It’s not Christmas yet, but the Grinch has come to town. Today’s #CriminalOfTheDay is 32-year-old Amanda Brown of Frostproof. She was behind the fake “Amy Lynn” persona with a fake GoFundMe account she created, soliciting funds on behalf of the three #Frostproof homicide victims’ families. She collected, and spent, over $11,000. She was charged with five counts criminal use of personal ID (F2), one count grand theft (F3), one count misrepresentation of proceeds (F3), and one count fraud (F3).
“This woman exploited family members of three young men who were brutally murdered. While they were grieving, she used their personal information to solicit complete strangers to donate money to a fake GoFundMe account. It doesn’t get much lower than that. We are thrilled that GoFundMe is reimbursing all of the donated funds back to the generous donors who were swindled.” – Grady Judd, Sheriff
On September 23, 2020, deputies made contact with Amanda Brown at the Polk County Sheriff’s Office Frostproof substation. During a Post-Miranda interview, she stated she created the account without authorization, and that she intended to give the funds to the families listed on the account however, once she began receiving the funds, she began spending it for personal use. Amanda Brown also admitted to uploading all the information to the website. She was taken into custody without incident and booked into the Polk County Jail.
Click here to read the news release: https://tinyurl.com/y2o7d2ea
