Scamanda Burning Questions: Amanda Riley’s Cancer Fraud, Family, Prison

Amanda Riley may be out of sight and serving time, but the cancer fraudster is more talked-about than ever. After soliciting over $100,000 to cover costs of cancer she did not have, the perky Christian mom from California, now 39, was convicted in 2021 and has since gained national infamy — first with the hit “Scamanda” podcast and then with the four-part ABC/Hulu docuseries of the same name, which wrapped (and broke streaming records) Thursday, February 20. But many burning questions remain about the case, Amanda’s family, her whereabouts and more.

Here, Us Weekly answers the 10 most burning questions about Scamanda — with some help from Charlie Webster, creator of the podcast and producer who also appeared on the docuseries.

1. Where is Riley now and when will she be released from incarceration?

In September 2022, Riley began what was initially a five-year prison sentence at the Federal Medical Center Carswell in Fort Worth, Texas. She was recently moved to a transitional facility in San Pedro, California, with an expected release date in early December of this year, Webster previously told Us.

2. Has Riley expressed remorse?

“This is the worst thing I have ever done and the worst mistake I could have made,” she said at her sentencing. “I don’t sleep well at night because this haunts me daily. I can’t even look at myself in the mirror without feeling ashamed, and I am so sorry.”

Webster, meanwhile, has been speaking to Riley off the record since her sentencing. “She has said to me that she is sorry. She regrets everything she’s done. Every single day … Now she’s in a situation where she has lost everything.” The producer adds that she found Amanda to be genuine. “To me, she’s come across very upset at times, but she’s also conscious that she doesn’t want people to think that she’s acting like a victim.”

3. How did she manage to pull off her scam for so long?

Many listeners and viewers were shocked that so many were duped by Riley’s blog posts and staged photos feigning illness — some of the entries seriously stretching credulity. (For example, Riley claimed that doctors allowed her to self-administer clinical trial chemotherapy drugs at home over the holidays.)

“I don’t think these people were gullible or naive. We don’t question people that have cancer and nor should we,” Webster said. “She showed a miracle. She got cancer, but she was surviving. She’d collapse in church, wet herself in church, had an ambulance take her in church. She stood on stage and offered people hope, which all of us in life need sometimes.”

4. Where is her husband, Corey, and did he know about her fraud?

As the final Scamanda episode revealed, Amanda and husband Corey are now in the process of divorcing, and he recently relocated to Texas. Webster revealed she’s been “contacted by women [Corey] was engaging with, so I think he’s been looking to move on.” As for his connection to his estranged wife’s crimes, Corey, 48, has never been accused or convicted of any crimes. He was, however, by his wife’s side throughout her simulated cancer battles. “[He] said under oath that he went to all of Amanda’s appointments. And they claimed bankruptcy for Amanda’s cancer,” Webster said. “He’s not being convicted, but it’s for all of us to make our own minds up.” Us reached out to Corey for comment.

5. Was Amanda’s mother, Peggy, in on the scam?

Somewhat like Corey, Amanda’s mom, Peggy, stood by her daughter throughout her fake medical ordeal, but she was never accused or convicted of any crime. Webster contacted her but “she didn’t want to be involved,” she said. “We don’t have any official proof of her involvement,” said Webster, who points out that Peggy “went on a cruise” following Amanda’s sentencing. “I do know that Peggy is supporting her daughter through this,” she added, noting that Peggy is helping with childcare for Corey and Amanda’s sons, Carter and Connor.

6. Does Amanda have Munchausen syndrome or another mental illness?

“A lot of people have questioned me on why I didn’t mention Munchausen or mental health in the podcast; it’s mentioned briefly in the documentary,” Webster said. “The reason why I didn’t mention it and why I have been quite persistent on not going down that route is because, one, I feel like it minimizes victims’ experiences, and two, she’s not been diagnosed with anything.”

7. What happened to Jessa, Amanda’s stepdaughter?

On an emotional level, one of Amanda’s hardest-hit victims was arguably Jessa, Corey’s now-grown daughter from his first marriage to Aletta Souza. Jessa first met Amanda as a kind of babysitter and cheerleading coach when her parents were still married (and while Jessa’s elder sister suffered from her own very real battle with cancer). She was then the subject of a bitter custody battle between Corey and Souza, and she eventually had a painful falling out with her stepmother amidst her feigned illness. While Jessa participated in the podcast, she opted out of appearing in the docuseries to “care for her mental health,” Webster said. “The trauma that she suffered has been very difficult … To find out her whole upbringing was a lie? That’s devastating.”

Jessa is now married and “doing really well,” Webster said. “It’s definitely been a process of recovery.”

8. Could Amanda pull off the same scam today?

Amanda started sharing her faux cancer journey (and fundraising for herself) via personal blog around 2012 — long before TikTok and AI dominated digital and popular culture. “It was the prime moment for her because of the blog phenomenon,” Webster said. “When everybody was writing a blog — mommy blogs, fitness blogs — she really tapped into that, and longer, in-depth content was huge. And Amanda? Whatever she’s done, she is a good storyteller.” In the current era, Webster mused, “I think maybe she’d have been able to do it even more so with TikTok. We’ve seen people scam through TikTok all the time.”

9. What will she do when she’s released?

“I think it’s going to be very, very hard for her,” Webster told Us. “Do we believe in second chances? Do we believe in redemption? Do we believe that people can learn their lessons and change? It’s a case of trying to rebuild her life. Maybe not rebuild, actually — try and build a new life. I don’t think she can rebuild.”