Is this GoFundMe response a pattern of scam behavior?

Question

I have a GoFundMe campaign, and I received what looked like donations taking me to my target level, and then were rescinded by GoFundMe on a message saying something like the funds not being obtained. I contacted the ?donor?, who said that GoFundMe had difficulties or was not set up to process donations from Ukraine. I offered a PayPal donation URL and my number for Western Union. I have not been contacted since.

Did I just meet a scammer with a low amount of determination or looking for an easy kill? I'm not sure what to make of this but this was an awfully incomplete execution for what I would expect from a con artist.

Comments are welcome. I expect, if this is a scam, it would hinge on people doing more to not lose money than to gain money, and having GoFundMe say "You've received donations to match your target" and then "No, wait, we were wrong about the money we said would be deposited" would put a victim in a more vulnerable psychological state than someone who just offered money out of the blue and didn't yet make it perceivedly yours.

Answer 1

I think you have the right idea: This could be a way of "softening you up" and attempting to gain some trust before executing a standard scam.

With the usual "ask for bank password" or "send a too-large (bad) check, then ask for refund of the excess", in addition to whatever other scam indicators are present, you merely have to ask yourself "Why would a stranger want to give me money?" to realize something is fishy.

Here, by piggybacking on GoFundMe, the scammer may be short-circuiting that, by working in a context where it's somewhat normal for a stranger to want to give you money. Thus, your guard is down and you're more likely to think there is real money to be gained.

In your case, the scammer may have been put off by your response and didn't find you as naive a victim as they would prefer -- but with someone else, they might have proceeded to the rest of the scam.