Munchausen by Internet: Faking Death Online

With the advent of the Internet there came an insurgence of new and unlimited possibilities--you can connect with loved ones across the world in the blink of an eye, meet new people, join communities. But there also came a whole new set of problems, too--internet predators stalking underage children, online scams bilking people out of their hard earned money, message boards dedicated to encouraging anorexia and so forth.

Munchausen by Internet is one of these disorders. Regular Munchausen syndrome is a psychiatric disorder in which those affected feign disease, illness, or psychological trauma in order to draw attention or sympathy to themselves; Munchausen syndrome by proxy is a type of abuse in which a caregiver feigns or induces an illness in a person under their care, in order to attract attention, sympathy, or to fill other emotional needs. Munchausen by Internet takes this concept to the realm of cyberspace, to blogging communities, social networking sites and message boards.

SCENARIO #1 Lauren is a long-time member and frequent poster on the message boards over at a pet lover's community. One day, she composes a new post that says something like, "I CAN BARLY TYPE BOTH ARMS R IN CAST OWWW IT HURTS OH DEAR GOD PRAY FOR ME PLEASE!" Community members will respond, obviously concerned, and Lauren's next post will be typed by her "brother" as she dictates, telling him what to say. He will relay a story about how he is sitting next to Lauren in her hospital bed because she fell off the roof/got beat up by her ex-boyfriend/was mugged at gunpoint. Some fakers will even go so far as to say they will be bed-ridden for the next two months and will be so bored. Would anyone mind checking out her Amazon.com wishlist and buying her the books and movies she's been wanting?

SCENARIO #2 Maddy is a blogger who has kept an online diary at LiveJournal.com for over a year. She has amassed a decent number of cyber friends who read her entries daily. One day, out of the blue, her friends log on and see that Maddy's most recent entry says something like this: "My name is Tom, I am Maddy's younger brother. I know her log-in password from when I did the HTML on her profile. I am very sorry to have to inform you all of this, but Maddy was in a car accident last night. The roads were slick from the rain we've been having, and a tractor trailer hydroplaned into the opposite lane and hit Maddy head on. She suffered from numerous injuries to her head and neck, and was bleeding internally. The doctors did everything they could, but it was too late. Maddy passed away this morning at 2:11am. I know she is in a better place now. Please pray for our family to get through this difficult time."

At first, Maddy's online friends will be shocked, and there will be an outpouring of comments expressing their sympathy and remorse. But then someone will remember something, a vague recollection from an earlier time. Didn't Maddy say at one point a few months back that she was an only child? Didn't she mention that she didn't go for her driver's license test yet? Something will arise that plants a seed of suspicion, and all it takes for that seed to germinate is another person voicing their agreement that they feel wary, too.

Now it becomes a mission. Once someone has a hunch that the death is fake, he or she becomes an Internet crusader, crawling the world wide web, gathering information and collecting data so that he may debunk the perpetrator's claims of death or illness. There are even groups of Internet crusaders devoted to exposing false claims of death, like the LiveJournal community Fake LJ Deaths. The crusaders figure out the poster's first and last name and area of residence; if a hospital name is given in the entry, they call that hospital and ask if a Maddy Wilkins was brought in Thursday night. If a hospital name is not provided, they will go as far as to call all the hospitals in the county to inquire about Maddy. They scour old LiveJournal entries looking for clues, and they keep a record of their progress for all to see. And nine times out of 10, they're right. There is no death notice or obituary for Maddy Wilkins, assuming she ever existed in the first place and was not just a fake name persona originated by an anonymous teenager looking for attention.

SCENARIO #3 The blogger will write an entry that serves as a suicide note, announcing to her online friends that at 12:03am exactly, she will begin swallowing 30 pills every twenty minutes because nobody loves her. [Disclaimer: if you ever see this in one of your friend's online journals, do not disregard it just because some people do choose to cry wolf. Contact your friend's guardian or the local authorities. Better to be safe than sorry.]

Even if caught red handed, the faker will not stop operating. It is a compulsion. She will just create a new screen name, a new online persona, and continue the charade in another community. It may sound silly and fun to play the part of Private Internet Investigator, but the men and women who perpetuate these fake deaths have a real problem and a genuine need for sympathy and attention that could very well evolve into full fledged Munchausen or Munchausen by proxy if it is not recognized and dealt with. If you or someone you know suffers from or is affected by this disorder, do not be ashamed to seek help.