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A scammer stole $500 from me and in the end begged me not to tell his parents

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Re: A scammer stole $500 from me and in the end begged me not to tell his parents

#121

Post by criddell »

mtriano wrote: post #34

So he had no money, but he had an apple card for $477 and your $250 card with the balance? Sounds like evidence that he's scammed other people with this scam. Sounds like there are already other victims out there, sans justice.

You know, I'd be surprised if this is his first scam. I hope it is, but I probably would still tell his parents because apparently they still have a lot of influence. They guy is 22 but he's acting like he's 14. Time to grow up and start seeing consequences for bad decisions.

Re: A scammer stole $500 from me and in the end begged me not to tell his parents

#122

Post by EasyTiger_ »

tomelders wrote: post #115
EasyTiger_ wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So he's been scamming over Steam too and for years. And author thinks he won't do this again, seriously? This is a way of life for him.

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice? Well... a fool can't get fooled again.

Seriously can't remember what this originally was anymore

Re: A scammer stole $500 from me and in the end begged me not to tell his parents

#123

Post by Shanea93 »

farhaven wrote: post #113
loeg wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He's 22, not 9.

I don't know, I'm 27 but for a lot of major decisions in my life, "what would mom and dad say about this" has been a factor.

Anecdotally, at 23, I don't have (and have never had) a father and my mother lives in another country, whenever I consider any decision and the morality of it, I ask myself "do I want to be the kind of person who does this? Can I look at myself in the mirror if I do?"

Re: A scammer stole $500 from me and in the end begged me not to tell his parents

#124

Post by Shanea93 »

sealjam wrote: post #88
smellf wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"I'm broke and don't have the BTC otherwise I would have given it to you already, here's an Apple gift card for $477 and the remainder is still on this other card here." -- something like what the scammer said.

The author after that quote: "He wanted to give my my cards back but I tried for years to get rid of them so I say he can sell them and give me the BTC. Which he did and our deal was finally forfilled."

I wonder if the bitcoins he sent to the author in return for the cards were actually scammed from another unwitting party?

Re: A scammer stole $500 from me and in the end begged me not to tell his parents

#125

Post by overcast »

Sounds a lot like a kid who attempted to scam me out of a GPU.

He sent me a bogus Bitcoin transfer email from a well known escrow service.

I stupidly did not check header information, as I was in a rush at the time, and shipped without confirming it.

All was well, until he sends me a picture of the card, with essentially a HAHAHAHA, various derogatory remarks, name calling, you name it. I was calm, and collective, tried various bargaining options to recover it. His arrogance was overwhelming.

He posts all over forums, showing how clever he was. This is where he made his fatal mistake.

Investigation begins. I sift through tons, and tons of forum posts, all over the internet. Come up with a handful of names, and various aliases he uses. Was able to confirm that his current location, was around the area where the package was sent(to a home).

Got in contact with the feds regarding online scams, no response.

Got in contact with local police, they tell me nothing can be done, contact feds.

Got in contact with the local news of where the package was shipped, who gets me in contact with the local police that they are friends with.

Police contacts me, and I send over all my logs and information. Police make some visits to the destination address, and it turns out they are actually the friend of the kid.

The kid finally breaks, and furiously emails me scared that the cops are coming for him, and he demands that I send him my return address so he can give me back the card. Apparently he threw out the box. He wants to know how I could do this to him, and that it was all just a big joke. I refuse, and ignore future pleas.

I speak with the cops, who now have tracked down the kid, and they speak with him and his parents. They said I can press charges, which I did.

His father emails me, and starts tearing into ME, questioning how I could possibly sell to a minor, without parents authorization. Over, and over, and over. I tell him this isn't my problem anymore, either the card is paid for, or I'll see them in court.

A couple days go by, his mother emails me, apologizing profusely, we set up a Paypal transaction for far more than the card is worth(I initially listed it at an inflated value). Done.

Speak with the cop, give the OK, case closed.

Feds email me a month or two later, saying nothing they can do, contact local police. :)

Re: A scammer stole $500 from me and in the end begged me not to tell his parents

#126

Post by puddintane »

elmigranto wrote: post #80
ohstopitu wrote: post #49

A while back I was trying to buy a macbook online and while searching for cheap macbooks, I went down the rabbit hole that is Alibaba (here's an example of what I was talking about[1]). The seller claimed to be based in USA, had warehouses in Brazil and demanded that I pay via Western Union. After confirming all the details (via email). I decided to give it a shot. After sending him about $250 CAD (of the $500) he se…

I mean, at your link they are "selling" top of the line MacBooks for $200 a piece; that's kind of asking for it.

I noticed they intentionally remove a "p" from Apple to avoid getting Apple after them. I wonder if it would be smart to report these listings to Apple directly since they have a far better bankroll to tackle those problems. Although I'm sure it is difficult even for Apple to address them.

Re: A scammer stole $500 from me and in the end begged me not to tell his parents

#127

Post by Paul_S »

overcast wrote: post #125

Sounds a lot like a kid who attempted to scam me out of a GPU. He sent me a bogus Bitcoin transfer email from a well known escrow service. I stupidly did not check header information, as I was in a rush at the time, and shipped without confirming it. All was well, until he sends me a picture of the card, with essentially a HAHAHAHA, various derogatory remarks, name calling, you name it. I was calm, and collective, tr…

This the correct way to deal with criminals - it's not your call to decide if they're a minor, a psychopath etc.. This way society can deal with criminals, hopefully his parents will make an effort now. Had you not done all this work we'd be guaranteed to have one more criminal to incarcerate in the future.

Re: A scammer stole $500 from me and in the end begged me not to tell his parents

#128

Post by ryguytilidie »

Udik wrote: post #106
Artoemius wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Although calling someone a psychopath without access to their medical history is not literally correct, I don't agree with the spirit of your comment. After being caught, this scammer was actively trying to be seen as a human being. That is exactly the tactics he chose and this is exactly the tactics that helped him escape any punishment so far. I would advise against humanizing scammers too much.

So you're saying that after being caught, he should have sent to the victim of his scam a picture of himself putting live cats in a blender? Just to avoid being seen like somebody that tries to look human, you know. In other words, in your view, if he doesn't look human then he's a psychopath; if he does, this proves again that he's a psychopath. Confirmation bias? Ah, by the way and just FYI, psychopaths and scammer…

"So you're saying that after being caught, he should have sent to the victim of his scam a picture of himself putting live cats in a blender? Just to avoid being seen like somebody that tries to look human, you know."

Why would you even bother making this post? I can't imagine there is even like .0000001% of your being that believes that this is remotely close to what the person you're responding to thinks, so what exactly is this meant to accomplish? "haha, look at me mocking a point you never came close to making..."?

Re: A scammer stole $500 from me and in the end begged me not to tell his parents

#129

Post by ekiru »

overcast wrote: post #125

Sounds a lot like a kid who attempted to scam me out of a GPU. He sent me a bogus Bitcoin transfer email from a well known escrow service. I stupidly did not check header information, as I was in a rush at the time, and shipped without confirming it. All was well, until he sends me a picture of the card, with essentially a HAHAHAHA, various derogatory remarks, name calling, you name it. I was calm, and collective, tr…

Why did the scammer's mother pay you "far more than the card is worth"?

Re: A scammer stole $500 from me and in the end begged me not to tell his parents

#130

Post by ryguytilidie »

ufmace wrote: post #52

Yeah, I'm not buying that apology for a second. Probably the first thing any con artist learns is how to fake being really sorry as well as they faked being legitimate anytime somebody manages to turn the tables on them. I bet you can get your money back and then report him to the police too. He's way beyond being corrected by his parents, and he probably threw that in just to make you think there's an option besides…

Yeah, the idea that half the thread is essentially saying "leave him alone, he's learned his lesson", when he is making responses like, "Please leave me alone after this I won't do anything like this anymore I am having panic of attacks just thinking about this." is just crazy. This kid STOLE from someone and makes himself sound like the victim in almost everything he says. How on earth are people so gullible?
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