u/irqdly
Hello,
We are writing this post to highlight something that has come to our attention for the wrong reasons.
We have reasons to believe someone has been actively posting through multiple subreddits, including r/ireland using multiple profiles stories of cancer, domestic violence, financial hardship and single parenthood struggles. While these are genuinely topics that affect people in Ireland through varying degrees, these accounts we believe were fabricated in order to gain - be it financially or through other goods or services.
We are already aware of some users who have sent money, or have given food or other items to this individual by meeting in person. To anyone reading this that may think they too may have done the same, please know that your willingness to help others is so admirable and it is unfortunate that there are people who want to take advantage of it, particularly using stories that people feel so personally connected to.
This is where we need to consider what is next in something that has evolved very rapidly -
- we have a list of the accounts that we believe were not genuine and were acting in bad faith which have all since been deleted, if anyone would like to escalate this further, potentially to the Gardaí, and would like to cross check the username(s) with us, please message us via Modmail.
- we would strongly urge anyone that has received requests for money (we have seen sums ranging from €3 - €15 euro so far for "basic necessities") via DM to use the "report" function to report this to Reddit.
- we have also learned this person has been active in some cancer support type Whatsapp groups
We would like to reiterate that most people will always try to do good and help out where they can - unfortunately bad actors can and do take advantage of this all the time. We would like to advise that under no circumstances should anyone ask, or offer money, goods, or services here on the sub and exercise extreme caution if meeting someone from ANY subreddit in real life.
To clarify the scope of our control over this as a mod team - as unpaid volunteers, really it's very little, which is why we strongly advise reporting this to Reddit. On the surface, there was no direct ask for money and where possible, any comments from good hearted users asking for OP's Revolut etc. would have been removed. We also do not allow GoFundMe and similar style campaigns on the sub as we have little to no way of verifying how genuine they are.
We see the scale of absolute hardship that is out there and exists for a lot of users, so it was not outside the realm of possibility that someone was genuinely in such a position.
We have no control or visibility of what happens in DMs - hence our request for anyone affected to report this to Reddit directly in the event they come back with additional profiles in the future, and, potentially the Gardaí if they suspect they have been a victim of fraud.
To anyone affected, please note it was your kindness that was taken advantage of and you should not feel ashamed. If anyone does receive any DMs based on interactions they have had within this sub, please report to Mods.
We will leave comments on this post open however - please do not mention or link any posts or accounts publicly naming any individual or accounts associated.
If you have any questions, please message the team via Modmail.
Go raibh maith agaibh.
u/irqdly — 12 days ago