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By Marni Rose McFall
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A fundraiser for a Red Baron employee who was accosted by an online prankster while at work has raised more than $100,000.
In a video that has since gone viral online and been reshared across multiple social media platforms, the man, named online only as Walt Z, was approached by someone who pretended to steal money from him.
The person filming the video held his phone out to the employee’s phone after asking the time, and the Apple Pay transaction sound played. From the perspective of the viewer, it’s clear a pre-recorded sound was being played, but this wasn’t obvious to the employee.
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“Thank you, bro, I just took ten dollars,” the person filming, who has not been identified, said.
The employee did not take it as a joke and, after responding calmly initially, is seen losing his temper at the end of the video.
When told by the streamer that the incident was “just a joke,” the employee responded, “It’s not a joke to me, okay.”
“My life is hard enough as it is,” he said.
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Some videos have the Instagram watermark @thea.ctiveworld on it, however the account appears to have since been deleted. It does not appear on the TikTok page associated with the handle, with that account previously showing other pranks on retail workers which have since been deleted. It's not clear if these accounts are where the original video was posted.
The GoFundMe was organized after the ensuing attention on social media, set up by a man named Luke Oakenshield. He clarified in the fundraiser description that he did not know the impacted employee.
“This fundraiser is about standing up for a working person who is busting their butt and should not have to fear losing stability because someone wanted content and clicks,” Oakenshield wrote in the description.
Newsweek has contacted Oakenshield for comment via GoFundMe, and CJ Schwan's, Red Baron's parent company, outside of normal working hours.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
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