Thursday, September 25 in Bordeaux, twelve months suspended prison sentence was required against a teacher and her ex-husband. Their wrong? Having several online prize pools for 5 years to finance the purchase of stem cells and treat leukemia … which simply did not exist. A scam with feelings, against a background of illness and distress.
10 years of scam and medical lies
The defendant is a 36 -year -old teacher, mother of two children, whose psychological profile suggests large flaws during the trial. She started her lie in 2015, when she left her spouse in Spain to study physiotherapists. Her goal then is not financial, but according to her, she invents this story by “fear that her spouse does not come back to her”, not “feeling interesting enough”. This is not enough. After an alleged remission, she continues her staging by feigning new relapses during the birth of her children. She then stages false stays in the hospital, thanks to photos taken on a white background. Thereafter, she will go so far as to claim that her own son suffers from Hodgkin lymphoma.
Justice reproaches the couple today, divorced, for having collected more than 82,700 euros between 2019 and 2024 thanks to three Leetchi prize pools whose goal was to save the young woman. The ex -husband is accused of having opened the prize pools without ever attending a medical visit or consulted medical documents.
Munchausen scam or syndrome?
The teacher deemed suffering “of a vulnerability early constitutive” advances having “entangled in her lies”. But it is neither the first nor the last to use an alleged serious medical situation to offer a little light.
In view of the facts mentioned, (especially with his son), the defendant also seems to be reached by Münchausen syndrome. People affected feel a pathological need to simulate illness or trauma. And sometimes to cause it in a third party, often a child.
For the psychiatrist Céline Tran, questioned on the subject by True Medical, several reasons can hide behind this behavior and the invention or exaggeration of online symptoms:
“I would say that there can be more things behind this behavior that can be described as unsuitable, or dysfunctional: a problem of self -esteem, need for gaze, recognition, or even love, which thus cultivates a real narcissistic side. But this behavior can also translate a mental pathology with psychiatric symptoms that we find in the disorders of identity. Finally, in the time, some third possibility. of scam. It is unscrupulous people who do not hesitate to manipulate emotions, thrills, compassion for getting something, or even what is also found in sociopaths “.
Travers that we undoubtedly find in the young woman.
How not to be fooled by false prize pools?
The fact remains that beyond the problematic personality of the accused, justice also looks at the scam side of the case. These 82,700 euros dishonestly harvested. According to the accusation, more than a thousand people participated in the prize pools, “who were then partially used for the purchase of a smartphone, a garden shed, travel or even a van ” reveals the Charente Libre.
A growing problem on the web that we already mentioned with Dr Gérald Kierzek, medical director of True Medical. To avoid falling into the “false patient” sign, he advises some rules of common sense.
“To protect yourself against scams linked to cancer false patients on social networks, these essential questions must always be asked” ::
- Does the person provide verifiable medical evidence of their diagnosis? ;
- Is his medical history consistent and plausible? ;
- Does she ask for money or does she offer paid products/services?
“If so, this is a sign that you must remain extremely suspicious. In France, as a reminder, the care of serious illnesses are taken care of”
Other details must also make you doubt. These are extremely dramatic or incredible stories, the absence of precise medical details or inconsistencies in the story, photos potentially staged (ex: shaved skull) or an excessive use of emotion to arouse sympathy.
In case of suspicion of scam, it is also possible to act.
- Report the account or page to the moderators of the social network and share the info to your network;
- Alert the competent authorities (police, associations to fight fraud);
It is also possible to contact the Info Escores line on 0 805 805 817 to obtain advice.
Stopped in their madness, the couple will know their fate on October 30.