In what can be called a bizarre incident, a 19-year-old TikToker on Tuesday was arrested for faking cancer and orchestrating the GoFundMe cancer scam. The TikToker whose name is Madison Marie Russo from Iowa, United States has been charged with conning $37,000 in donations from well-wishers strangers after claiming she had been diagnosed with stage 2 cancer. Notably, Madison Marie Russo, 19, was charged with felony first-degree theft over the alleged cancer fundraising scam by police in Eldridge city last week reported US media. In a series of posts to social media accounts and a GoFundme page, Madison Marie Russo claimed she had been diagnosed with stage 2 pancreatic cancer, leukemia and had a 'football-sized' tumour that had wrapped around her spine. Notably, the TikToker posted this on her social media and asked her followers and well-wishers to send their donations at GoFundMe. After her video and post came to the fore, doctors reported noticing 'life-threatening inaccuracies' in the way she was using medical equipment in posed photographs and videos. And when police raided her apartment in nearby Bettendorf, they seized a fake wig, an IV pole with a feeding pump filled with cotton balls, medical supplies in a relative’s name, and cash.
Reportedly, the US Police stated that 439 donors including colleges, cancer foundations, private individuals and businesses had contributed to a GoFundme account called Maddie’s Fight Against Pancreatic Cancer set up by Ms Russo. Notably, photos posted to Russo’s social media showed that she has received chemotherapy treatment. Police checked medical records at three area hospitals where Russo had claimed to have been treated, however, no-one could find any record of her cancer diagnosis. It is pertinent to mention here that the TikToker has been released from Scott County Jail on a $10,000 cash bond, and is due to appear for arraignment on 2 March. Notably, GoFundme has promised to repay the more than $37,000 donated to the page.
Who is Madison Marie Russo & how she scammed the Americans?
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Russo had claimed that her cancer story had begun when she received a call to inform her about her diagnosis in the middle of a class at St Ambrose University. She had allegedly been awaiting a call for a test she had done for bloody stools, nose bleeds, and fevers. "It was early in the morning and I had been anxiously awaiting these test results,” Russo had said to a US news portal adding, "My phone rang and it said 'Iowa City Oncology.' I stepped out of the classroom and took the call."
The police have stated that Russo’s footage of treatment in a medical office was shot from a friend’s apartment. GoFundMe was quick to issue a statement and remove the fundraiser from its platform. As per reports, the platform in its statement said, "GoFundMe has a zero-tolerance policy for misuse of our platform and cooperates with law enforcement investigations of those accused of wrongdoing. All donors have been refunded and we have removed this fundraiser. The organizer has also been banned from using the platform for any future fundraisers. GoFundMe’s Giving Guarantee offers a full refund in the rare case when something isn’t right; this is the first and only donor protection guarantee in the fundraising industry."