Scammers have reached a new low by stealing photos of a 9-year-old boy from Texas with cancer to trick people. ABC13 reported that fake social media accounts took Julian Galloway's photos and masqueraded as his family for money.
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The way this worked was that they would make TikToks and other social media posts using his footage to raise money. Warmhearted individuals who didn't know better would then donate through PayPal using a link through their social media pages.
Photos Of Child With Cancer Used By Scammers For Money
Despite the cruelty and fraudulence of these acts, Lee Galloway, Julian's father, mentioned how difficult it was to take these accounts down. "Sometimes there are things you want to report that don't fit into any of the categories on their reporting page on any of the social media sites," he said.
"When you don't click the right thing and no one actually sees it, it's just some AI that says we've reviewed this and it doesn't violate any terms of use. That's frustrating."
Julian has been bravely fighting brain cancer since 2019 when he was merely three years old. Although doctors gave him six months to a year to live, that was two years ago, and the boy is still fighting. Throughout his cancer journey, Julian also relapsed twice.
Lee explained how his son's struggles and the criminals taking his son's likeness for money have tired the family. "We are thoroughly and emotionally worn out," he told the outlet. They only learned about these fraudsters in May, and who knows how long they had been stealing donors' money.
The con artists were able to take photos and information from the family's Facebook page called
Team Julian. Here, they have been sharing updates on Julian's cancer journey and have earned over 4,000 followers.Lee reported to the Independent how the scamming became more alarming within the last couple of months. "In December is when really got a little bit more alarmed because they were [using] pictures that were taken... a week prior," he said. "That was a little more distressing because it was brand new stuff."
The father also mentioned how the family never imagined sharing Julian's cancer journey would lead to this. "We were so brand new into the cancer journey," he said.
Raising awareness about brain cancer and having an outlet to share his son's journey is in no way the family's fault. Although Lee seemed guilty about it, the only ones responsible for such atrocities are the scammers themselves.
