Neighbour raises $24,000 for 11-year-old boy scammed by man who paid for lemonade with fake $100 bill

A neighbour has raised more than $24,000 in donations for a Washington state boy who was scammed by a man paying for lemonade with a fake $100 bill.

Eleven-year-old Jeremy, of Everett, has always been a little entrepreneur, his neighbor Amy Steenfott said. Whether he is mowing neighbors’ yards or shoveling snow in the winter, Jeremy is always looking for a way to make extra money in order to achieve his dream of purchasing a vending machine.

So when Jeremy was scammed by a man who bought lemonade and paid with a $100 counterfeit bill, Ms Steenfott knew she had to do something to help Jeremy, who had spent his allowance money setting up the stand.

“As he worked in the sun trying to earn a little extra spending money, he was approached by the pictured suspect, who offered him a $100 bill for a drink but asked for exact change. Jeremy did his best to wring all his allowance money to give the suspect $85 in change,” the Everett police department shared on a Facebook post asking for the public’s help to identify the suspect.

Jeremy went to a local gas station where he learned that the bill was fake, Fox13 first reported. Ms Steenfott initially set up a GoFundMe to raise $250 so the hardworking boy could grow his enterprise, but as his story moved people across the country, it brought the total to more than $24,000.

Ms Steenfott created the fundraiser with the permission of Jeremy’s parents and after many requests from the Everett community.

“He is a [hard-working] boy between his lemonade stand, which is so much more than just lemonade (If you’re ever craving cotton candy you know who to see), mowing neighbors’ yards and shoveling snow in the winter,” she wrote on the GoFundMe description.

Everett police said they “want to do everything they can to get justice for Jeremy and catch this counterfeiter.” The community is asked to call the tip line at (425) 257-845 if they recognise the man.