Woman Fakes Cancer, Scams Family/Friends Out of Thousands To Feed Heroin Addiction

[Cyn]

There's special room in Hell for this piece of shit.

Ozarowski, to be arraigned Thursday in First District Court, allegedly told people that she needed money to pay for medicine and treatment at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.

Two fundraisers, including one organized by a cancer survivor, netted about $8,000.

In addition to the fundraisers, stores, restaurants, and other businesses where she lived collected money in donation jars.

Her grandmother sold her home and gave her granddaughter over $100K, and her father also zeroed out his 401K to pay for chemotherapy and other medical costs that never existed.

"This was a despicable scam," District Attorney Thomas Spota said. "There was no cancer. . . . The only thing that there was, was heroin and more heroin."

What a despicable little bitch this one is.....

[genevieve]

ok, I get why people would fall for a woman standing outside a store with a sign and a cup, and once other people sign on, it's easy to snowball...but how in the hell did this woman's family NOT know this was fake?!? Based on the story, the woman didn't do a great job of lying (hanging up when anyone questioned her, changing the type of cancer). And she had a car accident 2 years ago with charges related to drugs pending. Sounds like the family was in deep, deep denial about this woman's problems.

[Anita18]

Someone with cancer usually needs help driving themselves to treatment. Chemo is not nice to your body. The hospital I work at even has small apartments onsite expressly for patients undergoing chemo there.

The fact that she kept refusing, and would have obviously needed money to hire a private driver each time, should have been a HUGE red flag.

This woman is heinous though, for tricking her parents and grandmother into giving them their entire life savings. Yeah yeah, I know it's heroin and all, but usually they don't pull THIS kind of thing.

[Angelskates]

ok, I get why people would fall for a woman standing outside a store with a sign and a cup, and once other people sign on, it's easy to snowball...but how in the hell did this woman's family NOT know this was fake?!? Based on the story, the woman didn't do a great job of lying (hanging up when anyone questioned her, changing the type of cancer). And she had a car accident 2 years ago with charges related to drugs pending. Sounds like the family was in deep, deep denial about this woman's problems.

I agree. If the family was willing to do all that to get money, surely they'd also sit in while she had treatment, drive her, know doctors' details? It's not as if she was scamming them for a week - two YEARS

Despicable.

[mkats]

Unfortunately, this sort of fakery is becoming more and more common online as well, enough to have garnered a Wikipedia entry: Munchausen by Internet.

[Angelskates]

Unfortunately, this sort of fakery is becoming more and more common online as well, enough to have garnered a Wikipedia entry: Munchausen by Internet.

But this was not online, she was faking to people she knew, and they actually met her.

[ChelleC]

I don't say things like this often, but I agree with Cyn, there's a special place in hell for this woman. Crap like this just infuriates me.

[Simone411]

Someone with cancer usually needs help driving themselves to treatment. Chemo is not nice to your body. The hospital I work at even has small apartments onsite expressly for patients undergoing chemo there.

The fact that she kept refusing, and would have obviously needed money to hire a private driver each time, should have been a HUGE red flag.

This woman is heinous though, for tricking her parents and grandmother into giving them their entire life savings. Yeah yeah, I know it's heroin and all, but usually they don't pull THIS kind of thing.

You're absolutely right. I was in my later 20's when my mother had stage 4 Ovarian Cancer. She had to have Chemo once a month, and I took her to the hospital to have the treatments. It wasn't a pretty site watching my mom taking those treatments which made her deathly ill and sick at her stomach. She also couldn't be alone especially during the final months before she had to go into the hospital because she was in so much pain. I was able to stay with my mom and take care of her. When she went into the hospital, I stayed during the day, and my dad would stay at night.

It was definitely a huge red flag, and I can't figure out how she convinced her family that she had Ovarian Cancer. Another red flag that obviously wasn't noticed was that the woman had her hair. If she did have Ovarian Cancer, she would have had to have chemo and she would have lost her hair. That's exactly why she kept refusing for someone to drive her because she really wasn't having Chemotherapy because she didn't have Ovarian Cancer.

[backspin]

Wow, just wow. I agree that the family should have caught on.....too much going on w/ cancer treatment that really can't be done alone. I JUST FINISHED CHEMO (have to shout that part!), and it was 6 months of constant appointments on top of the treatments, plus the recovery in between at home. PLUS the hair loss, among other side effects. Pretty hard to mask, and pretty hard to fake. I am a bona fide cancer survivor, and I know others here on the board are as well. NO ONE should fake this ordeal, ever, ever, ever. It sickens me.

[escaflowne9282]

Wow, a cunning stunt, by a not so stunning...
There are just no words for something this vile.

[Anita18]

You're absolutely right. I was in my later 20's when my mother had stage 4 Ovarian Cancer. She had to have Chemo once a month, and I took her to the hospital to have the treatments. It wasn't a pretty site watching my mom taking those treatments which made her deathly ill and sick at her stomach. She also couldn't be alone especially during the final months before she had to go into the hospital because she was in so much pain. I was able to stay with my mom and take care of her. When she went into the hospital, I stayed during the day, and my dad would stay at night.

It was definitely a huge red flag, and I can't figure out how she convinced her family that she had Ovarian Cancer. Another red flag that obviously wasn't noticed was that the woman had her hair. If she did have Ovarian Cancer, she would have had to have chemo and she would have lost her hair. That's exactly why she kept refusing for someone to drive her because she really wasn't having Chemotherapy because she didn't have Ovarian Cancer.

That's not a given. My coworker had the hardest chemo drugs put through his system (as much as his weakened liver and immune system could take) for his stage 4 pancreatic cancer and he still kept his hair. It depends on the cocktail, and how fast that person's hair grew naturally. Chemo only targets the fastest growing cells.

But he was absolutely weak and sick to his stomach. He lost a ton of weight. He definitely needed help doing day-to-day things.

Wow, just wow. I agree that the family should have caught on.....too much going on w/ cancer treatment that really can't be done alone. I JUST FINISHED CHEMO (have to shout that part!), and it was 6 months of constant appointments on top of the treatments, plus the recovery in between at home. PLUS the hair loss, among other side effects. Pretty hard to mask, and pretty hard to fake. I am a bona fide cancer survivor, and I know others here on the board are as well. NO ONE should fake this ordeal, ever, ever, ever. It sickens me.

Good for you! Keep fighting that fight!

[attyfan]

Wow, just wow. I agree that the family should have caught on.....too much going on w/ cancer treatment that really can't be done alone. I JUST FINISHED CHEMO (have to shout that part!), and it was 6 months of constant appointments on top of the treatments, plus the recovery in between at home. PLUS the hair loss, among other side effects. Pretty hard to mask, and pretty hard to fake. I am a bona fide cancer survivor, and I know others here on the board are as well. NO ONE should fake this ordeal, ever, ever, ever. It sickens me.

Hope that you recover completely. I agree that no one should fake this ... and so far, there is an accusation, but no proof.

[Ageless]

I'm a seven year survivor of ovarian cancer. I have no words for someone who fakes something that I would give anything to have erased from my life. Apparently this girl has no morals whatsoever, but I guess that's what addiction does to people. She has hurt so many people, not only her friends and family who were financially impacted, but other legitimate cancer patients who are in need of financial aid.

[Simone411]

That's not a given. My coworker had the hardest chemo drugs put through his system (as much as his weakened liver and immune system could take) for his stage 4 pancreatic cancer and he still kept his hair. It depends on the cocktail, and how fast that person's hair grew naturally. Chemo only targets the fastest growing cells.

But he was absolutely weak and sick to his stomach. He lost a ton of weight. He definitely needed help doing day-to-day things.

Thanks for letting me know. My mother was 42 when she found out she had Ovarian Cancer. That was in 1977. She had to have a complete hysterectomy because there was a malignant tumor the size of a grapefruit found inside one of her ovaries. She went into remission for 8 years. The cancer came back as Lymphoma in 1985. Some doctors from the Mayo Clinic came to the hospital where she was at located in Shreveport with a new type of Chemo that contained Platinum (not sure if I spelled it correctly) which was administered intravenously once a month. Her doctors told her she would lose her hair and she did. I helped her cut her hair when she first started losing it because it was tangled up in the hair that still remained. She lost all of her hair a week later.

So, I guess it does depend on what type of cocktail. The Chemo she took did prolong her life for 2 more years. She had to stop taking the Chemo because it was destroying her kidneys. She passed away a couple of months later.

[RoseAugust]

This story made me think about somethign I haven't thought about in years. About 30 years ago I was a member of a small church where a new member faked cancer. She was single and had a young son. People took her to doctor appointments and chemo treatments, stayed with her through the nights as she vomited, babysat her son, brought her meals, etc. etc. She even lost her hair. At one point a decision was made by the congregation to hold a fundraiser for her medical expenses. At that point, the woman told the truth. It turns out that she did it for the attention. How she managed to exhibit all the symptons - I have no idea. It must have been a mental thing. Anyway the revelation was devastating to those who selflessly gave their time and energies (mental and physical) to this woman for close to a year. They not only felt betrayed but they felt stupid. They felt something was wrong with them for not knowing. It was pretty horrible. I don't know whatever happened to the woman.

[Cheylana]

Unfortunately, this sort of fakery is becoming more and more common online as well, enough to have garnered a Wikipedia entry: Munchausen by Internet.

Oops - double post!

[Cheylana]

Unfortunately, this sort of fakery is becoming more and more common online as well, enough to have garnered a Wikipedia entry: Munchausen by Internet.

It is. Sometimes it's for money, sometimes it's just for sympathy and attention. I was part of a young bc survivors internet group, and we had a few cancer fakers come through there. The worst part was the emotional investment you would make in a total liar. After a while you get good at spotting the fakers...then you just sort of become wary of everyone. :-/

Oh, and backspin, congratulations on finishing chemo! It'll get so much better from here on out!