GoFundMe has removed a viral fundraiser for a couple in The Colony and refunded more than $745,000 to donors after the company determined that the organizer had misrepresented her identity.
The fundraiser was presented as the work of a concerned neighbor named “Erin Howell,” who said she saw 81-year-old Donald Johnson struggling to deliver lost luggage and learned he was working to help pay medical expenses for his wife, Josephine, who is battling cancer.
GoFundMe said its Trust & Safety team received a tip on September 25 questioning the organizer’s identity. Investigators contacted the woman on a recorded call and asked whether Donald and Josephine were her parents. According to the company, she confirmed they were and identified herself as their daughter, Amy Johnson.
GoFundMe Investigates Organizer’s Identity
GoFundMe said Johnson told investigators she believed her parents’ story would be more compelling if it were presented from the perspective of a stranger rather than a family member.
The company also said Johnson acknowledged during the call that she had filmed the video showing her father carrying luggage up a staircase; despite later saying the footage came from a neighbor’s doorbell camera.
GoFundMe said the identity issue violated its Terms of Service, which require fundraisers to be authentic and prohibit misleading information or misrepresenting an affiliation with another person or organization.
The fundraiser was removed, and the organizer’s account was terminated. GoFundMe said all donors were refunded under its Giving Guarantee.
Family Says Couple’s Circumstances Are Real
Johnson has maintained that the underlying circumstances involving her parents are accurate.
In social media posts, she said her family has documentation showing that Donald delivers luggage and that Josephine has cancer. Fox 4 KDFW reported that it requested the documentation but had not received it at the time of its report.
The original fundraiser described Donald as an 81-year-old independent contractor who had been delivering lost luggage to help pay for medical expenses for Josephine, his wife of 57 years.
The campaign also said Donald had driven more than 200,000 miles making deliveries and hoped to stop working so he could care for his wife.
The fundraiser quickly attracted national attention. Donors contributed over $745,000 on the funding campaign page before it was removed on Thursday morning.
Fundraiser Moves To Another Platform
After the GoFundMe campaign was removed, the family turned to GiveSendGo to continue seeking financial assistance.
A fundraiser there identifies Amy Johnson as the organizer and says her father is still delivering luggage while the family deals with Josephine’s pancreatic cancer. The GiveSendGo page has raised more than $75,000 as of Tuesday morning.
In a TikTok video, Johnson said the family did not realize using a different identity violated GoFundMe’s rules.
GiveSendGo said it also prohibits fundraisers from deceiving the public about who or what is being supported and said its verification team reviews fundraisers before funds are released.
The GoFundMe removal does not determine whether the couple’s medical or financial circumstances are accurate. The platform’s stated reason for removing the fundraiser was the organizer’s identity and related factual misrepresentations.
