According to Milwaukee's NBC affiliate, someone set up a fake crowdfunding page using NASCAR crewman Jim Watson's name. Watson, a road-crew fabricator for Furniture Row Racing's NASCAR Cup Series teams, died after suffering a heart attack on October 21st. He was 55.
Whoever set up the page was able to raise $2,000 before the page was removed.
"Terrible, you take advantage of someone who just passes away," Jim's mother, Betty Watson said.
After discovery of the fraudulent page, a Youcaring.com spokesperson released a statement about the page hosted on their site:
YouCaring uses state-of-the-art proprietary and third-party fraud prevention technologies to ensure that YouCaring has the safest and most reliable fundraising platform in the industry; for this fundraiser in particular, the page was reported and flagged. Our payment providers are chosen for their bank-grade encryption technology and their strong security track records. And our comprehensive trust and safety infrastructure closely monitors the site for misuse or abuse, taking action to keep both fundraisers and donors safe and secure.
If and when we identify fraud, we make sure that all funds are refunded to donors, in the form of a direct refund or a credit to the donor's credit card or bank account. We encourage our member community to report any suspicious fundraisers via the Report feature on every Fundraiser page.
-Austin Kapur, Communications Manager
Related: Winning less than 24 hours after the death of a team member made for an emotional race at Kansas
Watson was a member of Furniture Row Racing since February 2017. Previously, he worked for Roush Fenway Racing (2006-2015) and spent last season with HScott Motorsports. Jim was a longtime race car driver, competing in dirt late models and in asphalt super late models throughout southeast Wisconsin.
He is survived by his wife, Laurie, and daughter Brittany.