Teenager rakes in thousands faking leukemia

It seems every year that at least one or two people make the news for having duped their neighbors and their community into believing they have cancer and that they should give them money. This year is proving no exception, as information is coming out that a West Texas teenager has done just that, collecting some $17,000 based on false claims that she was suffering from leukemia.

Ruth Angelica Gomez, an 18 year old recent graduate from a high school outside El Paso, Texas, is believed to have duped hundreds of people into donating money to her organization, which she called "Achieve the Dream Foundation." She ran a website and even gave motivational speeches and threw fundraisers in an effort to make money. Responding to word that Gomez had been unable to attend her own prom, a high school—not her own—even arranged a prom/fundraiser for her, setting her up with a limo ride, a prom dress donated by a local boutique, and Gomez herself named 'queen of the dance.'

For more on this repulsive story, see the report at CBS News.