After bullies, Quaden Bayles now targeted by online scammers who created fake fundraisers to swindle donors
Quaden Bayles of Brisbane had gone viral after a video taken by his mother, Yarraka, showing him breaking down in tears after being targeted by bullies. The nine-year-old with dwarfism has since received a lot of support from the public, including celebrities and athletes. Bayles suffers from achondroplasia, the most common type of dwarfism.
In fact, a fundraiser started by comedian Brad Williams to send Bayles to Disneyland has raised $443,182 from 19,060 supporters when this report was published. Celebrities including Hugh Jackman, Piers Morgan and rugby league star Johnathan Thurston have come out in his support.
The money raised will be used to bring Bayles and his mother for a holiday in Disneyland California, while all the excess will be given to anti-bullying charities.
Now, however, reports suggest that scammers have created fake social media accounts in an attempt to profit. On Saturday, Bayles’ Instagram account @Quadosss warned his 226,000 followers of fake social media accounts claiming to be him and trying to take advantage of his situation. “WARNING!!!! FAKE ACCOUNTS! PLEASE REPORT ASAP!” Bayles’ account posted to Instagram, along with a screenshot of a fake Twitter account using his name.
The fake account per the Daily Mail had retweeted false reports that claimed Quaden was actually an 18-year-old man, and not a nine-year-old primary school student.
Yarraka Bayles shared a post on her social media criticizing conspiracy theories about her son. “Yes he's nine. Dwarfism is not a joke. Is he a model or actor?... so are a lot of kids... that doesn't mean s**t.”
One of the fake accounts reportedly has pictures of Bayles and urged followers to “pay my GoFundMe” via a link.