How Amanda Riley used a fake cancer diagnosis to scam everyone around her
If someone you knew said they had cancer, would you believe them? Most likely. Because no one assumes their friend, or coworker, or family member would lie about something that serious. And that’s what Amanda Riley counted on. Riley faked a cancer diagnosis, chemotherapy treatments, remission, and even a clinical trial to garner sympathy, attention, and thousands of dollars in donations.
She started a blog detailing all of her travails and in the process, fooled friends, fellow church members, strangers, and parents of kids who went to school where she was principal. She took their money and gifts, and even filed for bankruptcy as part of her scam.
But some close to her were suspicious, and this suspicion led to an email to a TV producer, which snowballed into a police investigation, an IRS investigation, and an arrest for wire and bankruptcy fraud.
The four-part ABC News series Scamanda details the story, as told by friends, church members, the producer who first investigated the case, the subsequent detective, an IRS agent, and the Scamanda podcast host.
True Crime Docket 