A Florida woman has been accused of scamming donations for a family affected by the Camp Mystic floods last year by impersonating the father of one of the victims, according to court documents. Maitlin Paige White, a 28-year-old from Crestview, Florida, allegedly created a GoFundMe account using the identity of Matthew Childress just four days after his 18-year-old daughter Chloe died in the tragedy.
The account was set up on July 8 and was asking for cash donations to support the Childress family. However, investigators soon discovered that White had also created another online donation account in Childress' name on a different platform, Spotfund. After requesting records from both platforms, detectives were able to link White's identity to the accounts.
When confronted by investigators, White admitted to creating the fake accounts and using Chloe's image and information to collect donations. According to court documents, she claimed she was a single mother of two young children looking for a quick way to make some money. The total amount collected through these scams is estimated to be around $1,500.
The incident has sparked concerns among donors, with Harris County Precinct One Constable Alan Rosen warning others to be wary of impersonators in a Facebook post. White is currently charged with a felony count of online impersonation and is not in custody, with her bond yet to be set.
The account was set up on July 8 and was asking for cash donations to support the Childress family. However, investigators soon discovered that White had also created another online donation account in Childress' name on a different platform, Spotfund. After requesting records from both platforms, detectives were able to link White's identity to the accounts.
When confronted by investigators, White admitted to creating the fake accounts and using Chloe's image and information to collect donations. According to court documents, she claimed she was a single mother of two young children looking for a quick way to make some money. The total amount collected through these scams is estimated to be around $1,500.
The incident has sparked concerns among donors, with Harris County Precinct One Constable Alan Rosen warning others to be wary of impersonators in a Facebook post. White is currently charged with a felony count of online impersonation and is not in custody, with her bond yet to be set.
she thinks it's ok 2 scam ppl outta their hard earned cash by posin as some1 elses dad & kid?? no wonder ppl r gettin all worried bout online scams now!! i mean, i feel bad 4 the real Childress family but at da same time, $1500 isnt gonna make a huge diff to someone who's goin thru that hard stuff already 
what's next? is she gonna scam ppl outta their insurance claims too? 
! Can't even donate to a good cause without someone trying to take advantage of you. Like, what's the point of even having GoFundMe if people are just gonna use it for this? And poor Chloe Childress, she didn't deserve to die in those floods 
... her family shouldn't have to go through this too. I'm glad the authorities were able to catch White and bring her to justice, but $1,500 is just a drop in the bucket compared to what could've been raised for actual help. It's cases like these that make me even more cautious when donating online 
. And to think she was using Chloe's image and info... it gives me chills 
. I hope she gets the help she needs and her life takes a different turn 
. It’s also a good reminder for us all to be more careful when donating online, to verify accounts before giving away our cash 
... I mean, think about it, someone who's already struggling with the loss of their child is being taken advantage of like this? It's just heartbreaking 
. I'm all for people helping each other out when we're down on our luck, but this is just wrong. And to think she scammed people out of $1,500... that's just devastating 
. It makes me wonder how many more people were affected by her deceit. Anyway, I just hope justice gets served and White faces the consequences for what she did 
.
total disrespect towards Chloe & her family, i feel so bad for them 
i don't think she should be out on bond just yet, let her rot in jail for a sec 
and can we please get more awareness about online safety now? this incident was avoidable if ppl were more cautious 
I'm telling you, this just goes to show how vulnerable people are when it comes to charity scams 
. Can't even get that right without falling for it. It's like, come on! 
You've got a fake ID and you're trying to scam people out of their hard-earned cash? $1,500 is nothing, by the way 
.
. And can we please get rid of these GoFundMe scams? They're just a breeding ground for fake accounts like this 
.
. And can you believe she used Chloe's image and everything? That poor girl's family is still grieving and she's over here milking their tragedy for cash 
. Anyway, now that she's got her bond set (which hopefully doesn't happen) she'll probably be out free in no time 
!
It's like, what's next?! 
. Anyways, I do hope White gets the justice she deserves for what she's done...
. The investigators did their job well in connecting her to the fake accounts, though. I'm glad they're holding her accountable for this 
. Let's hope she gets some help and reflects on her actions before it's too late 
. But what really gets me is that she was able to collect over $1,500 in donations before she got caught 
. And as for Maitlin Paige White, I hope she faces some serious consequences for her actions 
.