The Brighton Police Department is investigating a fraudulent GoFundMe page that was set up to help a breast cancer patient.
Police said they believe the account called “Candace Kicks Cancer,” which claims to be raising money for a woman who has stage four breast cancer, is a fake.
GoFundMe records show the account raised $31,645 from nearly 400 people since April 2017.
Police say the investigation is ongoing but they have verified from independent sources that the account is fraudulent.
There is an outcry of anger on social media against Candace Streng now that this investigation is underway. Her friends tell 7 Action News she deceived them.
"We were recently informed that our 'friend,' Candace lied for several years about struggling with stage four breast cancer. We let her into our homes, our families and our checkbooks. We had no prior knowledge of her deceit and are fully cooperating with the investigation. We sincerely hope Candace gets the help she so desperately needs," said a group calling themselves Candace's South Lyon Play Group.
Charges are expected to be filled in Livingston County soon. In the meantime, the account has been closed and police are working to refund all donors.
GoFundMe has said in a statement that donors who give to false accounts are protected and will be reimbursed.
“In this case, the user has been banned, and we are working with law enforcement officials to ensure donors are refunded,” GoFundMe said in a statement.
“Additionally, it’s important to remember that misuse is extremely rare on our platform. Campaigns with misuse make up less than one-tenth of one percent of all campaigns. With that said, there are unfortunate and rare instances where people create campaigns with the intention to take advantage of others’ generosity.”
If you donated to a GoFundMe campaign to support Candance Streng, you can contact GoFundMe by clicking on www.gofundme.com/guarantee.
