Gabby Petito’s legacy has been sabotaged by some greedy thieves.
The slain 22-year-old’s family have been on a mission to do right by Gabby and all victims of domestic violence since her tragic death more than a year ago.
Article continues below advertisement
Gabby Petito’s Family Sabotaged By Scammers
Twitter / Joseph Petito
The foundation’s mission states: “The foundation’s mission is to address the needs of organizations that support the search for missing persons and provide assistance to organizations that assist victims of domestic violence situations, through education, awareness and prevention strategies.”
Petito and Schmidt turned their personal tragedy into a positive, and they have kept their promise.
Unfortunately, there are very greedy and malicious people online who are trying to take advantage of Gabby’s family’s kindness.
Petito recently shared a series of Instagram direct messages from what appeared to be either him or Schmidt asking people to donate money for Gabby’s mural.
Article continues below advertisement
Money Scammer Pretending To Be Gabby’s Parents Online
Instagram / Gabby Petito
A supposed message from Petito reads, “Hi! this is Joseph, Gabby’s father. My wife gave me your number & said you are interested in donating towards the gabby mural. We really appreciate you &. Your thoughts are with us at this time.
As you can see, there are multiple spelling and grammar errors in the message.
Innocent spectators and supporters responded, “Yes! I like!! I’m talking to. He is now and I told him I wanted to spread the word about the donation, if that’s ok with you all, it touched everyone at my old workplace about it so I’m sure they’d love to help too! I moved to florida 5 months ago but still keep in touch with them.”
Article continues below advertisement
Beware Of Social Media Scammers
Instagram / Joseph Petito
Another photo shows the person donating $20 via Apple Pay.
“Thank you! May I ask what your name is so I can write it down?” a message from Petito read.
However, this is not actually Joseph Petito interacting with donors, it is a SCAMMER.
Article continues below advertisement
Instagram / Joseph Petito
Article continues below advertisement
Joseph Petito actually captioned the screenshot carousel, “This is an account trying to scam people on #instagram and it’s stuff like this that makes me sick. We will not do this. #shameless!!!”
Another screenshot shows the scammer saying the goal for the mural is $147.00 and asking for donations.
Instagram / Joseph Petito
Article continues below advertisement
They also pretended to be Gabby’s mother in the message.
“Hi, I’m Gabby, Nichole’s mother? We are trying to put up a mural for Gabby. If you are interested in donating to help support it would be greatly appreciated & heartwarming? us. are writing names on the mural for those who contributed too,” the scam message read.
The person on the other side believed it was Schmidt and agreed to donate. No amount is shown for that particular donation.
Schmidt also talks about cheaters.
“Twitter fam, just a heads up.. someone is trying to scam money in my name. I will NEVER message anyone asking for donations! Please share, people are so bad,” he wrote on Twitter.
Twitter fam, just a heads up..someone tried to scam money in my name. I will NEVER message anyone asking for donations! Please share, people! ??♀️
— Nichole Schmidt (@Nikischmidt927) September 1, 2022
Article continues below advertisement
On September 7, Schmidt shared the same screenshot and stated the IG handle was @gaby__petito.
Ok this is an account on Instagram…#cheating many people. I’m sure there’s more than one, but I’ve gotten this from two people. I’ll add the text in the next post… looks like the IG account is gabby__petito pic.twitter.com/1sPjPIaFdN
— Nichole Schmidt (@Nikischmidt927) September 7, 2022
Article continues below advertisement
Petito’s followers were really angry about this and voiced it in their comments section.
“You can really tell by the broken English this is a scam. Work hard my friend,” one warned.
Another echoed this sentiment by writing, “Never trust anyone who messages you for money on any app/site (that you don’t 100% know). Most organizations, companies or people, do not direct messages to people for money.”
Instagram / Gabby Petito
Article continues below advertisement
“What kind of person would do such a thing…as if the family didn’t have enough to deal with,” commented another.
A reviewer was actually targeted by scammers.
“I got this message too, and just had a bad feeling. I’m so sorry people took advantage,” they shared.
If you or someone you know is the target or victim of a social media scam, here are the steps to report it on Instagram.
- Open a conversation in the Instagram app.
- Tap at the top right.
- Tap Report at the bottom. …
- Select the reason why you are reporting the message, then follow the on-screen instructions.
- Tap Submit Report
Stay safe and diligent on social media.
Categories: Trending
Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
