When my mom passed away, I wrote a tribute to her online. So did my siblings, her friends and other family members. It was a way for us to honor Mom and grieve together.
That’s normal. What isn’t normal? When random YouTube creators publish videos about someone who died just for likes, follows and, in some cases, cash.
Less than a week ago, 25-year-old Tanner Kinslow passed away from an overdose. Within 72 hours of making a GoFundMe page, the family found almost a dozen YouTube videos across 10 channels — all about Tanner.
The Kinslows aren’t the only family dealing with these strange videos. It’s a disturbing trend. Why? Follow the money.
Pain and trauma for clout
The Kinslow family was tipped off by a friend about the videos. Tanner’s father Donovan told ABC 70 that none of them contained fake donation links, as they suspected. The only goal was to get viewers to like, comment and subscribe.
YouTube channels like the ones that posted about Tanner are full of countless similar videos about other people. The accounts feature creators outside of the U.S.; many videos aren’t even in English.
Several channels have strange, tech-related names, like “Technical Golo” and “tech with munawar.” Give you one guess why: Yep, those are highly-searched terms.
Although they’re not trying to fleece people out of money, these memorial video creators are still profiting in the growth of their channels — and that ad revenue — off the backs of grieving families. That’s just wrong.
A step further
It’s not hard for scammers and clout chasers to grab death information from the internet. The Kinslow family didn’t have to deal with financial scams, but others aren’t so lucky. Last year, a Chicago-area family lost their 16-year-old son to suicide. Just days later, someone set up a fake GoFundMe page using information right from his obituary.
Before the page came down, thousands of dollars had already been donated. It gets worse. A woman showed up at the teen’s funeral, posing as someone who knew the family. She collected money from those at the service and snuck off before anyone caught her. Absolutely disgusting.
- Before you donate to a GoFundMe page, check with someone close to the family that it’s the right one.
- If you make a memorial post, consider who’s reading it and what information you’re supplying. In general, it’s best to share posts like these with friends only.
- See a video like this on YouTube? Report it.
The moral of these amoral stories? If there’s a way to exploit people, even if just for internet clout, lowlifes will find it.