On LinkedIn, the hashtag “#opentowork” isn’t the only magic phrase that attracts all sorts of people. I found this out Sunday morning when I reshared my September 26 “Graber Olives is in Foreclosure…But There’s a GoFundMe” post on Bredemarket’s Inland Empire LinkedIn page. 

You will recall that the post detailed Kelsey Graber’s fundraising efforts to keep the Graber Olive House from foreclosure. As of October 19 the GoFundMe fundraiser is still active at the https://www.gofundme.com/f/dont-let-ontario-lose-its-oldest-landmark URL.

I should note this is Kelsey Graber’s GoFundMe. This is not my GoFundMe. 

Anyway, I reshared the post on LinkedIn…and got all sorts of reposts…with additional commentary. The commentary was not addressed to the GoFundMe fundraiser…but to me. (The resharers probably never read my original post; they just saw the word “GoFundMe” and jumped.) I’ve redacted the redirects to WhatsApp…a common fraud scam tactic.

The scammers’ what

Foone Berkeley:

“Hi, I came across your campaign, really impressive work. It reminded me of an independent group I’ve seen quietly helping project owners connect with private contributors who genuinely want to make a difference.

I’m not part of their team, but I’ve seen them support a few people in my circle. If you’re open to exploring new sources of backing, you can reach them directly here:

📞 WhatsApp: [REDACTED]

They usually prefer to speak one-on-one with campaign owners to understand their goals and see if there’s a good fit.

Wishing you continued success, your work truly deserves attention.”

Alex Mary:

“Hello 🌸 I just read your campaign, and it truly touched me. I know how tough fundraising can be, but there are genuine people out there who want to help. A trusted charity once helped me raise over $38,000 after I’d almost given up. If you’d like, you can message them on WhatsApp 👉 [REDACTED] they might be able to guide you too. 💙”

Olivia Williams:

“If you’re looking to grow your campaign donations fast, I truly recommend reaching out to Crowd. She’s an expert in GoFundMe promotions and helped me raise over $180,000 a few months ago! he knows exactly how to attract real donors and get results. You can contact her directly here [REDACTED]”

The scammers’ how

Let’s look at the red flags common to all three:

• The person is touched by the fundraising effort, but doesn’t say anything specific about them. (And doesn’t acknowledge that this is someone else’s fundraiser, not mine.)
• The person resharing is not the person who can provide help. It’s always someone else: an independent group, a trusted charity, or a woman (or man?) named Crowd.
• The person wants to get you off LinkedIn as soon as possible. Private email, SMS, or an encrypted service like WhatsApp or Telegram.

The scammers’ goals

So why are these people so willing to recommend helpers who can assist desperate GoFundMe fundraisers? GoFundMe itself has addressed this:

“If someone you don’t know is reaching out to offer something that sounds too good to be true, we always recommend validating the individual before sharing any personal information. Donors and donor networks shouldn’t expect anything from you in return for their generosity.”

Two common tactics include:

• Guarantee reaching your fundraising goal in exchange for a service fee or percentage of funds raised
• Make a donation if you provide personal information such as email address, phone number, or banking information

There are other tactics, but the goal is the same. Instead of helping you raise money, the “helper” wants to get money from you.

Now there are legitimate companies that assist charities in their fundraising efforts…but they can be contacted via methods other than WhatsApp.

Today’s honeypot 

And now that I’ve written this warning, I’m going to conduct a little experiment.

I’m going to reshare THIS post on LinkedIn.

With quotes from the first and fourth paragraphs that include several mentions of the word “GoFundMe”…plus the additional honeypot word #opentowork. (I haven’t planted an opentowork honeypot in a while. Oh, and not that they’ll notice, but the words “fraud” and “scam” also appear.

Let’s see what moths are attracted to the new flame.

And consider what YOU are doing to fight fraud.

Bredemarket specializes in helping anti-fraud firms market their products.

(Image sources: Gemini (still), GoFundMe, Grok (video). Only the GoFundMe is real.)