Claim: The family of a tragic car crash are requesting donations through a Facebook page.
Verdict: The Facebook page was set up by scammers, hoping to defraud people of their funds.
Online scammers are soliciting donations in the name of Sandra and Kevin Bonnici, one of the two couples who died tragically in a car crash in Croatia earlier this month.
The Bonnnicis died on October 2 when their car veered off the road and plunged into the sea as they were driving towards the Croatian town of Senj.
They were travelling alongside their lifelong friends Jeremy and Lorraine Gambin, who also died in the incident.
The driver is believed to have lost control of the vehicle, struck two stone barriers by the side of the road and plunged around 70 metres down a ravine before ending up in the water.
Desperate attempts to rescue the four passengers were futile, with one diver involved in the recovery operation describing it as one of the most difficult of his career.
The shocking incident dominated Malta’s headlines for days afterwards, as Croatian authorities sought to piece together the moments leading up to the fatal crash.
The incident was also fertile ground for fraudsters to take advantage of public sympathy, hoping to play on people’s emotions to fraudulently solicit donations.
A Facebook page created on Thursday October 16, the morning of Sandra and Kevin Bonnici’s funeral, called on people to donate funds in their memory.
The page was aptly titled “In Loving Memory Sandra and Kevin Donation Here”.
It featured a single photo of the couple, together with several links to a donation page and details of the couple’s funeral in its cover image.
The donation page, in turn, directed people to an online payment service, Stripe, allowing them to donate a sum “from $10 to $7,000”.
Several people appear to have followed the page, or used it to donate funds.
However, later the same day, the couple’s family confirmed that the page was a fraudulent attempt by scammers to get hold of people’s money.
In a brief Facebook post, the couple’s son, Matthew Bonnici, warned that “there are pages set up as scams trying to use my parents’ images for donations”.
“Please be aware that it is a scam and not on our behalf,” Bonnici said.
In a brief obituary, the Bonnici family asked for privacy as they grieve, asking mourners attending the funeral to send donations to the Karl Vella Foundation and the Malta Community Chest Fund.
Meanwhile, the Gambin couple, who were travelling with them, were laid to rest during a ceremony in Balluta on Saturday October 11.
