Natalie is a 12-year-old superstar. She is outgoing, intelligent, determined — and when she recently lost her hair from treatment for B-cell leukemia, she said it just made her more aerodynamic. Though still on a tough road, Natalie is thriving.

But in the last week, the foundation Natalie and her parents created to support children affected by leukemia saw shocking updates on their social media accounts. Someone had stolen Natalie’s photo, likeness and information, falsely reporting that Natalie had passed away, and was asking online for money to help with funeral expenses.

Unfortunately, September’s Childhood Cancer Awareness Month has become a prime target for malicious cybercriminals. As foundations, children and parents post photos and details about their cancer journeys, scammers repurpose this information to create false accounts on social media and fundraiser platforms. During the darkest of times, when good people are faced with the most trying of circumstances, the cancer awareness movement is working to bring hope, love and light to others. At the same time, fraudsters are stealing, manipulating and lying, leaving a trail of frustration and disappointment in their wake.

The scheme is not new: With easy access to photos, videos and personal information, a cybercriminal can create fraudulent accounts and donation campaigns — especially now, in an era of on-demand generative AI, deepfake apps, and voice cloning software. This type of crime is much easier to carry out than creating entire fake charities (which also happens at large scale). But the investigation of the use of social media and sites like GoFundMe to scam unsuspecting donors has become a bad game of whack-a-mole.

In 2018, an

© The Hill