An image of David Buick's home, taken by a Marlborough Express photographer, was allegedly taken from Stuff and sent to gaming group Privateer's Alliance.

International online gamers claim a Blenheim man lied to them about his house being flattened by the Kaikoura earthquake.

The computer gaming community donated more than $2155 ($1500US) via fundraising pages and private donations, after being sent an image of a badly-damaged house.

A US-based group member said Jeffrey Meikle, whose online name was "Sir FaceALot", claimed his house was destroyed and he was living in a tent.

SCOTT HAMMOND/FAIRFAX NZ David Buick is angry images of his damaged house may be being used without his knowledge. He is pictured with his partner, Leah Gill.

However the house Meikle allegedly sent Privateer's Alliance an image of did not belong to him.

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In late November Meikle supplied the member, Jacquie Gorman-Sortland with his "new address" in Blenheim, so she could send him a Christmas card.

The fundraising page showed a picture of the damaged house.

Privateer's Alliance grew suspicious after they discovered Meikle's address had not changed since July, suggesting he had lived in the same house the whole time.

A reverse Google image search led them to an article on Stuff, of a house belonging to Marlborough farmer David Buick.

Gorman-Sortland said her group was in "a little bit of shock".

"We've known him for a while. He said 'my home was destroyed'. We do a lot of philanthropical work so we were like 'let's do a fundraiser'.

A fundraising page set up for "Sir FaceALot" raised $1293 ($900US).

The page featured a picture of the house and said "SirFaceAlot is a Privateer's Alliance member and streamer. At 12:02 AM on November 14th, a 7.8 quake hit Face's home in Kaikoura, taking out his home and community. He and his wife are currently living in a tent until relief efforts arrive. Please consider donating to help them get through this difficult time."

When contacted Meikle said the blurb on the fundraising page was wrong and it needed to be "fixed up".

He told Stuff he was fundraising on behalf of a friend, and that Privateer's Alliance were aware of that.

However the real homeowner said he had no idea who Meikle was.

"It's a load of rubbish," Buick said. "I've never heard of the man."

Meikle later said his partner knew Buick's family slightly, and the money was going to be a surprise.

However Buick said he did not know her either, and she declined to comment on Friday afternoon.

Meikle said he had left the group because they were hassling him. He not received any money yet, he said.

"I don't know what's going on," he said.

Gorman-Sortland said Privateer's Alliance had deposited the money they raised into his account, and provided Stuff with a bank statement showing several deposits into an account belonging to "Jeff Meikle".

The group was a close-knit community with members from all over the world, trusted Meikle and considered him a friend.

His story had resonated with her as she came from the earthquake-prone state of California.

"We just wanted to help," she said.

Gorman-Sortland had been contacting her members to see which of them made private donations.

A couple of other gaming groups had also been fundraising, she said.

Privateers' Alliance members were not necessarily well-off, but they had donated money to Meikle because they believed his need was greater than theirs, Gorman-Shortland said.

Among the people to donate to "Sir FaceALot" was a boy with cerebral palsy.

"This is going to affect the whole community," Gorman-Sortland said.

A Christchurch-based member of the group said he was very disappointed.

He did not know Meikle but had participated in a couple of group conversations with him, and got the impression he was a "decent" person.

"He was pretty ingrained in our community."

Gorman-Sortland said the group had been in touch with both the New Zealand police and Interpol.

Blenheim police were investigating the incident.