Man charged with impersonating Trump family members to defraud hundreds

A man from Pennsylvania has been charged with impersonating family members of former President Trump and receiving thousands of dollars as a result.

Joshua Hall is being charged with wire fraud and aggravated identity theft for his scheme, according to a complaint. Wire fraud has a maximum sentence of 20 years, and aggravated identity theft has a mandatory sentence of two years.

The scheme began around September 2019 and ended in December 2020 when Hall allegedly created a fake political organization claiming to be raising money for Trump’s reelection. 

Hall used a crowdfunding website and pretended in July 2020 that former president Trump’s sibling, presumably Robert Trump, was helping with the organization.

“Josh is doing great work so please give him a follow and support him!” Hall said on the fake account of Robert Trump, according to the complaint.

When Robert Trump died, Hall created a fake account for former President Trump’s youngest son, Barron, and had that account post, “Josh is an amazing patriot who is doing tremendous things for our great country. He has my COMPLETE AND TOTAL ENDORSEMENT!” 

Hall ended up allegedly scamming hundreds of people out of thousands of dollars that he used for personal expenses. 

“Hall led hundreds of people to believe they were donating to an organization that didn’t exist by pretending to be someone he wasn’t, as alleged. As we continue to investigate fraud in all its many forms, we urge the public to remain aware of the prevalence of online scams and exercise due diligence when making donations online,” FBI Assistant Director in Charge William Sweeney Jr. said in a press release about the case.

The crowdfunding website closed Hall’s account after he would not provide documentation that the funds were going to the political organization he claimed to be running.

The press release said Hall was arrested on Tuesday and would be seen in federal court in Harrisburg in front of United States Magistrate Judge Susan Schwab the same day.