Beware of Doug
A GoFundMe conman tricked the USA. Now he's coming for NZ.
Hi,
Since April of this year, Doug Ruch has been appearing in nearly every US media outlet known to man.
Doug's story is news-catnip – both tragic and inspiring. According to Washington Post reporter Kyle Melnick, Doug found out in January that his prostate cancer had become terminal.
"Doug Ruch returned to his San Antonio apartment and reflected on one of his biggest regrets: being too focused on himself, not giving enough to others. He had spent most of his savings on his cancer treatment, so he decided he would launch a fundraiser and hope others would help him achieve his dying wish: volunteering in every state."
The story was accompanied by a grinning Doug stirring a large number of beans. Apparently, his mission to "volunteer" in various capacities in every state had begun.
From there, the story spread. Public radio giant NPR covered Doug in May, recounting the same sad – but inspirational – story:
"When his doctor told him he had just 12 to 18 months to live after his cancer metastasized, Doug Ruch decided to devote his remaining time to doing community service in all 50 states."
The news was syndicated across various newspapers, radio shows and local news affiliates throughout April and May. By the time ABC in Minnesota got on board, Doug had reportedly volunteered in 17 states.
"On Tuesday, Doug Ruch from San Antonio, Texas, brought his Dying to Serve Tour to Minnesota. Ruch volunteered at the Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity Restore in New Brighton. Ruch launched the tour in March, after being given 12 to 18 months to live with prostate cancer.
“I found out in January,” Rauch said. “I went home. I mourned for a few days. Thought about my life in its totality, what I wished I had done more of. One of those things was volunteering. I spent way too many years chasing the almighty dollar and the brass ring. If I can leave a legacy of people that started volunteering because they heard my story, then I can die happy.”
Minnesota is the 17th state Ruch has visited on his volunteer tour."
In all the TV stories, radio interviews and print pieces, Doug's grinning chops were there to remind Americans that as dogshit as their year had been, there was still hope.
And there's something to note in all of these reports: Every one of them linked to Doug's pun-worthy website, DyingToServe.com, which linked directly to his GoFundMe account.
Launched back in February, by July 10 Doug had raised over $130,000 US dollars.
By November, that amount had risen to over $200,000.
A History of Doug
What all the US news reports missed is that before that GoFundMe, there were many more. They all start with a supposed cancer diagnosis in 2021 (the "terminal" comes later), but the specific months and dates are constantly shifting – and Doug never provides any kind of supporting documentation.
Like "Dying To Serve", each GoFundMe comes packaged as a kind of gimmick.
In April 2022, Doug created a GoFundMe called "Adopt a Shelter Doug", attempting to riff on the idea of adopting a dog.
"He's house broken but does need to go often. He's a working Doug but has been too sick to work lately and does not receive paid leave so bills are piling up. His medical bills alone have already added up to many thousands of dollars out of pocket. Please help this good boy get back to his oldish self again!"
A month later he created another campaign called "Please Help Comic Beat Cancer And Get Free Joke". He tagged Ashley Judd on social media, hoping to get her attention.
By August he'd closed those fundraisers, moving into what Webworm would call "severe ick territory". One saw him calling himself the "Bumble Beggar" in an attempt to get women to take him on a date, before paying for his food and gas.
"I'm Doug and I'm a helpless romantic," he says after explaining a "near fatal bought [SIC] of Covid then cancer".
As with all of his ventures, Doug did appear to have some success – a series of women in the now-deleted GoFundMe posing with the cheque.
And like with all of Doug's GoFundMe campaigns and social media posts – they are scrubbed from the internet (well, he tries to) before fresh accounts are set up.
Destination: Down Under
On September 14, Doug set up a brand new GoFundMe – saying he now wanted to volunteer across Australia. With a barrage of positive press behind him, he wanted to take his travels international.
He quickly raised over $10,000 – which got him to Australia earlier this month. His Instagram account – now private – shows him visiting Melbourne and Perth. It's unclear if he's doing any "volunteering" along the way, using his time in Perth to visit the Perth Mint to see some money.
"I'm a big fan of the gold shows like Gold Rush so was excited to see the mint and the gold," he wrote four days ago.
The next stop on Doug's personal gold rush? Auckland, New Zealand.
With all this in mind, Webworm has spoken to several people that have known Doug personally over the last decade. They are aware of Doug's fundraising efforts, and all paint a portrait of an alleged serial conman who has been "running various scams for years". He allegedly owes money to former partners, along with child support payments.
No-one Webworm spoke to has seen any evidence of Doug's cancer diagnosis, and speak of a man who cuts family members and critics off at the drop of a hat.
Other things also speak to Doug's overall modus operandi: As well as promoting his various GoFundMes between 2022 and 2025, his now-deleted social media comments mostly revolve around commenting on women and their bodies.
The Media vs The Conman
I've written a lot on Webworm about various bad actors using the media to further their own false narrative. "The Anna Wilding saga" and "The Curious Case of Robert Purchase" both demonstrated how difficult it can be for a strained media to fact check people whom they assume are acting in good will. You know, like alleged terminal cancer patients.
I've also written a lot about how once a false narrative has been reported by a "legit" news source, it's incredibly difficult to shut it down.
People like Doug know this, and are very good at playing into it. There are always tells (be wary of anyone who starts their own GoFundMe), but most of the time we're too frantic with our own shit to catch it.
But Doug's time has come. Ahead of his trip to New Zealand, Doug appears to have shut down all of his social media accounts, except for the least popular one – a TikTok account.
His most recent GoFundMe – sitting at over $200,000 US dollars – appears to have been cashed out and taken offline.
According to Doug's now deleted social media posts, he is due to arrive in New Zealand on January 18.
It's Webworm's hope that the local media don't give him the American treatment, instead taking a leaf out of Doug's own playbook:
Here's hoping.
David.
Webworm has reached out to Doug Ruch for comment via email, social media and phone. We are yet to hear back. If you have further information about Doug, you can reach me in confidence at davidfarrier@protonmail.com.
Like all of Webworm's public interest journalism, this piece is free to read. If you appreciate Webworm calling out the bad guys, consider becoming a paid member. For the cost of one fancy coffee a month, you help Webworm's legal defence fund, let me pay guest writers, and keep Webworm 100% ad free. Only ever do this if it causes you zero financial hardship.
PS: Nick (The Opposite of Doug)
After talking about a cancer conman, I wanted to talk about someone who's worth your time.
This week on my podcast, I talked to Nick – a Flightless Bird listener in California who has a very rare brain tumour called an "anaplastic pleomorphic xanthoastrocytoma". As surgeons do their work, Nick keeps losing parts of his brain – which has led to him having a very unique view on life.
He has less fear. His emotions run close to the surface.
He cried, I cried, and I feel really proud of how the episode turned out. Nick is worth your time – and like Doug, he's coming to New Zealand, too. Unlike Doug, Nick is not a conman.
You can hear our conversation on this week's Flightless Bird, wherever you get your podcasts.
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