Man scams boy selling lemonade with fake $100 bill, community responds by raising $25K for him

Members of the local community have banded together to raise money for an 11-year-old boy running a lemonade stand, after he was scammed out of his money. Jeremy, 11, set up a lemonade stand in Everett, Washington, and was scammed by a man who bought a drink and paid the kid with a counterfeit $100 bill, said the police. The boy returned a change of $85 before later realizing that he had been scammed. The Everett Police Department shared the picture of the suspect who scammed the boy and wrote, "Can you identify this individual who took advantage of an 11-year-old running a lemonade stand?" A GoFundMe was started and members of the local community chipped in and have raised more than $25,000, a reminder that there are a lot of good people out there too.

"Over the summer, an 11-year-old Jeremy spent his allowance money to set up a lemonade stand on Beverly Blvd," wrote the Everett Police Department in a Facebook post, reported Insider. "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-dollar 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," read the post. Jeremy realized he had been scammed of $85 only after trying to spend it at a local gas station. He was out of all his allowance money and was heartbroken. The Everett Police Department was alerted of the incident and said it would do everything to help the boy. "While our detectives work hard to bring closure to every case, this case struck a particular chord with them, and they want to do everything they can to get justice for Jeremy and catch this counterfeiter," it wrote. 

A neighbor of the boy sought his parents' permission before setting up a GoFundMe to help raise money for the boy to reinstate his faith in humanity. "Jeremy is 11 years old and quite the entrepreneur. He is a hardworking boy, running his lemonade stand, mowing neighbor's yards and shoveling snow in the winter. He has dreams of owning his own vending machine business in the future. I’m starting the goal at $250 to help cover his loss and give him some more funds to possibly expand his enterprise," wrote Amy.

Amy said Jeremy and his family are overwhelmed by the support. "This was set up with the hopes that we could get Jeremy successfully set up to reopen his stand again," she wrote before adding that the support they have received completely exceeded their expectations. "Needless to say, I, as well as Jeremy’s family are overwhelmed. Jeremy doesn’t know the amount of love and support you all have shown just quite yet. We are trying to figure out how to do this," she added. "Again, THANK YOU from the bottoms of our hearts. This proves that there are so many great people in this world and we far surpass the bad ones."

It was also confirmed that Jeremy is already back out there doing errands and earning money. “Keep up your hard work!” wrote one donor. “Believe that you can do anything you set your mind to do. Unfortunately, there are bad people in this world but don’t let it knock you down keep moving forward.” Another added, "So sorry that happened to you Jeremy. I hope that you keep trying and succeeding! Keep hustling little man! Never give up! The world needs more people like you!”