A Michigan man working as a delivery driver for frozen pizza maker Red Baron became an unlikely internet sensation this week after a stranger pretended to steal $10 from him through Apple Pay while he stocked shelves in a grocery store. The clip, which shows the worker explaining that he was struggling to pay his mortgage while supporting four children, has since been viewed millions of times and sparked a fundraising campaign that has pulled in hundreds of thousands of dollars from strangers moved by his story.
The man, identified online only as Walt Z., works as a delivery driver for Red Baron, according to the Detroit News. In the video, a prankster approaches him in the store and pretends to lift $10 from him through an Apple Pay transaction, catching Walt off guard as he explains the financial pressure he is under. A spokesperson for Schwan's, Red Baron's parent company, told the outlet that the incident actually occurred back in August, long before it found its current audience.
As CBS News Detroit reported, the two-minute, 33-second clip of the encounter prompted thousands of people to donate to a fundraising campaign set up in Walt's name. The footage was originally posted on a page that has since been deleted and only began circulating widely after being reposted across multiple platforms, per the same account from the Detroit News.
A Prank That Backfired Into a Windfall
The fundraiser was set up by an internet user named Luke Oakenshield, who said in the campaign description that he did not personally know Walt, according to Newsweek. Oakenshield framed the effort as a way to help Walt continue supporting his family and cover expenses, including the mortgage he mentioned in the viral clip, the Detroit News reported.
Donations piled up fast once the video spread. The Detroit News reported that as of Wednesday, the campaign had raised more than $335,000 from more than 9,000 donations, while a separate report from the Daily Mail put the total at more than $330,000 from more than 8,500 people as of Thursday evening. The two outlets' figures differ slightly, but both point to a fundraiser that ballooned well past six figures within days.
Public Figures Amplify the Campaign
Part of what fueled the surge was attention from high-profile social media accounts. Newsweek reported that public figures including conservative commentator Benny Johnson and Collin Rugg shared the GoFundMe campaign and urged their followers to donate. The outlet also noted that the video triggered widespread criticism online, with many viewers describing the prank itself as unkind.
That sentiment showed up across the internet, where reaction skewed heavily in Walt's favor. The Detroit News reported that online commenters largely sided with the worker, blasting the prank as cruel even as it racked up millions of views across several social media sites.
Walt and Red Baron Respond
Walt and his family have asked for privacy as the donations continue to roll in, with GoFundMe itself taking the lead on transferring the money to him, according to the Daily Mail. Red Baron, meanwhile, made clear it has not distanced itself from its employee. The company posted that Walt remains on the job, adding that he has got a fan club, and that it counts itself among his supporters, the Detroit News reported.
The story has echoes of a broader pattern where viral prank or confrontation videos end up generating outsized sympathy and cash for the person targeted, something platforms like X have tracked in real time as the fundraiser pushed past the $100,000 mark and organizer Luke Oakenshield confirmed direct transfers were underway. For now, the exact final total raised and how much Walt has actually received remain unclear, with reporting so far capturing only snapshots of a campaign still very much in motion.
