MAKKAH — A Syrian woman conned thousands of people by impersonating a cancer patient and asking people to donate money to her using social media, Makkah daily reported.
A lawyer said the woman is named Elham Hafiz and she used the pseudonym Sara Ibrahim to fabricate her story.
He said: “The con artist used pictures of a real cancer patient in America named Esme who was diagnosed with osteosarcoma (bone cancer).
“She told her followers on Twitter to donate to her bank account, which had the name Elham Mohammad Hafiz. She explained that the bank account belonged to a Syrian resident who was helping her collect the donations so people would not question why the bank account was not in her pseudonym.”
He added people have donated money and cars and wrote songs and poems about her. She was very popular and tweeters started a hashtag for Sara Ibrahim and others shaved their hair for her and performed Umrah for her.
“Some even dug wells and paid endowments to orphanages as a dedication to her name.”
Lawyer Ahmad Bin Sulaiman said donors have every right to sue her for fraud and theft.
He said: “The donors are currently trying to contact each other so they can form a group and file one strong lawsuit.
“What that fraud did is exploit other people's unfortunate life circumstances for her own selfish and inhumane interests.”
Another lawyer, Badah Al-Molhem, said this lie could negatively affect how people see charity organizations and donations.
“People may be reluctant to donate now because they are afraid that they are being embezzled or exploited.
“There are a lot of cancer patients out there who truly need whatever support they can get.”
He added people needed to be more aware on social media and not fall into easy traps. He said: “People need to make sure and identify the charity organization or person they are donating to.
“Anyone can fabricate a story and send you an email or create a social media account and ask for donations. That does not make them authentic. Even after authenticating the identity of the organization, never donate in cash or by money transfer.
“Always donate by credit card or check. Fraudsters always play with people's emotions, so you should never donate when you are in an emotional and compassionate state.”
