A crowd-funding page set up to help Mike Thalassitis’ family financially in the wake of his death has been closed down, over concerns about fraud.
Over the weekend, a page was launched on Gofundme, by the late Love Island star’s friends, aiming to raise funds to cover costs for his funeral, with any additional money going to a mental health charity.
The page quickly raised more than £5000 in just one day, but a note was later posted saying that Mike’s family had requested it be shut down, as they were concerned that fraudsters may somehow interfere and take the money for themselves.
An update posted on the page said: “Thank you all for your generous donations thus far. I have spoken with Mike’s family and while they are grateful for all of the support his friends have given, they have asked to close the gofundme at this time.
“Please be assured the money raised to date will go directly to the family who intend to open a new page controlled by themselves in due course. All proceeds will then be consolidated and donated to a mental health charity of their choice.”
The post continued: “While this particular page was created by his close friends, they are concerned that fraudulent accounts could be activated by strangers using their name.
“Therefore, please do not donate to any other pages until an official statement has been made by the immediate Thalassitis family within the next week or so. Thank you again for all of your support during this difficult time.”
A representative for Gofundme told HuffPost UK: “Our thoughts are Mike’s family and friends at what must be a very difficult time.
“They can rest assured that on GoFundMe no funds would ever be released unless we are absolutely confident they will get to the right beneficiary.”
Mike died earlier this month at the age of 26, sparking another important conversation about whether contestants on shows like Love Island receive enough aftercare once filming is complete.
Following his death, a Love Island spokesperson confirmed the hit ITV2 series would be re-evaluating the care given to contestants ahead of its return to our screens this summer.