Cancer fraud accused says case has left her paralysed

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A woman accused of using an online fundraising site to rip off $15,000 did not appear in court today, saying the stress of the case had left her paralysed.

It is alleged the 23-year-old woman - who has interim name suppression - fundraised on donation website Givealittle, claiming to have cancer.

In September, police laid three charges of obtaining a pecuniary advantage totalling more than $15,000 by deception and a fourth charge of obtaining a lease of a car by deception.

Today in Auckland District Court she faced a new charge of obtaining mostly whiteware, worth $4462, by deception.

According to court documents, on May 14, the defendant fraudulently obtained possession of two washing machines, a dryer, two microwaves, a column heater, a toaster and a watch.

Her lawyer Alex Steadman said his client had been hospitalised with stress-induced paralysis.

When he visited her, he said she had lost sensation in the entire right side of her body, which meant she could only get around in a wheelchair.

At her previous Auckland District Court appearance, Mr Steadman said the defendant was in hospital for "holistic" health problems and argued publication of her name and identifying details would be "counter-therapeutic".

Her appearance in court today was excused and argument over suppression was put off for two weeks when the lawyer could provide more detailed medical records.

The court also heard today that, despite suppression, the 23-year-old had been hounded on social media and had deleted her Facebook profile as a result.

Mr Steadman said some messages had been "threatening in nature" and extended family had been targeted as well.

Givealittle founder and services manager Nathalie Whitaker earlier said this was the first time a Givealittle page had been at the centre of a police investigation.

Ms Whitaker said the website didn't authenticate every page that was set up and relied on the public to alert them to any concerns.

"Any member of the public is able to anonymously trigger our reporting process if they have concerns, and it's at that point we will undertake an internal review," she said.

The woman is expected to enter pleas to the charges when she appears later this month.