Woman who scammed thousands with fake cancer story subject of new ABC News Studios docuseries

When Amanda Christine Riley, a California-based Christian blogger and mother of two, started the blog "Lymphoma Can Suck It" in 2012 to document her cancer journey, care from friends, strangers and even celebrities streamed in. They showered emotional support, gifts, help with travel, distractions for her kids, babysitting and financial help to cover her medical treatment.

But what her supporters didn't know at the time was that Riley, who said she had Hodgkin's lymphoma, didn't really have cancer.

Now, ABC News Studios is telling the story of Riley in the four-part docuseries "Scamanda," exploring how she played on supporters' empathy to bilk them of thousands of dollars, a deception that ultimately led to her arrest and conviction.

The docuseries, based on the 2023 No. 1 hit podcast of the same name, will air on Thursdays, beginning Jan. 30, at 9 p.m. ET on ABC and stream the next day on Hulu. It will feature new interviews with podcast creator Charlie Webster, detectives, family and friends.

Webster delves into the unbelievable, bizarre, and sad story of Riley, whose secret shattered a family and stunned a community. Also new — the series reveals the identity of the anonymous source who kicked off the whole investigation.

Riley's story is one of a wife, mother, blogger and Christian, whose tragic cancer journey captivated thousands.

It begins in 2012 in San Jose, California, where she made a name for herself in her church community by becoming an active part of many different groups within the mega-church Family Community Church, a lively congregation numbering more than 5,000 who meet on the church's sprawling 17-acre lot.

Riley's family became the poster family for the church. Riley's husband, Cory, had a daughter from a previous marriage who Riley called her bonus daughter.

Amanda and Corey Riley married in 2011, and welcomed their first child together in May 2012.

"In 2012, Amanda was a mother and a stepmother," Webster said. "She was a wife, she was a Christian that attended church and was very active in her community. She was very charming, very well-liked and she got diagnosed with cancer."

Riley had informed the community that she had been diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma, and church members were saddened by the news.

"This came on suddenly, it came on hard," church member Lindsey Wilder recalls when she first heard the news about Riley's cancer diagnosis. "And she didn't deserve to be going through something so hard."

Riley, touched by the empathy of so many, said that was part of the reason she created the blog. She wanted the blog to be a place where family and friends could get updates, she said. The blog gained popularity quickly. Friends, family and strangers followed her journey and said they wanted to help.

As her visibility increased so did the support, giving her celebrity-like status in the community. In fall 2013, Riley told her followers that her doctor told her she was pregnant, telling friends that this was a miracle baby — that she was still undergoing treatment and had an IUD.

"After all this chemo and radiation she had, she's pregnant," Riley’s babysitter Mahasti Ameli said. "I said, 'Amanda, what's happening now with you being pregnant?' Oh, my doctor said I could stop the chemo and radiation or anything that is for my cancer till the baby's born. And then we could start again."

In April 2014, Riley welcomed her healthy baby boy, sharing the wonderful news. But between her treatments and expenses, she wrote that her family was struggling financially --- even declaring bankruptcy.

And the community responded. Donations from both the church and online communities poured in through her website --- totaling more than $105,000. Seeing Riley gain so much notoriety and money made some people uneasy. One of those people was Lisa Berry.

"At some point, I started reading her blog. She’s posting pictures and I just was surprised seeing all the attention that she's getting for it," said Lisa Berry, a former friend of Riley's. "There was just something inside of me just saying this isn’t right."

Berry stepped back from being Riley’s friend after suspecting a pattern of lies. Berry said that Riley had told her two years prior that Riley announced on her blog that she had just been diagnosed, that she had cancer and only months to live. Berry initially believed her but grew suspicious until one afternoon where, she says, Riley went too far.

"She told me that she had just had fluid drained off her brain in the hospital," Berry said. "So she was coming from the hospital and she swam underwater (at a backyard pool), after having fluid drained off her brain? I knew that wasn’t right. And I start going through my mind and thinking about all the stories she told me."

In 2015, Berry, concerned that people were being scammed, contacted investigative producer Nancy Moscatiello, who was looking for scam stories for "Crime Watch Daily," as the TV show was just about to launch.

Intrigued, Moscatiello looked into it and this marked the turning point, leading to the eventual downfall of Riley’s cancer scam.

Moscatiello brought her findings to Jose Martinez, then a financial crimes detective based in San Jose. Martinez, in turn, eventually referred the case to the IRS, which took over the investigation.

In July 2020, Riley was charged with wire fraud "a scheme to solicit donations from individuals to help her pay for cancer treatments she never needed nor received," as stated by the DOJ.

In May 2022, Riley pleaded guilty to wire fraud. She was ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $105,513 and sentenced to 60 months in prison.

In late December 2024, Riley was released from prison in Texas and transferred to a residential reentry center in Southern California to carry out the remainder of her sentence.