TikTok cancer scammer, 20, who robbed hundreds of $37,000 GoFundMe backers pleads guilty

A TikTok cancer scammer who robbed hundreds of $37,000 GoFundMe backers by lying that she had pancreatic cancer and a football-sized tumor on her spine faces up to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty.

Madison Marie Russo, 20, was arrested Jan. 23 after anonymous medical professionals raised the alarm that she was faking a stage 2 cancer diagnosis — pointing to the irregularities of cords and tubes in her “chemo” TikTok videos.

After being charged with theft by deception in January this year, the exposed TikToker of Bettendorf, Iowa, had initially pleaded not guilty the following month.

However, the young woman, who caused public outcry with her twisted lies, pleaded guilty to first-degree robbery on Wednesday and will now face a judge for sentencing, WQAD reports.

Amid a slew of lies, Russo, 19 at the time of indictment, said she had pancreatic cancer and acute lymphoblastic leukemia — even claiming she had a “football-sized” tumor on her lower back and spine in an attempt to scam innocent well-wishers.

Russo, who claimed her medical journey began in February 2022, was evicted when police obtained medical records from centers where she was a patient, but she was found to have had no cancer treatment of any kind, KWQC reports.

Officers also discovered that Russo blatantly stole photos from cancer patients’ social media accounts in an effort to lend credence to her story. She promoted her ‘cancer journey’ on Facebook and LinkedIn, among others.

Russo, who also shared her story in newspapers, podcasts, lectures at St. Ambrose University – where she studied – and The National Pancreatic Foundation, posted $10,000 bail the same day she was arrested.

Police obtained a search warrant for Russo’s apartment in Bettendorf, where they discovered a brown paper bag containing medical supplies, an IV pole with a cotton ball-filled pump, boxes of clear bandages, wigs and a prescription for nausea medication issued to her relative, according to KWQC.

Russo was found to have accepted money from 439 donors, including cancer foundations and school districts.

A GoFundMe account showed an additional $37,303 had been raised in January before her arrest. It appears that the page has now been taken down and GoFundMe has refunded the money donated to her.

Donor Louis Frillman, who generously gave Russo a $500 donation, told News 8 when her lies came to light in January, “I think, pray for this young child, because she’s going to have a lot of terrible consequences because of it.” of this.

When GoFundMe started handing out refunds, he and many others were surprised.

“I thought she died,” Frillman said.

Another donor also told News 8 that the shocking scam has left them struggling to trust others who need support.

“Now I’m sick, not for my $200, but that I should now hesitate to help others,” they said.

In an October interview with The North Scott Press, Russo deceived the public by claiming that her cancer journey had begun eight months earlier when she received a phone call about her diagnosis while attending classes at St. Ambrose University.

“It was early in the morning and I had been anxiously awaiting these test results,” Russo said at the time. My phone rang and it said, “Iowa City Oncology.” I walked out of class and picked up the phone.

“I was terrified, and I certainly still am. I was shocked. I didn’t think it could be true. I am so young and I wondered how this could happen. I was going through all the emotions and I was pretty numb.”

The fake cancer patient claimed that bloody stools, nosebleeds, and fever led her to get her labs done before her diagnosis.

When she got her “diagnosis,” she said the doctors had given her an 11 percent chance of survival for five years.

“I remember hanging up the phone, and I was a mess,” she said. “I was literally bawling, but somehow I got up the courage to wipe my tears and went back to class, which now, when I think about it, was pretty crazy.”

At the time, Russo claimed doctors insisted surgery was not a possibility to remove her “football-sized” tumor. They called it “more risk than reward,” Russo said.

Between February and October 2022, Russo claimed she had about 15 rounds of chemotherapy and 90 rounds of radiation. She also insisted she have a consultation with the doctors at the Mayo Clinic.

Despite her “cancer diagnosis,” she was able to earn a 4.0 GPA, work part-time, and participate in outdoor activities.

Her “medical journey” was regularly posted on social media where she often talked about her alleged chemo process and daily symptoms.

“It’s days like this that are hard,” Russo said in an earlier video. “I just have different mixed feelings, and with my hair – and that sort of thing is a big fear, of course – as a girl, of course… hair is a big part of everyone’s life, but to think of the potential to use it, it’s just one more thing… hopefully nothing else falls out.”

In a separate video, Russo explained that she had a rough week after chemo, but she didn’t feel sick.

“It’s been a bit of an eventful week,” she said. ‘In the cancer world, agitated is not good. I prefer a quiet week, because that means you’re babbling along a bit.

“So I’ve had a little bump in the road. It’s my week without chemo so I’ve only done radiations. However, I kind of got a fever. This one is really weird because I don’t feel sick. I don’t really have a cold or sore throat, none of the other symptoms… Just kind of like that feeling of depression.”

Internet sleuths were quick to question Russo and pointed out her hidden flaws in several of her videos.

A TikToker posted a photo of Russo smiling while hooked up to a gastrostomy tube that indicated she was too far up her nose and had a “chest port” fitted incorrectly.

“What’s up with that coffin gate,” one person said in response to the photo on TikTok. ‘I’m not a chemo nurse, but this doesn’t seem like a haven to me. The dressing is really ruined.’

Another TikToker grabbed her son’s old gastrostomy tube and tried to stick it far up her nose like Russo did.

“Absolutely not comfortable,” she said adding the caption, “my nose hurt after doing that.”