The Burned Cat Scam

AnonCastillo · 07-07-2005, 09:31 AM

I'm surprised this hasn't been posted yet since I'm sure people have emailed Brian about it:

http://www.livejournal.com/users/cit...er/847289.html*

The woman asking for donations for her cat? Lying. The money is being returned (at least, quite a few people have said that they got their donations returned), so if you donated, don't fret.

Not holding this against Brian, I would have done the same thing if I saw a story like this on the net (hell, I almost donated - stupid of me).

*(Note: last time I looked someone had taken the classic "durr I post shock pictures now"-approach on page 13 of the comments, so you might wanna watch out for that. -Meister)

Archbio · 07-07-2005, 09:50 AM

Winning an argument against cynicism while giving hundreds of people more reason to be cynical.

That's so cute.

Slackbot · 07-07-2005, 09:51 AM

Wow. I'm... amazed. And a lot of other things too, but they've already been covered in the replies to her LJ.

It was a goodhearted thing to do, posting a link here to help what seemed like a very good cause. It's a pity that sometimes good causes turn out to be frauds.

Meister · 07-07-2005, 09:55 AM

How does it matter whether you believe or whether you know there are well-meaning and compassionate people "out there" if you have to lie to hundreds of people, deceive them, and thus essentially give up a huge part of what makes yourself one of the "good guys" to find out?

Good thing the cat is alright. I hope not too many people are too pissed (rightfully) to stop trusting people in general.

netrider6 · 07-07-2005, 10:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Meister

How does it matter whether you believe or whether you know there are well-meaning and compassionate people "out there" if you have to lie to hundreds of people, deceive them, and thus essentially give up a huge part of what makes yourself one of the "good guys" to find out?

Somebody sig that.

I too am shocked. What did she feel she needed to accomplish through this?

shiney · 07-07-2005, 10:15 AM

Probably got to the point of being unable to hide the farce anymore and so person decided to back down before lawyers were called for fraud.

Skyshot · 07-07-2005, 10:36 AM

This person calls themself a cynic and they can't even defend it? I'm a cynic and this fits in fine with my reasoning, though I would only defend it to someone who made me mad enough.

To be honest, I was suspicious of the whole thing to begin with. I mean, it's a cute creature (furry) suffering a horrific fate (fire) from an ambiguous source and may or may not survive. How many scams follow some formula like that?

Mashirosen · 07-07-2005, 12:32 PM

Hey, whoever you were who anonymously flamed the bitch? Sorry for getting on you about it. Go do some more.

While the scammer is definitely a psycho who needs a kick in the cunt, I'm starting to get irked with the people who feel comfortable being all LOLZ @ U!!!! toward those who sent well-wishes or donated. Pet-owners naturally tend to be inclined toward sympathy and generosity -- who's really to blame here, them or the kind of asshole who'd take advantage of that? Who's the one who actually committed a moral wrong?

Anyway, Brian is probably going to put up an apology to anyone who might've donated because of his suggestion, later on.

shiney · 07-07-2005, 12:51 PM

Make sure he doesn't blame himself. This wasn't his fault.

Mashirosen · 07-07-2005, 01:10 PM

No, of course he doesn't, although it must be pretty galling to now have people's trust in him reduced because of some piece of shit's social engineering.

Reading the commentary on her journal, I find the people who seem to genuinely believe she meant no harm by doing this to be the most naive of all. Most people who got burned will have learned a lesson -- the people who imagine that behavior like this doesn't speak of a total fucked-in-the-head-ness are just going to be her suckers again and again. The people who're all LOLZ I NV UR SOCIOPATHIC CUNNING need to be drowned before they pull anything similar, and the people who imagine that this resembles anything like a valid experiment have an even poorer understanding of ethics than they do of laboratory psychology, and also need to be drowned. The people who imagine they're totally immune to being HURR HURR PUNK'D like this need to wake up -- I recognize more than a few of the names attached to angry comments as otherwise very intelligent folks. And the people predicting that this whole "experiment" line is either just a fumbling attempt to avoid possible legal trouble or to cover for being a total sociopathic weirdo are probably the most perceptive of all in this mess.

Edit: apparently she's also lying about potentially being out a hundred bucks in Paypal fees for returning money to people? Ferchrissakes. I feel pretty stupid myself for having been emotionally manipulated, but at least I'm not as retarded as the Patrick Bateman wannabes who think she's some kind of evil genius who was only detected by the LOL SHEEPLE because she confessed.

07-07-2005, 09:31 AM	#1
AnonCastillo Heathen Join Date: Dec 2003 Posts: 268	The Burned Cat Scam I'm surprised this hasn't been posted yet since I'm sure people have emailed Brian about it: http://www.livejournal.com/users/cit...er/847289.html* The woman asking for donations for her cat? Lying. The money is being returned (at least, quite a few people have said that they got their donations returned), so if you donated, don't fret. Not holding this against Brian, I would have done the same thing if I saw a story like this on the net (hell, I almost donated - stupid of me). *(Note: last time I looked someone had taken the classic "durr I post shock pictures now"-approach on page 13 of the comments, so you might wanna watch out for that. -Meister) __________________ Help control the idiot population; remember to have your idiot spayed or neutered.

07-07-2005, 09:50 AM	#2
Archbio Data is Turned On Join Date: Jun 2004 Posts: 3,980	Winning an argument against cynicism while giving hundreds of people more reason to be cynical. That's so cute. __________________ 6201 Reasons to Support Electoral Reform.

07-07-2005, 09:51 AM	#3
Slackbot I don't want a destiny... Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Atlanta, GA, USA, Earth Posts: 198	Wow. I'm... amazed. And a lot of other things too, but they've already been covered in the replies to her LJ. It was a goodhearted thing to do, posting a link here to help what seemed like a very good cause. It's a pity that sometimes good causes turn out to be frauds. __________________ The ViviSection... Final Fantasy 9 & 8-Bit Theater fan art, fan fiction, music video, and doujinshi.

07-07-2005, 10:15 AM	#6
shiney Derrrrrrrrrrrrrp. Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: The land of fartz and buttz Posts: 8,266	Probably got to the point of being unable to hide the farce anymore and so person decided to back down before lawyers were called for fraud. __________________ boop

07-07-2005, 12:32 PM	#8
Mashirosen Watch closely! Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Imaginary tomorrowland Posts: 1,855	Hey, whoever you were who anonymously flamed the bitch? Sorry for getting on you about it. Go do some more. While the scammer is definitely a psycho who needs a kick in the cunt, I'm starting to get irked with the people who feel comfortable being all LOLZ @ U!!!! toward those who sent well-wishes or donated. Pet-owners naturally tend to be inclined toward sympathy and generosity -- who's really to blame here, them or the kind of asshole who'd take advantage of that? Who's the one who actually committed a moral wrong? Anyway, Brian is probably going to put up an apology to anyone who might've donated because of his suggestion, later on. __________________ "Remember how we all thought the Jedi were, well, Space Knights of the Round Table? Well, as it turns out, they're a bunch of self-righteous virgins who kidnap kids to replenish their numbers."

07-07-2005, 09:55 AM	#4
Meister Pure joy Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Germany Posts: 10,689	How does it matter whether you believe or whether you know there are well-meaning and compassionate people "out there" if you have to lie to hundreds of people, deceive them, and thus essentially give up a huge part of what makes yourself one of the "good guys" to find out? Good thing the cat is alright. I hope not too many people are too pissed (rightfully) to stop trusting people in general.

07-07-2005, 12:51 PM	#9
shiney Derrrrrrrrrrrrrp. Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: The land of fartz and buttz Posts: 8,266	Make sure he doesn't blame himself. This wasn't his fault. __________________ boop

07-07-2005, 01:10 PM	#10
Mashirosen Watch closely! Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Imaginary tomorrowland Posts: 1,855	No, of course he doesn't, although it must be pretty galling to now have people's trust in him reduced because of some piece of shit's social engineering. Reading the commentary on her journal, I find the people who seem to genuinely believe she meant no harm by doing this to be the most naive of all. Most people who got burned will have learned a lesson -- the people who imagine that behavior like this doesn't speak of a total fucked-in-the-head-ness are just going to be her suckers again and again. The people who're all LOLZ I NV UR SOCIOPATHIC CUNNING need to be drowned before they pull anything similar, and the people who imagine that this resembles anything like a valid experiment have an even poorer understanding of ethics than they do of laboratory psychology, and also need to be drowned. The people who imagine they're totally immune to being HURR HURR PUNK'D like this need to wake up -- I recognize more than a few of the names attached to angry comments as otherwise very intelligent folks. And the people predicting that this whole "experiment" line is either just a fumbling attempt to avoid possible legal trouble or to cover for being a total sociopathic weirdo are probably the most perceptive of all in this mess. Edit: apparently she's also lying about potentially being out a hundred bucks in Paypal fees for returning money to people? Ferchrissakes. I feel pretty stupid myself for having been emotionally manipulated, but at least I'm not as retarded as the Patrick Bateman wannabes who think she's some kind of evil genius who was only detected by the LOL SHEEPLE because she confessed. __________________ "Remember how we all thought the Jedi were, well, Space Knights of the Round Table? Well, as it turns out, they're a bunch of self-righteous virgins who kidnap kids to replenish their numbers."