Woman Who Faked Cancer For Seven Years Jailed

Amanda Riley, a woman from California has been sentenced to five years in prison on Tuesday after she pleaded guilty to soliciting more than $100,000 in donations to help pay for cancer treatments she neither needed nor received.

Riley, who was living in San Jose then, has also been ordered to pay restitution to those she scammed out of her money and will be placed under supervision for three years following her release.

The United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California had argued in court documents that the 37-year-old started to claim online in 2012 that she had Hodgkin’s lymphoma and tried to solicit donations to cover her so-called medical expenses.

The Attorney’s Office further reported that Riley even created a social media presence on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter a blog documenting her battle with cancer, and shaved her head to keep the rouse going.

However, the donations totaling $105,513 were instead deposited into her personal bank accounts and were used to pay for living expenses.

in 2019, the Internal Revenue Service discovered her scheme in 2019 and was charged with one count of wire fraud in July 2020, to which she pleaded guilty in October 2021.

The federal prosecutors noted that Riley began documenting her bogus illness on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter in October 2012.

According to federal prosecutors, she also launched a blog, titled Lymphoma Can Suck It.

Riley further shared photos of herself with captions claiming she was taking cancer drugs and receiving treatment, shaved her head to make it appear as if she lost her hair during chemotherapy, and even falsified medical records with forged doctors’ letters and medical certificates.