The Truth About Ruth - Part 3

[previously]

I see what you mean, but maybe she just doesn't really care about those consequences.

Yeah, that's certainly possible, but they do seem like huge ones. She also lost a few thousand dollars in child support and alimony a month. If day-to-day childcare isn't her thing I can see that as being an okay trade, but it was a pretty large amount.

I think the difference between the Munchausen type and the straight up scam is how long it goes on, that it plays on your emotions, and in this case that PM can use it to express her distaste for certain things (religion, QF, the Gosselins).

[TheJewAmongUs]

I don't recall Alecto ever saying that she verified Ruth's identity and I know she never told any of the other mods/admins, which if she did know her real identity, (which obviously we don't think she could have now) I think would have been out of character for her. So I've looked through her old posts and I've found the following post by her:

http://freejinger.org/forums/viewtopic. ... th#p204456

Ignoring the obvious problems we have in hindsight about Alecto's "always being truthful with us," her post sounds to me like she was relying on Creaky Steel's interaction with Ruth as being her "verification."

I wish Creaky Steel would address this issue with us, but I imagine it's similar to Vyckie's and she talked to her on the phone or via email/chats and since she had no real reason to disbelieve her, she didn't.

Oh geeze, there's some good stuff in Alecto's post.

Except I own the forum, and my entire admin staff can easily vouch for who I am. And quite honestly, I have access to every single member's IP address, email and other personal information, and I have never released anything. In the year I've owned FJ, I've never been anything less than upfront and honest, and I have a track record to prove it.

As far as Ruth, I understand and appreciate Treemom's concern. There is a certain level of liability for us if FJ is name dropped for credibility. That is a big reason we aren't a support site. We don't provide resources - because that would create liability. Also, we've had bad experiences with people using members in that regard.

That being said, Creeky Steel is a long time member, and I know first hand she has been involved with this situation and Ruth, so I am willing to take her and her vouching for the situation at face value and trust it until I receive information otherwise.

Because the admin couldn't make a bunch of sock mod accounts, right?

I've said this before, but since it's part of the discussion again, I'll re-add it.

I never questioned the authenticity of Ruth on FJ because when I asked her a question on her blog I was called a cunt, a whore and 15 different words for fat.* I never bothered to post on her threads on FJ because I didn't care enough to continue interacting with her rabid supporters. Also at the time there was one FJ poster in particular who jumped on anyone they didn't agree with on non-Ruth threads, only to be cheered on by other FJers. At one point last year I just decided it wasn't fun to play in this sandbox with all the mean girls, so I stopped posting until that person flounced during Alectogate. So that is my long winded way of saying, I definitely think any reputation FJ has for jumping on people who ask questions, or general bitchiness towards people who don't hold the popular opinion isn't undeserved.

*Ok, it was more like three, 15 just sounded more alliterative.

[gardenvarietycitizen]

Using TOR is it possible to ensure that you have two or more apparent IP 'addresses' but in fact be posting from the same physical location?

Sure. You can do that trivially with any VPN and people all over the world do it all the time, myself included. Ask any expats. :)

You just need to be careful to post as "Bob" only when running VPN 1, and as "Steve" when running VPN 2.

Or in my case, I'm "in Japan" when I want to consume Japanese region-restricted media (running VPN with servers in Japan), I'm "in the office" when I want to work from home (running VPN with servers in my office) and access certain protected databases, and I'm "at home" (not using a VPN, so showing my actual municipal internet service IP) when I'm just surfing the web at home. I'm also "in the office" without a VPN when I'm actually physically in the office, of course.

But the only way that someone using VPN in the RR saga would make sense is if someone set PossumMomma up for the fall - theoretically RR could be a faker who is not PossumMomma but wants to blame PossumMomma, by purposely stalking her Facebook and then using VPN to show herself as being in PossumMomma's cities instead of where RR was saying she was. (Because if the RR scammer was trying to make RR seem real, she would have used a VPN to make the RR posts IP come from the cities that RR was writing about being in - NOT the cities where the Facebook owner was.)

But that wouldn't make RR any less fake, and would in fact be calling attention to RR's fakeness (even if trying to blame someone else) so it wouldn't make so much sense to do it unless the entire reason for RR existing at all was to be found out like this and defame PossumMomma. With the other usernames tying evidence and things though, plus Occam's Razor, I'd say it's unlikely. Far easier to believe that RR is PossumMomma not using any VPN or anything.

As for Calladus I only read a bit of his blog, I can believe that he'd just be some person who is a friend of PossumMomma (I don't think he ever cared or even knew about RR until this "is she real" stuff started blowing up and people were tying it to his friend) and because he was friends with PossumMomma, he really really wants to keep believing. (Or he could be in on it, I guess - but I don't see any reason to assume he has to be.) Either way he doesn't seem to care if RR is fake and is happy to believe RR is fake, he just doesn't want to believe that the true identity of the scammer is someone who he trusted. For him to admit she's a scammer, he has to admit he fell for it.

As for whether the scammer is officially mentally ill or not - I have no way of knowing, but I don't think it matters too much. Either way, the appropriate action (and the most helpful for a mentally ill scammer too, I think) is quick exposure of the fraud and uprooting every time.

[nelliebelle1197]

I feel badly for Calladus. He has been through a bit himself, it seems, and now twice he has had to defend this woman against accusations of scamming. I hope he is keeping up with the evidence and can decide objectively about this latest scam.

[Palimpsest]

I feel badly for Calladus. He has been through a bit himself, it seems, and now twice he has had to defend this woman against accusations of scamming. I hope he is keeping up with the evidence and can decide objectively about this latest scam.

Me too.

[Curious]

Sure. You can do that trivially with any VPN and people all over the world do it all the time, myself included. Ask any expats. :)

You just need to be careful to post as "Bob" only when running VPN 1, and as "Steve" when running VPN 2.

Just FTR, we can tell a lot of this stuff. As I've said before, we have much stiffer protocols in place now, than the previous administration. We had a member register using a VPN once and naturally it made me a little suspicious. I dropped the member an email asking why they felt it was necessary for a forum and they explained and gave me verifiable proof of their explanation, so I activated their membership.

[EmmieJ]

It was a great four years and I love those of you I've met in person or spoke to along the way by phone or email. I hope we can still communicate. Ruth

Or, It was a great four years and I love the money I've gotten from so many of you along the way. I hope there is some way I can still get money from you. TheScammerFormerlyKnownAsRuth.

[NDC22]

Why do I picture "Ruth" has a giant bulletin board on her wall with note cards, and post-it notes with all kinds of information on them and pictures pinned up so she able to keep track of everyone is claims to be? Like something out of Homeland when Carrie worked from home? How does "Ruth" keep track of all of her scams, research, socks, log-in info, etc. inquiring minds want to know.

[previously]

Why do I picture "Ruth" has a giant bulletin board on her wall with note cards, and post-it notes with all kinds of information on them and pictures pinned up so she able to keep track of everyone is claims to be? Like something out of Homeland when Carrie worked from home? How does "Ruth" keep track of all of her scams, research, socks, log-in info, etc. inquiring minds want to know.

I think if this were the case she would've done a better job keeping her story straight. Though it is funny to imagine her in her UV-filmed room with a bulletin board like that.

[Rachel333]

I'm also happy to go on record as saying, Rachel333, that you're on my suspicious list as well. Despite your post count, there's just a little too much about the alacrity with which you've posted on the Ruth forums, your 'trailing' of the 'redacted' family, and your dragging 'Creaky Steel' into it for my liking.

Honestly I'm not totally sure what you mean, but I'm not ever going to be offended if someone is suspicious of me. I didn't realize I was on anyone's radar, though. Is anyone else concerned about me? The admins should be able to confirm that I'm not RR and that I really am posting from where I say I am.

[previously]

Me too.

Me too.

[Palimpsest]

As for whether the scammer is officially mentally ill or not - I have no way of knowing, but I don't think it matters too much. Either way, the appropriate action (and the most helpful for a mentally ill scammer too, I think) is quick exposure of the fraud and uprooting every time.

This.

[bsue]

As others have mentioned, about 5 blog posts dealing with Rachel's pregnancy and Ellie's birth/adoption popped up in feedly recently, so were edited and reposted somehow. I know that people have speculated that she is cleaning them up and I assumed that she would have maybe removed the references to the adoptive parents being same sex as that was something that people ultimately found suspicious. But, I just read through them and she does still talk about that and she also still includes the post requesting donations for Rachel (so she can go to Disneyland, natch!), which now of course sounds like a bald money grab. Has anyone done a comparison to see if she did change anything in those specific posts (as opposed to just deleting posts wholesale)? Or am I misunderstanding about why those old posts would suddenly show up in my reader?

Apologies if this has already been covered. I'm trying to keep up, and can't see Chatter yet (obviously) if it's over there.

[Lainey]

Apologies if this has already been covered. I'm trying to keep up, and can't see Chatter yet (obviously) if it's over there.

I don't know why her old posts are showing up in Feedly. However, I started a game in "Quiver Full of Worldly Distractions" to help newbies get their post counts up. ;)

[thoughtful]

I don't want to c & p, because that would be spamm-ish (and boring for people reading both threads), but I just posted in the Chatter thread about two things:

1. Considering her a bad person and feeling she might have a diagnosis of some sort (and that thinking that somehow adds to the stigma of mental illness) are not polar opposites that can never meet.

The category of "personality disorders" includes several descriptions that might fit her, and there is generally not the kind of sympathy for those folks that there is for people with mental illness.

A lot of what I've read about such disorders says "if you are involved with a person who has this disorder, get out, save yourself (where is my crushed Captain Kirk pic?).

2. There is no real reason, yet, to jump to the conclusion that Evie here, or the Evie in the ABC News article, is the same person.

Could be her, but there has not been even any tenuous connection shown yet, let alone proof.

[Pinkzebra54]

I sent this to :

I want my donation back "Ruth" or I will report you to Paypal as fraudulent. Luckily, I have a friend high on the chain at Paypal and I can enlist her help. Do the right thing.

And received this reply:

Re: I want my $120 back

Show Details

From

Can you explain to me what is going on? Did you donate to the defunct pmomma site? I don't have a paypal through pmomma.

Help FJ'ers, I'm new to this and don't know what my next step should be (if there should even be a next step.)

[thoughtful]

I sent this to ****:

I want my donation back "Ruth" or I will report you to Paypal as fraudulent. Luckily, I have a friend high on the chain at Paypal and I can enlist her help. Do the right thing.

And received this reply:

Re: I want my $120 back

Show Details

From

*****

Can you explain to me what is going on? Did you donate to the defunct pmomma site? I don't have a paypal through pmomma.

Help FJ'ers, I'm new to this and don't know what my next step should be (if there should even be a next step.)

Please don't post the person's real name anywhere on FJ.

I'm intrigued and shocked that you got an answer at all!

[Pinkzebra54]

OMG - I completely forgot. SORRY. Thanks for deleting it.

[smiley mcgee]

I sent this to :

I want my donation back "Ruth" or I will report you to Paypal as fraudulent. Luckily, I have a friend high on the chain at Paypal and I can enlist her help. Do the right thing.

And received this reply:

Re: I want my $120 back

Show Details

From

*******

Can you explain to me what is going on? Did you donate to the defunct pmomma site? I don't have a paypal through pmomma.

Help FJ'ers, I'm new to this and don't know what my next step should be (if there should even be a next step.)

So she actually responded to you as "Ruth" with her real name? Ballsy move making a concrete connection of her own free will.

Eta: ok maybe not ballsy. It's not new info. Just seems like a "to hell with the charade" move, I guess.

[Amelie]

I sent this to :

I want my donation back "Ruth" or I will report you to Paypal as fraudulent. Luckily, I have a friend high on the chain at Paypal and I can enlist her help. Do the right thing.

And received this reply:

Re: I want my $120 back

Show Details

From

Can you explain to me what is going on? Did you donate to the defunct pmomma site? I don't have a paypal through pmomma.

Help FJ'ers, I'm new to this and don't know what my next step should be (if there should even be a next step.)

Did you send it to the Razing Ruth email address?

[Minerva]

I mean, are we now going to diagnose the originators of "I'm a Nigerian who has a relative in America who just needs your help in claiming my inheritance" letters as sick ...

or just as scammers?

I'm pretty sure the difference between regular Münchausen's and scamming is that Münchausen's patients do it only for the sympathy and not for financial gain. This would probably be the distinction between Münchausen's by internet and scamming, as well. There seems to be a big difference between MbI and regular Münchausen's in that MbI does not result in the solicitation of actual medical attention, just attention in the general sense. Which is kind of what...trolls do.

[Curious]

ADMIN HAT ON

Folks,

People are getting really sloppy about posting real names here. We have been pretty lenient, but by now everyone should know NO REAL NAMES.

We are going to start passing out warnings if this continues.

This means no first names, no last names, no first name and last initial, no initials of the real name. You are free to use PM or Possummomma or any of the plethora of other creative names that members have come up with. You have lots of choices that do not include real names.

People will know who you are talking about without using real names. Please don't make us have to hand out warnings.

[thoughtful]

So she actually responded to you as "Ruth" with her real name? Ballsy move making a concrete connection of her own free will.

Eta: ok maybe not ballsy. It's not new info. Just seems like a "to hell with the charade" move, I guess.

I don't see that -- it looks to me like Pinkzebra contacted her as the real person we know is Ruth, called her "Ruth" to call her out in the email, and got a "Huh? I don't know what you are talking about" answer.

She has freely admitted she is Possummomma in various places -- Pinterest, with Calladus, etc. So that's not news.

[justakitten]

Whew. It took me 3 days to read all of this. I'd better go find out where the kids are.... ;)

[Cheetah]

Me too! I feel like I haven't done anything but read this thread in DAYS.

I'm still 4 pages behind in this part 3, never totally caught up on parts 1 and 2, and haven't gone onto chatter in a few days... compelling stuff but hard to keep up!