#gofundme

New this week: Walt Zerod, the Red Baron delivery worker whose run-in with a prankster went viral (we covered the fundraiser in Issue 6), has paused the GoFundMe set up for him, The Detroit News reports. As of Nov. 5 it had raised nearly three-quarters of a million dollars from about 22,800 donations. It was started on Oct. 27 by an Arizona man, Luke Oakenshield.

"I still cannot believe how much you have all rallied behind us," Zerod wrote on the page, adding that he has been able to spend extra time at home with his family. He said he has become friends with Oakenshield and will not give media interviews: "My family's safety and privacy come first, and I feel this is the best decision for us." In the original two-minute clip, the prankster played a fake Apple Pay sound and claimed to have taken $10 from Zerod's phone while he stocked frozen pizzas.

A video of a prankster pretending to steal money from a Red Baron employee's phone spread widely online this week, Newsweek reports. The worker, a father of four identified only as "Walt," angrily told the prankster it was not a joke to him; he said he was working late to make ends meet and was due back early the next morning to cover more stores.

A stranger in Arizona started a GoFundMe titled "Support a Harassed Red Baron Worker." Per Newsweek, it stood at about $5,500 on Wednesday afternoon, passed $48,000 that night and topped $100,000 on Thursday. Conservative commentator Benny Johnson helped spread the appeal, VINnews reports. The prankster's Instagram account has gone dark, according to Newsweek.

Newsweek's Shane Croucher argues the happy ending is "a lottery": viral attention rescued one worker, while most crowdfunding campaigns fall short.