A CANADIAN woman has faked having terminal cancer and has raised over $20,000 in charity donations.

23-year-old Ashley Anne Kirilow, told people that she had several forms of untreatable cancer and set up a charity “Change for Cancer” to raise money.

She had gone to the doctor for the removal of a benign lump in her breast, but instead told people that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer.

She later elaborated on the lie, adding that she had ovarian and brain cancer.

Kirilow shaved her head, waxed her eyebrows, plucked out her eyelashes, and went on a diet to make it appear as if she was undergoing chemotherapy.

On her MySpace page she wrote:

“Hey I’m Ashley, I have been battling several types of cancer for over a year now. Every day is a challenge and I have to fight for my life, I now appreciate the smaller things in life that most people take for granted. I love to meet new people so feel free to add me and chat.”

Under “occupation” Kirilow wrote: “Fighting for my life”

According to the Toronto Star, Kirilow told people that her parents were dead. However they are both alive and well.

Her father, Mike Kirilow, did not believe that his daughter was telling the truth when she told him she had cancer. He threatened to call the police when he realised that she had been scamming people.

Volunteers claim that Kirilow raised $20,000 but she denies this saying that the amount she raised was less than $5,000.

The Toronto Star reports that she said: “I dug myself a big hole that I couldn’t get out of,” Ashley said. “And there’s nobody to blame but me.”

She has allegedly said that she only lied to get her family’s attention and that she wants to pay back all the money.