‘Scamanda’s Amanda Riley Reveals Why She Kept Fake Cancer Scam Going
Amanda Riley spent more than seven years pretending to have cancer before she was finally busted. Despite having her home raided in 2016 and knowing that investigative producer Nancy Moscatiello was doing a deep dive into her, Riley kept up the scam. Now, she’s finally addressing why she continued the elaborate ruse on her blog and in front of members of her community, even when she knew people were starting to catch on.
“She told me that she did try to stop and then was worried about losing everything. But she didn’t,” Charlie Webster, who produced the 2023 Scamanda podcast, which was recently transformed in to a docuseries, told Us Weekly. “She just carried on because then people would ask her [for health updates], right? She just dug herself in deeper and couldn’t get out of it.”
Webster recently spoke to Riley, who is in the midst of a five-year prison sentence after being charged with wire fraud for collecting more than $100,000 in online donations while faking cancer. The podcast host detailed some of the conversation she had with Riley during the Scamanda finale on Thursday, February 20.
“Amanda got really upset at one point in the conversation about her children,” Webster confirmed, referring to the two children Riley shares with Cory Riley, her husband who filed for divorce in January 2024. “She was really crying and very, very upset. Sobbing. She said she’s sorry and she does want to take accountability. She looked well. That was one thing that surprised me.”
Webster reiterated this in the Us Weekly interview, adding, “She has said to me that she is sorry. She regrets everything she’s done every single day.” She also described Riley as “nice,” although admitted that she doesn’t want to be “gullible,” considering what she knows about the former school principal.
“To me, she’s come across very upset at times, but she’s also conscious that she doesn’t want people to think that she’s acting like a victim,” Webster explained. She also revealed that Riley has not been diagnosed with any sort of mental disorder, and said, “She wants to serve her sentence and then try and figure out, if possible, how to apologize to the people [she hurt].”
During her time in prison, Riley has continued to claim that she has health problems. During her first 18 months behind bars, she was taken to the emergency room 24 times, according to federal court records obtained by The San Francisco Chronicle. U.S. Attorney Michael Pitman revealed that Riley was caught trying to tamper with test results, per healthcare professionals. As recently as April 2024, Riley’s legal team cited alleged diagnoses like cardiac arrhythmia and sleep terrors in a motion to try and reduce her prison sentence, which was denied, according to the Chronicle.
Webster admittedly isn’t sure what to think about Riley’s claims. “I honestly don’t know whether that’s true or not,” she said on Scamanda. Riley is due to be released from prison in December.
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O
She's not sorry. She's sorry she got caught.
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G
She is a sociopath I was married to one once, they will destroy your life.
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R
She should be financially responsible for her 18 visits to the ER. No free passes.
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O
I’m confused about why her husband wasn’t charged, was he wearing blinders, come on.
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O
There was only supposition. No concrete evidence, but I'm sure he knew especially if the money they received was being used for his divorce, custody battle & child support with his ex-wife.
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C
He knew dang well what she was doing and was an accomplice and he he definitely reaped the benefits of the money he should of been sitting right next to her sorry tail doing time too
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R
He was aware of the scam and I think in on it but it's hard to prove w/o substantial evidence.
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O
I believe he was ABSOLUTELY aware.. and it was benefiting him financially of course! However, the wire fraud she was charged with was solely in HER name! Hence, he couldn’t be charged!
He’s as guilty!
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G
Narcissism is real
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B
She WILL scam again! This would still be going on if she hadn’t gotten caught and I don’t care what anyone says, her husband was along for the ride and should have been accountable as well (her mom too). Disgusting!!
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G
She'll probably move to another state and start her scam all over again. It's what she does best and there's plenty of gullible people out there
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G
Or she'll meet someone who's just as scammy as she is and start a whole new scam together people please be aware of this lady.
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O
Her husband is already living here in Austin, Texas, and she is locked up in Fort Worth, Texas. I'm sure the grifting plan is already in the works in my state. Why we Texans have to put up with them is beyond unconscionable.
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B
Exactly!!!
There is a woman here, in Tucson, scamming people from a group.
It’s so bad, people have started another group about her. 🙀
It now has over 4k members.
This one shall be called Sleeza!
If you’re interested.
The group is called Pima county scammers.
Pure craziness!!! 😳🙀
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R
Just bizarre. She needed to have that much attention? Wow. But how did she manage to fool the doctors? Did she hack into computer systems and change the results? That's so pathologic!
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O
I'm sure her next grift will be a social media series like Gypsy Rose...
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O
She should have stayed in prison. She is dangerous.
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G
I said it was pure evil too. and how dare she go into the church and take all that money... Lord have mercy! Cause this is straight up CRAZY!
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O
Give me a break....I have no pity on her, she is greedy. Anyone can play the part of nice and be conniving about their next way to scam at the same time. What she did was way beyond disgusting and evil
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O
Why did she only get 5 years? I used to go to a church like FCC, they are ripe with suckers who will jump at the chance to donate money just so they can brag to all their friends about what a great person they are! Her victims got what they paid for, they are "SANCTIFIED!" in the eyes of their community.
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G
Interesting, here they are talking about a scammer, and guess what? You pop up trying to scam everyone with that "get rich quick" scam. You are being watched.
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G
Seriously, girl...you are not a medical professional but you feel qualified to diagnose her? That's funny.
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G
There was proof that she was never examined by an oncologist. There were no results from any doctor. There is no way she would have been able to get on a computer and change anything.
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G
When I was watching the docuseries, very early on I said to myself, "Am I the only person who is wondering why she always looked so healthy?" I was married to a man who had cancer, I can assure you he never looked well.
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O
Her husband is already living here in Austin, Texas, and she is locked up in Fort Worth, Texas. I'm sure the grifting plan is already in the works in my state. Why we Texans have to put up with them is beyond unconscionable. On the other hand, Texas doesn't put up with crap like California does!
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G
She has Munchausens.
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O
No she doesn't
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O
She was looked at in her trial to be sure she could go on trail. She's juT a narcissist
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R
No she doesnt. That is not how that disorder presents. I would guess sociopath or personality disorder if anything at all. Some people are just greedy and lack accountability. Mental illness is not always a factor.
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