Mark lost his son to cancer… days later he made a horrifying discovery online that’s left him livid
A father who lost his son to cancer is furious after discovering scammers tried to capitalise on his death.
Mark Tracy, a Perth father, told 9News his 19-year-old son Levi died on Tuesday, a day after his own father’s death.
The family was in the process of planning the funeral when they learned that scammers had set up Facebook pages asking people for donations in the days following Levi’s death.
The pages were a carbon copy of another Facebook page the family had created to keep Levi’s friends and family updated about his condition. This page was called Lifeline for Levi.
With more than 4,000 members, the page was a way for the family to communicate with loved ones and share details about Levi’s journey.
It encouraged people to donate blood, plasma and a kidney.
“This particular scam page is being personally targeted and messages are being sent to people,” Mr Tracy said.
“They have a PayPal account and are trying to get people to transfer money.”
Heartless scammers have targeted the grieving family and friends of Levi Tracy (pictured) with messages seeking financial gain after the 19-year-old died of cancer
Levi was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin T-cell lymphoma at age seven and underwent more than two years of “grueling” chemotherapy before going into remission.
When Levi was 17, he was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia, from which he unfortunately died two years later.
Unfortunately, after his death, scammers created fake pages and then contacted Levi’s family and friends asking for donations.
“I ask for your support during this difficult time,” one of the scam messages said, according to The Western Australian.
‘Recently our beloved Levi passed away, leaving behind a family that needs our help.
‘To help them during this difficult time, I am looking for donations to cover funeral expenses and provide financial support.’
The scammers have created fake Facebook groups asking kind users to make donations to their PayPal accounts to ‘support’ Levi’s family (pictured is his father Mark Tracy)
Mr Tracy said he was angry and frustrated because everything was coming back to the surface and people were now questioning their integrity.
“That’s difficult anyway, but this week it’s even more difficult,” he said.
‘(Levi) cared about everybody, his humor, he was just cheerful, he would brighten up the room.
“There have been times when we couldn’t have done it without that support.”