Shortly before 11:32 p.m. Monday night, Adam Hoover — a 22-year-old activist from Cincinnati — parked his Ford Escort on the side of the highway, locked himself in the trunk, and made a Facebook update.
“Please help me,” he wrote, mysteriously. “They said they are going to kill my family.”
“They,” turned out to be fictional kidnappers who Hoover had invented. And Hoover himself was later charged with “making false alarms” — a misdemeanor.
Why do people pull incomprehensible, attention-seeking stunts like this? Only hours before Hoover’s name went viral, a mommy blogger named Lacey Spears was convicted of poisoning her son, presumably so she could log online to write about his “illness.” That follows the case of “Dave on Wheels,” the deaf quadriplegic who inspired millions (including Kim Kardashian!) before he was outed as “just a character … a ruse.”
The Internet, it turns out, is a kind of paradise for people feigning illness and other tragedy.
Faking illness — or violence — is nothing new. As early as Roman times, physicians complained about lying patients. And in the 19th century, psychologists began talking about something they called “factitious disorder,” a category of mental illness in which the patient fakes being sick (or fakes that a child/relative is sick) without receiving any obvious benefit, like money or sick leave. Women would claim to have had (and lost) multiple pregnancies. Otherwise healthy people would shave their heads and drop weight and groan about how much they hated chemo.
By 1980, the American Psychiatric Association had recognized factitious disorders as an official condition — a chronic condition, unlikely to be cured, and affecting as many as 1 percent of all hospital admittees.
But in the late ‘90s, researchers began to notice something different about “factitious disorders” that played out online. For starters, the psychiatrist Marc Feldman observed in 1998, Internet identities are malleable already, which makes an illness that much easier to fake. And because there are so many online communities devoted to health, such fakers find victims readily. In other words, the Internet profoundly enables factitious disorders — and it makes them much more difficult to discover and treat.
Feldman gave the phenomenon a new name: “Munchausen by Internet.” And in the almost two decades since he identified it, Feldman said the disorder is only growing.
There was the early case of an alleged Catholic monk, who joined an online cancer support group because his vows wouldn’t let him get treated for the disease. (When the monk failed to die after quite some time, he admitted he’d made up both the cancer and the fact that he was a priest.)
In 2001, Kaycee Nicole Swenson was outed as a suburban housewife from a tiny town called Peabody. She’d attracted a huge online audience as a 19-year-old leukemia patient.
For 11 years, a 22-year-old woman in Ohio maintained a network of fake accounts for an invented family grappling with one child’s cancer (… and, eventually, with the mother’s violent car crash.)
In some ways, even Tom MacMaster sidles up to this category: He’s the 40-year-old Master’s student who blogged, for quite some time, as “A Gay Girl in Damascus.”
Unsurprisingly, the research says, many sufferers are driven by narcissism and low self-esteem. They want to be lavished with attention, if not actual support. They want to be buoyed by friends or strangers or gawkers, even — anything for that boost of attention.
What’s most disturbing, in some ways, is how willing the Internet generally is to comply. Physical pain is, as Roisin Kiberd writes at Vice, “a kind of Internet currency.” We are drawn to stories about suffering, particularly in the age of hashtag activism and crowdfunding: We’ll always click on rape and racism and gruesome stabbings. (And those are only the subjects currently trending on Buzzfeed.) Platforms, such as YouTube, have long struggled to keep footage of beheadings and other atrocities from spreading on their sites; Tumblr has recently seen three suicide notes go viral.
“Blood makes the best clickbait,” the tech writer Mat Honan wrote recently. That’s arguably on everyone who clicks — not just the people doing the bleeding.
None of this means the Internet is to blame for things like Munchausens, of course. Factitious disorders are an actual, medical disease, and much of the scientific literature suggests that people suffering from them prey on people’s kindness and sympathy. But we should probably recognize, as Feldman did in the ‘90s, that there’s often a whole lot of interplay between Internet culture and the disorder itself.
“[Online] groups,” Feldman wrote in ‘98, “provide an inexpensive, convenient, and readily accessible forum for people who choose to misrepresent themselves as ill.”
If there was no audience for these morbid, fictitious stories … there’d also be no stories to tell.
“[Online] groups,” Feldman wrote in ‘98, “provide an inexpensive, convenient, and readily accessible forum for people who choose to misrepresent themselves as ill.”
If there was no audience for these morbid, fictitious stories … there’d also be no stories to tell.
I think this is a little unfair. First of all "if it bleeds, it leads" has been around for decades, long before the internet.
But more than that, I think most of these people who have been fooled aren't just gawking at "omg that guy has cancer!" but are people suffering from these diseases (or a loved one suffers) and are seeking genuine community and wanting to help someone else.
For 11 years, a 22-year-old woman in Ohio maintained a network of fake accounts for an invented family grappling with one child’s cancer (… and, eventually, with the mother’s violent car crash.)
She started when she was 11 years old?
I find this stuff really fascinating. I remember a woman in my online pregnancy club pretending she'd miscarried after falling off a kitchen chair (this was about 16 years ago). Her story was such obvious baloney, but the few people who called her out on the details were pretty viciously turned on by the rest of the group for being "unsupportive."
At my old job I had a coworker who announced at a staff meeting that he had cancer. Everyone was super supportive, helping cover his work when he needed time off, helped him run errands, our boss lent him money, the baseball team he coached raised a ton of money for him. This went on for over a year. He came to work one day and said that his long term girlfriend had cheated on him and left him and how hard it was dealing with cancer and a break up. Turns out he had racked up a ton of debt and to cover it up faked cancer. His girlfriend found out and dumped him and then went and told people that had been helping him that he was faking. He quit work before he could be fired and kind of disappeared. I really don't know what happened to him. It was so crazy, he was such a nice guy.
Hey, we've seen it on these boards before. Look at the people ML has dealt with. I wouldn't doubt that more will come out as the year progresses.
We had a person on the NJ N.est board a few years ago who faked being pregnant with triplets, and said she nearly lost them when she was shoved off a flight of subway stairs by NYPD pursuing a fleeing criminal. Her story started to come apart when she claimed that she was interning for Cantor Fitzgerald on 9/11 and left the World Trade Center for coffee moments before the planes hit. She got called out after she got a bunch of details wrong, including the times of the plane strikes and the actual location of Cantor Fitzgerald. Bonkers. The posts are actually still up.
There was a lady on the bump who was claiming that she was pregnant with triplets and lost one. She was going to be delivering twins. She even posted maternity pictures, etc. Someone had clued me in before that that the poster was off. So when she posted pics with a watermark I went looking. She had totally stolen pictures of some other lady. If not caught she would have had birth through preschool pictures of those twins.
The psychology major in me is continually amazed/disappointed at the way the internet brings out a special brand of crazy. If I were a student again I'd totally write a paper on Munchausen by Internet. LOL.
There was a lady on the bump who was claiming that she was pregnant with triplets and lost one. She was going to be delivering twins. She even posted maternity pictures, etc. Someone had clued me in before that that the poster was off. So when she posted pics with a watermark I went looking. She had totally stolen pictures of some other lady. If not caught she would have had birth through preschool pictures of those twins.
I just saw a segment on the news the other day about digital baby photo kidnapping. The mother in question, said her photos were being used on some pretend family website, frequented by a lot of teens and such. Crazy stuff.
share.memebox.com/x/uKhKaZmemebox referal code for 20% off! DD1 "J" born 3/2003 DD2 "G" born 4/2011 DS is here! "H" born 2/2014 m/c#3 1-13-13 @ 9 weeks m/c#2 11-11-12 @ 5w2d I am an extended breastfeeding, cloth diapering, baby wearing, pro marriage equality, birth control lovin', Catholic mama.
Hey, we've seen it on these boards before. Look at the people ML has dealt with. I wouldn't doubt that more will come out as the year progresses.
We had a person on the NJ N.est board a few years ago who faked being pregnant with triplets, and said she nearly lost them when she was shoved off a flight of subway stairs by NYPD pursuing a fleeing criminal. Her story started to come apart when she claimed that she was interning for Cantor Fitzgerald on 9/11 and left the World Trade Center for coffee moments before the planes hit. She got called out after she got a bunch of details wrong, including the times of the plane strikes and the actual location of Cantor Fitzgerald. Bonkers. The posts are actually still up.
i totally forgot about her. that was nuts.
all i'm going to say is i swear to god my gall stones are real, guys. krisskross my heart.
Hey, we've seen it on these boards before. Look at the people ML has dealt with. I wouldn't doubt that more will come out as the year progresses.
We had a person on the NJ N.est board a few years ago who faked being pregnant with triplets, and said she nearly lost them when she was shoved off a flight of subway stairs by NYPD pursuing a fleeing criminal. Her story started to come apart when she claimed that she was interning for Cantor Fitzgerald on 9/11 and left the World Trade Center for coffee moments before the planes hit. She got called out after she got a bunch of details wrong, including the times of the plane strikes and the actual location of Cantor Fitzgerald. Bonkers. The posts are actually still up.
Oh man, I remember her. If she's the same one I'm thinking of, she stole u/s pics from a regular poster on the multiples board. I've had my twins' u/s pics used by several crazies. It's one of the big reasons I stopped blogging a few years ago.
Hey, we've seen it on these boards before. Look at the people ML has dealt with. I wouldn't doubt that more will come out as the year progresses.
We had a person on the NJ N.est board a few years ago who faked being pregnant with triplets, and said she nearly lost them when she was shoved off a flight of subway stairs by NYPD pursuing a fleeing criminal. Her story started to come apart when she claimed that she was interning for Cantor Fitzgerald on 9/11 and left the World Trade Center for coffee moments before the planes hit. She got called out after she got a bunch of details wrong, including the times of the plane strikes and the actual location of Cantor Fitzgerald. Bonkers. The posts are actually still up.
i totally forgot about her. that was nuts.
all i'm going to say is i swear to god my gall stones are real, guys. krisskross my heart.
I remember thinking that the story was probably bullshit when she said that Cantor Fitzgerald was in Tower 2 (I don't know how it was in other parts of the country, but in the NYC area the news repeatedly mentioned that CF was in Tower 1), and she got the strike times wrong (again, something that the news hammered into everyone's minds) ... but I was afraid to say anything because everyone was giving her so much support. I wasn't really "in" on that board and I didn't think I'd have any backup if I were to call her out. Someone else mentioned that it seemed fishy, I PMed her my concerns and so did a few others, and that's what led to the callout thread.
There have been several times on these boards where I've felt like a sob story is almost definitely not real, but I'm probably never going to say anything on the off-chance that I'm wrong. I don't want to kick a genuine person when they're down.
all i'm going to say is i swear to god my gall stones are real, guys. krisskross my heart.
I remember thinking that the story was probably bullshit when she said that Cantor Fitzgerald was in Tower 2 (I don't know how it was in other parts of the country, but in the NYC area the news repeatedly mentioned that CF was in Tower 1), and she got the strike times wrong (again, something that the news hammered into everyone's minds) ... but I was afraid to say anything because everyone was giving her so much support. I wasn't really "in" on that board and I didn't think I'd have any backup if I were to call her out. Someone else mentioned that it seemed fishy, I PMed her my concerns and so did a few others, and that's what led to the callout thread.
There have been several times on these boards where I've felt like a sob story is almost definitely not real, but I'm probably never going to say anything on the off-chance that I'm wrong. I don't want to kick a genuine person when they're down.
if you ever notice something like that again feel free to let me know. i'm crap for details but i'll call anyone out in a heartbeat
i saw that marie posted in pat's callout. ironic and sad.
i will say that while pat could be a total bitch, she was a sight to behold when she got on a tear. that was a fun board.
I remember thinking that the story was probably bullshit when she said that Cantor Fitzgerald was in Tower 2 (I don't know how it was in other parts of the country, but in the NYC area the news repeatedly mentioned that CF was in Tower 1), and she got the strike times wrong (again, something that the news hammered into everyone's minds) ... but I was afraid to say anything because everyone was giving her so much support. I wasn't really "in" on that board and I didn't think I'd have any backup if I were to call her out. Someone else mentioned that it seemed fishy, I PMed her my concerns and so did a few others, and that's what led to the callout thread.
There have been several times on these boards where I've felt like a sob story is almost definitely not real, but I'm probably never going to say anything on the off-chance that I'm wrong. I don't want to kick a genuine person when they're down.
if you ever notice something like that again feel free to let me know. i'm crap for details but i'll call anyone out in a heartbeat
i saw that marie posted in pat's callout. ironic and sad.
i will say that while pat could be a total bitch, she was a sight to behold when she got on a tear. that was a fun board.
I never really clicked with the N.est board. I got on well with the NJ K.not board but when I made the jump it just didn't seem to work the same way. I don't seem to fit in with the new NJ board, either, but I'm happy here and on MM.
Hey, we've seen it on these boards before. Look at the people ML has dealt with. I wouldn't doubt that more will come out as the year progresses.
We had a person on the NJ N.est board a few years ago who faked being pregnant with triplets, and said she nearly lost them when she was shoved off a flight of subway stairs by NYPD pursuing a fleeing criminal. Her story started to come apart when she claimed that she was interning for Cantor Fitzgerald on 9/11 and left the World Trade Center for coffee moments before the planes hit. She got called out after she got a bunch of details wrong, including the times of the plane strikes and the actual location of Cantor Fitzgerald. Bonkers. The posts are actually still up.
Omg a trip down memory lane! She was completely nuts. I so badly wanted to ask questions in her 9/11 post but everyone was sobbing and saying how sorry they were for her. And all I could think was - guys, she is transporting people across the Hudson River (multiple trips, mind you) in her uncles sailboat that she randomly remembered was at the Seaport and conveniently not locked up! The waters were on lockdown, but she was quite the hero with her sailing rescue mission.
And she attended close to 180 funerals??? What the what? I lived in manhattan on 9/11. Sadly knew many people that passed. It would have been nearly impossible to have attended so many funerals. They were happening all the time with so much overlap. It was awful. But she went to 180 of them. How is that even possible.
Sorry for the vent! I think I've had this shit bottled up for too long!
I find stories like this after the fact to be incredibly fascinating. I have the hardest time understanding motive but also I'm completely amazed at how someone can keep such an elaborate story straight. I take everyone's personal tales of tragedy that I read on the Internet with a huge grain of salt.
Wow, some old names in the mix there. At the risk of derailing, I haven't seen wrysmyguy or MrsEvans2Be in ages.
wrys lost the plot and bailed.
I think I need a Little Orphan Annie Secret Decoder Ring to understand this. Does this refer to a controversy or did she actually lose a plot of land in NJ and leave the board?
Hey, we've seen it on these boards before. Look at the people ML has dealt with. I wouldn't doubt that more will come out as the year progresses.
We had a person on the NJ N.est board a few years ago who faked being pregnant with triplets, and said she nearly lost them when she was shoved off a flight of subway stairs by NYPD pursuing a fleeing criminal. Her story started to come apart when she claimed that she was interning for Cantor Fitzgerald on 9/11 and left the World Trade Center for coffee moments before the planes hit. She got called out after she got a bunch of details wrong, including the times of the plane strikes and the actual location of Cantor Fitzgerald. Bonkers. The posts are actually still up.
Omg a trip down memory lane! She was completely nuts. I so badly wanted to ask questions in her 9/11 post but everyone was sobbing and saying how sorry they were for her. And all I could think was - guys, she is transporting people across the Hudson River (multiple trips, mind you) in her uncles sailboat that she randomly remembered was at the Seaport and conveniently not locked up! The waters were on lockdown, but she was quite the hero with her sailing rescue mission.
And she attended close to 180 funerals??? What the what? I lived in manhattan on 9/11. Sadly knew many people that passed. It would have been nearly impossible to have attended so many funerals. They were happening all the time with so much overlap. It was awful. But she went to 180 of them. How is that even possible.
Sorry for the vent! I think I've had this shit bottled up for too long!
I liked the part about how she had colleagues trapped in the burning buildings who were calling her cell phone to give their tearful goodbyes.
Mmm, yeah, because if I'm staring death in the face then the first person I'm going to call is the intern from work. Not my husband or my mom or anything. I'd call my cats before I called a coworker.
This kind of stuff makes me so mad because I feel like it someone undermined my own credibility. What do we need to be able to see? PET scans? Diagnostic reports? Making it even weirder is that my hair will not fall outs using my kind of treatment, so do I still have cancer if I don't "look" the part? I opted not to attend the gtg in person over the weekend because I fel like crap, will that give people, pause and make them wonder if I was trying to avoid closer scrutiny? I am living a nightmare and these other assholes come along and pretend to be in the same situation, making that next person just a little most hesitant at helping out a person who is really sick.
Then you have, goddamnit I can't think of her original name, who claimed to have been at the boston marathon bombing, had a fake pregnancy/child, had an emergency hysterectomy, had been at yet another bombing (or was it uprising), and she was on the boards for YEARS then followed us here. All I can think of are internetexplorer and geoffreythegiraffe as her 2 names. Brahimbride maybe?
Then you have, goddamnit I can't think of her original name, who claimed to have been at the boston marathon bombing, had a fake pregnancy/child, had an emergency hysterectomy, had been at yet another bombing (or was it uprising), and she was on the boards for YEARS then followed us here. All I can think of are internetexplorer and geoffreythegiraffe as her 2 names. Brahimbride maybe?
This kind of stuff makes me so mad because I feel like it someone undermined my own credibility.
Well, except that a number of locals know you personally and have visited you in various hospitals. So I think it's that which lends to the credibility. It's the people that no one ever personally knows, or only 1 or 2 people knows that are suspect.
Then you have, goddamnit I can't think of her original name, who claimed to have been at the boston marathon bombing, had a fake pregnancy/child, had an emergency hysterectomy, had been at yet another bombing (or was it uprising), and she was on the boards for YEARS then followed us here. All I can think of are internetexplorer and geoffreythegiraffe as her 2 names. Brahimbride maybe?
Then you have, goddamnit I can't think of her original name, who claimed to have been at the boston marathon bombing, had a fake pregnancy/child, had an emergency hysterectomy, had been at yet another bombing (or was it uprising), and she was on the boards for YEARS then followed us here. All I can think of are internetexplorer and geoffreythegiraffe as her 2 names. Brahimbride maybe?
There was a poster on MM who had a series of bad things happen to her (losing twins at like 20w, her husband dumping her after a m/c and leaving her for a pg girlfriend) and remember the first time I admitted to someone that I thought she was full of crap I was worried they'd hate me, but it turns out that everyone thought that.