A Detroit-area mother was arraigned this weekend on charges that she had faked her 12-year old son having leukemia to scam for donations. She shaved his head and eyebrows, drugged him with opiates in his apple sauce, and started posting Facebook updates about his condition and her need for help paying his medical bills.

Donations included $7,000 from a church fundraiser, other cash, and an Xbox for the son.

The boy was not in on the scam, in fact, he himself believed he was dying of cancer.

The charade went on until the out-of-work single Detroit mother living in a house in foreclosure started telling relatives that the boy had died, but there wouldn’t be a funeral because she couldn’t bear to look at his body in a coffin. That’s when relatives got suspicious and called police to investigate.

Even after the boy was removed from the house by police, the mother continued to tell past donors that the boy had died and she needed money for his funeral.

If you suspect a scam, you should alert the authorities.

Mich. mom accused of faking son’s cancer arraigned [AP]
Mom Drugged Son, Said He Had Cancer, Scammed $7,000 [Gawker]

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