The 21-year old called Julia Faustyna has gone viral on social media after starting an Instagram account named @iammadeleinemcann and already has 882,000 followers on Instagram with the goal of proving her identity and capturing the attention of the authorities, who she says have ignored her. She explained that she “first started wondering if she was Madeleine McCann a few months ago after hearing something from her grandmother.”

"Help me, I need to talk to Kate and Gerry McCann [the child's parents]. I think I might be Madeleine. I need a DNA test. UK and Polish police investigators are trying to ignore me," the young woman wrote on her Instagram account, which she used to get the authorities attention.

According to CNN Portugal, “the young woman has several similarities to Maddie, which includes the spot on her eyes, the shape of her nose and several other signs” which Julia is using to justify the claim. In an attempt to prove she is the missing girl, she posted a video showing a picture of Kate McCann which transitions into an image of her own face, suggesting similarities between the two. Madeleine McCann would be 19 years old however, Julia Faustyna states that this means nothing because she has been unable to access her birth certificate.

Madeleine McCann disappeared from the apartment where she was staying on holiday with her family in Praia da Luz in the Algarve in 2007. In the last 16 years there have been theories around the case and few leads, until the arrest of the main suspect Christian Brueckner in the abduction and alleged death of the girl by the German police.

As for the sexual abuse she says she has suffered since she was 8 years old, the young German woman says that the abuser is similar to the robot portrait of the police related to Maddie’s case. "I know this person and I will always recognise this face. That's him. It's Peter. I'm sure that's his face. I think I may be Madeleine, but I'm not 100% sure without the DNA test. But on this robot portrait, I'm sure it's him."

Today the Express newspaper reports that “despite scepticism, a source close to the McCanns said the family is "taking no chances", reported BirminghamLive. "They are willing to look at all leads. It is important they look at all of the factors, the girl does look similar. There’s no disputing that," they said. On Friday (February 17), the woman claimed she had spoken to a person claiming to be Maddie's cousin who said there was a "possibility" to talk with Kate and Gerry McCann about taking a DNA test.”