As the family of late R&B artist Angie Stone wrapped details for her funeral, a fake GoFundMe campaign seeking donations was quickly shut down.
The fundraising page, titled “Support Angie Stone’s Legacy After Tragic Loss,” was removed from the platform Wednesday after reportedly raising more than $12,000, according to TMZ.
“The fundraiser has been removed from the platform, all donations have been refunded, and the organizer has been banned from any future fundraising,” a GoFundMe spokesperson said in a statement Thursday, noting the culprit did not access any of the money sent.
The company, which also recently pulled campaigns supporting accused CEO killer Luigi Mangione, is being watchful of any other fake fundraisers related to Stone’s death and will subsequently remove them if they violate their terms of service.
Meanwhile, Stone’s family finalized her funeral arrangements on Thursday.
A “homegoing service” will take place March 15 at Columbia’s First Nazareth Baptist Church in South Carolina, where Stone began singing gospel music at a young age, publicist Ra-Fael Blanco confirmed.
The 63-year-old, Grammy-nominated artist died last Saturday in a car accident near Montgomery, Ala. She and her team had been returning to Atlanta after a performance in Mobile when their sprinter van collided with a tractor-trailer on Interstate 65, state police said.
Stone was declared dead at the scene. The eight other passengers in the van were hospitalized with various injuries.
The “No More Rain (In This Cloud)” singer — known for her solo career as well as success with the neo-soul group Vertical Hold and trailblazing rap trio The Sequence — is survived by two children, Diamond Stone and Michael Archer, and two grandchildren.
