{"id":852408,"date":"2026-08-12T08:34:14","date_gmt":"2026-08-12T08:34:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/852408\/"},"modified":"2026-08-12T08:34:14","modified_gmt":"2026-08-12T08:34:14","slug":"van-viet-truong-family-of-slain-melbourne-grocer-issue-gofundme-warning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/852408\/","title":{"rendered":"Van Viet Truong: Family of slain Melbourne grocer issue GoFundMe warning"},"content":{"rendered":"

The grieving family of slain Melbourne grocer Van Viet Truong<\/a> have issued a statement warning community members not to donate to a fundraiser that was created without their consent.<\/p>\n

Truong, 60, was allegedly attacked as he attempted to stop four teenagers accused of stealing from a clothes shop in Sunshine in the city\u2019s west on August 1.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

More than 100 people are expected to gather in honour of Van Viet Truong.\u00a09News<\/p>\n

He was taken to hospital in a critical condition and died from his injuries four days later.<\/p>\n

A GoFundMe fundraiser was later launched in honour of a \u201chero who paid the ultimate price\u201d, organised by a member of the public with no connection to the Van Truong family.<\/p>\n

At the time of writing, the fundraiser has collected $13,035 in donations.<\/p>\n

Truong\u2019s family said on Wednesday they had not called for donations or \u201cauthorised any fundraising in any form\u201d and asked community members to be vigilant.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are sincerely grateful for the support, concern and kindness people have shown towards their family during this incredibly difficult time,\u201d the statement reads. <\/p>\n

\u201cHowever, they are asking people to be cautious and not allow their generosity to be taken advantage of.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost importantly, please respect the family, their privacy and their wishes during this difficult time.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

A GoFundMe was launched in honour of the 60-year-old man.\u00a0GoFundMe<\/p>\n

\u201cThe family\u2019s message is clear: they are not asking for donations.\u201d<\/p>\n

The GoFundMe organiser paused donations after speaking with the family.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have been in contact with Van Truong\u2019s family, and after careful discussion, I have decided to close this campaign and issue full refunds to all donors,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe family has expressed that they do not wish to receive these funds, and I am respecting their wishes as they navigate their grief and privacy.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a statement to nine.com.au<\/a>, a spokesperson for GoFundMe said the platform refunds all donors in cases where the family rejects donations.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is not uncommon for compassionate Australians to launch fundraisers on behalf of others, often as an act of kindness, during times of crisis or distress,\u201d the spokesperson said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll donations are safely held by our payment processors until the GoFundMe Trust & Safety team is able to complete our standard checks to ensure that funds can be transferred safely to the intended beneficiary.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Sunshine community has rallied around with Truong\u2019s family and loved ones following his death.<\/p>\n

Hundreds joined a vigil and protest on Sunday demanding change to youth crime laws, including Truong\u2019s nephew Hung Truong.<\/p>\n

He called for the new \u201cadult time for adult crime\u201d laws to be properly enforced.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow my aunty has no husband. My cousins have no father,\u201d Hung told 9News.<\/p>\n

Two 14-year-old girls and a 12-year-old boy have been charged with assault-related offences. All three were granted bail.<\/p>\n

\"Members<\/p>\n

Members of the Sunshine Vietnamese community at a memorial for Van Truong.\u00a0Chris Hopkins<\/p>\n

A 15-year-old boy remains before the courts after his\u00a0charge was upgraded to manslaughter<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A 13-year-old boy who was initially arrested has since had his charges withdrawn.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The grieving family of slain Melbourne grocer Van Viet Truong have issued a statement warning community members not…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":852409,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,44],"class_list":["post-852408","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/852408","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=852408"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/852408\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/852409"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=852408"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=852408"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=852408"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}