A 37-year-old woman was arrested in Joinville after pretending to be 12 years old and living for 14 months as the adopted daughter of a family from Santa Catarina.
The hoax was discovered by an aunt of the family, who suspected the stories and found reports on the internet about similar scams carried out by the suspect.
Amanda Maria Souza de Oliveira was indicted for embezzlement and false identity. She spent 14 months living as a daughter in the family home that welcomed her in Joinville.
Video shows how 37-year-old woman pretended to be 12 and acted like a child
The case of the 37-year-old woman who pretended to be 12 years old and started living as the adopted daughter of a couple in Joinville (SC) was discovered by an “aunt” who did not believe the stories told by the scammer, said delegate Rodrigo Bueno Gusso. Amanda Maria Souza de Oliveira, who went by Gabriele, was unmasked by the family that welcomed her after an internet search.
Suspicious, the aunt researched cases of people who committed scams posing as children and found reports from 2023 about a crime attributed to a woman named Amanda in Rio de Janeiro. In addition to the similarity in the way they acted, the physical appearance of the suspect reinforced the family’s suspicions.
The woman reported the suspicions to her adoptive father. Although he initially disbelieved the story, he also identified similarities when checking the video report.
To prove it, they went to the police station in Joinville, at the end of May.
“He saw that the person who was arrested in Rio de Janeiro was the person who was inside his house,” he said.
The Civil Police of Santa Catarina identified that the woman is a repeat offender of this type of fraud. The suspect was arrested last Tuesday (2). On Friday (5), the Civil Police indicted her for false identity and embezzlement.
In a statement to the police, Amanda Maria Souza de Oliveira confessed to having carried out the same scam in five other states: Paraná, Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais, Goiás and Ceará. A case in Natal (RN) also came to light in recent days.
In Santa Catarina, the police are investigating two other incidents in Florianópolis and Chapecó.
37-year-old woman imitated a child’s voice
The report that caught the aunt’s attention concerned a crime that occurred in Nova Iguaçu (RJ).
In Rio de Janeiro, in 2023, she was “Duda”, and spent a month under the care of Renata Magalhães and Viviane Henriques, 45 years old, director of a social project. The two friends often take in children who are victims of abuse and have autism.
In a record published on Renata’s profile, the perpetrator of the scam appears imitating a child’s voice (watch at the top of the article).
She said she witnessed Amanda vomit needles on several occasions.
“She vomited the needle. She vomited, she did this in front of me. It’s a bizarre thing. I’ve seen a lot of people laughing and making jokes on the internet, but she’s a fraudster, a narcissist, a dangerous woman. She’s a person who dressed up a character and created a narrative”, said Renata.
Welcomed by a couple and treated like a child
Amanda Maria lived for 14 months as the family’s adopted daughter in Joinville after meeting the victims when looking for a church and reporting having fled Pará after suffering mistreatment. She introduced herself as Gabriele.
The investigation showed that the woman is from Ceará and the report is similar to that made in other states.
According to the delegate, in addition to the family that welcomed her into their home, the pastor and the community were victims of the scam, as they became aware at the beginning of last year to try to find a place for her to stay.
In addition to a 12th birthday party, Amanda received weight loss pills, a room with decorations and children’s toys.
“She managed to emotionally kidnap the family. It was a family with a good financial situation, so she led a very good teenage life. During the period she was with the family, she did not receive money directly, but everything that was good and the best she received”, said the delegate.
Lawyer Rafael Luiz Siewert, public defender appointed by the Court for the suspect, informed that she will undergo mental health examinations. The date has not yet been confirmed.