Photo Courtesy Of WGRZ
Scammers tried to steal $40,000 from the relatives of Buffalo shooting hero Aaron Salter Jr.’s GoFundMe account.
According to reports, Salter Jr.’s son, Aaron Salter III, set up the account for the retired police officer who tried to stop gunman and white supremacist Payton Gendron during the mass Tops Friendly Market shooting in Buffalo, N.Y.
Salter III told TMZ that the page was targeted by a scammer who he said attempted to steal his bank account numbers and personal information.
As he was looking through messages on the GoFundMe account, he reportedly stumbled upon a letter from a user who said he/she wanted to donate $4,000. However, Salter Jr.’s son’s information was switched with someone in Mississippi once he clicked on it. He has since contacted the crowdfunding platform, which reassured him that the account was returned to his family.
Salter III said he would’ve been distraught if the scammers successfully hacked his loved one’s account because the last thing they needed was to be robbed while the family grieved.
Gendron shot up Tops, a supermarket in a predominantly Black neighborhood, on May 14. At the time, Salter Jr. was working as a security guard at the store and was killed while trading gunfire with the 18-year-old in an attempt to save customers.
Thirteen people were shot, and ten people died during the incident.
Following his dad’s death, Salter III created a GoFundMe page for him, raising over $40,000.
“My name is Aaron Salter III, and my dad Aaron Salter, Jr. was taken from the world May 14,” he wrote on May 16. “He gave his life to try and subdue the suspect that targeted a local [Tops] for no reason and killed in cold blood. Please donate in this tragic time to help the family with this unforeseen tragedy. Thanks from the bottom of my heart.”