Madison Russo, 19, is accused of scamming over 400 people by posting videos claiming to have both leukemia and pancreatic cancer, then soliciting donations.
An Iowa teen who raised over $37,000 after claiming she had cancer has been arrested and charged with theft by means of deception.
Madison Russo, 19, is accused of scamming over 400 people by posting videos claiming to have both leukemia and pancreatic cancer, then soliciting donations.
The Eldridge Police Department said that at one point the college student even claimed to have "a football-sized tumor wrapped around her spine."
Russo used her social media accounts to share heartbreaking details about her alleged cancer battle.
"Before I even started chemo, I harvested my eggs with the OBGYN basically," she says in one video. "Basically you're kind of like, freezing your eggs to use in the future if you want to have kids some day."
One donor who gave $1,000 to Russo's fundraising efforts tells Inside Edition how moved he was when he heard her story.
"She was a very young person that appeared to be in a serious amount of trouble.," says the man.
He adds that her story was "totally believable," but it was not long before some medical professionals and cancer survivors began to question her claims.
In one instance, Russo took a selfie with what she claimed was her port. That is a device that is surgically implanted into many chemotherapy patients to allow for quicker access to the bloodstream.
Because chemotherapy weakens the body's immune system, the area around the port must be kept as clean as possible, which is why some wondered about Russo's port being attached to her chest with non-sterile tape.
Perhaps more glaring was the mention of a "football-sized tumor" on her spine in the wake of Russo's claim that she had stage II pancreatic cancer.
A tumor that size would mean that the disease had metastasized, and that Russo had stage IV pancreatic cancer.
The 5-year survival rate for individuals with stage IV pancreatic cancer is less than 3% according to the American Cancer Society.
In most cases, individuals with stage IV pancreatic cancer are given a life expectancy between three and six months.
Russo was booked into the Scott County Jail and released ahead of her preliminary hearing later this month. She has yet to enter a plea to the charge against her.
A spokesperson for GoFundMe says that all donations have been returned to those who gave money to Russo, and notes that the company has zero-tolerance for misuse of its platform.
Related Stories
