Fraudster Rob Mercer, who took over £24,000 in donations after claiming that he had terminal cancer, has been banned from GoFundMe. The amateur poker player swindled his way into playing in the $10,000 (£8,100) World Series of Poker Main Event in Las Vegas and has since received his ban after admitting that he lied about his condition.
The 37-year-old created the page in order to fulfill his “dream” and went on to play in the tournament back in June. The story quickly gained traction after he claimed he had stage four colon cancer and had between 6-12 months to live.
The money raised funded part of the $10,000 (£8,100) buy-in for the No-limit Hold’em World Championship. The remaining money, believed to be between £16,000 – £32,000, went towards a stay in a suite at the five-star Bellagio hotel.
Mercer’s story even managed to reach famous poker star Nick Vertucci who, according to the Review-Journal, offered to cover the difference if he failed to reach his goal.
But Mercer has since admitted that he lied about having colon cancer in the same report. “I did lie about having colon cancer. I don’t have colon cancer. I used that to cover my situation,” Mercer revealed.
“What I did was wrong. I shouldn’t have told people I have colon cancer. I did that just as a spur-of-the-moment thing when someone asked me what kind of cancer I had. I’m sorry for not being honest about what my situation was. If I would have done that from Day 1, who knows what would have happened.”
Following his admission TMZ has revealed that GoFundMe has placed a permanent ban on Mercer. The report added that people who contributed to his page have been “fully refunded,” including a £2,000 donation by Cody Daniels, a chronically ill poker player.
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The Review-Journal report has since added that Mercer is refusing to repay the money from his own pocket. Mercer ‘believes he has undiagnosed breast cancer’ and is unwilling to provide any donations that ‘were made because he was sick.’
“They’re making me out to be some kind of monster, like this vindictive villain who planned this months in advance,” Mercer added. “It’s just crazy. But I understand. I get it.”
“At the end of the day I lied to a lot of people because I was scared to tell the truth. And I guess I’ll have to pay for that.”
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