Rachael Jackson reveals how she had cancer after being accused of being a fraudster on Facebook
A mum in one of Sydney’s most exclusive beachside areas has revealed how she became the target of a shocking witch hunt that left her to sleep with a knife under her pillow. SEE THE VIDEO
EXCLUSIVE: A citizen of the year who was accused of being a cancer faker and a fraudster in a terrifying witch hunt by Facebook conspiracy theorists has sensationally released her medical records to end months of bullying.
The Facebook page called ‘Concerned Residents of the Northern Beaches’ had more than 1500 members before it was shut down with the help of police and MPs.
The vigilante group’s target was “do-gooder” and community influencer Rachael Jackson, 47, a single mum with three children, including a boy with a disability.
Among the well-heeled residents of this hate page were lawyers, teachers, nurses and mental healthcare workers and a multi-millionaire entrepreneur, with two of them ending up in court over their behaviour and Ms Jackson so scared she still sleeps with a knife under her pillow.
The armchair detectives – who hid behind fake names like Columbo and Nancy Drew – suspected Ms Jackson was the new Belle Gibson, a Victorian wellness scammer who convinced the world she had cancer while pocketing thousands she raised for charities.
Like Ms Gibson, Ms Jackson – known on Facebook as Rachael Leah Jackson – is an avid social media poster and shares a lot of her personal life online, including her battle with cancer, ongoing health troubles, claims of domestic violence, homelessness and her difficult start in life in an orphanage.
She also uses her Facebook platform to promote her fundraising and charity work for which she was awarded Northern Beaches Citizen of the Year in 2023.
Among the group’s allegations about Ms Jackson were that she:
● Falsely claimed she had cancer and made up that she could lose her leg;
● Was lying about her son being disabled;
● Was siphoning off money from GoFundMe’s; and
● Used charity donations to pay for her four-bedroom Sydney rental home and her kids’ private school fees and holidays.
Today this masthead can reveal the allegations are false.
Our months-long investigation involved viewing Ms Jackson’s extensive medical records and that of her son’s, speaking to her cancer surgeon, GP, charities she’s connected with, detectives, combing through court papers, and making inquiries with GoFundMe.
Her cancer surgeon, Anthony Glover, confirmed Ms Jackson was a patient of his, that she had thyroid cancer which spread to her lymph nodes and, as a result, she also suffered vocal cord damage.
Her GP, Dr Frank Brennan, said Ms Jackson is also battling a “rare and nasty” condition called Tenosynovial Giant Cell Tumor (TGCT), with benign tumours growing in her leg. She has had one operation, but two more are needed as the tumours have returned.
“Worst comes to worst, it can lead to amputation,” Dr Brennan said. “She is being monitored by an orthopaedic surgeon.”
Dr Brennan said the alleged bullying by keyboard warriors has had a “significant impact on her mental health”.
It can also be confirmed Ms Jackson also has ongoing bladder issues, and further health concerns that she has not publicly revealed.
“I am not Belle Gibson I never would be like her she lied, faked everything,” Ms Jackson said.
Ms Jackson, who moved to Australia from the UK when she was 19, believes she became a target after she posted on Facebook community pages about her struggles as a single mum trying to rent in Sydney, a post which sparked vitriol by a number of people, who went on to form the group.
She also believes that she’s a victim of “tall poppy syndrome” because she won Citizen of the Year.
“It’s a wealthy community, and these people are wealthy people and they just piled on,” Ms Jackson said.
“They wanted to run me off the beaches. At the end of last year, I was suicidal.
“It was a witch hunt.”
She said the allegations being discussed in the group, which was later renamed ‘The Davidson Fire – The Chronicles of Pinocchio’, in reference to claims Ms Jackson kept money from a GoFundMe fundraiser for a house fire victim, were embarrassing and hurtful.
A spokesman from the platform confirmed the GoFundMe in question had been “closed by the organiser and all donors were refunded”.
When the page was first launched, Ms Jackson’s friends and charity leaders tried to reason that the claims were untrue, to no avail.
One of the group’s administrators, Julie Crawshay, a wife of a successful businessman, paid for a private detective to track Ms Jackson down.
Her address and phone number were shared online.
What started as a series of wild conspiracy theories then took a sinister turn when people started following Ms Jackson in the street, in cafes and even in the chemist, taking pictures and videos for “evidence”.
Others were so convinced of her guilt, they felt compelled to confront her.
In September last year, Nicholas Crawshay, a multi-millionaire with stage 4 brain cancer, turned up on her doorstep saying he wanted to survey her house. When he was refused entry, he shouted “Your mother is a fraud” at Ms Jackson’s daughter, who was filming him.
Up until then, police had told Ms Jackson to stop reading the posts – being sent to her by friends – and that they were “just words”.
The police were so concerned about the escalating situation, that they advised her to install security cameras and to avoid community events.
Mr Crawshay was charged with stalk or intimidate intending to cause fear of physical or mental harm for which he later pleaded guilty, but said he had a cognitive impairment at the time. The case was dealt with under the mental health act and he was discharged unconditionally.
In a second incident in December, Matthew Browne, who has multiple sclerosis, called Ms Jackson’s mobile a number of times and, when she answered, said, “Rachael, where is the money, where is the money Rachael? We are going to get you!” court papers reveal.
Mr Browne pleaded guilty to using a carriage service to menace, harass, offend and said he was mentally impaired. Last month he was given a 12-month order, with charges dismissed on the condition that the defendant attend counselling.
No other members of the Facebook groups, including their administrators, were charged with any offences.
Ms Jackson claims she was targeted in other ways by others including emails sent to charities and to her kids’ surf club warning them she was a fraudster.
Members of the group also dissected posts Ms Jackson posted on Facebook from years ago and tried to prove they were fake.
The administrators of the group were contacted but did not respond by deadline.
Friend Emily Richey, who has known Ms Jackson for 15 years, said the only thing she did wrong was to put too much of her life on Facebook.
Ms Jackson said she had never met the main protagonists and most of the people on the group were total strangers to her, but their actions still impact her.
“I feel very cautious everywhere I go,” Ms Jackson said. “I don’t know whether people are taking photos of me.
“I feel very betrayed by my own community, because people have been gossiping about me and they have damaged my reputation.
“I’ve lost friends over it. People think there must be some truth to it, but there isn’t.”
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Originally published as Rachael Jackson reveals how she had cancer after being accused of being a fraudster on Facebook
