Sarah's Day: Fake Engagement to Boost Engagement - Part 12

[oscastaf2018]

If she wasn’t going to donate $391,660 she shouldn’t of posted a big thing saying she was going to. As much as she’s stupid sometimes, money is her favourite thing, she would know exactly what taxes etc. she would need to pay. She should of only told people about the amount she would be actually donating, not writing the bigger number to make herself look better if she wasn’t planning on actually donating it.

I 100% agree with this. She would absolutely be aware that she is required to pay the GST, and should only have announced what would actually be donated.

I wasnt defending this part of it, merely giving some background as to where the $356k comes from given she announced $391k.

[Yehhnahh]

Has Yahoo News Australia been contacted? They did the article about her 1$ donations. I’m thinking they would do a follow up?

Send them a quick DM on instagram, thats how they pick up stories. The more people doing so the better

[oscastaf2018]

Honestly im not sure if she said proceeds or profits, and I'm not going to look any further at it.

All i can say from a business perspective, the GST component is never really her proceeds, it will ALWAYS have to be paid to the ATO. So in terms of that I can understand why she would be passing on the $356.

Sorry I may be completely wrong here so sorry if I am, and correct me. I thought that the amount paid to the ATO will be AFTER the full amount is donated?

I may be a little confused about your question here, but there are a couple different taxes in Aus. One is income tax and another is goods and services tax (GST). Income tax is what everyone files once a year and is based on a (total income - total expenses) x tax rate scenario.

GST is 1/11 of most goods and services business provide, such as Sarah's ebook. Generally the amount gets paid on a quarterly basis to the ATO, but thats more to simplify compliance requirements. It would be quite arduous for businesses to pay GST everytime they make a sale.

The way it works is you make a sale to someone for $110. Of this sale, you get to keep $100, and you need to pay the ATO the other $10. Whilst you might not need to pay it until the end of the quarter, the reality is that as soon as you make the sale, you have an obligation to pay that $10 to the ATO. And you are only paying that specific $10 because of the sale you made.

Does that help at all?

[Guest]

Honestly im not sure if she said proceeds or profits, and I'm not going to look any further at it.

All i can say from a business perspective, the GST component is never really her proceeds, it will ALWAYS have to be paid to the ATO. So in terms of that I can understand why she would be passing on the $356.

Thanks for clarifying and bringing up the GST - was just trying to get my head around it. The numbers have not been consistent all the way through but this at least explains what she's trying to do at this stage - withholding her GST, that she will have to pay later. If she donates the entire $391 660, she will have a 40k out of pocket expense later herself. Doing it this way, essentially makes it a break even process.

That said, I don't agree with her doing this now and at the very least not mentioning that she is trying to do this. I've went back and looked at her original IG post where she announces she raised $391 660. She explicitly states that $391 660 has been accumulated FOR charities and lists them as somewhere that the money will be going to. She also mentions proceeds here again.

[Names_Ames]

Very basic question... but WHY has she got into this mess? I don’t believe she actually is stupid enough to scam everyone... so is she just lazy/has shitty priorities? Did she lose interest in giving money to charity after she was praised for raising it? Just a bit baffled at her thought process.

[drunkatvogue]

Thanks for clarifying and bringing up the GST - was just trying to get my head around it. The numbers have not been consistent all the way through but this at least explains what she's trying to do at this stage - withholding her GST, that she will have to pay later. If she donates the entire $391 660, she will have a 40k out of pocket expense later herself. Doing it this way, essentially makes it a break even process.

That said, I don't agree with her doing this now and at the very least not mentioning that she is trying to do this. I've went back and looked at her original IG post where she announces she raised $391 660. She explicitly states that $391 660 has been accumulated FOR charities and lists them as somewhere that the money will be going to. She also mentions proceeds here again.

That's just it, she said flat out that 100% of the money raised would be donated, which it turns out she cannot follow through with. So whichever way you slice it, she made promises she had no intentions of keeping.

[oscastaf2018]

Honestly im not sure if she said proceeds or profits, and I'm not going to look any further at it.

All i can say from a business perspective, the GST component is never really her proceeds, it will ALWAYS have to be paid to the ATO. So in terms of that I can understand why she would be passing on the $356.

Thanks for clarifying and bringing up the GST - was just trying to get my head around it. The numbers have not been consistent all the way through but this at least explains what she's trying to do at this stage - withholding her GST, that she will have to pay later. If she donates the entire $391 660, she will have a 40k out of pocket expense later herself. Doing it this way, essentially makes it a break even process.

That said, I don't agree with her doing this now and at the very least not mentioning that she is trying to do this. I've went back and looked at her original IG post where she announces she raised $391 660. She explicitly states that $391 660 has been accumulated FOR charities and lists them as somewhere that the money will be going to. She also mentions proceeds here again.

Yep, again, I totally agree that she has misrepresented what she is donating. She is saying her donations and sales are one and the same, when in fact it isnt.

And the simple explanation for it is she hasnt factored in her GST obligation when annoucing her figures, which speaks wonders to her capabilities as a "businesswoman"

[Guest]

5. She apparently raised $391,660. 1/4 of that is not $89,000. Where’s the extra $40k you scam!

Me again. Just my accountant life beckoning again, cause i literally cannot help myself. #itsaproblempleasesendhelp

I wholeheartedly agree with majority of what has been said over the last many pages.

Im not sure she is trying to scam, but I definitely think she places no priority on moving the funds to the right places. There are so many ways to make it happen, she just doesn't place it high on her list of things to do. Definitely not okay.

The only thing I will say, in terms of the maths, is that she is registered for GST in Australia. This means she has to pay the equivalent of 1/11 of the sales price (because it would be a gst inclusive amount) to the tax office (ATO). As the $391k would be the total sales, she pays $35k ($391 ÷ 11) to the ATO and the remainder is what she pays to the charities, being the $356, which adds up to what she keeps saying.

So whilst im okay with the maths, what i dont agree with is her false advertising around what is being donated. She knows she would need to pay GST, so she should only ever have announced the figure she was able to donate (net sales), not the gross sales figure....

This finally makes sense! Thank you!

I think she should explain that at some point on her insta (hint, hint, Sarah) because it would make fewer people question the amount she keeps repeating. For once there is a reasonable explanation that can get her out of trouble but she's not using it, lol.

Still doesn't explain why there was no sense of urgency behind making the actual donations until she got called out on it here. And I'd like her to publicly post the receipts not just ignore this whole issue like she has in the past.

Time will tell. She can turn this around if she does the right thing. Other influencers were making donations on the same day/next day. She's had 9 days (since it ended on 7 Jan) and nothing has happened. She needs to get this done so that she doesn't look so freaking dodgy.

I’d love to report to scam watch too. How much details did you go into when reporting? So disgusting what she is doing!!! And her crying on her stories ffs... imagine the pain of losing your home and entire community instead. She is stuck in such a bubble.

https://www.scamwatch.gov.au/report-a-scam

As much detail as you want to share. It can be as simple as explaining that she raised this amount but hasn't yet shown any proof of donating it. Also that she's deleting comments and questions about the money on her platforms.

[xmeljayne]

She’s really shown her true colours by crying. Crying because she didn’t get her way. Crying because she thought she could have this all instantly done & dusted, in time for her Byron trip.
It seriously irks me, as someone who’s worked in retail, that she expected the bank to stay open JUST for her after their closing time.
It’s not just 4:03pm, Sarah. It’s the half hour or more time spent doing the other 2 transfers (that’s if they can actually process them). The people on the other side of the counter are not fucking robots who live in the bank. They are people, with lives outside of work.
Would you be so quick to whinge about her refusing to do your transfers if you knew it meant for her leaving her kids in an after school care that closes at a certain time & now they have to wait? Or if anyone working in the bank at that time, had their whole night routine pushed back because YOU left your shit until the last minute? Because it’s not just the lady serving you, it’s the other person(s) who needs to be present when they start their end of day process.

Sorry, rant over. But I fucking despise people with that attitude.

[Guest]

Very basic question... but WHY has she got into this mess? I don’t believe she actually is stupid enough to scam everyone... so is she just lazy/has shitty priorities? Did she lose interest in giving money to charity after she was praised for raising it? Just a bit baffled at her thought process.

I believe she didn't think things through. She wanted to jump on the trend of influenzas fundraising to raise her profile and look like she was a decent human being- perhaps she was actually trying to be a decent human being and use her platform for good?

She got hyped, raised some money, got the praise (the most important bit- and the bit she focused on at the end of her stories today was how people were telling her how wonderful she is), then she just moved on to business as usual. If you look at her insta grid- Fundaiser total posted, then hair salon promo, workout vid, home renos, cooking vid... she just moved on to her usual content, with no actual thought of how important it was to follow through on the donations.

She's so focused on her hustle and herself, that she did not realise how grave an issue it would be to withhold those donations for any length of time. The cynic in me thinks she was also trying to earn some interest off of the money, hence the delay until eventually getting around to actually donating it.

Had we not begun calling her out on here, she would not have moved at all this week. She's off to Byron, then she says she has a product launch at the end of Jan...so conceivably, she may not have donated until Feb when she happened to have a free day and happened to remember she's got an extra 400k in her account.

At least that's the only explanation I have for this fiasco. But my irritation is with how simple it would have been to either:
Just link people directly to the charities (but she wanted the praise, the sales, the engagement boost on her channel)
or
Make a post explaining how much you will be donating, when you will be donating, and when you'll post receipts. She could have even said there would be delays due to the amount of money and banking procedures- it would have been acceptable and nobody would be alerting scamwatch. But by ignoring it and moving on like it never happened, she made it look suspicious (who knows what her actual intentions are)!

And by playing victim now she's taking away from the true victims of the fires. It's tone deaf.

[emeraldgirrl]

Sarah’s day: scam donation procrastination

[Guest]

Sarah’s day: scam donation procrastination

I'm actually thinking the thread title should be changed to this suggestion, so that we get more people finding it when they search for Sarah and donation. And then the next thread can be the fake engagement title we're using now. Not sure if that's something others would agree with or even if it would be possible to do.

[hrglss83]

Sarah’s day: scam donation procrastination

I'm actually thinking the thread title should be changed to this suggestion, so that we get more people finding it when they search for Sarah and donation. And then the next thread can be the fake engagement title we're using now. Not sure if that's something others would agree with or even if it would be possible to do.

I agree!

And I read all you guys' posts on this whole shitshow and actually don't know what to say since everything has already been said. When I watched her story I just could not believe the way she was acting. And wow unintentional pun, because I actually think she was acting. It did not seem sincere at all, and like someone said before me, her crying seemed like a panic cry. To me it also really looked like she was contacted by someone, given a deadline, something along those lines, and she now had to scramble to somehow get it sorted, which for whatever reason (and I'm sure the bank issue story is just that - a story she made up herself, otherwise why wouldn't she have said the bank's name when we know she loves to shame companies and other people in general when they stand in her way) she is struggling with. Probably because she did not actually raise that much money like we assumed all along. Why else would you dance around it like she is? Just fucking donate already, you idiot.

And I second what someone else had also said before me, checking what you look like on screen while you're trying to cry really hard on camera only makes it really obvious that you're exaggerating. Everything else as well, not just the crying, seemed to me like such a bad acting job. When she was in the flat with Fox and was ranting, her facial expressions and the way she talked really gave away that she was putting on a show for us and everyone else that is doubting her intentions. It was sooooo obvious it made me cringe hard.

Wow guess I did know what to say lol once you start typing ...

[Guest]

Very basic question... but WHY has she got into this mess? I don’t believe she actually is stupid enough to scam everyone... so is she just lazy/has shitty priorities? Did she lose interest in giving money to charity after she was praised for raising it? Just a bit baffled at her thought process.

Until she provides evidence of donations, it’s entirely possible that this might be a scam imo. I truly hope not but her actions are so concerning that it might be possible.
- We know she reads here and is likely aware that she was being reported to the ACCC. She confined to make no mention of donating. The first thing most people would do if they realised there were concerns would be to address it.
- Somehow something sparked a deadline of getting the donations completed today. She says she has made two donations but there is evidence. She has also not stated when the next two will be made.
- She promised 391k but now appears to be changing the terms and withholding money for GST. People donated in good faith that ALL their money would be provided to charity. She made the error and could afford this herself. Not addressing it and misrepresenting how much you are donating is a scam.

The overarching theme is that a person who stuffed up but still had honest intent would course correct much better than this. Her actions to date do not align with the honest person she says to be. It’s hard to say what the truth actually is and that’s why I’m hopeful that agencies with the powers to do so will be able to work out what exactly has happened.

[Guest]

Very basic question... but WHY has she got into this mess? I don’t believe she actually is stupid enough to scam everyone... so is she just lazy/has shitty priorities? Did she lose interest in giving money to charity after she was praised for raising it? Just a bit baffled at her thought process.

Until she provides evidence of donations, it’s entirely possible that this might be a scam imo. I truly hope not but her actions are so concerning that it might be possible.
- We know she reads here and is likely aware that she was being reported to the ACCC. She confined to make no mention of donating. The first thing most people would do if they realised there were concerns would be to address it.
- Somehow something sparked a deadline of getting the donations completed today. She says she has made two donations but there is evidence. She has also not stated when the next two will be made.
- She promised 391k but now appears to be changing the terms and withholding money for GST. People donated in good faith that ALL their money would be provided to charity. She made the error and could afford this herself. Not addressing it and misrepresenting how much you are donating is a scam.

The overarching theme is that a person who stuffed up but still had honest intent would course correct much better than this. Her actions to date do not align with the honest person she says to be. It’s hard to say what the truth actually is and that’s why I’m hopeful that agencies with the powers to do so will be able to work out what exactly has happened.

Sorry to keep quoting you but you're just so spot on with everything you say.

I'm really battling with whether or not her intention was to pocket the money or donate whenever it was convenient. I can see either one being true. The former because she has been scamming people for all these years, and the latter because she is so self-absorbed that she doesn't realise that in itself is wrong.
In the end, my gut tells me she was going to keep it all. Because her acting was so forced, her crocodile tears so obviously designed to garner attention, and her last story of the day being a message of love and praise instead of a receipt indicates that she still wants to portray herself as a victim, thereby deflecting any potential criticism of her lack of transparency over all this.

I need her to be cancelled. How can anyone trust her?

[Firsttimeposter81]

I don’t think she was ever going to keep the money for herself. I really believe she was always going to donate BUT I do believe she is trying to capitalise on this as much as she can. Maybe through keeping the funds in her bank for as long as she could so she gains interest? Who knows? Whatever she was doing by not donating the money ASAP it was purely for her gain. And that’s where it is disgusting. Like all you have to do is view Mitch Orvalls Instagram. He didn’t raise as much as Sarah but he kept his followers in the loop the whole time an en he posted receipts as soon as he donated.

Where.are.the.receipts.sarah

[metamorphosis]

I don’t know. Maybe I’ve drunk the kool aid but her stories looked like someone who is genuinely in over their head and wrapped up in the throws of procrastination (and whatever guilt that comes with that), and is overwhelmed with the stress of motherhood and this silly photo shoot, rather than someone faking tears to try and cover up some malicious scam.

I get that she should have managed the donation process better and sooner (maybe learn to ask for help?) but I don’t believe she’s a scammer. Just a silly little girl.

[Guest]

I don’t know. Maybe I’ve drunk the kool aid but her stories looked like someone who is genuinely in over their head and wrapped up in the throws of procrastination (and whatever guilt that comes with that), and is overwhelmed with the stress of motherhood and this silly photo shoot, rather than someone faking tears to try and cover up some malicious scam.

I get that she should have managed the donation process better and sooner (maybe learn to ask for help?) but I don’t believe she’s a scammer. Just a silly little girl.

Even if this is the case, bearing in mind she reads here, I specifically posted various options she could use to get herself out of the hole she dug herself into. Including simply stating a date she would donate by.
Heck, this morning I gave her a word-for-word response about the bank issues with such a big transfer.
This didn't need to get this complicated.If she didn't know what to do, well, we told her what to say.
She is still not showing receipts. Once she shows those, everything will be okay. So long as she's playing victim and making excuses (I'll be in Byron) it creates a reasonable doubt.

[Nae-Nae]

I don’t know. Maybe I’ve drunk the kool aid but her stories looked like someone who is genuinely in over their head and wrapped up in the throws of procrastination (and whatever guilt that comes with that), and is overwhelmed with the stress of motherhood and this silly photo shoot, rather than someone faking tears to try and cover up some malicious scam.

I get that she should have managed the donation process better and sooner (maybe learn to ask for help?) but I don’t believe she’s a scammer. Just a silly little girl.

Soz guys 3rd one today, I agree though I don’t think they were crocodile tears I think it all just caught up with her... but she needs to suck it up everyone has life stresses, and if she isn’t coping then she should do something about it... it really does my head in that she’s made this whole thing about herself and there are people who have to rebuild their entire lives from scratch, that was the whole point of doing a good thing, she didn’t need to jump on social media and cry that’s not what a professional does. You explain, I paid these 2 donations here are the receipts, unfortunately I haven’t had time to do the other 2 today but will get them done over the weekend and will post receipts later. Thanks for understanding guizzz. she made this mess for herself. Not saying it not okay to cry but time and place is important, I’d be embarrassed to cry on social media with brands that I work with seeing that, looks very unprofessional.

[hrglss83]

I don’t know. Maybe I’ve drunk the kool aid but her stories looked like someone who is genuinely in over their head and wrapped up in the throws of procrastination (and whatever guilt that comes with that), and is overwhelmed with the stress of motherhood and this silly photo shoot, rather than someone faking tears to try and cover up some malicious scam.

I get that she should have managed the donation process better and sooner (maybe learn to ask for help?) but I don’t believe she’s a scammer. Just a silly little girl.

Soz guys 3rd one today, I agree though I don’t think they were crocodile tears I think it all just caught up with her... but she needs to suck it up everyone has life stresses, and if she isn’t coping then she should do something about it... it really does my head in that she’s made this whole thing about herself and there are people who have to rebuild their entire lives from scratch, that was the whole point of doing a good thing, she didn’t need to jump on social media and cry that’s not what a professional does. You explain, I paid these 2 donations here are the receipts, unfortunately I haven’t had time to do the other 2 today but will get them done over the weekend and will post receipts later. Thanks for understanding guizzz. she made this mess for herself. Not saying it not okay to cry but time and place is important, I’d be embarrassed to cry on social media with brands that I work with seeing that, looks very unprofessional.

I agree with you, even if we give her the benefit of the doubt, she's still making it about herself by posting these stories. (I personally do believe though that she was acting and it was very badly done)
If she was just really in over her head because of procrastination, etc. (I can totally relate trust me), it really does not help anyone to post those stories. Obviously she can cry, and I would too if I was in that position, but I wouldn't post it to Instagram. If I had people up my ass about possibly scamming people and taking too long to do what I'd promised, I would have a meltdown by myself and then post proof of why they're wrong or, if I didn't have any proof because they're actually kinda right, I would give them an action plan as to what I'm gonna do to fix this issue. But crying, blaming the bank in a way that doesn't add up AT ALL, claiming you did make 1 or 2 donations but not providing proof and reiterating how much of a good person you are is not the way to go. I can relate to feeling the urge to do that, but I think she needs to starting putting an extra step in between how she feels and what she posts on Instagram. You can do those things (blaming others, crying, saying how much of a good person you are) in your head / on your own, but if you choose to put that out to the public when people are already questioning your motives, you shouldn't be surprised if people think you're putting on a show.

Sorry if that made no sense I'm a little distracted at the moment ha

Edit: dang I knew I forgot to mention something; not only was she reiterating how much of a good person she is but she was saying that SHE just wanted to donate all this money. THIS IS NOT HER MONEY. And was we have now established, she is even deducting, what, 40k for taxes? She could pay this herself easily, didn't they just buy a 2.7 mil house and rip out a completely new kitchen? But she cannot pay the 40k in taxes herself so that the sum she promised to donate would actually be donated in full? Scummy.