I've noticed a new trend in popular documentaries on television. First, the trend was (and remains) true crime. The second trend is a subset of true crime - how easily people can be manipulated - in a criminal way. Many times this is through use of the Internet.
The documentaries about the Fyre Festival - in which young people were lured through the Internet to spend thousands on a concert that never happened - were VERY popular on Netflix and Hulu. I've also just recently watched a mesmerizing documentary on HBO on Elizabeth Holmes, who attracted millions of dollars in investment for a blood-testing invention that never existed.
And then there's the story of the GoFundMe scam based in Philadelphia.
The woman who made us believe she was helped by a homeless man in Philadelphia, when he gave her his last 20 dollars, last year, is headed to jail for scamming us.
She’s the second defendant in the notorious GoFundMe fraud case and has pleaded guilty. The Burlington County, New Jersey Prosecutor's Office announced yesterday that under a plea agreement, Katelyn McClure is going to serve four years in state prison. McClure, along with co-defendants Johnny Bobbitt, the homeless man, and her former boyfriend Mark D'Amico, created a phony story that inspired over 14-thousand people to donate more than 400-thousand dollars to their fraudulent crowd sourcing campaign.
Bobbit pleaded guilty in March, and under their pleas both he and McClure must testify against D'Amico, whose case is up for possible indictment next month. Their scam fell apart after Bobbitt complained to the press that the couple ripped him off and sued them. Investigators, as well as GoFundMe then uncovered the fraud. The crowd funding site has refunded all donors.