While support continues to pour in for the military members and families affected by the deadly fire at Canadian Forces Base Wainwright, the tragedy has become the target of fraudulent fundraisers. Patricia Farrell, the mother of fallen serviceman Pte. Shaun Farrell, says her son’s name and photo are being used in an illegitimate donation page posted to spotfund.com. She is warning the public not to donate to any fundraising campaigns unless they are verified by the family. “It is heartbreaking that anyone would take advantage of a tragedy and the generosity of people who simply want to help,” Farrell said in a post on Facebook. “Please do not let anyone exploit your kindness during this difficult time.” Shaun Farrell, a 23-year-old from Prince Albert, Sask., was one of four men killed in the fast-moving fire during a training exercise at CFB Wainwright, Alta., over the weekend. Brian McQuinn, an associate professor and co-director of the Centre for Artificial Intelligence, Data and Conflict at the University of Regina, called the fraudulent fundraiser “particularly reprehensible.” “I think any normal human being would say this is beyond the pale for something as a society that we would want,” he said. While the scam is shocking, he said, it is not surprising. This type of fraud is common in the wake of tragedies. “(Scammers) are actually hacking you,” he said. “They are hacking your emotions, because when you are emotional you are not being rational. You just sort of react.” A GoFundMe campaign organized by Heloise Vermeulen is the only legitimate fundraiser for the family, according to the Farrells. Vermeulen set up the donation page to help her close family friends. The families met in Canada after they both immigrated from South Africa. “Our friendship just blossomed and we became very close,” Vermeulen told CTV News. Vermeulen runs Out of Africa Deli and Sweets in Saskatoon, a South African goods store. She is accepting donations, cards and flowers at the shop this week to send to the Farrell family. She said complete strangers have shown their love and support for the grieving family – one positive to come from the tragic situation. “Everybody is trying to contribute in the smallest of ways, in their own way, and it is just helping tremendously,” she said. Disinformation garners hundreds of thousands of views Scams along with disinformation can spread rapidly during times of tragedy. When tragedy strikes and few facts are available immediately, conspiracy theorists try to fill in those blanks, according to McQuinn. It is important to distinguish between the people who are trying to figure out what happened and the people who are posting disinformation to advance certain narratives, he added. “They are often very nefarious forces or individuals who are just trying to get attention,” he told CTV News. McQuinn is also CEO of CIPHER AI, an AI-driven disinformation detection and debunking platform. The group, along with Disinfo Watch, helped compile a report that tracked early rumours, conspiracy theories and disinformation in the wake of the Wainwright fire. They flagged social media posts riddled with conspiracy theories and disinformation including rumours of explosions and a government cover-up. Many of the posts garnered hundreds of thousands of views, McQuinn said. While conspiracy theories and misleading claims did not appear to dominate the overall conversation about the tragedy, they attracted considerable attention on X, according to the report. “Even though (the posts) may not seem legitimate or valid, by having them repeated and reinforced by hundreds of thousands of views, they can start to seem as if they are legitimate in what they are saying,” McQuinn said. Capitalizing on tragedy is not a crime of opportunity, but rather a business model for some criminal networks, according to McQuinn. Things have only gotten worse with generative AI, the expansion of social media and lack of moderation on certain platforms, he added. “Which means that people get to work illegally, immorally and repugnantly without any real consequences to what they are doing,” he said. McQuinn believes awareness is the best line of defence against disinformation. Canadians should double check the sources behind what they are reading, sharing and funding, especially in times of tragedy. “Become aware that in these moments this is always what is going to happen. It is not a matter of if, it is just a matter of how fast it is going to happen and how dramatic it is going to be,” he said.
