Fundraiser misled by credit card scam

Rotorua's Kelly Shrimpton is well on her way to raising $10,000 for Leukaemia and Blood Cancer New Zealand. Photo / File

A Rotorua woman trying to raise $10,000 for Leukaemia and Blood Cancer New Zealand has been targeted by a credit card scam.

Kelly Shrimpton is planning to ride her mountain bike 31km a day for the 31 days of October in memory of her partner Nick Bolton, who died from cancer. She is also raising money for Leukaemia and Blood Cancer New Zealand which supports patients living with leukaemia, lymphoma, myeloma and related blood conditions and their families.

People are able to donate to her cause through the website Givealittle and earlier this week, much to Miss Shrimpton's excitement, someone made two donations totalling $2000.

However, her excitement soon turned to disappointment when she was informed a short time later by Givealittle that the donation was made using a stolen credit card. She couldn't quite believe that someone would do such a thing.

Givealittle service manager Nathalie Whitaker said this situation was rare for Givealittle but it was a common problem for all online merchants that required constant operational vigilance. "Givealittle.co.nz is in a unique situation as our platform acts as a transparent real time donation exchange between fundraisers and donors. It's a lot easier to manage the odd occasion of suspect activity if you are a website selling goods, as there is a delay in fulfillment and no public party notification of the online transaction.

"We're very conscious that we need to do our best to manage the potential disappointment of fundraisers when they find out a donation was made using stolen credit card details. However, when suspect donation activity occurs, it is less than 1 per cent of total Givealittle donation activity for any given period."

Meanwhile, Miss Shrimpton said she was delighted at the $1350 which had so far been donated and the support she had received.

Profits from the Cyclezone Mud Warrior event earlier this month were also to be donated to Miss Shrimpton and she said other events were also planned.

For more information on Miss Shrimpton's ride check out www.facebook.com/31Ksfor31Days or to donate go to www.givealittle.co.nz/cause/31Ksfor31Days.