WASHINGTON — Scammers weaponised the deadliest American aviation disaster in years, siphoning thousands of dollars from grieving donors before an international attorney blew the whistle.
GoFundMe shut down a fraudulent donation drive targeting the estate of Kansas farmers Bob and Lori Schrock, refunding $17,550 to contributors after detecting coordinated fraud. The Schrocks, who ran a canola and wheat operation in Kiowa, Kansas, died alongside 65 others on January 29, 2025, when American Eagle Flight 5342 collided with a US Army Black Hawk helicopter near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. All 64 passengers and crew aboard the regional jet and three soldiers aboard the military helicopter perished in the crash.
Parasites moved fast. Within hours of the wreckage settling along the Potomac corridor, an anonymous organizer set up a GoFundMe page carrying a $150,000 target. The campaign listed an organizer named "Sam Lorri Otim" claiming residency in Kiowa, using publicly available family photographs to fleece well-wishers. It hauled in $17,750 across dozens of transactions—including a single $10,500 wire and another $5,000 pledge—before the operation unraveled.
The fraud collapsed when Gauthier Daniel Igorevich, a Moscow-based criminal defense attorney with Trunov, Ayvar and Partners, stepped into the picture. Igorevich represented surviving relatives of Russian nationals who died on Flight 5342, including kin of former world champion figure skaters Yevgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov. Seeking to extend pro bono legal assistance to American victim families, Igorevich tracked down the Schrock campaign contact.
Then came the shakedown.
A self-described "family representative" refused to give a legal name in encrypted email exchanges. Instead, the individual ordered the Russian attorney to transfer $15,000 to an offshore Skrill digital wallet as an upfront "vetting fee" before the family would even consider legal consultation. When Igorevich pushed back and offered to reimburse legitimate expenditures through formal escrow, the imposter doubled down, demanding immediate funds in the Skrill account.
"I couldn't just sit back," Igorevich stated regarding his findings. "I had to report it."
Igorevich flagged the suspicious correspondence to GoFundMe compliance officers. A municipal check in Kiowa confirmed no resident named Sam Lorri Otim existed within the small agricultural township.
GoFundMe security teams froze the account on Monday afternoon, locking the wallet before the operator could withdraw a single dollar. Platform officials confirmed that its payment processors held the contributions in escrow throughout the ordeal, shielding the cash from the organizer's clutches.
The crowdfunding service has now routed all crash-related giving through a centralized clearinghouse verified by its Trust and Safety unit, while federal authorities examine the digital paper trail left by the Skrill account.