Oatlands car crash: Vile scammers try to cash in on tragedy

Two families still reeling from the deaths of four children in a horror car crash in Sydney’s north west are now having to deal with heartless scammers trying to profit from the tragedy.

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Heartless scammers are trying to cash in on the deaths of four children who were killed by an alleged out-of-control driver in Sydney’s north west on the weekend.

Three separate fundraisers had been set up under the name of Leila Abdallah – the mother of Antony, 13, his little sisters Angelina, 12, and Sienna, 8, who died just around the corner from their home on Saturday.

Their cousin Veronique Sakr, 11, was also killed in the crash.

One page registered under “Angelina, Anthony and Sienna funeral fund” – with the boy’s name spelt incorrectly – has raised nearly $2000 on Gogetfunding.

Daniel Abdallah and Leila Geagea with their family in happier times.

Another on FundRazr was set up for the three siblings under the title “Angelina, Anthony and Sienna funeral fund”.

Charity Helping a Friend In Need — a legitimate fundraiser — was set up for the family titled “Abdallah family” and pledged to ensure all funds raised went to the intended recipients.

Mycause said the family had been contacted.

The distraught Abdallah family, including Mrs Abdallah, have been made aware of the scams and are “trying to deal with it”, while also coming to terms with the loss of their children.

One of the scam fundraisers targeting the Abdallah family.

“The last thing this family needs right now is to worry about fake fundraisers and information being sent around,” close friend Stephanie Zaidan said.

“Please be mindful of what you share in whatsapp groups and Facebook.”

A spokesman for the Abdallah and Sakr families told the Telegraph they were not involved in the online pages.

“The families have in no way established or endorsed any of these alleged fundraising pages,” he said.

A fake Facebook account was also set up under Mrs Abdallah’s name, where the fundraising pages were sent directly to a number of people.

Danny Abdallah, father of three of the children killed, joins mourners at the roadside memorial on Monday. Picture: John Grainger

Family friend Stuart Bond has also set up a legitimate fundraiser on Facebook, which has raised nearly $5000, with all funds going directly to the families of all four children.

“My dear friend just lost 3 of his precious children,” Mr Bond said.

“Money cannot solve this. But it can allow their father, Danny, to stay at home with his wife and children where he’s needed.”

Originally published as Oatlands car crash: Vile scammers try to cash in on tragedy