"A little boy faces the camera. He is pale and has no hair. "I am seven years old and I have cancer," he says. "Please save my life and help me." Khalil - who is pictured above in a still from the film - didn't want to record this, says his mother Aljin. She had been asked to shave his head, and then a film crew hooked him up to a fake drip, and asked his family to pretend it was his birthday."
"They had given him a script to learn and recite in English. And he didn't like it, says Aljin, when chopped onions were placed next to him, and menthol put under his eyes, to make him cry. Aljin agreed to it because, although the set-up was fake, Khalil really did have cancer. She was told this video would help crowdfund money for better treatment."
"Across the world, desperate parents of sick or dying children are being exploited by online scam campaigns, the BBC World Service has discovered. The public have given money to the campaigns, which claim to be fundraising for life-saving treatment. We have identified 15 families who say they got little to nothing of the funds raised and often had no idea the campaigns had even been published, despite undergoing harrowing filming."
Online scam networks produce staged videos of sick children to solicit crowdfunding while diverting most proceeds away from families. Parents endure traumatic filming practices such as head shaving, fake drips, enforced scripts, and irritants applied to induce tears. Some campaigns raised significant sums, yet families report receiving only nominal filming fees or nothing at all; one campaign raised $27,000 while the family received $700. At least 15 families report little or no access to funds, and a cluster of campaigns reportedly raised about $4 million. A whistleblower described targeting young bald children, and a key suspect is identified.
Read at www.bbc.com
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