The five most ridiculous GoFundMe campaigns

Earlier this week, a fan of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle started up a GoFundMe page to help the couple pay for their R218-million mansion. Fans are hoping to help raise a casual R150-million for Harry to help him pay the bond on his mega-mansion after he revealed in his tell-all interview with Oprah that his father had cut him off financially.

The story caused quite a stir around the world but, believe it or not, this is not the most ridiculous crowdfunding campaign that has lived on the popular site.

We take a look at five other ridiculous moments on GoFundMe from people who took advantage of the site and used it to garner up free money for themselves.

B.o.B. asked for $1-million to prove the Earth is flat

American rapper B.o.B. is a proud ‘Flat Earther’ and after having countless arguments with fans online about his belief, he started a crowdfunding campaign to help prove his theory. He set up a GoFundMe campaign to help him raise $1-million to purchase weather balloons, satellites, blimps, and drones to help find the edge of the planet.

$99-million to help rescue Matt Damon from Mars

Back in 2015, Matt Damon took the global box office by storm with the release of his feature film, ‘The Martian’. In the film, the actor is stuck on a space station on Mars and needs to navigate life while waiting for his rescue mission to arrive. One dedicated fan, however, took things to the extreme when he started up a GoFundMe page to “rescue” Matt from Mars. "One of the greatest actors in Hollywood is currently trapped on Mars after a failed exploration," the GoFundMe page said. "We need Matt back on earth because he is due to be in another 'Bourne' movie. Matt is also a loyal friend to another Hollywood great Ben Affleck who needs Matt Damon's support as he goes through a divorce." 

The campaign raised $5 before it was removed.

$500 to go gambling in the hopes of winning big and moving out

A man who was desperate to move out of his father’s house turned to the crowdfunding site to help him raise $500 so that he could “strike it big at the casino” and use the money to move out. "I live with my dad, and I want to get out," he wrote on his GoFundMe page. "So my plan is to be able to win a jackpot at the casino, but I need an initial amount to go in with. I have practiced strategies on slots for over a year and I'm confident that with the right amount of money to buy in, and with a stroke of luck on my side, I could be successful and could turn my winnings into an ongoing practice. But I need your help. The casino I have in mind and the slot machines that I have picked out could grant me a great payout, but for the best odds, I wouldn't dare go in with any less than $500, and won't be walking out with less than $5000."

Luckily, not a single soul donated.

Quick fix for getting rich

Oscar Andersson shocked the internet when he blatantly launched a campaign asking people to help “a lazy person become rich” with $100,000! "This started out as a joke to myself 'this can't be possible' but then I thought to myself, people buy stupid s--t every single day," he wrote on his GoFundMe campaign. "There's apps that costs hundreds of dollars and they literally do nothing but give you a wallpaper stating that you spent money on something useless, people donate millions of dollars to Twitch streamers everyday and we all (me included) buy that daily snack, drink or whatever that we don't really need. What if you just saved in on that one dollar and gave that to me."

We appreciate his direct approach, but it’s a "no" from us.

$54-million for Kanye to clear his debt

Remember back in 2016 when rap mogul Kanye West announced that he was $54-million in debt? One fan took it into their own hands to try and get him out of that. "Recently, Kanye let us in on his personal struggle," the fan wrote on the fundraising site. "He is 53 million dollars in debt and it doesn't look like he's going to get Mark Zuckerberg's help that he desperately needs. We must open our hearts and wallets for Kanye today. Sure he is personally rich and can buy furs and houses for his family, but without our help, the true genius of Kanye West can't be realized."

The campaign raised an impressive $57,378, but since Kanye declined the money, the donations went to charity instead.

Image courtesy: CBS and GoFundMe