Don and Josephine Johnson’s online fundraiser raised more than $732,000 after a video showed the 81-year-old delivering airport luggage while his wife was being treated for cancer. GoFundMe refunded donors after finding that the campaign’s named organiser, “Erin Howell”, was actually the couple’s daughter, Amy Johnson, who had used a different name in breach of the platform’s rules. Amy launched a replacement fundraiser on GiveSendGo, saying the video, job and cancer diagnosis were genuine despite admitting she had misrepresented her identity.

The new appeal had raised more than $300,000 towards a $350,000 target by Wednesday morning. The article reports public records indicating Don faced a felony theft charge in 2004 that ended in deferred adjudication, pleaded guilty to writing a bad cheque in 2010 and filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in 2000. It also describes an interview in which Josephine could not name her cancer, while Don said it was pancreatic cancer; the family continued to maintain that “Erin Howell” was a real neighbour, though records show Amy’s middle name is Erin.