Scammers ‘come out of the woodwork,’ trying to profit off Glenview teen’s death
GLENVIEW, Ill. — It’s been more than a week since a car crash claimed the life of Glenbrook South High School student Marko Niketic, but since then, the Glenview Police Department (GPD) said scammers have been trying to profit off the teen’s death.
In a Facebook post Tuesday, GPD said they are “aware of numerous scams that have surfaced relating” to Niketic’s death on Sunday, May 12, in Glenview.
“Marko’s family has not authorized, organized or participated in any Facebook or Go Fund Me pages to solicit donations,” the Facebook post goes on. “The Department is working to have these pages removed. If you come across any request to donate money, please report it to Go Fund Me or Facebook directly as a scam. If you have already donated money to a Go Fund Me page, you should immediately request a refund through the website and report the page as a scam.”
GPD said they have worked on and are continuing to shut down at least five fake crowdfunding pages tied to Niketic’s name, and his family is aware of the fake fundraisers circulating on social media. Niketic’s family said they want to emphasize they are neither seeking any donations, nor plan to.
Steve Bernas, President of the Better Business Bureau of Chicago and Northern Illinois, told WGN News criminals like to cash in on the good intentions of people wanting help, but it’s getting more difficult to differentiate what’s real and what’s fake because scammers are becoming more tech savvy.
“These kind of unscrupulous, ruthless people will come out of the woodwork and try to take advantage of any situation,” Bernas said. “In the old days, it [was] bad grammar and it looked funny. Today, artificial intelligence can do a lot more.”
Bernas advises people who want to donate, to do their research before making any financial decisions that possibly can’t be reversed.
“Really [look] at the comments section,” Bernas said. “[Look] to see who is running it and see what their tie with the family is.”
“If you’re on a safe platform, they’ll take care of you. They have zero tolerance,” bernas added. “But if you have a scammer’s website and click on the link … Good luck getting money back.”
In a statement provided to WGN News Wednesday afternoon, a spokesperson for GoFundMe said the company’s trust and safety team is “investigating and has reached out to the organizer for more information. If any donor would like to request a refund in the meantime, we will process it for them.”
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