Former WBZ-TV meteorologist Sarah Wroblewski was shocked to learn that someone was impersonating her and her family in a TikTok asking for donations.

"That's my face. That's Declan. That's my son," said Wroblewski as she scrolled through TikTok on Monday.

Wroblewski's 4-year-old son, Declan, is battling a rare, stage 4 brain cancer called medulloblastoma. For over a year, the family has shared their most painful and triumphant moments publicly through blog posts and social media, wrapping themselves in community.

Account asked for donations  

Over the weekend, Wroblewski said a friend alerted her family that someone had created a TikTok account using her family's pictures and linked it to a PayPal account asking for donations. Instead of asking for money for Declan, the account claimed to be on behalf of a boy named Lucas.

"I was very angry that somebody was taking Declan's trauma, our family's trauma and making a profit," Wroblewski said.

Cyber security and technology expert, Peter Tran, says social media platforms try to prevent fraud by verifying users before they join but there are cracks in the system.

"You have very young users on TikTok. They don't necessarily have IDs, they don't necessarily have any background or a credit check or any of those normal adult things that happen," Tran said. "You have millions of millions of users that are there. The platforms do make mistakes."

PayPal, TikTok take action  

After WBZ reached out, PayPal shut down the fraudulent account and the donation link and TikTok banned the account.

A spokesperson for PayPal told WBZ it spreads awareness of common fraud trends and assists law enforcement with investigations when asked.

Wroblewski also filled out a police report. She says she will continue her fight to spread awareness of the fraud to help other families.

"I need the best healthcare for him, and I need the best solutions going forward and this is just annoying to be added onto the plate, but it has to stop because we're probably not the only ones," she said.