University of Canterbury death: Mason Pendrous' stepfather's warning over scam fundraising page

Mason Pendrous was found dead in his University of Canterbury campus accommodation. Photo / RNZ

Scammers hope to use the death of University of Canterbury student Mason Pendrous to make thousands of dollars online through a fake fundraiser.

The 19-year-old had been dead for nearly a month, police believe, before his body was discovered in his hall of residence on September 23.

Meanwhile, Pendrous' stepfather Anthony Holland discovered a fundraising page created on GoGetFunding called "Mason Pendrous Memorial Fund".

It had a goal of $5000 and claimed to had been created by Holland - but through his lawyer, the stepfather said he had no part in the fund, Stuff reported.

And he did not want people to be misled into donating to a cause which was not connected to the family.

Since the page was created, $110 had been raised by five different people - the first donation received on October 10.

The fake page about Mason Pendrous. Photo / GoGetFunding

Meanwhile, on Monday it was announced universities and their halls of residence could face penalties of up to $100,000 under new laws following Pendrous' death.

A new mandatory code of practice setting out the duty of pastoral care tertiary education providers owe to students would be urgently introduced.

"The recent death at a student hall of residence in Christchurch exposed the limitations of our current system," Education Minister Chris Hipkins said.

"Halls and hostels charge a premium for their accommodation and parents have every right to expect a high level of care for their sons and daughters."

The law would also create new offences carrying maximum penalties up to $100,000 for breaches that resulted in serious harm or the death of a student.

That fine would be faced by universities, even if they contracted out their accommodation to a third-party provider, Hipkins said.

Pendrous was only found in September when his friend climbed onto the roof at the halls of residence where the teenager lived and looked into his missing friend's room.

Pendrous was in his first year studying e-commerce and was living at Sonoda - a student hall of residence run by Campus Living Villages (CLV).

Investigations are being carried out by former High Court Judge Kit Toogood and police.