In China, online crowdfunding is often used to cover medical costs for the desperately ill. But a rash of recent cases has caused worries about frauds taking advantage of public generosity.
According to an October 27 report in Shanghai-based news-site The Paper, one family in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province said in their appeal on the popular crowdfunding site Fun in Funding that they had exhausted all their savings in attempting to cure their mother’s breast cancer. They sought to raise 300,000 yuan (US $44,317) online. But a doctor in the hospital attended by the mother told The Paper that her current medical costs were only about 17,000 yuan (US $2,511) and that she had only paid 6,383 yuan (US $942) thanks to insurance coverage. The doctor added that the expected total fees of her treatment would only amount to 50,000 yuan (US $7,386).
Zhang Yingli, a marketing staff member of Fun in Funding said that their auditing process only started after the money was raised. Yu Liang, deputy director of the firm, added that the auditing was done internally unless third parties intervened, but that the platform was handy for those who needed the money immediately.
Netizens were concerned by the loose supervision. One uremia sufferer told The Beijing News that some patients exaggerated and mislead donors. Another commentator noted that some crowdfunding platforms raise money before confirming the diagnosis.
Jiang Yongwei, a lawyer in Jiangsu Province, said that the Suzhou case appeared to be fraud given the lies about fees and the claims to have spent all their savings. Given Fun in Funding's 2 percent service fee, they should take responsibility for auditing cases instead of passing the buck. Ma Ce, another local lawyer, said that although current laws don't force platforms to verify the authenticity of such cases, this doesn't absolve them from all legal responsibility.
Yu countered that diagnosing illnesses is a near-impossible task given that the auditors lack medical backgrounds. A doctor from the National Development and Reform Commission Institute of Social Development suggested that crowdfunding should be jointly supervised by government and firms; but that in the meantime the government needs to provide basic support, including medical information, for fundraising firms.
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