How far will you go for money? Well, let’s ask this teenager who made headlines for the wrong reasons in the name of money.
Madison Marie Russo known to be an Iowa teenager has been charged with allegedly scamming $37,000 in donations from kindhearted strangers after claiming she had been diagnosed with stage 2 cancer.
The 19- year-old was charged with felony first-degree theft over the alleged cancer fundraising scam by police in Eldridge city last week. In a series of posts to social media accounts and a GoFundme page, Russo claimed she had been diagnosed with stage 2 pancreatic cancer, leukemia, and had a “football-sized” tumor that had wrapped around her spine.
The only problem is, none of her problems was REAL in the first place…
The police had obtained medical records from all the places where Russo had been a patient only to find out that she was never treated for cancer.
Russo was arrested on Monday, January 23, 2023, after medical professionals had reported that the teenager’s claims were fake and that she had lied to scam donors. They concluded by making note of the irregularities of her claims, such as the cords and tubes in her ‘chemo’ TikTok video. Russo was stealing photos from the social media accounts of those who were afflicted by cancer and passing them off as her own, Daily Mail reported.
The teenager 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, adding, “My phone rang and it said ‘Iowa City Oncology.’ I stepped out of the classroom and took the call.”
She then goes on to add:
“I was terrified, I definitely still am. I was in shock. I didn’t think it could be true. I’m so young and I wondered how this could happen. I went through all the emotions, and I was pretty numb.” She had claimed that surgery had been ruled out as it was too much of a risk.
Russo has claimed that between February and October 2022, she had been through 15 rounds of chemotherapy and 90 rounds of radiation.
The anonymous medics said it appeared that Russo’s cancer claims had been “scraped off Google”. They shared screenshots of Instagram and Facebook messages, including some from Russo’s mother, begging her to get a second opinion.
“The big tip off was that Maddie looked as healthy as can be. They said than anyone who went through 40 rounds of chemo and 90 rounds of radiation wouldn’t look the way she does, would not be able to keep up the lifestyle that she does,” Campbell said, adding that the eagle-eyed medical experts had the evidence “all laid out”.
“By the time the police got it, it was pretty much an open and shut case,” he said.
He advised them to take the information to the Eldridge Police Department.
Russo is set to be arraigned on Thursday, March 2. Authorities have reported that Russo had stolen money from 439 donors, which included cancer foundations, private citizens, and school districts and colleges. A GoFundMe page had also been posted, where $37,303 had been raised by Thursday, January 19.
The police have stated that Russo’s footage of treatment in a medical office was shot from a friend’s apartment
Watch the video below for more details:
