Where did the lies end and the truths begin with Maddie Russo, a cancer scammer who defrauded her community of supporters out of certitude and thousands of dollars. Maddie’s story unfortunately is not something we haven’t heard before, in fact, these scams appear to surface regularly. 

Maddie is just one of a long line of cancer fakers, think Belle Gibson, Amanda Riley, Ashley Kirilow and Nicole Elkabbas all of whom latched and fed from their supporters for their own self-serve. 

The validation Maddie gave for her actions was rejected by many, and for good reason. Her digital footprints left on her landscape of deceit suggest other motives for the 11-month scam.

In the episode what fake cancer looks like by the Uncharitable podcast (listen below)

Maddison began to document her journey soon after her “diagnosis” on February 10th 2022.

She shared her “battle” across the social platforms Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn and Facebook.

Although these profiles have since been deleted, many sleuths archived her content and reposted it under other accounts such as Lindsey scrub hacks account on TikTok 

She claimed after feeling “just a bit little off” throughout the winter of 2022, She had some routine bloodwork which revealed her white blood cell count was not in the “normal range”, prompting her to get tested at Iowas Hospital oncology department.

It’s here she is told the heart-breaking “fake news” that she had a mass on her pancreas (stage 2 pancreatic cancer)

Speaking to the Northcote press  8 months after the imaginary diagnoses, Maddie highlighted she was given an 11% survival rate for 5 years and the option for surgery was not possible.

 “My tumour is on the tail of my pancreas, and it’s very deep-rooted,” she said. “Doctors said that if they went in, the surgery would do more harm. There was more risk than reward.”

She then falsely claimed to have acute lymphoblastic leukaemia around 3 months after her first diagnosis, then a third and final football-sized tumour that was “wrapped around her spine”

On her social media, Maddie would post TiktToks, about her chemo process including sharing tips on how to avoid losing hair during chemo, posting pictures of her runs and talked about her day-to-day symptoms.

She also appeared on the Project Purple podcast, spoke to students at St. Ambrose University where she studied and attended a National Pancreas Foundation event to present 4 awards.

A GoFundMe page created by a friend encouraged donations for her “medical expenses” raising a total of $37,803 through 439 donors before the page was closed down. 

On January 11th 2023, medical professionals went to police to report concerns with Maddies story after spotting discrepancies in some of the photos she posted.

Police then subpoenaed her medical records and found she had never been diagnosed with cancer at any medical facility in the area, prompting an arrest.

Maddie was detained outside her classroom on January 23rd but was released on a $10,000 bail just 4 hours after her arrest.

A search warrant obtained by authorities for Russo’s apartment uncovered a brown paper bag with medical supplies, an IV pole with a cotton ball filled pump, boxes of transparent dressing, wigs and a prescription for nausea medication made out to her relative.

Police also discovered she had been stealing photos from actual cancer patient’s social media accounts and claiming them as her own to validate her story. 

In one photo, Maddie is seen lying on a hospital bed resting with a black mask covering her face. when put through a reverse image search in Google, the picture belonged to an actual cancer patient who posted it on Instagram. 

During her trial Maddie claimed her actions were used as an attempt to bring her family back together.

Russo pleaded guilty in June to one count of first-degree theft, a class C felony. A crime punishable by up to 10 years in prison. 

Russo was ordered to pay the restitution in full at over $39,000, and a fine of $1,370. She was sentenced to three years probation, a 10-year suspended sentence and 100 hours of community service. 

Judge John Telleen declined a defence request that would have wiped the conviction off her record if she had completed probation successfully. 

He said "people who deal with her in the future should know that she once engaged in a criminal scheme,” and that serious crimes must have serious consequences.”

“Through this scheme, you deceived your friends, your family, your community, other cancer victims, charities and strangers who were motivated by your supposedly tragic story to donate to help support you,” 

Addressing the jury Maddie concluded her statement by saying "If there was anything I could do to take it back I would," and bemoaned that "the reality is I can't."