Budapest Post

Cum Deo pro Patria et Libertate
Budapest, Europe and world news

Cancer faker who swindled more than £360,000 is ordered to pay back just £5

Cancer faker who swindled more than £360,000 is ordered to pay back just £5

A CANCER faker who conned wellwishers out of tens of thousands has been ordered to pay back just £5.

Nicole Elkabbas was sent to jail for two years and nine months last year after she was exposed for lying in an online fundraiser.

The mum-of-one tricked thousands into believing she had ovarian cancer

Meanwhile the con-artist spend well-wishers donations on her lavish lifestyle

Nicole was handed a jail sentence at Canterbury Crown Court


One fake appeal claiming she needed life-savingf treatment for ovarian cancer raised more than £52,000.

She splurged the cash on luxury foreign holidays and funding her gambling addiction.

Since the con artist's arrest, investigators calculated she raked in a staggering total of £360,000 through her criminal exploits.

But the shameless 44-year-old from Broadstairs, Kent, will only have to pay back a fiver in the next 28 days.

A court ruled the fraudster has no assets or any “realistic prospect” of paying back the whole sum at a confiscation hearing.

The mum-of-one tricked countless well-wishers into helping her afford life-saving ovarian cancer treatment that she never needed.

She made a Go Fund Me page that looked like it had been set up by her mum, who she cared for full-time.

The fake page was adorned with an old photo from a previous operation Nicole had had to remove her gall bladder months before.

As well as the frail hospital photo, the message on the page read that she was a "loving mum" who had been "recently diagnosed" but couldn't afford desperately needed medical care.

She listed a fake expert she claimed was treating her at a clinic in Barcelona while she was in fact enjoying the high life in Spain.

The "compulsive liar" funnelled the donations into her own accounts.

She used it to pay off mounting gambling debts and also splashed out on £3,000 Spurs box tickets and trips abroad.

At the time of her sentencing last year, Judge Mark Weekes said: "The deception was cunning and manipulative.

"You produced detail and at times a graphic account of the treatment you were receiving with a view to keeping those you had snared in your web of lies paying you money.

"You tugged at their heart strings. You made mention of your child to add to gild the lily still further and to attempt to wring more cash out of those you had deceived.

"All the while, you were gambling, enjoying shopping trips and luxuries in Italy and Spain at their expense."

He described Elkabbas' actions as "insulting to those who must genuinely and courageously face the battle against cancer".

One victim of Nicole's deception reported feeling "violated, used, betrayed, ashamed, embarrassed, humiliated, depressed and deflated".

Katie Taylor was duped into posting a link to heartless Nicole Elkabbas's GoFundMe page on her Facebook group community of more than 18,000 members.

She said she had "felt sick, repulsed, in shock, stunned and could not function properly" when police told her in 2018 that the fundraising campaign was fake.

Katie added: "I couldn’t believe this was true, I felt small and really, really stupid.

"I felt like Nicole must have been laughing in my face at how gullible I was, it was so humiliating.

"How could someone take advantage of me and our group members like this for so many months?"


A spokesperson for GoFundMe said: “All donations were refunded in 2019 when the misuse allegations were raised. Misuse counts for less than one 10th of 1% of all activity on GoFundMe and in the very rare case there is misuse, we refund donations."


She was charged with six counts of raud

AI Disclaimer: An advanced artificial intelligence (AI) system generated the content of this page on its own. This innovative technology conducts extensive research from a variety of reliable sources, performs rigorous fact-checking and verification, cleans up and balances biased or manipulated content, and presents a minimal factual summary that is just enough yet essential for you to function as an informed and educated citizen. Please keep in mind, however, that this system is an evolving technology, and as a result, the article may contain accidental inaccuracies or errors. We urge you to help us improve our site by reporting any inaccuracies you find using the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of this page. Your helpful feedback helps us improve our system and deliver more precise content. When you find an article of interest here, please look for the full and extensive coverage of this topic in traditional news sources, as they are written by professional journalists that we try to support, not replace. We appreciate your understanding and assistance.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Russia’s A7 Builds a State-Linked Payments Network Beyond Western Sanctions
AI’s Next Bottleneck Is Power, Not Just Nvidia Chips
Meta Raises AI Spending Target to as Much as $145bn Despite Pressure Over Returns
Danube Drought Exposes Nazi Wrecks and Pushes Central Europe’s Power System to the Brink
Joe Biden’s Cancer Has Spread Beyond His Bones, Hunter Biden Says
Why 2027 Could Be a Strong Year for Stocks—and Why the Forecast Is Fragile
Why Markets May Look Quiet in August After Big Tech Earnings
UK Drought Cuts Harvests and Raises Food-Security Fears
UFO: Pentagon Releases Video of Unidentified Object Tracked Over Middle East
Ukraine Tells Senate Republicans Its Drone War Offers a Blueprint for America
Weight-Loss Drug Boom Tests the Limits of Prescription Advertising Rules
Senate Scrutinises AI-Driven Personalised Pricing
Spain Seeks Mainland Transfers for 1,100 Children Stranded in Ceuta
Spain and Morocco Trade Blame After 72,000 Migrants Enter Ceuta
AI Is Remaking the US Economy, From GDP Growth to iPhone Prices
Europe’s Heat and Drought Are Now Disrupting Power, Shipping and Tourism
Europe’s Drying Rivers Trigger Power Cuts, Factory Shutdowns and Wildfire Emergencies
Record-Low Danube Forces Nuclear Cuts and Emergency Power Curbs
Danube Drought Forces Hungary’s Paks Nuclear Plant Into Full Shutdown
Ceuta Death Toll Rises as Spain and Europe Clash Over Border Response
Valued at $109 Million: F-35B Fighter Jet Crashes in Southern California
Record-Low Danube Exposes Probable Mammoth Remains in Bulgaria
US Says It Has Carried Out Heavy Strikes on Iran After Attempted Attacks on Its Forces
The AI User Nightmare: Private Claude Conversations Leaked to the Internet
Over 24 Hours in the Air: Qantas Airbus Completes Record-Breaking Test Flight
Massive Wildfires Ravage Southern Europe: Fatalities in Greece and Evacuations Across France, Spain, and Turkey
Nvidia Reportedly Takes Vast Texas Data-Centre Lease to Underwrite AI Expansion
FIFA’s Private-Investment Plan for World Cup Rights Draws European Revolt
Apple Briefly Crosses Five Trillion Dollar Valuation as Investors Retreat From AI Bets
Fresh Heatwave Threatens to Rekindle France’s Historic Wildfire Crisis
Following OpenAI's Cyberattack: 'Most Companies Still Do Not Understand What Is Coming'
OpenAI Sued After ChatGPT Allegedly Discouraged Emergency Care Before Near-Fatal Embolism
Miliband Sets Climate and International Law at Centre of UK Diplomacy
Czech Central Bank Governor Rejects Early Euro Entry and Rate-Cut Pressure
Trump Readies New Tariffs as Temporary Global Levy Nears Expiry
Vivienne Westwood Casts Cicciolina, 74, in Its New Autumn Campaign
Dejavu: Germany’s Military Expansion Reshapes Europe’s Strategic Balance With France
Morgan Stanley Builds a Wall Street Lead in AI Infrastructure Finance
High Prices Push Coffee Drinkers Toward Whole Beans and Home Brewing
Trump Draws Boos and Podium Scrutiny at Spain’s World Cup Triumph
Brilliant move: Péter Magyar Moves to Nominate Chess Grandmaster Judit Polgár as Hungary’s President
Spain Defeats Argentina in Extra Time to Win Second World Cup
Current AI Seeks to Build an Open Global AI Infrastructure Outside Big Tech Control
Germany’s Economic Malaise Reopens the Sunday Shopping Debate
Proposed U.S.-Saudi Nuclear Pact Could Permit Limited Uranium Enrichment Under International Safeguards
Netherlands Declares Water Shortage Emergency After Drought Pushes Rivers to Historic Lows
Why Kentucky Fried Chicken Became KFC—and Why the False Explanations Persist
Ukrainian Drones Strike Wildberries Warehouses Deep Inside Russia
Reported CIA Mission Helped Clear the UAE’s Path to Advanced US AI Chips
Artificial Intelligence Capital Fuels Markets While Governments and Regulators Face Mounting Strategic Tests
×