Two Fraud Bloggers

UPDATE: There is a news article about the April Rose scam here: http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2009/06/11/20090611BabyScam.html

ANOTHER UPDATE: I've now seen pictures of Beccah and it does not appear that she and Cynthiaa are the same person. However, since I wrote this post I have been notified that there have been numerous websites started devoted to Cynthiaa's lies (it's such a relief to have my suspicions from the past four months verified!) and it seems she has a track record of copying other people's blogs, so that explains the similarities to Beccah's blog. According to others, she was a regular reader of Beccah's blog and jealous of her attention so she probably thought if she copied many things she'd get the same results. "C" or Cynthiaa is really Cynthia Parker from CT and I do believe she will scam again. (Families of Prisoners)
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I am sickened that there are people out there who would make up fictious blogs in order to gain sympathy and donations. It is an insult to all of the families who have truly lost children.

I knew it was a possibility when I started reading blogs - that people might not be who they said they were. But I am shocked that there have been two very recently amongst my blogging circle.

The first blog, Confessions Of A Yummy Mommy, some of you might have gone to last year and/or the early part of this year. Her name was Cynthiaa and she lost a baby boy named Aiden just days before he was due because the umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck. When I went to her blog for the first time in February 2009, I was stunned not to feel what I normally do when reading those kind of stories. Usually I have to grab a box of Kleenex, I ball my eyes out, and their story comes back to my mind later.

Her particular story, however, did not give me that reaction. I felt embarrassed for feeling so ambivilant, so I read every single one of her blogs in order. Yep, all of them. I was just hoping for something. Instead, it became clear why I'd reacted like that. . .there were several suspicious posts. By that I mean that I had a hard time believing numerous things she said and there was nothing to prove me wrong (which is what I wanted because I did not want to believe that someone would lie about losing a baby). I kept my suspicions to myself because I couldn't prove my side, either. It was just my gut instinct.

A couple of weeks later, though, I checked her blog again. It was gone. That made my radar go up even more. Yes, I know that people delete their blogs all of the time, it's not a crime. But she didn't give any warning or leave an explanation. She was gaining a ton of readers who were encouraging to her and offering their support. Why would she abruptly leave without saying goodbye?

Unless I was right. I googled her but since I didn't have any personal info, all I could find was another blog who had posted her story for prayers. I contacted the blog author and asked if she had any information on Cynthiaa. She was surprised by my allegations but it prompted her to do her own research and she discovered that Cynthiaa had a new blog. After lurking off & on the past 2.5 months, we both came to the conclusion that she was definitely a fraud.

As I'd read her new blog, (originally titled Polka Dots & Pansies and then Dancing In The Rain), never saying anything to her, I saw that I wasn't the only one who didn't believe her. She wrote numerous posts trying to defend herself to others (but was not very convincing). She even commented once that some of the people knew her personally. Well if they knew her and didn't believe her then I'd be willing to be on their side! I didn't know whether she had a mental illness (and no life) and so her lies became her truth that she lived every day - or if she was deliberately trying to scam people (she had welcomed donations). Either way, it wasn't right - she still had a ton of followers who were buying her story hook, line, and sinker. How is someone like that stopped? If exposed, all she'd have to do is delete her blog and start another with a new identity and story.

Well a week ago I checked her new blog and it's gone now, too. This time I wasn't going to try to find out where she went. . .I've already wasted enough time - so that was that.

But yesterday (Wednesday) I went to a real blog (the wife of a singer whose band I used to play on the radio station where I worked from 2003-2006) and was horrified to read what she posted Tuesday: another blog that has been going around about a baby named April Rose is also a fraud!  (As of Tuesday the April Rose blog is no longer online but the URL was http://www.littleoneapril.blogspot.com - you might recognize the button:This one came as a complete shock to me. I only went to the site once - according to my computer's history I discovered it two weeks ago. That night I read several posts by the author (Beccah) and I believed it to be real. I have copied and pasted Beccah's first post (thanks to it still showing up cached) at the end of this post.

****WOAH - I have shivers right now. I just read a whole bunch of Beccah's cached posts on different search engines and this is TOO WEIRD - there are very strange (as in way too coincidental) similarities to Cynthiaa's blog. I am suddenly wondering if they were the same person??!! Not only is the way they write the same (you know like when you pick up a book by your favorite author you can tell without looking that he/she wrote it?), but what they chose to write about was the same, and they wrote their posts in the same sequence/pattern if that makes any sense. (Like, they both put prayer requests at the end of each post. They both claimed to be Christians and used scripture in the middle. They both talked about fashion and selling their stuff online. They both had interviews with themselves - seriously). But what creeped me out the most was that a few of their posts were nearly identical! I was just now reading Beccah's May posts and had de ja vu because exact sentences I know I read on Cynthiaa's blog. I wish I would have saved some of Cynthiaa's posts, or had contacted both of them then maybe I could have seen if they had the same IP addresses. I do have pictures, though, that Cynthiaa posted that show Illinois license plates which is where Beccah lives!!!****

Even though fictious blogging isn't a crime (yet), stealing money is. If that's what Cynthiaa and Beccah did (by the way, Cynthiaa called herself C and Beccah called herself B) -- they should be prosecuted.

It's sad that someone could be so cruel as to steal situations that really happen to people - situations that cause so much heartache - and use it for what. . .entertainment???

So beware. Cynthiaa has been successful. She (or someone like her) will show up again.

Here was Beccah's first post:

Tuesday, March 31, 2009
like a scarlet letter
So, I gave up. I was trying to fashion a little "about me" section but after my 5th or 6th re-write, I concluded that I could not possibly get all of the "about me" info. into one neat little paragraph. So, I guess here goes; my first blog post...
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Let's just say my name is "B" (yes, a little anonymity in this world-wide web, at least to start!). I am 25 years old and while I closely follow way too many blogs for my own good, I always said I would never myself blog. Oh, how times change!
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Now, let's just get it out there... I am pregnant, and yes, unmarried. I know, I know. No, really, believe me, I do. I don't mean that, like, "I am pregnant and have no shame." - While I am, I do (have shame that is), and it has been a struggle, to put it mildly. I am just not sure it is the appropriate response to continually beat yourself up over something you did, regret, have asked and received forgiveness from, etc. Trust me, I have had enough people on the outside "beating me up" (figuratively, of course).
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Early on (and, well, come to think of it, even not so early on) I heard it all... You know, how my baby was a "mistake," my pregnancy "my fault" (as if it was a curse), and so on... Eh.
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To say the least, I know a thing or two about what people think. I also have/and am continuing to learn that people's judgments aren't fair, or right. I don't believe any child is a curse, regardless of the circumstances regarding conception, nor do I think that others should constantly weigh in on the unmarried gal/couple's decision regarding what to do. I can't begin to tell you how many people "weighing" in believed abortion was "the answer." Ironically, how many fellow Christians (but that is a whole other post). I am a total sinner (obviously!) but, I am a Christian. - Unmarried? Pregnant? A Christian? you ask? Why yes, I am...
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I think the "being a Christian" element has been the most interesting. I went to a Christian grade school, Christian college, and on and on. I know the "answers." I know the "right" and "wrong," and I have believed/been a Christian for years. I won't get into it all, but I have definitely had the hardest year of my life; all downs, few ups, and my faith has been challenged daily, and clearly, I have failed.
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Most recently, I have been and still am wearing my sexual sin like a scarlet letter for all to see, which has been such an interesting thing, in itself, since we don't usually have to live life that way, day in and day out. People judge. They do. And there isn't anything I can say about that, but I can't relay how much time I have spent these past several months looking for a safe place for my broken self to find forgiveness. - And no, not from God, He forgave me months ago, but from my friends. The irony is that we all sin; my mistakes are just obvious right now, where others just remain secrets. Kinda makes me wonder if we would all be so judgmental if we were all forced to wear our sins in such an obvious fashion? But again, that is a whole other post, for another time (I know, you can hardly wait, right?).
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Anyways, back to my immediate life... What could be more complicated than being a single, pregnant Christian? Well, just to cut right to it - A few months ago my little girl was diagnosed with Trisomy 13 and Holoprosencephaly. For the last few months, the Dr.'s have been pushing termination and have told me that my baby girl April will not live. I am not sure how even if that is true (her not making it down the road), is reason for terminating her life. She is here - heart beating, legs kicking, living, right now.
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I heard of a Trisomy diagnosis for the first time last year, and knowing about it distantly was close enough for me. I never could have forseen myself getting so acquainted with a similar reality just months later. And Holoprosencephaly? - I had never even heard of that and certainly was not prepared for this hands on lesson, but I wasn't given a choice either.
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I will be 33 weeks along tomorrow. The Dr.'s are surprised that my girl, April, has not already died inutero and he is constantly reminding me to monitor her movements. The things I have heard the last few months regarding her diagnosis and prognosis, are things no parent should ever have to hear, and any attempt to express what it is like, in mere words, is lacking.
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So here I sit this afternoon starting a blog... Don't ask me why; I actually don't know. I am not even sure all of what this blog will become, but I am going to try and document these days - The thoughts, the tears, the questions, maybe even the miracles. For now, I am just here, trying to breathe, knowing God has the final word, not Dr.'s. And with each kick I am reminded that life, (the sickest, the healthiest, the shortest, the longest) is always a blessing; never a curse. God does not punish people with babies (sorry, Mr. President, you got that wrong).

April Rose's mom

P.S. The P.O. Box that she posted on her page was:
April Rose
P.O. Box #924
Oak Lawn, Illinois 60454