Renewed hunt for woman who ‘faked brain cancer to scam friends and family out of thousands of dollars’

A Pennsylvania woman accused of faking terminal brain cancer to defraud friends and family of more than $10,000 is now on the FBI’s most wanted list.

Investigators have renewed their search for Vanessa O’Rourke, 37, who allegedly used GoFundMe donations to fund a holiday to Australia instead of medical care.

O’Rourke said he was diagnosed with glioblastoma, an aggressive and often fatal type of brain cancer, in 2015.

He told family and friends he needed to travel to Australia for experimental medical care between October 2015 and July 2016, according to the FBI’s new statement.

O’Rourke, then a 28-year-old neurosurgery student at Temple Med, received $11,740 in donations from more than 140 people as part of what prosecutors called a “sickening” fraud scheme.

“Through his false and fraudulent claims, his family and others provided money and support,” the FBI said in a statement.

O’Rourke is believed to have traveled to Australia in April 2016 where he ‘participated in various leisure activities and did not receive any medical treatment’.

After the holidays, he returned home to Harleysville, just outside Philadelphia, and persuaded relatives to set up a fundraising page for him.

Investigators have renewed their search for O’Rourke, 37, who allegedly used donations to spend a luxury holiday in Australia rather than get the medical treatment he needed.

O’Rourke fled to Queensland, Australia. Queensland’s Gold Coast pictured above

Detectives said the family even held a charity event at a local restaurant with a $20 entrance fee, and O’Rourke used the money he raised to travel to Australia again in late 2016.

On May 3, 2018, he was sued in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania on 15 counts of wire fraud.

Vanessa O’Rourke photographed by the FBI in 2016

An international arrest warrant was issued, but investigators were unable to find the accused fraudster.

William McSwain, then the US Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, described the allegations against O’Rourke as ‘sickening’.

“O’Rourke is accused of preying on the kindness and generosity of good people who want to help those in need,” he said in a statement released in 2020.

‘As claimed, there was no need here; There were only lies, greed and callous manipulation.’

Prosecutors said he was believed to be a resident of Queensland, Australia.

Local newspapers that covered O’Rourke’s 2016 fundraiser said relatives wrote on the page that he was studying at Temple Med in Philadelphia to become a neurosurgeon.

O’Rourke is the latest in a series of high-profile cancer scammers who have exploited online fundraising platforms for financial gain in recent years.

Amanda Christine Riley, 37, was sentenced to five years in prison in May 2022 for fundraising more than $100,000 for cancer treatment even though she did not have cancer.

Madison Russo, a 20-year-old college student from Iowa, was spared prison in June 2023 after falsely claiming to have cancer and documenting her ‘battle’ on social media.

Amanda Christine Riley has become one of the most notorious ‘fake cancer’ scammers after receiving more than $100,000 in donations from supporters.

Riley was sentenced to five years in prison in May 2022 for making $105,513 from at least 349 people by pretending to have Hodgkin lymphoma on social media.

After fundraising over a seven-year period, the 41-year-old California native eventually pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud.

Riley, who was living in San Jose at the time, began posting about the need to pay for medical care starting in 2012.

To continue his deception, he shaved his head to make it look like he was receiving chemotherapy, faked medical records, and forged doctor’s letters and medical certificates.

He deposited the donations into his personal bank accounts and used the money to cover his living expenses.

In 2019, an investigation by the Internal Revenue Service and the San Jose Police Department uncovered the fraud. He was arrested the following year.

Her shocking case inspired the popular ‘Scamanda’ podcast and ABC docuseries.

Federal prosecutors alleged that Riley had a blog called Lymphoma Can Suck It and included a link to the support page shown above, which included a “donate now” button.

Russo, 20, wrote on TikTok, GoFundMe, Facebook and LinkedIn that he had pancreatic cancer, leukemia and a football-sized tumor surrounding his spine.

More recently, a college student from Iowa was spared prison in June 2023 after falsely claiming to have cancer and documenting her ‘battle’ on social media.

Madison Russo, 20, wrote on TikTok, GoFundMe, Facebook and LinkedIn that she had pancreatic cancer, leukemia and a football-sized tumor surrounding her spine.

Russo, of Bettendorf, pleaded guilty to first-degree burglary and was ordered to pay $39,000 in restitution and a $1,370 fine.

Speaking in court at the sentencing hearing, Russo attempted to evade responsibility by claiming he faked his cancer to get his troubled family to focus on him.

‘A lot of people have speculated about why I did this and how someone who seems to have everything together could cause so much confusion,’ he said.

‘I didn’t do this for money or greed. I didn’t do this to get attention. ‘I did this to bring my family back together.’

The scam, which affected more than 400 people, came to light after medical experts noticed inconsistencies in her online story.

Police sent his medical records to the court and found that he had not been diagnosed with cancer at any medical facility in the area. He was arrested in January.

As in these ‘fake cancer’ cases, O’Rourke’s scheme relied on the trust and compassion of those closest to him and generous strangers who believed they were helping save a life, prosecutors said.

Anyone with information about O’Rourke’s case should contact the FBI.