Back in early July, 37 year-old Stelianos Psaroudakis claimed to have been the victim of an apparent barbed wire booby trap in the popular mountain biking area of West Bragg Creek west of Calgary.
Related: Barb Wire Booby Trap Injures Mountain Biker In Canada
With convincing lacerations around his neck and a documented history of similar traps in mountain biking areas across the world, most believed Psaroudakis. That is except for the Canadian police and other mountain bikers.
Turns out Psaroudakis faked the incident and later exploited the sympathy of others by using a GoFundMe page to raise fraudulent funny money. The CBC is reporting that while he was the victim of an accident, it was related to an ATV on private property– not on a mountain bike in West Bragg Creek.
The GoFundMe page set up by Psaroudakis says that he “almost died on trail by barbed wire” and was accompanied by a crowdfunding goal of $8k. He raised some $851 before the page was shut down.
Calgary man who claims neck was sliced by barbed wire on mountain bike trail charged with fraud https://t.co/SoiUBwxbNE pic.twitter.com/QGEU3DpnYE
— CBC News (@CBCNews) July 22, 2017
Ultimately the police, other mountain bikers, and park officials decided that some of the story didn’t make sense and later found that booby trap ever existed in the first place. A warrant was later issued and Psaroudakis has since turned himself into RCMP officials. He is currently facing two charges for fraud and public mischief and has been banned from GoFundMe. Those who donated to his cause have since been refunded.
Find the entire CBC article here: Calgary man who claims neck was sliced by barbed wire on mountain bike trail charged with fraud