RED FLAG RUSSO: Internet missed signs as teen faked cancer to scam millions with sick posts
BETTENDORF, IOWA: A cancer researcher has reportedly shared that the inconsistencies in Madison 'Maddie' Russo's story about her fake cancer diagnosis in her social media posts were pretty clear. The 19-year-old suspect is accused of defrauding many people out of nearly $37,000. She claimed she was suffering from stage 2 pancreatic cancer and acute lymphoblastic leukemia, as well as a football-sized tumor on her spine.
However, her lies came to light after medical experts found contradictions and investigators were informed. On January 23, Russo was arrested and charged with first-degree theft. If found guilty, she could face up to ten years behind bars.
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‘The story just doesn't lineup’
Now, Dr Mona Jhaveri, a cancer researcher and founder of the Music Beats Cancer charity, has spoken about the fraud case. She told The Sun, “She seemed quite healthy for this kind of diagnosis. The survival rates are very low, and you're very sick. And it's very fast. It's interesting that she could be looking so healthy, and it was alarming for me to hear that someone so young was saying she was diagnosed.”
“And then she went on to say something about being diagnosed with leukemia, which is also strange, because you don't usually, with pancreatic or other cancer, or solid cancers, they don't normally turn into blood cancers,” the specialist reportedly pointed out, before mentioning, “The story just doesn't line up. If it is pancreatic, it would be in the pancreas. OK, if the cancer has metastasized and it's gone to the bone, that's different. But I don't know that you'd end up with a tumor at the bottom of your spine.”
Madison Russo did everything to gain sympathy
This comes after earlier Russo had allegedly gone very low to gain people’s sympathy and their money. In 2022, she was reportedly interviewed by a local Iowa news outlet, where she told them about her fake diagnosis. She said, “I remember hanging up the phone, and I was a mess. 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.”
Russo added, “Life has been crazy. It’s like a Catch-22. I can’t win for losing. I feel like I’ve been rocked to my soul, and right now, everything is kind of uncertain. I just want to know my game plan, and right now, I don’t know what that is.”
‘It's totally egregious’
There was a GoFundMe page also dedicated to Russo, which has now been taken down. The message on that page reportedly read, “Just like with any cancer diagnosis, the cost of medical bills, gas, meals, and expense can be a burden, and that is something this family should not have to worry about. If you are able to, donations would be greatly appreciated to help cover medical expenses and to allow Maddie to focus on one thing only, which is to show that she is stronger than cancer and will beat this.”
Dr Jhaveri has expressed her sickness over Russo’s outrageous efforts to make easy money. She shared, “It's totally egregious and amazing what people will do. On the other hand, I'm sad to say she's probably not the only one to try this. There are many people that struggle and suffer but it doesn't surprise me that people will take advantage of the public.”