'Lots to watch': You might want to read this before you donate to that border wall GoFundMe

In case it wasn’t already clear that you should maybe not send your money to a random guy making pie-in-the-sky promises to help fund the border wall, you might want to consider some things about the GoFundMe that’s already raised nearly $7 million (at the time of this post’s publication):

I see some public figures pushing their followers to donate to a GoFundMe account to "build the wall" even though the guy running it has literally no concrete plan for what to do with the money. That strikes me as insanely irresponsible.

— Stephen Gutowski (@StephenGutowski) December 20, 2018

That’s because it kind of is.

Here is the GoFundMe's description for how the funds will get to "the right place." In other words, he has no concrete plan at all. pic.twitter.com/z0Ef76QVRH

— Stephen Gutowski (@StephenGutowski) December 20, 2018

You left this out:
We are working with a law firm on a legal doc that will bind the government to using the $ for the border wall itself, nothing else.
We will hold all $ and not release a single until we have all legal aspects covered to ensure our $ goes only to the wall.

— Jim Mattor (@jimmattor) December 20, 2018

That's nice but it doesn't constitute a plan for anything and you're totally reliant on the guy's word that it's even happening. There's no oversight or even any indication that anybody but the single individual listed on the GoFundMe is involved in any way.

— Stephen Gutowski (@StephenGutowski) December 20, 2018

The plan for this GoFundMe, even if you assume it's in good faith, is for one guy to literally be given control of 5 billion dollars so he can turn it over in some yet-to-be-determined way after somehow obtaining some yet-to-be-determined government guarantee on its use.

— Stephen Gutowski (@StephenGutowski) December 20, 2018

The only potential plan outlined for how the money will be given to fund the wall is a bill that Rep. Palazzo (R., Miss.) introduced this month which has 0 cosponsors and seems very unlikely to get a vote before Dems take control. https://t.co/3GdPzNZGKS

— Stephen Gutowski (@StephenGutowski) December 20, 2018

The guy behind the GoFundMe does say he'll refund all the donations if he doesn't reach his goal (currently set at $1 billion but he wants to raise it to $5 billion) or "come significantly close." It's, obviously, not clear what "significantly close" means. So, lots to watch. pic.twitter.com/abRbdpH5um

— Stephen Gutowski (@StephenGutowski) December 20, 2018

This is the guy behind the GoFundMe account to fund the border wall. The private donation he's talking about was given to a fund specifically created to repair the Washington Monument. No such fund exists for building the wall. https://t.co/TeGXjgzybu

— Stephen Gutowski (@StephenGutowski) December 20, 2018

It's irresponsible to tell people to give their money to something there is zero guarantee will ever pan out and which has zero oversight or even plan for where it will send the money. I don't encourage anyone to give to a GoFundMe like this regardless of the goal.

— Stephen Gutowski (@StephenGutowski) December 20, 2018

I'm not saying there's evidence this is a scam. I just think it's short-sighted at best. If people want to start a private fund to build the wall, it should be done with real oversight in place rather than just through a guy's GoFundMe.

— Stephen Gutowski (@StephenGutowski) December 20, 2018

If nothing else, a healthy amount of skepticism and caution is warranted.

Aside from a couple of spots on Fox what does anyone know about this guy that they’d trust him with potentially billions of dollars? Who’s making sure he doesn’t run off with it? What is the mechanism to give it to the government for the purpose of a wall (hint: there isn’t one)?

— ??Julie?? (@Heathen_Julie) December 20, 2018

It just seems like an ill-conceived plan at best. Let’s just say you shouldn’t be surprised if it turns out to be a total bust.

Last year, someone ran a GoFundMe for the equally impossible goal of getting the web browsing histories of Congress members. He ultimately refunded people who wanted refunds, and donated the leftovers to EFF. Maybe something similar will happen here: https://t.co/66XURD7z4K

— Dan Nguyen (@dancow) December 20, 2018