Authorities in Kentucky say a 25-year-old woman faces as much as 10 years behind bars for allegedly lying about a devastating illness in an attempt to collect donations.

As Fox News reported, Jessica Marie Krecskay was arrested last week on suspicion of felony thef.

Police believe she bilked donors out of thousands of dollars after claiming she had been diagnosed with ovarian cancer and it had spread to other parts of her body.

Some of the roughly $10,000 she allegedly collected between 2013 and 2017 came from concerned coworkers. One former colleague said they would also help Krecskay around the house during that period.

“The other girls at work would clean her house for her, take her out to eat all the time,” Jessica Lunsford said. “Gave their own sick time and vacation time hours to go towards her.”

Lunsford further claimed Krecskay shaved her head in an effort to make her story more believable.

Local authorities became involved after receiving reports that she might have faked the diagnosis.

According to 16th Judicial Circuit attorney Rob Sanders in Kenton County, another case making headlines made some of Krecskay’s donors wonder if she was truly sick.

“Publicity from another fake cancer case prompted those same people to report their suspicions about this defendant to police,” he said.

The suspect was arrested and later released from jail after posting $2,500 bond. She is expected to appear in court for an arraignment hearing in Kenton County County Court next month.

“Anytime someone uses a false claim of such a dreaded disease for fraudulent purposes, it evokes understandably angry and emotional responses from the many people who actually battle cancer or love someone battling cancer,” Sanders concluded.

[Featured image: Jessica Krecskay, Kenton County Detention Center]