Vanessa O'Rourke wanted by FBI, accused of taking $100K in donations after faking brain cancer diagnosis

A Philadelphia-area woman is on the FBI's most wanted list after allegedly defrauding donors out of about $100,000 with a fake brain cancer diagnosis and then fleeing to Australia.

The FBI's Philadelphia field office says former Harleysville, Pennsylvania, resident Vanessa O'Rourke, 37, is still on the run after being indicted on 15 counts of wire fraud in federal court.

O'Rourke is accused of creating a false story that she had been diagnosed with glioblastoma, a terminal form of brain cancer, and alleging she needed money to pay for treatments.

Between October 2015 and July 2016, O'Rourke allegedly told her friends and family that she needed to raise money to travel to Australia and receive an experimental treatment.

Court documents say O'Rourke set up a fraudulent GoFundMe page to fund that travel, raising a total of nearly $12,000 from about 146 people.

Then, around April 2016, O'Rourke traveled to Australia, "where she engaged in a variety of leisure activities and did not receive any medical treatment," according to an FBI flyer seeking her whereabouts.

Then, in June 2016, a "beef and beer" fundraiser was held for O'Rourke at a local restaurant in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, again with the goal of raising money for travel to Australia, according to court documents. This time, local businesses got invited to provide auction items, and many people paid both an entrance fee and bid on the auction.

The following month, O'Rourke visited Australia again and did not receive medical treatment, court documents say.

O'Rourke was indicted on 15 counts of wire fraud in May 2018. As of 2020, she was believed to reside in Queensland, Australia.

Anyone with information should contact their local FBI office or the nearest American embassy or consulate.

O'Rourke has also used aliases Vanessa Gulinello and Cecila Vincent Gaeta Lazaro.