The first police drama TV show I watched as a 12-year-old growing up in Summit Hill was “Racket Squad,” starring Reed Hadley. Each week during its two-year run (1951-53), Hadley, starring as Capt. Braddock, head of Racket Squad, would end the program by saying, “There are people who can slap you on the back with one hand and pick your pocket with the other. And it could happen to you.”

These words are as true today as they were 65 years ago when the head of Racket Squad issued his stern weekly warning.

We saw it unfold in the most spectacular of ways more than a year ago when the story emerged of a homeless Marine veteran, begging for handouts on a ramp of Interstate 95 in the Philadelphia area, was reported to have encountered Kate McClure, 28, who told him that she had run out of gas.

Bobbitt is said to have walked to a gas station and used his last $20 to buy gas and give McClure a helping hand. In gratitude for his assistance, McClure and her boyfriend, Mark D’Amico, 39, set up a GoFundMe page to raise money to get Bobbitt permanent housing, a car and to put a few dollars into his pocket. The original goal was to raise $10,000.

This was one of those feel-good stories that periodically tug at the public’s heartstrings. Fueled by the internet and interviews the three did on national TV shows, the public responded massively and contributed more than $400,000, one of GoFundMe’s most successful pages since it started in business in 2010.

We didn’t know it at the time, but the whole thing was a scam — that’s right, made up BS to cause unsuspecting donors to part with their cash. Strangely, the original intent of McClure and D’Amico was to help Bobbitt. They had given him $10 on a previous occasion when they saw him panhandling near the Sugarhouse casino near Philadelphia. But then greed set in.

Recently, we came to learn that just an hour after the GoFundMe page went live, McClure sent a text to a friend that said, “OK so wait the gas part is completely made up … But the guy isn’t … I had to make something up to make people feel bad.”

Two of my friends were sucked in and donated a total of $75. They were among the 14,447 donors who gave money to help Bobbitt. All of them will get their money back from GoFundMe, which gives its users the GoFundMe guarantee. “It takes a leap of faith to help someone else. That’s why we want to honor your generosity by backing it up with the first and only guarantee for crowdfunding,” the company says on its website.

The company will attempt to recoup what it can from the three defendants in the case, but it appears that most of the $400,000 is gone — spent on a luxury car, vacations, gambling trips and other luxuries.

Bobbitt did get some money early on, but apparently McClure and D’Amico held out on much of the rest, and that is when the scheme began to unravel. Bobbitt filed a civil suit against the pair, claiming that they withheld money that was rightly his.

At last report, Bobbitt had returned to panhandling and drug use. All three are facing second-degree felony charges, according to Burlington County, New Jersey, Prosecutor Scott Coffina. They are charged with theft by deception and conspiracy to commit theft by deception.

While my friends are thrilled that they will be getting their donations returned, there is a cautionary tale here that involves not only dollars and cents, but it’s the impact that incidents such as this will have on people of good will who want to help others in need.

Prosecutor Coffina addressed this concern at a news conference. “This type of case can damage the psyche of the public. A case like this can make generous people skeptical and a little more hesitant to help someone in need. I urge you to not let that happen. There is a lot of hardship in the world and it is commendable to show generosity to those in need,” Coffina said.

GoFundMe took a major public relations hit from this incident, but to its credit it insists that every donor will come out of this whole. In a statement, the company said, “While this type of behavior by an individual is extremely rare, it’s unacceptable and clearly it has consequences. Committing fraud, whether it takes place on or offline, is against the law. We are fully cooperating and assisting law enforcement officials to recover every dollar withdrawn by Ms. McClure and Mr. D’Amico.”

A company spokesman pointed out that campaigns with misuse make up less than one-tenth of 1 percent of all campaigns. “We have a zero-tolerance policy for fraudulent behavior. If fraud occurs, donors get refunded, and we work with law enforcement officials to recover the money. One fraudulent campaign is one too many, but when it does take place, we take action to protect donors,” the company said.

By Bruce Frassinelli | tneditor@tnonline.com