Saturday, April 5, 2025

"Scamanda: release date and everything we know about the docuseries"/ my review

Oct. 11, 2024 "Scamanda: release date and everything we know about the docuseries": Today I found this article by Michael Balderston on What to Watch:

Scamanda release date

Scamanda was set to premiere on ABC on Wednesday, October 16, but ABC has now announced that the docuseries is being pushed to 2025. The reason? ABC is going to simulcast more Monday Night Football games this fall, leading to a shifting schedule for a number of shows.

https://www.whattowatch.com/watching-guides/scamanda-release-date-and-everything-we-know-about-the-docuseries

From IMDB:

"Amanda Riley is a wife, a mother and a Christian whose tragic cancer tale captivates thousands. But she has a secret she's dying to keep. After an anonymous tip to an investigative reporter, Amanda's own words may prove to be her downfall."

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt33022767/?ref_=tt_mv_close

I'm going to write about each episode.  If you don't want to be spoiled, you can skip to the "my review" part.  


This is about a woman who fakes cancer to scam a lot of money out of people, and get attention and fame.  This is also about how people investigated her and found out the truth.


Jan. 31, 2025 Episode 1:  Stage 1: Perfect Wife, Perfect Life

Amanda C. Riley is this nice, Christian woman who married a man named Cory.  She has a step daughter named Jessa.  She then has 2 sons.  She lives in San Jose, California.

She is part of the Family Community Church and there are 5000 people there.  She was diagnosed with cancer like Hodgkin's Lymphoma in 2012.

They talked to her friends and the church goers.

One woman church goers said that Amanda fainted and urinated on herself at the same time at church.

Amanda started her blog about her cancer, and it blew up.  Celebrities tweeted to her:

Rachel Platten- singer of "Fight Song"

Matthew Morrison- actor on Glee

LeAnn Rimes- country singer

They mentioned later on a whole SWAT team bust into Amanda's home.

There were inconsistencies in her stories.   


There was a website where you can donate to Amanda and her family.  The church and community, strangers donated to her.  1 woman friend donated $500/ month to her.

Lisa Berry and her husband Steve was friends with Amanda and her husband Cory.

Lisa: Amanda told me she got cancer in 2010.  She then writes on her blog that she got cancer for the first time in 2012.

Cory told Steve that Amanda had Stage 4 cancer.

I asked: "Where are you parents?"  Amanda said: "They're really busy."

Amanda needed a blood test to save her life, and needed the money.  It felt awkward.  I gave her the money.

She went to the hospital, and said she got fluid drained from her brain.  Then she swam underwater in my pool.  That's not right.

Amanda said she bought house, but it was a rental.

Amanda said a bridal magazine was to be at her wedding.

Amanda was working to get a PhD in clinical psychology at Stanford.

I cut her out of my life after Amanda swam underwater after fluid was drained from her brain.

I stopped answering her calls, but eventually I knew I had to take one.

Amanda: I'm pregnant.  I want you and Steve to be my son's grandparents.

Lisa: I thought you were dying.

Amanda: The pregnancy reversed the disease.

Lisa thought that was ludicrous that the pregnancy could reverse cancer.


In 2015, Lisa saw Amanda's blog and about how she got signed guitars, and a trip to New York.

Amanda made a video with the song "Fight Song" by Rachel Platten.  

Lisa put a "thumbs down" on the video and told her friends to do it too.

Nancy Moscatiello is an investigative producer for a TV show called Crime Watch Daily in LA, California.  She posted on the internet looking for scam stories.

She got an anonymous tip about a woman faking cancer.

The tipster was Lisa. 


Feb. 8, 2025 Episode 2: Stage 2: All About Amanda

Lisa Berry is Amanda's former friend and she emailed Nancy Moscatiello who is a reporter.

Lisa: In 2010, I told Amanda in passing about a fundraiser for a member in the community for a man who has cancer.  They raised $100,000 for him and his family.

The next day, Amanda called me and told me she had cancer and there were a lot of medical bills.

2 years later, she starts the blog and says that she has been diagnosed with cancer.

There are all these photos and documents.

Nancy has to fact- check.

Nancy calls Amanda's husband's Cory's ex- wife Aletta Bernal.

Aletta: I have nothing nice to say, but I can tell you that they're always lying.

Aletta and Cory met while playing pool.  A few months later Aletta got pregnant, and then they got married.

Aletta had daughter Jaymie who had leukemia at 9 yrs old.  

Then the daughter Jessa came.

Jaymie is homeschooled, because of her immune system.

Aletta hires Amanda to teach Jaymie, Jessa, and their cousin dance and cheerleading.

Amanda was 17 yrs old and in college.

Cory's dad died by suicide when he was young.  He was raised by his mom.  He had a "Big Brother" from the "Big Brother" program named Jack York.  York didn't know anything about his first wife.

Cory and Aletta were married for 4 and a half years.  

They got divorced, and Cory got married to Amanda.  There is a 12 yr age difference between them.

They had years of custody battles over Jessa.  Cory and Amanda got full custody of Jessa when she was 11 yrs old.

Jaymie who is a cancer survivor looked at Amanda's pictures.

Jaymie: She didn't look sick.

Angie Smailey - is a supporter and a cancer survivor.  She donated $730 commission for the month to help Amanda.  Her kid daughter donated from her allowance.

Nancy calls Angie and says that Amanda may be lying about having cancer.  Angie felt sick.

Nancy finds that Amanda and Cory claimed bankruptcy because of Amanda's medical expenses.

Despite all the money raised, it is not enough to keep up with her medical bills.

Lindsay Wilder- is a supporter.  She didn't have a lot of money, but she donated platelets in honor of Amanda.

Nancy calls Det. Jose Martinez who is Financial Fraud Unit at the San Jose police dept.


Feb. 14, 2025 Episode 3: Stage 3 - The Wheels of Justice

Amanda mainly went to the hospital and took pictures of herself there with medication and IV's in her.

There is the HIPAA law to protect patient's identities and health information.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_Insurance_Portability_and_Accountability_Act

On the blog, Amanda said she can inject the drug Keytruda into herself.  She was in a clinical trial in Columbia in New York, but she was able to participate this in her home.

The journalist Nancy contacted Columbia and they said no way that would happen.  A nurse oncologist has to administer the drug.  You can not self- inject chemotherapy at home.  

At a clinical trial, everything is recorded.

Columbia wasn't doing a trial on Keytruda now.

Det. Martinez went to the church Pastor and his lawyer daughter.

Martinez: You may be getting scammed.  How do you know?  I wanted them to answer me: "This is how we know."

Amanda got a lawyer and called Martinez: Not to contact her.

Martinez: Prove that she has cancer and I'll stop.

Then a emailed attachment of doctor's note and doctor's name.

He contacted Kaiser Investigations to see if it's legitimate.

They said there was a letter sent to her, but it wasn't for that.  Fraudulent doctor's letter.

City of Hope- Amanda said she went to this cancer- specific hospital on her blog.

Martinez: I called to see to verify if the info on her blog was correct.  Can you tell me whether or not she's a patient?  If she's not a patient, then we're not breaking a confidentiality.

She was never a patient there or scheduled to be there.

Arlette Lee is an IRS Special Agent and this is financial crimes.

Martinez and Lee went to the US attorney office and gives info.

IRS will investigate: they will subpoena every medical facility that's on her blog.  Thousands of pages of medical records: no cancer of being diagnosed or treated.

Trisha is a childhood friend of Amanda's.  They met in gr. 6 and friends to adulthood.

Trisha: She makes things up.  She said she was ambidextrous and her family had annual passes to Disneyland.  They were little white lies and made her seem distinctive in some ways.  It was inconsequential and didn't bother us.

We never let Amanda know that she was lying.  Amanda had a need to distinguish herself.

Another friend said Amanda's bedroom had trophies and tiaras from dance competitions.

Rebecca Cafiero, Amanda's friend: I met her mom Peggy.  She and her husband raised 4 kids.

Rebecca had a boyfriend who got cancer in 2009 and Peggy was with them through it.  He died in 2011.

Peggy was to buy investment property and Amanda was sick.  Red flag on Peggy.

IRS: $100, 000 from Amanda's donor site.  That's wire fraud.

Amanda got a lot of cash and gift cards from fundraisers.

There was a meal train for her and family, and she got free meals for a year.

Dr. Judy Ho is a clinical neuropsychologist from Pepperdine University: I never met, treated, or evaluated Amanda.

Factitious disorder:

Factitious disorder imposed on self, formerly known as Munchausen syndrome, happens when you falsify, create and/or exaggerate having symptoms of an illness that you don’t really have. There isn’t a conscious goal or benefit to this behavior. Diagnosing this condition is difficult, but treatment is available when you’re ready.

https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/9833-munchausen-syndrome-factitious-disorder-imposed-on-self

This way of feeling special and important is though.

Trisha: I think it allowed her to believe that people really cared about her.

Sept. 16, 2016: There was a search warrant where all these law enforcement agents knocked on her door at 6 am.  A TV crew was there filming.


Episode 4: Stage 4 - Catch Me If You Cancer

Amanda had told her 13 yr old stepdaughter Jessa and 2 sons (in elementary school age) that they may need to give her bone marrow to save her.  That scared her kids.

There were IV poles in the house.

People asked: "How could Cory not know about this scam?"

The babysitter Mahasti: Cory stood next to Amanda crying to me, he backed her up.

Amanda fooled the church, her mom, and her husband.

They did discuss that Cory may have first believed Amanda had cancer, and then later he didn't.

Hours after the police raided Amanda's house, she posted on Facebook.

Amanda said this was about tax evasion and that she didn't know that she had to pay taxes on the gifted donations that people gave to her.

Thousands of people were duped.

Amanda then stopped going to church.

She was a teacher and then became a principal at a Christian elementary school called Pacific Point in Gillroy.  This was 40 min. away.

Natalie Tagnetti was a parent of a student at the school: All the kids and parents loved Amanda.

Rebecca Spencer- White- was a parent of a 5 yr old student there.  She had a 13 yr old son who had a terminal illness.  Amanda said she was in remission.

Miss. Cindy had her cancer come back.  The fundraiser at the school was for her.

Amanda also said her cancer came back.

The money was split in half between the two.

The reporter Nancy told Rebecca that Amanda may not have cancer, and Rebecca was really upset about it because her 13 yr old son is alive because of donations.

Miss. Cindy died.

Sept. 2017:

Amanda filed a restraining order on Nancy.  Nancy won the court case, because she was a reporter and the First Amendment of Freedom of Speech, or press. 

The Department of Justice emails all the people who got scammed, about Amanda.

Jul. 2020: The news came out that Amanda was being charged for faking cancer for 8 yrs.

Amanda's friend Rebecca: I donated $20,000-30,000 cash.  This doesn't include gifts.

Rebecca wants to know the truth.

Amanda Facetimed / video call her while Amanda is at a doctor's appointment.  There was an IV in her arm.  A nurse in the background.

Rebecca took a picture and send it to all her friends and family.  

Lindsay Wilder- is a supporter.  I saw a picture of Amanda had a port on her that was infected.  But, no scar tissues.

Amanda is charged with fraud, and bankruptcy fraud.

Cory is not charged.

There was a lot of court hearings on Zoom.

Lindsay attended them.

On May 3, 2022: There was the sentencing hearing.

Lindsay

Lisa Berry

Aleeta

they all read victim impact statements.

Amanda plead guilty and apologized.

There was like $106,000 scammed from all these people.

Judge: 5 yrs in prison and pay restitution.

She gave Amanda a stiff sentence, because she was going to do again if she didn't get a stiff sentence.

After the sentencing, the podcast host Charlie Webster gave her card to Amanda.

She and Amanda talked from Sept. 2022- May 2023, when the podcast was released.

She and Amanda video chat: Cory filed for divorce from Amanda.

Most of the money she fundraised for cancer, was spent on Cory's divorce to Aleeta, and child custody and support for Jessa.

She was upset and crying about her kids.

Amanda's friend Rebecca: Amanda's mom Peggy emailed me and said that Amanda came clean last Sept.

However, before Sept., Peggy had said that she went to doctor's appointments with Amanda for years.  It didn't add up now that she's saying she found out in Sept.

Charlie: Where did Amanda get the idea to fake cancer from?  Is it from Lisa Berry talking about fundraising for someone in her community?  Or when she taught dance and cheerleading to Jaymie who had cancer?

Amanda: My parents and brothers had nothing to do with events that put me in prison.    


My review:

Pros:

1. This was a well- produced docu- series.  There are a lot of interviews with people who knew Amanda personally and the people who investigated her.

2. This is a series to show to people to not fake cancer to get money and attention.  If you do, you will get caught and arrested.

3. Add the fact that no one is going to trust you again.

4. If you think someone is faking cancer to get money, you tell this to the media like the newspaper or TV journalists.

You can also report this to the police about financial crimes.

The Canadian Anti- Fraud Centre.

https://antifraudcentre-centreantifraude.ca/index-eng.htm

Cons:

1. When I watch this show, I was kind of angry and in a low mood.

My opinions:


The Episode 3 where Amanda's friend Trisha was talking about how Amanda was lying "to make herself seem distinctive in some ways."

Trisha is a childhood friend of Amanda's.  They met in gr. 6 and friends to adulthood.

Trisha: She makes things up.  She said she was ambidextrous and her family had annual passes to Disneyland.  They were little white lies and made her seem distinctive in some ways.  It was inconsequential and didn't bother us.

My opinion: If she was ambidextrous, I would ask her to show me by writing with both her hands.

I would ask to see those annual passes to Disneyland.  I can go to her house and ask her parents: "Do you have annual passes to Disneyland?'

This part reminds me of my Aug. 2023 blog post:

This is about how people may lie to get attention and make themselves look and sound more interesting than they really are.

grey issues (Part 2)/ how well do you know your friends and family?/ truth and lies

https://badcb.blogspot.com/2023/08/grey-issues-part-2-how-well-do-you-know.html


If you want money and attention, you can be a content creator like a lot of other people on Youtube or other social media platforms.

This is from my Jan. 2023 blog post. This post is about why I started the blog:

1. I want to get a job as a TV writer and producer. This blog shows my writing talent and skills.

2. I wrote about this topic in an old blog post and now I want to bring it up again.

Tracy's blog: The Evolution (Part 1)/ Prove Yourself and Show Your Work (Part 1)

Professional: 

Diablo Cody: I have read that people like Diablo Cody (who is a screenwriter) was discovered on her blog:

Diablo Cody - Wikipedia

Personal: I was writing and sending 2 emails/ blog posts a week to my friends from 2006-2008.  I decided to put these emails onto my blog.

There are times where I write about something.  I then want to bring what I wrote in an earlier blog post into this present email/ blog post.

In 2008-2009: 2 blog posts a week.

In 2010- present: 3 blog posts a week.

https://badcb.blogspot.com/2023/01/tracys-blog-evolution-part-1-prove.html


Here is a YouTube channel of guided mediations. It's free. You can donate to them:

Great Meditation:

A special thank you to all our monthly supporters! We appreciate all your support and contribution to allow this channel to continue to share our guided meditations with the world. Thank you!!! If you would like to join our monthly supporters, you can do so here: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/greatmed...

https://www.youtube.com/@GreatMeditation


This TV series reminded me of this about exposing people for who they are.

This is from my Mar. 2021 blog post:

"#MeToo movement becomes #WeToo in in victim-blaming Japan"/ "Outrage as women in Japan told not wear glasses in the workplace"

Aug. 17, 2020 Saying: I found this on Facebook:

"You never look good when you are trying to make someone else look bad."- Unknown

Cham: Sometimes people need to be exposed for who they are hahah or maybe I should stop being petty

Tracy Au: There's a difference between trying to make someone look bad, and exposing them for who they are. It's like those #MeToo accusers and victims, they are plainly telling everybody about the perpetrators. They're not trying to make them look bad.

https://badcb.blogspot.com/2020/08/job-articles-wetoo-gender-gap-done.html


The other 2 blog posts of the week:


"Lisette Olivera Is Leaving FBI Before Making Her On-Screen Debut"/ "‘FBI: Most Wanted’ & ‘FBI: International’ Canceled By CBS"

"‘S.W.A.T.’ Canceled (Again) By CBS After 8 Seasons; Showrunner Calls News “Heartbreaking”"/ "‘S.W.A.T’ Star Shemar Moore Sends Up Signal Now That CBS Has Canceled Drama: ;Netflix, We’d Love To Come Play'"

https://badcb.blogspot.com/2025/04/swat-canceled-again-by-cbs-after-8.html


My week:




Tues. Apr. 1, 2025 Leo poll:

Nathalie O, Montréal, Québec, would like to know:

What do you think Canadians are most concerned about right now?

Cost of living and inflation     66.21% (3418)

Employment and economy     9.09% (469)

Affordable housing     8.31% (429)

Healthcare system     8.27% (427)

Other     6.84% (353)

Climate change     1.28% (66)



My opinion: Cost of living and inflation.



Wed. Apr. 2, 2025:

Lucie D, Gatineau, Québec, would like to know:

Do you still read printed newspapers?

Occasionally     35.53% (2690)

I don't read newspapers    29.53% (2236)

Never, always online    29.42% (2228)

Always    5.52% (418)




My opinion: Occasionally, if someone brings home one or I find this sitting on a table.  I mainly read online.