Swindled, Stranded & Survived

This book continues Ruth's memoir beginning with her first book "To Love, Honour and Betray". The book documents Ruth's experience in the depths of a terrible transatlantic situation when a Social Media scammer offers Ruth an 'amazing' business opportunity. He plays on her good nature and vulnerability and they become firm friends and after a while romance blossomed. Unbeknown to Ruth this man was a dangerous pathological liar. He was calculating and a serial scammer, stalking her profile for five months on social media and targeting her without conscience.

 

Eventually, after many conversations, the man convinced Ruth of a business opportunity based in America, all the while assuring her that her involvement would be based in London. He persuaded Ruth to fly to Nashville for a ten-day fact-finding visit. A terrifying ordeal ensues when Ruth's passport goes 'missing' the day before she is due to fly back home. This man slowly manipulated Ruth and drained Ruth's finances with constant promises that he would pay her back through the business. Ruth found herself trapped with him in Brooklyn for eight months, living in hope that she would get her money back. Surviving through his various scams and promises. During this time Ruth discovers his volatile and dangerous nature and becomes fearful of him. How does she get out of this terrible situation? How does she rebuild her life? How does she recover from such humiliation and shame?

 

This book is both a cautionary tale and beautifully written in Ruth's own words. It is a demonstration of how it is so easy to get sucked into a perilous situation when you trust someone. It proves how it is possible to get through anything with bravery, determination, strength, and the love of family and true friends. It is a sincere, honest letter to Ruth's earlier self and her adult children in which Ruth bravely shares her story so that others can find strength and inspiration.  

 

Why do we overlook the "signs" and trust when we shouldn't? Do we want to believe that something good can come our way? That "now, finally, our dreams can come true"? In this part of the book, Ruth was charmed, deceived, and manipulated into believing that she finally deserved a better life for her and her children. Was this opportunity finally her answer? Is this dangerous man still at large deceiving others on social media?