Fortunately, backers have been refunded their money

May 2, 2015 13:36 GMT  ·  By

Earlier this week news broke that a small company plans to release a modular smartphone that would cost just $99 for the cheaper version.

Since the company could not make the device without the help of a investment, founders have decided to kick off a crowd-funding campaign on Indiegogo.

If $50,000 were raised than the project would be completely funded and everyone ordering the Fonkraft would have received their smartphones in September.

Because the Austrian company applied for a flexible campaign, even if the $50,000 weren't reached in the end they would have still kept the money, but they would have to honor all Fonkraft orders from backers.

The presentation of the device was too good to be true from the first place, but the fact that they did not have a prototype at least to show to their backers, along with the September release raised some questions.

It looks like Indiegogo has taken the allegations that this crowd-funding campaign might be in fact a scam very seriously and looked into it after just a few days.

Even so, there were lots of people who pledged their money in the hope of getting the Fonkraft modular smartphone. But not anymore, as Indiegogo has canceled the crowd-funding campaign and informed backers about it through emails.

Indiegogo continuously reviews campaign as new info arises

“This is Indiegogo’s Trust and Safety Team. We are reaching out to inform you that the campaign (Fonkraft modular smartphone) that you contributed to has been suspended due to not meeting our Trust & Safety standards.

While we cannot share specific details of the campaign, please note that we have already refunded your contribution,” says Indiegogo in the email sent to backers.

It's also worth mentioning that Indiegogo has refunded all backers of the Fonkraft, so there won't be any issues with the funds.

While Indiegogo hasn't really gave a reason for canceling the crowd-funding campaign, they did apologize and said they are always review campaigns and as new info comes into light they may take action such as suspending a campaign to protect backers.

Update: The company that had its crowdfunding campaign canceled has recently updated its website with a full statement explaining what happened and why they are not a scam.

In the statement, they point out that Indiegogo did not refer to their crowdfunding campaign as being a fraud just that it's too risky to continue to raise funds through Indiegogo. Read the full statement below.

Full Fonkraft Statement