25 Year-Old Scam Artist Raises $1 Million in Bogus Dinner with Trump Contest

Scam artist Ian Hawes raised over one million dollars with a bogus Dinner with Trump contest.
ian hawes scam artist
Ian Hawes has spent none of the money raised promoting Trump and no one has won the dinner with Trump.
It was all a scam.
(Boing Boing)

Isn’t this illegal?

LawNewz reported:

A Maryland man is offering contest participants a chance to have dinner with Donald Trump. Or is he? 25-year-old Ian Hawes of Maryland set updinnerwithtrump.org, a site that at first glance looks an awful lot like a Trump campaign page, until you read the fine print.

The homepage tells visitors to “Enter for a chance for you and a guest to have dinner with Donald Trump.The flight, food & stay are on us.”

It allows people to enter their name, email address, and zip code. Upon doing so, the next page says that people can double their chances of winning by donating, giving options for people to give different amounts.

Hawes’ organization, American Horizons PAC, took out ads on Facebook to promote the site, according to a Politico report, drawing social media users to the site.  They reportedly raised more than $1 million. But the small print on the bottom of the site tells people what they’re actually getting, and it’s not a private dinner with the Republican Presidential nominee. “Prize is for winner & guest to attend a Donald Trump fundraising event with other attendees,” it says, adding that it includes airfare and hotel accommodations, with a total approximate retail value of $3,600.

Photo of author
Jim Hoft is the founder and editor of The Gateway Pundit, one of the top conservative news outlets in America. Jim was awarded the Reed Irvine Accuracy in Media Award in 2013 and is the proud recipient of the Breitbart Award for Excellence in Online Journalism from the Americans for Prosperity Foundation in May 2016. In 2023, The Gateway Pundit received the Most Trusted Print Media Award at the American Liberty Awards.

You can email Jim Hoft here, and read more of Jim Hoft's articles here.

 

Thanks for sharing!