Münchausen by Internet

Years ago when I was a social worker I ran across two cases of Münchausen syndrome by proxy where parents caused harm to their children in order to get attention.
Apparently the syndrome continues to flourish in the internet age.

Reports of users who deceive Internet forum participants by portraying themselves as gravely ill or as victims of violence first appeared in the 1990s due to the relative newness of Internet communications. The pattern was identified in 1998 by psychiatrist Marc Feldman, who created the term "Münchausen by Internet" in 2000.

Link - Via Uncertain Times