Comments on: Unscrewed Funds Embezzled By Former Treasurer

By: Forbidden Lie$: Norma Khouri and Her Lit Hoax | A Distant Soil by Colleen Doran

Sat, 26 Sep 2009 17:53:18 +0000

[...] had more than a few encounters with con artists including one I had known for years and did not spot until he had [...]

By: Josh More - Starmind Blog » Mythic Monday - Orpheus

Josh More - Starmind Blog » Mythic Monday - Orpheus — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 14:25:34 +0000

[...] Maybe, maybe not. . . probably not. [...]

By: Colleen

Colleen — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 00:05:58 +0000

Oh, I am full of it. This is not limited to fandom. Bernie Madoff is more than ample proof of that.

There are scamsters galore out there. I got scammed myself in the last decade, and badly. I think I am a smart cookie.

Not smart enough.

By: Colleen

Colleen — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 18:16:06 +0000

Well, it is deeply disappointing, but I am afraid it is very common in fandom. So many people in fandom are trusting, and because funds are limited, we have to rely on that trust. We don’t have the resources to properly scope people out, or hire the best help. Hence my Amy Player post from a few days ago. I know way too many people who have done this to me, and to fandom organizations trying to raise money for charity.

I know some people get upset when they come to me and want me to support this charity or that one, and I have really never heard of these people, and can’t find them listed at Charity Watch, or other organizations that list philanthropic groups and their financial statements. And I am reluctant to endorse them or send them money. And that’s because I have been involved in so many fan groups that have ended up getting their good works damaged by one yahoo or other who turns out to be a thief.

I am glad Unscrewed is still going, and I will continue to support it. I paid for several people who got ripped off by Rick Olney out of my own pocket as well.

Bev may not have been malicious, but she did a lot of damage regardless. These people never seem to MEAN what they do. And yet they do it.

The result is the same. I don’t really care what she intended now.

By: scribblerworks

scribblerworks — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 16:27:09 +0000

It is awful. I suspect that PaperGirl was so deeply embarrassed by what she’d done that she couldn’t face it at all. Hence the extreme disappearing act. Pity is, she can’t run away from herself, and she’ll carry it with her always.

It’s also really disappointing that someone who had been a supporter of Unscrewed! wanted to expose the situation just to get back at her for something totally unrelated. He seemed to feel that the decision of the Unscrewed! board not to make the situation public constituted an “ugly lie”. He didn’t seem to understand that there’s a difference between choosing not to make something public and actually lying and covering it up. Pity about that, too.