Fake Cancer Patient Charged, Accused Of Collecting Donation Money

The Oklahoma Attorney General goes after a Shawnee woman accused of faking a cancer diagnosis and then collecting donation money.

Jennifer Garrison was charged Wednesday for obtaining property by trick, deception and false representation or pretense.

“All of this really started with the May 2013 tornadoes out in Bethel Acres,” Assistant Attorney General Julie Bays said.

As people from all over flocked to help clean up, there were also people flocking to Facebook.

“We were shutting down Facebook pages, because of the fact that they were putting them up seeking funds supposedly on behalf of charities that weren’t even there,” Bays said.

But it didn't stop there.

“For instance one young lady had opened up her Facebook page saying that she was collecting funds on behalf of the American Red Cross, but she really wasn’t,” Bays said. “She just thought it would help her modeling career.”

However, prosecutors say Jennifer Garrison thought it would help cure her cancer - that didn't exist. Investigators say she began posting on her Facebook account that she had terminal stomach cancer and had only a  few months to live.

She claimed that "chemotherapy was making her hair fall out in clumps" and "shaved her head and posted those photographs of herself on Facebook."

Documents state  "when someone pointed out she still had perfect eyebrows ... Garrison shaved her eyebrows and posted more photographs."

Detectives say while Garrison was claiming to have cancer she was also volunteering in the May 2013 disaster relief efforts and posted pictures of herself doing so.

Other volunteers believed Garrison's story and two different donation accounts were set up for her. They raised several thousand dollars. but people soon started questioning her new vehicle and a vacation she took and realized her sob story was not making sense.

“Oklahomans are very good,” Bays said. “They have great hearts, and they like to give a lot of money.”

But just make sure the money you're donating is to a legitimate cause. If you do donate money, make sure it is to a legitimate cause. Authorities say do not believe everything you see on Facebook.