TV & Movies
Where Is Amanda Riley After Scamanda? There’s A Prison Update
She was convicted of fraud after claiming she had cancer and receiving more than $100,000 in donations.
Based on the hit 2023 podcast of the same name, ABC’s Scamanda revisits a woman who was convicted of fraud after pretending she had cancer. She used social media to share claims about her journey with supporters and received more than $100,000 in donations between 2012 and 2019.
So, where is Amanda Riley today? Here’s a refresher in time for the docuseries, which premiered on Jan. 30, as well as a surprising update from prison.
A Sinister Scheme
As seen in Scamanda, Riley was a wife, mom, and involved member of her church community in California’s Bay Area.
In 2012, she began a blog where she claimed she’d been diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma. She continued to share updates about her purported cancer online, and her community showed their support. Riley later admitted to receiving $106,272 from more than 400 donations, per the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
At the same time, Riley’s claims did rouse some suspicion. Her former friend, Lisa Berry, reveals in Scamanda that she was the anonymous source who tipped off investigative producer Nancy Moscatiello.
Following an investigation by the Internal Revenue Service and San Jose Police Department, Riley was charged with wire fraud. She pleaded guilty in 2021. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, in her written plea agreement, she “admitted” that she’d “devised and executed a plan to obtain money from donors by falsely claiming she had Hodgkin’s lymphoma.”
The office also stated that “in reality, Riley did not have — and has never had — Hodgkin’s lymphoma, or any other type of cancer.”
In 2022, she was sentenced to five years in prison.
She’s Still In Prison
In 2023, Scamanda podcast host Charlie Webster told Glamour that Riley’s husband, Cory, who has not been charged in connection with the scheme, lives in Texas with the couple’s children.
As for Riley herself? She’s still serving time in the same state. According to a 2024 update from the San Francisco Chronicle (citing federal court records), she took multiple trips to the emergency room during her first 18 months in prison.
Arguing against the defense’s desire for an early release, prosecutors pointed to medical providers’ concerns about Riley potentially having a factitious disorder. (People with such a disorder, Mayo Clinic notes, “are experts at faking many different diseases and conditions.”)
Ultimately, U.S. District Judge Beth Labson Freeman ruled against early release for Riley. “[The] Defendant’s history of feigning illness for personal gain combined with a chorus of skepticism from the medical professionals treating her raises serious questions about her credibility,” she wrote.
The Chronicle added that Riley’s reported medical problems in prison weren’t considered “extraordinary enough to warrant early release” in any case. Freeman also reiterated that Riley’s five-year sentence was “fair and proper.”
