GoFundMe refunds $745,000 to donors following discovery that viral campaign was fabricated

More than $745,000 has been returned to donors after GoFundMe removed a viral fundraiser for an elderly couple in The Colony. GoFundMe says the woman who organized the fundraiser claimed to be a neighbor named “Erin Howell.” The organizer’s real name is Amy Johnson. GoFundMe says that Johnson told the team she believed her parents’ story would be more compelling if told from a stranger’s point of view.  Johnson maintains that all other parts of Don and Josephine’s story are true. In a recently posted Tik Tok, Johnson claims the footage of her father struggling to carry luggage up the staircase was sent from a neighbor’s door cam. However, GoFundMe stated that she admitted to filming the video herself. FOX 4 has reached out to Johnson and requested to see documentation from the family, but we have not heard back from her.