The social experiment featured in YouTube prankster Josh Paler Lin’s viral video titled “How Does A Homeless Man Spend $100?” is fake, according to an eyewitness and Kevin Nickel, a man who claims to be a brother of Thomas, the homeless guy in the video.

“This isn’t right,” Nickel told CBS Los Angeles adding that his brother’s real name is not Thomas but Kenny Nickel. He added that his brother, who is an alcoholic, lived with their parents until both died in 2014 and was put in jail after being arrested for public intoxication.

Nickel added that his brother is “sitting on money” and is not really broke since he is due $150,000 from their parents’ estate. He said the Indiegogo money being collected on his brother’s behalf “needs to go to people who really need it.”

A man named Taugan Kadalim also claimed that during set-ups, he saw Thomas in Lin’s car. The man who claimed to be an eyewitness to the filming of Lin’s viral video said Thomas was driven to the liquor store and was not secretly followed by Lin.

Meanwhile, Lin insisted that the social experiment was real. He told Fox LA, “Haters gonna hate, that's all I can say.” Watch the viral “How Does A Homeless Man Spend $100?” video, which has already been viewed more than 30 million times, here:

Credits: YouTube/JoshPalerLin

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