BURLINGTON COUNTY, NJ - The first text was sent less than one hour after the "Paying it Forward" campaign went live.

"Okay so wait the gas part is completely made up...But the guy isn't...I had to make something up to make people feel bad," Kate McClure told her best friend in a Nov. 10 text.

The text would be a key piece of evidence that revealed what was thought to be a heartwarming fundraiser to help a homeless Philadelphia man was actually a fabricated tale in an effort to scam thousands of people out of more than $400,000. It was just one of 60,000 messages authorities would review in the investigation that led to charges against the three co-conspirators on Thursday.