how much did "ruth" make?

[Daisy4]

In the other Ruth thread several people have mentioned giving her money. It's more than I would have expected so I though it would be interesting to do a thread just for donations to see if we can get an estimation of how much she scammed from freejinger alone. If you donated and feel comfortable with it, just post how much and if you were ever thanked.

[Clementine]

I donated a total of $70 to her, in the spring of 2010.

Never heard a word from her. If she had been smart enough to write a "thank you" in return, I probably would have continued to sponsor her every month. :embarrassed: I'm relieved she never e-mailed me back.

(Yes, I do feel like an idiot now.)

[Mustang Sally]

I just want to put a note in here for people to consider that if they tell when they sent money and how much, that would allow "Ruth" to match up your real names from PayPal with your screen names on FJ. I don't know if this matters to anyone, but it is a possibility to keep in mind.

That said, I am curious to see how many people donated as well.

[Peas n carrots]

I won't give an exact figure but it would be less than $50 overall back during the Rachel saga. As others have noted, I never received a thank you.

[bionicmlle]

I sent $10 WAY back when she first added tip jar.

[nolongerIFBx]

Probably about $175 over a few years. Like I said before, I've spent that much on other types of entertainment and I knew when I did it that there was a chance it was a scam. Still, I'd reather err on the side of believing someone than to always be suspicious and if she really was someone trying to get out of fundamentalism, I know how hard that is and how long it can take.

[fifinella]

De-lurking for the very first time to admit that I gave her $200 total. I did get a thank you after my first donation.

I have been trying hard not to let myself feel stupid for getting taken in. I think I'm pretty much at peace with it--I was trying to do something kind for someone, and I didn't give money I couldn't afford to lose. It's a life lesson.

[lizziesmom]

$50.00 for her trip to Illinois. :cray-cray:

[OnceModestTwiceShy]

I only gave $5 since I'm a broke student myself. This was at least 2 years ago.

[Kailash]

Probably about $175 over a few years. Like I said before, I've spent that much on other types of entertainment and I knew when I did it that there was a chance it was a scam. Still, I'd reather err on the side of believing someone than to always be suspicious and if she really was someone trying to get out of fundamentalism, I know how hard that is and how long it can take.

Just curious to know if you got a thank you? I wonder if she only bothered to thank people who sent at least $100 or something.

[eightykatie]

About $35 here

[OkToBeTakei]

Shit! I'm in the wrong job :lol:

[infooverload]

A quick tally says so far she scammed this group for $565.00 in regards to the people who came forward. My questions are when did you first figure out it was a scam or start to have suspiscions, and secondly what was her motivation?

[nokidsmom]

Shit! I'm in the wrong job :lol:

Nice work if you can get it. :lol:

[Hane]

Piping up to say that, while I did think Ruth was legit for a long time, I never got around to making any contributions, and felt guilty about it.

If it gives you more generous souls any comfort, think of what goes through my mind whenever I give a little money to a street person: "Jesus said to give to the poor. He never said anything about deciding whether the poor deserve it." I know that the scammer may well not be poor, and is definitely not truthful, but you all have proven that you are kind.

[nolongerIFBx]

Just curious to know if you got a thank you? I wonder if she only bothered to thank people who sent at least $100 or something.

No, and one donation was $100. The only time I heard form her directly was when she was (allegedly) making the trip to Chicago. I assumed that she would come right thrugh the town I work in and offered to buy a meal, gas, or night in a hotel. She did thank me for the offer but said that she was planning to take a different route.

But I didn't contribute $$ for the thanks so it didn't bother me.

A quick tally says so far she scammed this group for $565.00 in regards to the people who came forward. My questions are when did you first figure out it was a scam or start to have suspiscions, and secondly what was her motivation?

The story of Rachel's baby did ping some red flags for me. First, the baby was early. The suspicious side of me said that if this blogger is a scammer, she couldn't wait another month for an influx of cash so she hastened the birth. Secondly. homosexuality is pretty much the unpardonable sin in fundamentalism. No way could a girl still struggling with her beliefs hand her baby over to lesbians. But then someone so unused to making decisions might rely very heavily on their older sister's influence and Ruth had been out for a while and might see this as a little vengeance on her familly and ATI. Since the blog continued, I guess I shrugged off my suspicions.

I would guess her motivations were, obviously, money but she also displays a pretty stong hatred for ATI/IBLP. I would agree with others that she was involved at one time. Dislpaying ATI/IBLP as she did was payback for what happened to her (whether what happened was what she portrayed in her blog or something else entirely).

[OnceModestTwiceShy]

Hane, while I'm an atheist, I definitely appreciate the sentiment in that. I think it's better to err on the side of charity. This crazy situation has shown us that RR is a scammer, but it has also shown us how many genuinely good people are here.

I'm reminded of another incident where I got scammed. I was riding the bus from work about 4 years ago when a woman got on at a stop outside of a hospital that was on the route. She was talking on her cell phone, and since it was not very crowded, I overheard her talking to someone whom she was calling "sis". She told "sis" that her husband was supposed to have picked her up at the hospital, he didn't, she didn't have any money to get home, she was lost in the city, etc etc. She was crying a bit and hung up. I was trying not to get involved, but my conscience (and years of experience as a hotline volunteer for various women's orgs) got the better of me and I went and sat down next to her and asked her if she was all right and how I could help. She told me that she was in the city visiting one of her kids in the hospital. The kid had been hit by a car due to her estranged husband's negligence. She had 6 other kids with him and he was abusive. She had only had enough $ to go visit her kid, and the husband was supposed to come meet her there and pick her up. He never came and she didn't know what to do. She needed to get back home and didn't know anyone in the city. First she said she wanted to find a shelter and gave her all the information she needed due to aforementioned hotline exp. Then "sis" called and suddenly she had to get home tonight because her sister couldn't watch her kids any longer. So, finally, I gave her all the cash I had on me (about $20) and then when we got to the train station I actually went to the ATM and gave her another $20 so that she could get home. So $40 total, which was and is a lot of $ for me.

Guess who got on the bus a few weeks later, at the same hospital, talking on the phone to "sis" with the same story? She was mid-sentence when she locked eyes with me, immediately hung up her phone, and shut up for the rest of the ride. I didn't say a thing but I didn't give anyone any money for about 2 years after that, not even change on the street. :?

But the thing is? I'm glad that I got over it and gave again, even if it means I got scammed again. I still think it's important to give to those in need, and I have enough tangible proof of having made a difference through my donations of time, talent and treasure in various other places that they greatly outweigh the scams and make me willing to keep giving.

[merrily]

I was scammed by a kid posing as a deaf boy asking for donations. He actually had a clipboard and everything.

I hate the fact that the internet is a breeding ground for scammers and make real people with actual disorders/unfortunate circumstances be doubted.

[nellautumngirl]

I donated about 10 $ and I never expected a reply in the first place, so I was never suspicious. I was going to give her money for her trip but I never got around to it, thankfully.

Ah well, I've spent money on a lot of stuff I didn't need in the end, it's no big deal. I'll be more careful from now on.

Also, I was never suspicious, I was always irritated when someone brought up that he didn't believe her, right until the end. In hindsight, there were things that could have warned me, but I didn't see them.

[freejugar]

didn't she say 40$ a month in some blog?

http://razingruth.blogspot.com.ar/2010/ ... tions.html

This blog generates very little "income". In fact, I wouldn't even classify it as "income". With the exception of one or two larger "tips", this blog might make $40 on a good month. That includes tips and the $1 I may earn from Amazon associates. Some months, there's nothing at all. It ALL HELPS and I appreciate every single dollar that someone tips. It's still not the income generator some people imagine it is and that makes me chuckle a little. I wish it was enough to be my "income". If I could blog and make enough to live that would be fantastic but I understand that only happens for a few bloggers. The swagbucks are being saved until I can buy my own laptop because that's what I told people they would go for.

[Lainey]

I donated $20, and I did not receive a thank you. While I didn't donate for the thanks, I have to admit it bothered me a little, just because it's so impolite. Not even a general thank you on her blog, I mean.

[nokidsmom]

Hane, while I'm an atheist, I definitely appreciate the sentiment in that. I think it's better to err on the side of charity. This crazy situation has shown us that RR is a scammer, but it has also shown us how many genuinely good people are here.

I'm reminded of another incident where I got scammed. I was riding the bus from work about 4 years ago when a woman got on at a stop outside of a hospital that was on the route. She was talking on her cell phone, and since it was not very crowded, I overheard her talking to someone whom she was calling "sis". She told "sis" that her husband was supposed to have picked her up at the hospital, he didn't, she didn't have any money to get home, she was lost in the city, etc etc. She was crying a bit and hung up. I was trying not to get involved, but my conscience (and years of experience as a hotline volunteer for various women's orgs) got the better of me and I went and sat down next to her and asked her if she was all right and how I could help. She told me that she was in the city visiting one of her kids in the hospital. The kid had been hit by a car due to her estranged husband's negligence. She had 6 other kids with him and he was abusive. She had only had enough $ to go visit her kid, and the husband was supposed to come meet her there and pick her up. He never came and she didn't know what to do. She needed to get back home and didn't know anyone in the city. First she said she wanted to find a shelter and gave her all the information she needed due to aforementioned hotline exp. Then "sis" called and suddenly she had to get home tonight because her sister couldn't watch her kids any longer. So, finally, I gave her all the cash I had on me (about $20) and then when we got to the train station I actually went to the ATM and gave her another $20 so that she could get home. So $40 total, which was and is a lot of $ for me.

Guess who got on the bus a few weeks later, at the same hospital, talking on the phone to "sis" with the same story? She was mid-sentence when she locked eyes with me, immediately hung up her phone, and shut up for the rest of the ride. I didn't say a thing but I didn't give anyone any money for about 2 years after that, not even change on the street. :?

I erred on the side of charity with some guy asking for money at a rest stop. Came up to us, saying he was out of gas and needed money to get to his destination. He went into this long winded explanation of how he made a wrong turn, realized many, many miles later that he was going in wrong direction and now was stuck at the stop. As he went on, I realized his story of making the wrong turn made no sense to someone who was local. I wasn't but was familiar enough to realize it was probably BS. He did seem rather "off" and out there. So I gave him $5, but as I did so, I asked him how he was going to manage to get to his destination (my $5 certainly wouldn't be enough) and he answered "on the generosity of people like you". Um, ok, like that I am supposed to be flattered or something. I simply wished him luck but after that, whenever we were at the same rest stop, I would be looking for him. He was one weird character.

[Ampak]

I will bet she's made thousand. The time/research needed would not be worth it for $40/month. Just my opinion. I've given money to strangers before and when my dad passed some of my Internet friends sent me flowers, a gift basket and even some PayPal contributions. Granted we were Facebook friend and nothing was solicited. There are more good people than scammers out there.

[formergothardite]

I will bet she's made thousand. The time/research needed would not be worth it for $40/month. Just my opinion. I've given money to strangers before and when my dad passed some of my Internet friends sent me flowers, a gift basket and even some PayPal contributions. Granted we were Facebook friend and nothing was solicited. There are more good people than scammers out there.

Your avi makes me giggle. And I also think she made thousands. This has gone on for how many years? And she has followers outside of Free Jinger.

[OnceModestTwiceShy]

I will bet she's made thousand. The time/research needed would not be worth it for $40/month. Just my opinion. I've given money to strangers before and when my dad passed some of my Internet friends sent me flowers, a gift basket and even some PayPal contributions. Granted we were Facebook friend and nothing was solicited. There are more good people than scammers out there.

Your avatar is going to haunt my dreams. Is that Josh's sexy face? :shock: :lol: