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One of the most unsettling things about true crime shows is that they're never as far removed from our own lives as we'd like to think. But perhaps that's one of the reasons why we can't get enough of them: from Maternal Instinct to Mother Of All Cons, investigative documentaries really seem to be everywhere right now. The new BBC series Scamanda is a particular chilling tale.
Based on the hit podcast of the same name, the four-part show follows the wild true story of Amanda Riley, who convinced her family, friends and strangers that she had terminal cancer over the course of seven years while scamming them out of thousands of dollars for supposed treatments. Building a vast online community of supporters around her online blog where she detailed her illness, it was eventually proved that she never had Hodgkin’s lymphoma as she claimed and it was actually all a hoax - earning her the appropriate nickname 'Scamanda'.
'Amanda Riley, a wife, mum, and devout Christian, captivated thousands with her tragic cancer story', the BBC series blurb reads. 'But she was hiding a secret she was desperate to keep'. Read on for all you need to know about the true case that the documentary was based on, plus how to watch, reviews and what actually happened to Amanda Riley.
Riley was a former Bay Area elementary school principal and mother of two, born in San Jose, California. Following the birth of her first son, in 2012, she launched her blog, 'Lymphoma Can Suck It', which quickly gained traction for its supposedly raw yet uplifting accounts of a woman fighting for her life.
In addition to her emotional blog posts, Riley shaved her head to convince people that her hair had fallen out due to chemotherapy. Many supporters considered her an inspiration, others offered monetary and practical support; some prayed. She even received celebrity-backed gestures, including a guitar signed by country singer LeAnn Rimes.
Meanwhile, Riley created a dedicated 'Support Amanda' website and held several fundraisers on her own behalf. She posted pictures of herself at hospitals and fabricated her medical records, before eventually pursuing a civil harassment lawsuit against investigative journalist Nancy Moscatiello, who uncovered her true story.
After Moscatiello passed her findings on Riley to law enforcement, the San Jose Police Department kicked off a wider investigation. Eventually, in a California federal courthouse in 2021, Amanda C Riley pleaded guilty to wire fraud and defrauding more than $105,000 from 349 identified people.
Riley was ordered to repay all of the money to donors and was sentenced to five years in a federal lockup in Forth Worth, Texas, followed by three years of supervised release.
Viewers on Rotten Tomatoes rated the series a solid 83 percent at the time of writing, though The Guardian gave it only three stars out of five, writing that while the essential story is 'compelling', the show 'needed two hours at the absolute max'. Meanwhile, The Times noted that 'Scamanda lays out this outrageous tale of deception well, but some of its storytelling style is jarring and repetitive'.
The show was based on Charlie Webster's original 2023 podcast, Scamanda, produced by Lionsgate Sound. It is available to listen to for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Audible.
Watch all four episodes of Scamanda on BBC iPlayer now.
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Chiara Wilkinson is the Deputy Multiplatform Editor of ELLE UK, looking after the Culture + Life section on the website. She was previously Deputy Editor at Time Out and Senior Digital Editor at ArtReview and has written for British Vogue, The Guardian and Vice, covering arts, culture, wellness and travel. Chiara was named one of PPA’s 30 Under 30 awards and was shortlisted for Best Features Writer at the BSME awards.