Listeners of Adelaide radio station SAFM scammed out of $12,000 by Canadian conwoman in 2008

Adelaide radio listeners were duped by a Canadian conwoman’s false story about breast cancer, and raised $12,000 to help. Twelve years later, the full story has only just been revealed. LISTEN: THE CONWOMAN EXPLAINS WHY SHE DID IT Southern Cross Austereo radio station SAFM aired the story of a Canadian woman, Sarah Robertson, who claimed to have terminal breast cancer, in December 2008. The heartbreaking tale, shared on the breakfast program, which was then hosted by Dave ‘Rabbit’ Rabbetts, Amber Petty and Andrew ‘Cosi’ Costello, emerged from a “Gotcha call” and inspired several listeners to call in and donate money to Robertson. Robertson at the time said she was weeks away from tying the knot with an Adelaide man called Blaine Armstrong. About a year later, the presenters discovered the entire story was a hoax made up by Robertson, who had faked her “death” and the identity of her Adelaide fiance. In the process, she collected about $12,000 in public donations from the station who had given the money to Robertson in good faith. To this day, The Advertiser understands listeners who donated money have not been reimbursed. Petty, who uncovered the scam in January 2010, said only one public announcement was then made on their breakfast program asking people who had given money to call back as “something had come to light”. “To my knowledge no one called. As far as I’m aware, no one has ever been given their money back and nobody outside of a handful of people at SAFM at the time ever found out what had gone on,” said Petty, who left the station in June 2010. “It’s never sat well with me. I was very helpless to do anything about it personally. “I still remember people calling in, such as kids with Christmas money, a woman who had recently lost her sister to cancer … and all of that has really haunted me.” SCA SA general manager James Pedersen declined to comment to The Advertiser. Costello, who’s still a member of the SAFM breakfast show, also declined to comment but last year told a US podcast Love + Radio, the whole situation was “a little bit bizarre”. “We were talking to her a lot on air … the biggest thing for me was why did this Blaine character disappear, if he’s the guy from Adelaide, why was he nowhere to be seen, yet we were doing all this stuff, fundraising, yet why didn’t Blaine come into the studio or be around,” he said on the podcast. “It shows just how easily you could be tricked.” Petty – perhaps best known as a bridesmaid at Princess Mary’s Danish wedding in 2004 – eventually tracked Robertson down on Facebook but was immediately blocked after trying to make contact. Incredibly, late last year, Petty received an email from Robertson who finally admitted to the scam and said she wanted to “come clean”. Now aged 46 and still living in Canada, Robertson claimed she was dealing with mental health issues and drug addition when she orchestrated the hoax for “sh.ts and giggles”. “I remember thinking this is ridiculous, how can he (Rabbetts) not know this is fake. When I want to be I can be pretty charming, I can talk myself into pretty much anything,” she told Petty in a conversation which aired on a new podcast, Snap Judgment, on NPR radio in the US. “It’s disgusting. It was horrible and I can’t do anything to take that back. “It sounds like a cop out but I was mentally sick, I was so f … ing sick. “Regardless of mental health or this or that or alcoholism … that doesn’t mean, well ‘Hey, I f … ed a bunch of people over, it’s okay because I’m alcoholic, or I’m an addict or I’m bipolar’. “I’m not running away from any of the responsibilities, I did it 100 per cent. Fear has stopped me (contacting SAFM) and I don’t have $9,000 (Canadian dollars) out of my own pocket to pay someone.” The catfishing story is a major part of Petty’s upcoming book, This is Not a Love Song, a memoir which covers her experiences on breakfast radio and her time in SA. Now based in Melbourne, Petty said the larger-than-life tale has also attracted attention from top Hollywood management company United Talent Agency, which has expressed interest in turning the story into a TV miniseries or film. “When I think back to it and I think what this woman got away with, and the fact she has never been brought to justice … it’s pretty scary to think these people are out there,” said Petty, who spent several hours over a few months talking to Robertson. “In the end I could see that while there was some genuine empathy and remorse, there was also still a lot of bending of the truth. “I absolutely want to know that every single person who donated even five dollars has been tracked down and not only reimbursed but potentially with interest.” Tell us: Did you donate money to Sarah Robertson in 2008?