The family of a North Carolina toddler who drowned in a pool last week went to set up an online fundraiser to help them with his funeral costs , only to discover that scammers have beat them to the punch . Four-year-old Austin West passed away last Saturday after he slipped while chasing a bumblebee in the backyard and fell into an in-ground pool at his family 's home in Gastonia . Austin ’ s grandfather , Jeff West , says that when he attempted to launch a GoFundMe campaign to raise money to cover his grandson ’ s final expenses , he was shocked to find that there were already multiple pages carrying the deceased boy 's name on the site . Family tragedy : Austin West , 4 , pictured left and right with his mother , drowned in a pool April 6 while chasing a bumblebee in the yard . Preying on the weak : When the toddler 's family went to set up a GoFundMe account to help raise money towards the funeral , they have discovered several unsanctioned fundraisers . This screen shot shows the real page set up by the Wests . ‘ We had a big setback when phony GoFundMe accounts were set up before I made one , so I do n't know just how many donated to these scams before the real GoFundMe page got set up , ’ Mr West lamented to the station WBTV . ‘ What people will do to make a buck off of a child. ’ The fake fundraisers have since been deleted from GoFundMe.com , but West says the family are still in desperate financial straits and are in urgent need of donations . On Thursday , Austin 's grandfather set up a genuine donation page hoping to collect $ 10,000 . As of Friday evening , only $ 315 has been raised . A spokesperson for GoFundMe said in a statement that the company investigates every complaint of fraud it receives . Accident : Jeff West said his grandson had been taught how to swim young , but the shock of falling into cold water , combined with the boy 's chronic asthma , caused Austin to go under . The West family are hoping to raise $ 10,000 to cover the toddler 's funeral costs and related expenses . ‘ In the rare event that we do find fraudulent activity on an account , we have the power to remove the account , refund donors , and ban the user from ever signing up again , ’ the statement read . In the description of Jeff West ’ s campaign , he explains that his 4-year-old grandson , who used to call him 'Paw Paw , ' had been taught how to swim young , but the shock of falling into cold water , combined with the boy 's chronic asthma , caused Austin to go under . The West family also have started another campaign on Booster.com selling cotton T-shirts with Austin ’ s picture for $ 15 each to raise additional funds . The West family also have started another campaign on Booster.com selling cotton T-shirts with Austin ’ s picture .
Austin West , 4 , slipped and fell into backyard pool in North Carolina April 6 . Several fake fundraisers sprang up after Austin 's death to collect money . The bogus GoFundMe pages created in Austin 's name have since been removed .