A TikToker has been arrested after being accused of falsely claiming to be suffering from cancer to scam people out of money.
Madison Russo, 19, raised $37,000 with a fake cancer diagnosis through GoFundMe after claiming to have a tumour 'the size of a football'.
According to police, she pretended to have 'stage 2 pancreatic cancer, acute lymphoblastic leukaemia, and a tumour the size of a football that wrapped around her spine'.
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The TikToker was arrested on 23 January and is charged with first-degree theft - which is punishable in her home state of Iowa with up to 10 years behind bars.
Officials said that 439 unsuspecting Good Samaritans were conned out of a total sum of $37,303.
Madison added weight to her lies by taking photographs shared by other cancer patients on social media and passing them off as her own.
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The alarm was only raised that Madison's cancer battle was not what it appeared to be when medical professionals noticed 'life-threatening inaccuracies' in the way that medical equipment was being used in her photographs on 11 January.
According to court records, this resulted in a raid of her apartment that saw police recover a number of items of medical paraphernalia including an IV pump attached to a bag filled with cotton balls as well as medical supplies that were registered in a relative's name.
GoFundMe said that they have 'a zero-tolerance policy of misuse of our platform and cooperate with law enforcement investigations of those accused of wrongdoing' in a statement about the incident to McClatchy News.
The platform has promised to reimburse the money which was donated to the page under false pretences.
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As well as refunding the donors, GoFundMe said the 19-year-old has been planned from the platform.
Madison, who was a student, told the North Scott Press in October of last year that she was diagnosed with cancer in February.
"I remember hanging up the phone, and I was a mess," she said.
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"I was literally bawling, but somehow I ended up getting the courage to wipe away my tears and went back into class, which now, when I think about it, was pretty crazy."
She claimed she was given an 11 percent chance of surviving the next five years - and this was before she said she had an inoperable tumour on her spine.
Madison was released from Scott County Jail after posting a $10,000 bond and is due to appear in court next month.
UNILAD has reached out to GoFundMe and Madison Russo for a comment.
Topics: TikTok
Emma Guinness