A father who lives with his young daughter in a Houston homeless shelter came under scrutiny after posting a plea for Christmas-gift donations on the social-media site Reddit, says U.S. News & World Report.

Kevin Rogers posted a request to Reddit’s Random Acts of Christmas community along with a list of gifts he’d like for his 7-year-old daughter. Mr. Rogers received several donations but also became the subject of a heated online battle about giving to people donors know little about.

The incident points up the difficulty would-be donors have in determining which online pitches are legitimate and which are not.