Police are investigating after a Brisbane man who gave a hitchhiker $2000 fears he may have been scammed.
Kel Sanson first spotted Wayne* with his thumb sticking out walking along a road at Tingalpa in Brisbane's east on November 27.
"As soon as I saw him I thought he is a fish out of water, he looked like an old farmer, he had an Akubra and a duffle bag," the 38-year-old said.
Mr Sanson offered the man a lift and heard how he had lost his angus beef cattle farm outside Gladstone to the bank, his wife to cancer and was hitchhiking back home until his job as a caretaker at a Beaudesert farm started in two weeks.
"He had an answer for everything and everything he said made sense," Mr Sanson said.
"A real Aussie battler kind of story.
"I said to him, I am going to pass the hat around to a few mates and we can at least raise you enough money to get to the job so you don't have to hitchhike back."
Mr Sanson tried to get a contact phone number but Wayne, who looked to be aged in his 60s, said he didn't have one. He took down Wayne's bank details and set up a gofundme page to raise $2000 to help re-register Wayne's car, renew his licence, pay for a tank of fuel and surgery to remove a skin cancer on the older man's face.
The money was raised within 48 hours and when Mr Sanson found there was a seven-day waiting period to retrieve donations, he and his wife decided to transfer funds from their own account.
"We thought we will just transfer $2000 out of our account into his and we will get the money out of gofundme next week," he said.
"We did that and the next afternoon I sent it (the gofundme page) to a few mates at Ipswich council and one of them sent me back an email saying 'I think I have heard this story before, it sounds very similar'."
Mr Sanson said his former colleague told him he had previously picked up a farmer by the name of Wayne who was travelling for work after the bank had taken his property and his wife had left him for a younger man.
The former colleague also sent Mr Sanson a few screenshots from others who had shared their experience online of picking up a farmer hitchhiking from Fernvale and Jimboomba.
When Mr Sanson saw a photo of the man he had picked up in Tingalpa in one of the screenshots, his heart sank.
"I had called (Wayne's bank) before I made the donation, I said 'I know this is crazy, here is the story', and he said 'It is a great story and I can tell you that account checks out'," he said.
"I felt physically sick because all these people were buying into this story."
James Howie, who published a story online about picking up a hitchhiker named Graham with a similar story to Wayne's last year, said he had been contacted by "several" people regarding his story but didn't believe the man was a scammer.
"I have no photos of the man, but have been sent photos which have confirmed he uses a similar story with everyone," he said.
"The common denominator here is that he is being picked up on the side of the road in all sorts of places around the eastern coast of the country."
Mr Howie said he wasn't asked for money and didn't regret giving the man a lift.
"To me, this man is doing everything he can just to survive," he said.
"Whilst it is not an honest way to do it, I have imagined myself in his position at his age and have come to the realisation that I would do what I can to survive.
"I believe there is truth to his story, I believe he is truly homeless, and is just trying to survive in a country that holds such discontent for its own farmers."
Mr Sanson lodged a complaint with police, who directed him to file a complaint with the Australian Cybercrime Online Reporting Network.
"An ACORN report matching this information has been received and forwarded for Regional follow up inquiries and investigation, and it would be inappropriate to make comment on any ongoing matter at this time," a police spokesperson confirmed in a statement.
Fairfax Media attempted to contact the hitchhiker through details provided by Mr Sanson.
Mr Sanson suspended his online fundraiser, which had managed to raise $4800, and donated the funds, more than $3700 (after some donors asked for a refund), to the Drought Angels, a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to supporting Australian farmers.
*The man allegedly goes by the name Wayne or Graham.