New mom raises $2800 to take unpaid leave to care for her sick 3-month-old baby, coworker discovers she was actually planning on using the money to fund a Canadian vacation: 'The baby's totally fine, my mom can watch him'

Author image for Emmy Pratt
Emmy Pratt • Writer and Editor
May 7, 2025 8:00 AM EDT

It is easy to get scammed on GoFundMe if you are tender-hearted enough to give generously when possible. I'm not saying that every GoFundMe that someone starts under a viral tweet begging for survival funds is a lie, but scams like that rely on one of two things.

  1. You feel like a good person for giving to them.
  2. You are naive and good enough to believe someone wouldn't lie about being in dire need.

Unfortunately, neither of these things will protect you from getting scammed, so if you're comfortable with your money going anywhere when you donate to random GoFundMe's, go right ahead. I'd venture that most of you want to know with certainty that the money you're donating is actually going to the place you think it's going to. Usually, GoFundMe is pretty good at cracking down on scams, but sometimes it takes insider knowledge to crack the case.

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  • The coworker in this story had some wild insider knowledge. She overheard a woman in her office who had been raising money via GoFundMe talk candidly over the phone about the whole fundraiser being a lie. While she was conflicted about what to do with this knowledge, many internet users shared their takes with candor. 

  • 01
    Cheezburger Image 10502606592
    via Andre Furtado

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • 02

    AITAH for not giving money to my coworker's GoFundMe after secretly finding out that the reason behind her GoFundMe is a lie?

    So my coworker "Alison" (28F) recently set up a GoFundMe which has been circulating around the office. The whole thing is about how she's struggling financially since having her baby 3 months ago and needs extra time off because "little Ethan has colic and reflux" and she's "out of paid leave."
    via u/Special-Hold-5142
  • 03
    Cheezburger Image 10502607872
    via Olivie Strauss (Unsplash+)

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • 04
    Everyone's been super sympathetic, but our company's parental leave policy is trash tbh. The fund has already raised like $2800 and our boss even shared it on LinkedIn (cringe but whatever). I was literally about to transfer some money from my personal account when I overheard something that made me freeze.
    via u/Special-Hold-5142
  • 05
    I was in the bathroom stall yesterday when she came in on her phone, clearly not realizing anyone was there. She was literally laughing about how she's going to use the money for a girls trip to Canada next month :)). She
    via u/Special-Hold-5142
  • 06
    Cheezburger Image 10502607616
    via Buchen WANG

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • 07
    was like "the baby's totally fine, my mom can watch him". I literally couldn't believe what I was hearing. I'm honestly shocked cuz like people in our office aren't exactly rolling in cash and hearing that made me go crazy inside.
    via u/Special-Hold-5142
  • 08
    I haven't said anything to anyone yet, but during the meeting that we had yesterday she said that 'she'll remember the ones who supported her during these rough times'. What a little ..
    via u/Special-Hold-5142
  • 09
    AITAH for not sending a single dollar to her? Should I just expose the sh out of her?
    via u/Special-Hold-5142
  • 10
    BulbasaurRanch Donate $1 anonymously and use the message feature to write "I overheard your plans for an international girls trip next month. I know your baby isn't sick, and this is just a fund for your vacation" Also you can report fraud to GoFundMe and they can give the money back to people
    via u/BulbasaurRanch
  • 11
    Tasty-Hawk-2778 Refunds should def happen. This is a crime of financial fraud & should be reported.
    via u/Tasty-Hawk-2778
  • 12
    Junket-4424 Yea intentionally deceiving people into donating money for a purpose that is not genuine can indeed have legal ramifications
    via u/Junket-4424
  • 13
    CommunicationGlad299 Especially if the boss has been promoting people donating. Maybe slip the boss an anonymous note saying what you heard. Then contact GoFundMe and report her.
    via u/CommunicationGlad299
  • 14
    American-Thai This! Report it as fraud so people can get their money back she should be outed because that is so incredibly messed up
    via u/American-Thai
  • 15
    piazza pizzazz Donating anonymously in a GoFundMe only makes you publicly anonymous in my experience. Your name is still sent to the recipient if it's on the account. In turn, if you want to do this, do it pseudonymously with a fake name instead.
    via u/piazzapizzazz
  • 16
    JMarie113 If the coworker is out of paid leave, how could she take a trip? This post is fake.
    via u/JMarie113
  • 17
    Ancient-Meal-5465 That was the point of the post. She wants to take time off work but she doesn't have any leave so she's going to say her baby is sick and use the gofundme money to pay for her holiday and time away from work. The OP needs to report it.
    via u/Ancient-Meal-5465
  • 18
    Beanz4ever You take UNPAID leave, which is why she wants the money. So she's literally gonna off work, take no pay for that time, and use the money given to fund her vacation and keep her account up during the time she's not drawing a paycheck.
    via u/Beanz4ever
  • 19
    Head_Razzmatazz7174 Definitely report it to the GoFundMe platform. They take a very dim view of people using their services for fraudulent scenarios. Anyone who has donated will usually get their money refunded from the company.
    via u/Head_Razzmatazz7174
  • 20
    TararaBoomDA Who is the biggest gossip in your office? Tell them what you overheard and beg them to keep it secret. Sit back and wait till the sh hits the fan.
    via u/TararaBoomDA
  • 21
    avid-learner-bot NTA. Truth is a slippery slope, once it starts cascading down, all the carefully crafted illusions come crumbling down like dominoes in an elaborate deception. Don't you think revealing this deceit might spark a renaissance of authenticity at work?
    via u/avid-learner-bot
  • 22
    Head_Trick_9932 A Gofundme for colic and acid reflux?!! Dang, didn't know I could scam people out of money when both of mine were colicky. Both are extremely common up to 4 months and it passes. Reflux can go on longer but by no means is she struggling THAT hard to solicit a GoFundMe. Ofc the baby is fine. NTA obviously. I wouldn't donate and I would ask her next time in front of everyone at work when her trip to Canada is.
    via u/Head_Trick_9932
  • 23
    No_Question_1122 That's what I was thinking, $2,800 for something a lot of babies get. It's either a really big office with a lot of people or else none of these people have had a baby. I would definitely see about anonymously reporting her to GOfund me. Also maybe an anonymous email to the boss. I can't see them being happy about an employee making a fool of them. Either way NTA
    via u/No_Question_1122
  • 24
    bobthebreederlincs Report it. She sounds awful
    via u/bobthebreederlincs
  • 25
    Javonego Agree, it's disgusting to lie about a child's health, hope karma catches up with her
    via u/Jav0nego

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terrible coworkers scammer baby infant mother lies coworkers lying scammers karen coworker scam sick mom coworker money children vacation
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