A Pennsylvanian woman who allegedly faked brain cancer to bilk her family and friends of over $10,000 has been added to the FBI’s Most Wanted list. Vanessa O’Rourke, 37, first claimed to have cancer in 2015. She traveled to Australia in April 2016, ostensibly for specialist cancer treatment. But instead, she “engaged in a variety of leisure activities and did not receive any medical treatment,” authorities said. When she came home to Harleysville, outside Philadelphia, she persuaded relatives to set up a GoFundMe to raise money for her treatment. The family held a benefit for her at a local restaurant. O’Rourke, who was a 28-year-old brain surgery student at Temple Med at the time, made $11,740 in donations from more than 140 people as part of what prosecutors described as a “nauseating” fraud scheme. The FBI says she returned to Australia later in 2016, claiming she needed further treatment. O’Rourke was indicted on 15 counts of wire fraud in federal court on May 3, 2018, but she was already in the wind. An international warrant was also issued for her arrest, and authorities believe she is somewhere in Queensland, Australia.
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