Scammers have targeted people wanting to make donations to the family of Mason Pendrous, who was found dead in a University of Canterbury hall of residence.
Pendrous' body was found in his room in the Sonoda Village on September 23, believed to have been laying there undiscovered for a number of weeks.
Stuff reported on Thursday that Anthony Holland, the stepfather of Pendrous, came across the fake fundraising page on GoGetFunding, called "Mason Pendrous Memorial Fund".
The page has since been removed. Stuff reported that it had raised more than $100.
Last week, Holland said his stepson's body was only found after a fellow student climbed up over the roof to look into his room.
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It was initially believed that his death went unnoticed for around two months, but since then friends have said they had contact from him around a month before his body was found.
Speaking to Radio New Zealand's Checkpoint, Holland said the family first thought the teen hadn't been in touch due to a busy student life.
"To the best of my knowledge, he climbed up over the roof and around, and realised something was wrong, and contacted security, who entered the room," he told Checkpoint.
A former High Court judge has now been put in charge of investigating the death.
Newshub.
