeless veteran helping out his then-girlfriend and used the tale to solicit more than US$400,000 (RM1.78mil) in online donations was sentenced to five years in state prison on Aug 5.

Mark D’Amico had pleaded guilty in December 2019 and admitted concocting the feel-good tale in late 2017 about Johnny Bobbitt Jr. giving his last US$20 to help D’Amico's girlfriend, Katelyn McClure, when her car ran out of gas on Interstate 95 in Philadelphia.