A 11-year-old boy selling lemonade was cruelly scammed after being given $100 (£80) - before finding out the cash was fake.
Jeremy, from Washington in the US, spent his pocket money setting up a lemonade stall in order to fund some extra cash for the summer holidays when a man approached the young boy's table.
The scammer purchased a glass of lemonade from Jeremy with a fake $100 (£80) bill - and requested the boy gave him the exact change.
Jeremy could only give him $85 (£70) from the remainder of his allowance as the cruel fraudster then walked away.
However, Jeremy didn't know the bill was fake until he went into a petrol station and tried to purchase an item, according to the Everett Police Department.
The police said in a statement: "While our detectives work hard to bring closure to every case, this case struck a particular chord with them.
"And they want to do everything they can to get justice for Jeremy and catch this counterfeiter."
In a Facebook post, the Everett Police Department shared GoFundMe to help the 11-year-old cover his losses after the cruel scam.
The page was set up Amy Steenfott, a neighbour of Jeremy's, who said she set up the page asking for $250 (£200) "to help cover his loss and give him some more funds to possibly expand his enterprise."
To help raise money for Jeremy, you can v isit his GoFundMe page here
Remarkably, thanks to the generosity of strangers, the page has already raised an astonishing $23,000 (£19,000).
Kind-hearted neighbour Amy wrote a message in the GoFundMe page to encourage people to contribute: "He is a hard working boy between his lemonade stand, which is so much more than just lemonade.
"(If your ever craving cotton candy you know who to see), mowing neighbour's yards and shovelling snow in the winter.
"He has dreams of owning his own vending machine business in the future."
