Woman Fakes Son’s ‘Cancer,’ Scams Donations From Friends And Family

Camden, NJ – A woman is facing charges after police say she defrauded friends and family by pretending that her son has cancer.

Susan Stillwaggon of Pennsauken collected hundreds of dollars from friends and family who believed that her son had developed life-threatening cancer. The 35-year-old was ultimately caught in her lie when police received tips and questioned her about her son’s health.

She admitted to police a six-month plot to collect donations from her friends and family. When she was caught, she had already raised $1,000 in the hoax.

According to authorities, she even convinced her son that he had cancer. However, her husband was apparently unaware of it.

The big question is, as always: Why?

The answer was unclear to authorities and family, but Stillwaggon is currently being treated at a local hospital for unknown reasons. Her mother was interviewed by Fox 29, and admitted that she had no idea what was going on, but hinted that she might know why.

“What I will tell you is my daughter had a form of a breakdown,” Stillwaggon’s mother said. “She is in a psychiatric unit, being taken care of. That’s all I have to say.”

She also said that the cancer hoax “totally blew us away.”

Stillwaggon is facing the following charges: Theft by deception, forgery and child endangerment.

This is hardly the first case in which an individual sought to manipulate the charity and goodwill of others. In April of last year, a Phoenix woman was sentenced to a year of jail and three years probation after confessing to friends and family that she had cancer and organizing fundraisers to help her meet her medical costs.

She raised over $8,000, but didn’t have cancer. Instead, she used the money to pay for breast implants.

[Image via: alexskopje, Shutterstock.com]