EXCLUSIVE: Australia, the home of cancer fakers: American fraudster who pretended to be a BRAIN surgeon suffering from killer disease is allowed to stay down under

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A vile fraudster has duped people into thinking she had brain cancer to cover up her lack of medical knowledge after conning her way into a doctor's job.

Vanessa O'Rourke, 31, from the United States, will be allowed to remain in Australia despite failing our good character test after an Administrative Appeals Tribunal last week cleared the path for her to be granted a bridging visa that allows her to be released from immigration detention. 

O'Rourke is the latest in a growing list of cancer fraudsters hitting the headlines, including Belle Gibson, Alysha Goring and Hanna Dickenson.

Gibson ripped off thousands through her bogus claims of curing cancer through healthy eating while Goring and Dickenson ripped off friends and family to indulge in fancy holidays and buy expensive goods.

O'Rourke used an extremely dodgy resume to score a job with Medscribe - a private company that operates in south east Queensland and employs trained persons to work alongside qualified medical practitioners in hospitals. 

American Vanessa O'Rourke, 31, claimed to be a doctor who was suffering from brain cancer. She has been allowed to stay in the community after winning an appeal

The American national had come to Australia on a visitor visa in 2016 before returning a year later and staying illegally. 

She claimed she was a formally trained doctor and that she had undergone her studies at Temple University in Pennsylvania to become a brain surgeon.

So brazen was the con woman that she would refer to herself as 'Doctor' both verbally and in written communications. 

But over time her employer noticed O'Rourke displayed a lack of medical knowledge that one might expect from a trained doctor. 

She was questioned by bosses but told them she was suffering from brain cancer and that her treatments left her with some short-term memory loss that affected her medical knowledge recall.

By April 2017, Queensland police had closed in after receiving a tip-off from US authorities that O'Rourke was a fraud. 

She had fled the US while wanted for unrelated theft offences.

When a US court tracked her down, O'Rourke sent a fax from a QLD resort under the guise of a surgeon advising she was required to stay in Australia for another five months to receive cancer treatment.

Belle Gibson arrives at the Federal Court in Melbourne last month. The cancer con artist was facing court over failure to pay a $410,000 penalty she got for duping Australians

When questioned by Queensland police, O'Rourke claimed she had been set up by her family and friends 'who had their own agenda'.

The AAT heard O'Rourke admitted that she had forged the letter in an attempt to avoid returning to the US but not because she was scared to face justice. 

Her ex-partner - a US police officer - had organised for O'Rourke to be fraudulently charged with offences she did not commit, she claimed. 

The tribunal further heard a GoFundMe page had been established in the US to raise money for O'Rourke's bogus cancer treatment. 

Hanna Dickenson faked having terminal cancer before scamming money from friends of her family. She was jailed for three months

The page claimed she had been studying at Temple University to become a brain surgeon when she was diagnosed with brain cancer. 

An article on a US website indicated that O'Rourke had to travel to Australia for a new type of treatment which was unavailable in the US.

While the first round of treatment had been successful, she reportedly needed to pay for the second round of treatment 

A benefit dinner was even held to raise money with the GoFundMe page collecting about $10,000 towards a goal of $65,000.

O'Rourke told the tribunal the page must have been set up by her ex-partner to benefit himself and she had not been convicted of the alleged crime. 

She also ripped off a pool manufacturer and electrical goods shop. 

Alysha Rose Goring ripped off friends and family by pretending to have brain cancer. She was jailed last month but released on appeal bail

O'Rourke pleaded guilty at the Maroochydore Magistrates' Court in 2017 to two counts of forgery and uttering, fraud in which she gained benefit or advantage as an employee, two counts of uttering a forged document, and two counts of fraud where she dishonestly caused detriment. 

The appeals tribunal heard O'Rourke now took full responsibility for being dishonest in the past and that she would never commit any offence again in the future. 

Under the guidelines for Australia's character test, a person will be taken to have a substantial criminal record, and thus fail the test, if she has been sentenced to a term of imprisonment of 12 months or more. 

She was then taken into immigration detention in August last year after unsuccessfully applying for partner visa, which has now been resubmitted. 

The Cairns man told the tribunal O'Rourke had struggled in immigration detention, complaining she went from being a happy and energetic person to being miserable, vulnerable and anxious. 

In sending O'Rourke's bridging visa application back to the immigration minister, the tribunal stated that 'the very low risk that the Applicant presents to the Australian community is acceptable in this case'.