CDawgVA was furious after his charity auction, featuring the opportunity to play video games with Twitch streamer Pokimane, was taken over by fake bids using stolen credit cards.
On July 15, Twitch viewers were left scrambling to place their bids after learning that CDawgVA’s new charity auction included playing games with Pokimane, hanging out with VTuber IronMouse, and even a picture painted by PewDiePie.
The bids came in fast and furious on the Pokimane side, reaching a whopping $500,000. Poki and CDawg were shocked, refusing to believe the absurd amount people were willing to spend on a gaming session with her.
GOT TO BE FAKE NO WAY. https://t.co/1r3vLzwbm6 pic.twitter.com/2OxJ5EVXha
— Connor (@CDawgVA) July 15, 2024
As it turns out, their skepticism was warranted, as the majority of the bids ended up being fake – much to CDawg’s chagrin, who called out the pranksters for abusing the auction site.
“Even though the $500,000 is fake, the real bidding number, from what I can gather, is still very high,” he said. “So, I’m still not sad, because it’s still a crazy amount of money that’s real.”
The Tiltify website, which has since enabled verification for bids, lists ‘Isaacwhy’ as the current highest bidder at $30,000, though it’s unclear if this is, in fact, the YouTuber of the same name.
CDawg also lashed out at the fake bidders, confused by why anyone would hijack a charity auction to begin with.
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Some updates from Connor (CDawgVA) about the auction!– The $500k is fake– The real amount however is still at least $30k!– Tiltify is doing their best to remove and ban any frauds and it should be fully fixed by the day of the auction (July 19th) pic.twitter.com/QKMmcm2BxX
— Pokimane Updates 💌 (@PokimaneNews) July 16, 2024
“It’s super cringe to fake money for charity,” he slammed. “I think there is nothing sadder you can fake in life than donating money to charity. I think it’s so sad.”
According to the creator, the fake bidders were using stolen credit cards and an assortment of fake emails and addresses in order to trick the site into thinking their bids were real.
“Why would you commit fraud to add a fake bid to a charity auction?” he wondered.
The 2024 charity auction is planning to send its proceeds to the Immune Deficiency Foundation, which offers “resources, education, and support” for patients diagnosed with primary immunodeficiency.
In 2023, the auction raised $329K for the Immune Deficiency Foundation along with an additional $14K to Make-A-Wish America.