A grieving Perth family has fallen victim to scam artists with their late son’s name and image used to dupe the public into donating online
Levi Tracy, 19, passed away last week after a gruelling battle with cancer.
Less than four days after Levi’s death, ruthless scammers set up a Facebook page calling for donations, seeking to replicate the original “Lifeline for Levi” page set up to keep family and friends updated on his condition.
“My father passed on Monday, Levi passed on Tuesday morning and now we’re trying to plan the funeral,” Levi’s father, Mark Tracy, said.
“This particular scamming page they’re personally reaching out and messaging people.
“I just learned in the last half an hour they’re using a PayPal account they’re trying to get people to send money to.
“We’ve got people now questioning our integrity – which is hard at any point but even more hard this week.”
The fun-loving teen was first diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma when he was seven, entering remission after more than two years of chemotherapy.
But it was this treatment for the original cancer that caused him to develop acute myeloid leukaemia 10 years later.
His journey captured hearts with many donating plasma, blood and and even a kidney in his name.
“He cared for everybody, his humour – he was just bright everywhere he went he lit the room up,” his father said.
“There’s times that we wouldn’t have got through without that support.”
The challenge for the family now is finding a venue for Levi’s funeral service next Friday.
The family is refusing to let scammers compromise Levi’s legacy and urged people to keep donating blood and plasma.
