FA+
Shop
Beggars and Scammers
2 years ago
General
ROOS. Yes, Roos. The more roos the better. Thicktails galore.
(Begin Rant)
This is not about the fandom or genre, but shows how keeping your online/fanfom connections are *critical* from your professional business ones. I will likely delete this journal shortly, but feel putting my thoughts into words might help me process them them into something I can deal with.
I don't like drama, yet even though high school is 30+ years behind me, I still get dragged into the same teenager level drama even at my age.
I have my own life, personal and private. I do not bring up my fandom involvement at work. I don't want my company searching and finding things they don't understand. Work and personal are separate for a reason.
Coworker is my frustration. They make good money, more than me and are near six figures, lives with their parents, and yet is constantly BEGGING for donations of money, food, bus fare, etc.
They beg on various social platforms to be black, female or male as best suits the situation, sometimes Trans, sometimes a refugee from Ukraine. They claim to be homeless, needs an operation, are disabled, etc. They find some group online and give a story about being unable to pay their utility bills (they live at home at age 35 and don't pay anything), need money for the bus, can you spare $10, $20, $200 for snacks, groceries, pet food or gifts for the family. Once they get someone to fork over the money, they delete the post and do a new one a day or two later. Or they repost the same post exactly, claiming to have not received any funds from that community, don't you care, etc.
If someone notices the repeat attempts and comments, that person is reported as racist/sexist/etc as needed to get them banned from the platform. Got to protect that begging income. Eventually they milk the cows dry and move on to another social site to start it all over again, deleting their history so new victims won't get wise to the scam.
Now my coworker isn't very clever about this, and normally I'd just handwave it off and ignore it, but he *brags* about how much money he gets in this second income easily $25-30k a year, all tax free. He talks about how easy it is to scam these people, just pretend to be black or homeless, and going after Trans groups are especially easy to exploit. I hate this. It is detestable and wrong.
It also isn't illegal in any way.
He will beg for computers, laptops, iPads, Switches, small electronics that he will resell locally with a week to a month. Lately it is countertop kitchen appliances. My company has an internal email list like Craigslist that you can sell stuff on. He will put up 15-20 listing a week of all these new items in box he has and sells them at a discount. Well yeah, it is all 100% profit because people donated them to him thinking he was in need as a Ukrainian refugee or whatever story/support group he was exploiting.
I checked with my company and while reprehensible, it isn't illegal or against policy as his personal non-business hour actions are his own. Scamming support groups isn't something the company wants to touch as those groups would likely come after my company in PR complications. And now my coworker is claiming everyone is out to get them, maybe they will just state they are now Trans to get protection from any action. This upsets the legitimate members of that group at the company. Pretend to be a wheelchair woman online needing $40 for a pizza delivery and nobody can really challenge it online without looking incredibly insensitive.
I seriously hate this. Exploiting groups that need legitimate help, scamming them, then bragging about it openly. But as it isn't illegal, no action will be taken. This guy will keep doing it. And calling g out anyone that even questions the ethics of his actions. Don't dare say anything or you are a racist or whatever.
Professional victimhood pays well.
I keep my mouth shut and avoid any interaction if possible. At some point they will scam or cheleat the wrong group and it will go badly for them. As in terminally bad. I don't know how I feel about that honestly. If they disappeared, they would not be missed, yet I keep holding out hope for change.
People like that suck big time. But it also reminds me just how awesome people like you and my friends are too.
Don't change.
(End rant)
This is not about the fandom or genre, but shows how keeping your online/fanfom connections are *critical* from your professional business ones. I will likely delete this journal shortly, but feel putting my thoughts into words might help me process them them into something I can deal with.
I don't like drama, yet even though high school is 30+ years behind me, I still get dragged into the same teenager level drama even at my age.
I have my own life, personal and private. I do not bring up my fandom involvement at work. I don't want my company searching and finding things they don't understand. Work and personal are separate for a reason.
Coworker is my frustration. They make good money, more than me and are near six figures, lives with their parents, and yet is constantly BEGGING for donations of money, food, bus fare, etc.
They beg on various social platforms to be black, female or male as best suits the situation, sometimes Trans, sometimes a refugee from Ukraine. They claim to be homeless, needs an operation, are disabled, etc. They find some group online and give a story about being unable to pay their utility bills (they live at home at age 35 and don't pay anything), need money for the bus, can you spare $10, $20, $200 for snacks, groceries, pet food or gifts for the family. Once they get someone to fork over the money, they delete the post and do a new one a day or two later. Or they repost the same post exactly, claiming to have not received any funds from that community, don't you care, etc.
If someone notices the repeat attempts and comments, that person is reported as racist/sexist/etc as needed to get them banned from the platform. Got to protect that begging income. Eventually they milk the cows dry and move on to another social site to start it all over again, deleting their history so new victims won't get wise to the scam.
Now my coworker isn't very clever about this, and normally I'd just handwave it off and ignore it, but he *brags* about how much money he gets in this second income easily $25-30k a year, all tax free. He talks about how easy it is to scam these people, just pretend to be black or homeless, and going after Trans groups are especially easy to exploit. I hate this. It is detestable and wrong.
It also isn't illegal in any way.
He will beg for computers, laptops, iPads, Switches, small electronics that he will resell locally with a week to a month. Lately it is countertop kitchen appliances. My company has an internal email list like Craigslist that you can sell stuff on. He will put up 15-20 listing a week of all these new items in box he has and sells them at a discount. Well yeah, it is all 100% profit because people donated them to him thinking he was in need as a Ukrainian refugee or whatever story/support group he was exploiting.
I checked with my company and while reprehensible, it isn't illegal or against policy as his personal non-business hour actions are his own. Scamming support groups isn't something the company wants to touch as those groups would likely come after my company in PR complications. And now my coworker is claiming everyone is out to get them, maybe they will just state they are now Trans to get protection from any action. This upsets the legitimate members of that group at the company. Pretend to be a wheelchair woman online needing $40 for a pizza delivery and nobody can really challenge it online without looking incredibly insensitive.
I seriously hate this. Exploiting groups that need legitimate help, scamming them, then bragging about it openly. But as it isn't illegal, no action will be taken. This guy will keep doing it. And calling g out anyone that even questions the ethics of his actions. Don't dare say anything or you are a racist or whatever.
Professional victimhood pays well.
I keep my mouth shut and avoid any interaction if possible. At some point they will scam or cheleat the wrong group and it will go badly for them. As in terminally bad. I don't know how I feel about that honestly. If they disappeared, they would not be missed, yet I keep holding out hope for change.
People like that suck big time. But it also reminds me just how awesome people like you and my friends are too.
Don't change.
(End rant)
You can do so anonymously, so you won't have to worry about getting traced back and there's the whistle blower's fee (You get a % of their scammed money as a fee for your "duty" for reporting em)
Two things I remember about that place (that won't lead into big long rants):
#1: The vice principal constantly going on the intercom to say "to the owner of the [insert expensive-as-fuck car model here], your lights are on" because these rich turds always had to announce to as many people as possible that they were the owner of the daddy-never-hugged-me-mobile.
#2: The hot dog truck that would park outside the main building at 3 p.m., and the scores of assholes asking for handouts crowded around it.
Some people are just plain fucking evil -- are quite literally entertained, not just by exploiting a person's good will, but of proceeding to make them regret it as much as possible.
We have a code word at my job for "someone took a shit in the sink". Because that's how often it happens. There are that many people in the world who, when a business is kind enough to its prospective customers to let one make use of a public restroom, as soon as they lock the door are thinking "You know what'd be great? If nobody could use this bathroom after me!" and make sure they've wrecked it before they leave that it warrants mention in the handbook.
But you have the right of it in that their days are numbered. Sooner or later, they always do one of two things:
#1: Escalate their behavior to something that IS illegal.
#2: Run afoul of another vermin man-baby, which rarely ever ends with both of them walking away.
My bet would be that he gets his when he decides to pretend to be a disabled veteran. Doing that can actually result in a prison sentence. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stole.....or_Act_of_2013
#1: His opinion of himself increases.
#2: The entertainment he gets from the same old scam decreases.
It's only a matter of time before he thinks he's good enough to pull off a bigger scam, or gets bored with the same old scam.
That, and eventually he'll run out of people in those previously targeted groups to scam. Given enough time, everyone will have seen more than one of his posts and be able to recognize them for what they are.
It's like those "Nigerian prince" emails. They might have been effective at first, but now the phrase is synonymous with scammers. Inevitably his old and repeated ways are going to be so recognizable that they won't attract anyone but a guy saying "Hey, I've got a gently used appliance you can use, just pick it up here" trying to lure him into the Home Alone house.
I guess I don't understand the legal system enough
And the one grifter who needs their almost daily dopamine fix by begging online for food, bus fare and a new electronic gadget . That their dog broke the keyboard, mom/family member needs/ broke the iPad, needs daily bus fare to Walmart to get something to eat, and cries that they ONLY need $100 plus to get groceries that week (I spent that in a MONTH for groceries!) And they can't work cause they are diabetic (funny, I know quite a few diabetic folks who hold regular daily jobs without problems. ) then sells their recently grifted iPad or chromebook cause it lost its new computer smell. And this has happened at least 12-15 times the past year plus. Oh and always seems to have money for commissions of their character, especially after begging for food/ bus money.
All they want is others to buy them shit, not work, just game online and bitch on Twitter or some other social media site.
What sickens me more is that they cry how they are being abused/picked on cause they ask for help almost daily. Simple answer, get off your ass and get a damn job and work for those items instead of daily begging.
"HMM, what do I want to be today?"
I used to carry McDonald's food coupon books. You claim you are hungry, anything helps, okay here's a cheeseburger meal. Yes, you have to go to the McDonalds literally in the same parking lot behind you. Nope. They toss it back at me and demand I give them $20 or some alcohol.
Online scammers create a long trail if their actions and the internet own way back machine will show the IRS just how much money they made.
I have a policy of earning what I want to buy. Yes, I have my job but if I want electronic items, model trains, stuff for cars, etc, I must draw for it. Lately I have become a model manufacturer and that has started paying itself off. This ensures I never touch my job income used for bills, mortgage, etc.
A good work ethic pays in ways more than just money.
It's not just murdering a person's trust by a thousand cuts, one at a time, it's eroding and lacerating the structure of what I choose to believe is a core element of the bond we all share as social animals. It isn't just learning to distrust others in need by the bias built in learning we've been lied to and bluffed to right to our faces, that the bluff and fib counts on staring us in the face and our believing it's the truth, it's cutting down and infecting the root and corroding the foundations of everything we are as social animals. And by Gods and Ancestors, we do not ever need that, much less now in the present world we live in and share dwelling therein.
Giving a shit and trusting firmly that one's belief in others isn't misplaced or stolen from us by sustained, told falsehoods isn't just a choice or a habit one adopts and makes part of who they are, it's an insurance policy and an unseen, but present safety net that can and will do its work, if it functions properly. It's part of the future waiting to be born, to meet us down the road we travel and ourselves catch up to and meet who we and our world will become.
But that's only if it works, and keeps working and functioning properly. So don't embrace the fib.
-2Paw.
It's shocking how many want drugs (which I magically don't have at the time .) I've even had a couple ask for heroin AND alcohol. Those that want food, I hand them a can of chili or pasta, or simular, only one asked for alcohol. I keep a partial case of beer I found when students moved out last summer, I'll hand them a beer, it actually shocks them and they seem quite happy.
I had one guy, claims to be a vet with his pregnant wife, wife hasn't shown pregnancy in 3 years, but sports new tattoos everytime , I caught them going inside a very posh and expensive apartment complex. I confronted the guy, his answer " Free money from stupid people, I love those idiots!" Plus he's not a vet, zero clue what a MOS was.
I've also had people being handed food, only to toss it back at me or in the street, they only wanted money!
That last point really grinds this 2Paw's gears, especially if the fudging sign says they're hungry. If I had enough money to buy a hungry stranger some food I'd want to ask what they wanted first, further past their asking for food and within the breadth of my resources; I don't believe in any measure that anyone who legitimately asks me for enough food to eat with nourishment needed and desired would ask for something fancy or expensive, but something they enjoyed, could eat if they had any allergies, or chewing, swallowing or digestive issues and would be enough to get them by and for a meal or two's worth. Ensure or Boost has become expensive enough now that I couldn't afford to buy it with frequency but if that was what they could eat-drink and keep down and I had enough to get them a case of six or twelve bottles, I'd do it in a heartbeat if, again, the need and desire was genuine. A case of ready-to-eat meal supplements on its own would get most people through several meals of protein and carbohydrates if they took reasonable care in spacing out a meal and rationing frugally, by my reckoning.
At least so far, I've never had any panhandler claim past Canadian or American military service or veterancy here when I've been asked for alms here at home in Toronto, though over the last three years my stomping grounds and stretches of travel have mostly been limited to my home neighbourhood's local area, short of my every second visit to see my psychiatrist on local transit there and back, the hybrid model of which he and I switched to last September. I've rarely met a panhandler who was deliberately hostile in meeting or when I've refused them money for a handout, so far.
My Gran'dad, my Mum's Da, is the only person in my immediate family who served in the military and abroad in that service; he was a bomber navigator during World War II in Europe, and in 1943 he'd gained enough practical experience onboard the flights he flew that he was reassigned to a dirtside training position; then after Armistice across the Pond in 1945, he stayed in Europe to assist for three years after the war officially ended there, then came home to Canada and his family in 1948. My Mum was in the tummy-oven when he left for Europe, so the first time he met his eldest daughter outside of her mother's womb she was just short of nine years old.
-2Paw.
He also doesn't remember me from day to day. One day while he's wearing an Army hat I ask "What did you do in the army?" He replies "I was in Tanks!" I mock excited "Oh Cool! What kind of Tank?" He replies back " I drove Tiger tanks in Vietnam!" Me (stifling a outright laugh) "A Tiger tank? WOW!!! Did that have that 130MM cannon?" He nods "yeah!! Its a fast tank too!" At that point the light changes and I go!!
TIGER TANKS!!! FAST TANK, 130MM gun! BULL FUCKING SHIT!!!
If you are going to fake Military , You better know your subject!! Like hell he crewed a WW2 GERMAN tank , armed with a 88MM gun that WASN'T FAST!
I caught another fake vet, claiming to be Navy "I served on the USS Arizona!" (The guy was MAYBE 45-50 tops!) Again, another fake WOW from me!
Another fake Air force vet "Flew SR-71s in combat." ( ITS A DAMN RECON PLANE!)
Only one man, saying he was a vet, immediately answered the MOS question correctly as "I was an Eleven Bravo in Iraq!" (Combat infantry) , plus he looked it and young enough. I gave him $5.00. I also never saw him flying his cardboard again.
Most of the Street corner fakers, A: Aren't dirty/smelly B: Too well fed C:Clothes in decent condition / Not those worn by a truly homeless person (Shoes are always a dead giveaway, I see high end Nike's, they aren't Homeless.) Many seem to have a backpack with them, Observe, is the pack a tad flat or empty looking? Or stuffed as most homeless keep them. I've seen "Pimps" literally drive druggies to various locations, punt them out with a sign, later come back and switch out the begger with another one. I witnessed one of those panhandlers sitting in the back of the car hand over a wad of cash and the "Pimp" count it out, then hand them a bag of weed or a packet of Meth and a few bucks back.
Many others are professional pan handlers, literally seen one end of town, then a few hours later, the other side, and again back a couple hours later. At the restaurant I work at, we have a pan handler problem , 2 days ago I watched one "Homeless" come inside, sat down and counted out the money he made in under 2 hours....$173!!! His pack was also empty, just held his cardboard signs. Then he used the bathroom and then left, I watched him walk over to a nearby McDonalds and soon leave in newer Toyota Prius parked behind the McDonalds.
The types I absolutely utterly hate are the ones who use little kids to look pathetic and take money from strangers while the parents stand with the sign. You know the weak willed kind strangers will fork over BIG bucks...to "Help the Children!" I called the cops on one couple who used their kids as bait. Cops took action fast!! I saw the same couple a few days later I asked "Wheres the kids?" the mother, smoking a cigarette said "Some asshole called the cops on us, State seized the kids! oh well!" (Oh well?)
Sadly too many cardboard fliers are fakes, not homeless, many use the grift to score drug money or alcohol. I don't know how many times I've seen pan handlers buying booze/ cigarettes after shaking their cardboard on the corner a couple hours.
Plus too many times I've seen bags of food left at various corners after a pan handler leaves for the day....all that wasted food!!
It was in understanding that war, however horrible, was necessary but that it was still horrible; that a man with a firearm on the field of battle can and will be ordered to kill a complete stranger in the purpose of that war, bereft of hate for their opponent or any cogent knowledge of them as a person, simply as a piece on war's chessboard that they are demanded to remove. That, by my grandfather's reckoning, was the cognitive dissonance between those two states, of a living, thinking human person and living combat artifact with their greatest purpose reduced to kill and to stay alive long enough to function as that weapon as long as they can.
My grandfather was legitimately terrified of very few things, but the greatest fear and personal horror he bore was confronting and admitting that he accepted his part as a warrior in a war. He did not like it, but he allowed himself to understand his soldiering, and in hushed minding he respected what he contributed to the war effort individually. But he never, ever liked it. And he never spoke about his work as a combat soldier with any pride beyond, perhaps, a survivor's burden stuck in his craw. He made it home to his wife and children, to his daughter, my mother, but so many others did not, including everyone else in the three bomber flight crews he was assigned to.
War is not hell because of what it does or the loss of life and destruction it requires. War is hell because every time one happens on a scale as big as World War I or II, or in Viet Nam, or Korea, it changes everything about humanity on a fundamental level from then onwards, about what it means to be human and what our species must and did become simply to survive the efforts of war. I never lived through war, not like the one my grandparents and my parents did. I did not learn how to respect it by it staring me in the face, and I in it, only a fashion of survivor's awe, I suppose. I can only be grateful that it could have been far worse, and understand that even in that it was as horrible as it was.
-2Paw.
I hate it because it makes it hard for those of us that need help to get it. People don't want to get burned by a scam so they leave good people in need out to dry.
Got a source, maybe?
Quick and dirty: https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/wire_fraud
Thanks for the link. It will be interesting reading indeed. Thanks for that one.
This sort of scam wouldn't be possible if there wasn't an entire culture centred around "Oh, I'm a poor X, give me money for I am so marginalised". Literally anybody could make a gofundme with some quick sob story, and yet people will trust them with tens or even hundreds of donated dollars - it's insanity. Like... Try helping a person you actually know??
He doesn't deserve to get their money, but those idiots don't deserve to keep theirs either.
THIS
One local social site for neighborhoods is called NextDoor with its app. I use it mostly to find out about police / fire incidents, check out for sale ads.
It also has discussion areas, and any time some larger fire or crime event happens, there's several new posts claiming to be the friends or family of the people affected, asking for help in recovery or temporary expenses. If it was one person and actually related, sure, okay but when several do it and they aren't even in the same state or country, it is clearly online scammers taking advantage.
Whom can you trust at that point? I feel sorry for the current group my coworker is scamming, but they are still newly exposed and only believe what they want to see. Once they realize they have a thief in their midst, it is too late.
The FBI might be interested.
It just sucks. It all sucks.
And like you said, anyone who tries to speak out to warn others of what is happening, they get attacked, harassed, called out and even banned.
Maybe one day there will be change.. But I sadly dont see that day happening any time soon =\
And then disappears for months.
As is, my sister was begging me for money, even though she supposedly has a good job, I said flat out no. She hung up. That was 2 months ago.
To go to that level of begging and laugh about it as if it's nothing...well judgement comes in many forms. And I can take a wild guess that he probably uses his parents as a means to an end and nothing more.
All I can say is keep to your path and let him stay on his. It may look like he's winning now but his win was a shortcut and a instant one with no foundation. It'll crumble in time. Meanwhile you keep your foundation strong and do what you believe is right. Let him run his victory lap, for your own will come and be far better then his.
Also I know of at least one person on FA that is constant bugging for money for food, meds, gas, etc. They say they are broke but they are constantly posting new art!
I'm part of a neighbourhood/city forum where I live and sometimes see begging posts.. and I gotta admit I never EVER think of donating or helping out cause you just don't know if it's a legit need or if it's a scam. :/ I'd rather donate to the food bank or donate unused items to a charity shop.
And stay away from the mint! (giggles)
At this point, calling them out and opening the public's eyes to these things is about the best you can do. I refuse to give money to people on the streets for this exact same reason; the majority of folks on the streets asking for money do it not because they're struggling, but because it's actually profitable to capitalize on the morality of the 80% of people doing alright. The people who are actually struggling are usually able to get help at places like community homes and kitchens, but even those will get taken advantage of by aforementioned profiteers.
Simple rule of thumb. Unless you know them very well in real life, if someone straight-up asks for money, don't give them any. Donate to folks whom you legitimately think deserve it, like a favorite artist or an influencer that you've been following for a while. It sounds heartless, I know, but begging for money online is no different from doing so on the streets, and the only way to get rid of it is to make it non-profitable. You think about it, is anyone really going to choose to place their last hopes on online strangers' donations to get their lives stabilized? If they can access the internet, they can look up their options. Find local help services. There are always options, even if there don't appear to be on the surface level.
The disgusting thing was after working a shit job all day for barely enough $$$ to feed myself and keep gas in my truck, about half of those panhandlers would jump in brand new cars and drive back to mommy and daddy’s house to party with the free money given to them.
This is why I don’t donate.
Yeah, sometimes I feel bad for not doing so. However, I know I’m not feeding a scammer!
Giant space rock 2029!
I am pretty sure this would fall under: Theft by Deception or Theft by Means of Deception. Wording of the law changes by location.
If your location is a single party consent state ( As in only one of the people in a conversation [ aka you] knows they are being recorded, it legal to record the conversation. Then one potential thing that could be done is have your phone recording audio in a pocket or via a non visible app while the phone is in your hand, and get them to talk about it.
If that route is chosen then a good starting point would be to get him to acknowledge his first name atleast "hey Dan hows it going" "good how about you" and try and get him to talk about his cons and how much he has made.
Then you could either take the recording and report it to the police directly, or see if you can file anonymously online or via email. If done digitally, it would be helpful to include the file and a set of typed and timestamped transcripts of the important information.
That could potentially be enough to get warrants started for them to look through any digital paper trails linked to their name and banks and things would progress from there.
https://www.irs.gov/individuals/how.....fraud-activity
Don't want to do it yourself? That's fine. PM deets to me and I'll be happy to do it for you, or PM deets to any one of us here; we'll be happy to do it...and then sleep well that night. But if he is being that much of a shameless asshole about it, if you fancy yourself a moral person with a sense of right and wrong (which you obviously are, and do), I should think you have a duty to all those people that he's scammed - especially vulnerable people, like GLTBQ and the disabled - and do something.
Me, I'm of the philosophy that silence equates complicity, and inaction is collaboration with the oppressor. You already recognize the need to do something, mate. You just need to ask yourself if you have the will to do it.
Too bad I'm not good about thinking fast on my feet like that; I could'a said that when I drove off.
Never bought gas for a person in need ever again.
We've got the "professional" pan-handlers at most of the stoplights here. You can see the same faces at multiple places in town, miles apart as they move to new intersections on different days. A couple live in the apartment complex near this wuff; have seen them getting out of their car there and heading inside. But they're on the corner "homeless - need help" the next day.
On the other paw, wuff has found several in town that legitimately are homeless and needing help. There was one that used to camp with their shopping cart, tarp, sleeping bag, and canine companion, on an access road behind a little strip mall nearby. Vrghr would grab an extra "party pack" from taco bell, or a bucket from KFC when wuff was getting takeout and had the extra out the window to them. They always seemed grateful.
Wuff also found a fellow outside a Popeye's chicken asking for a few $$s for the daily special. Vrghr told him to wait there and bought a full extra family pack for him on the way out. He nearly cried when wuff handed it to him. For those that truly need it, this wuff is happy to help.
But those like the jerk in your post make it SO hard to tell who those needy really are! And that hurts everyone.
from then on i've never even paid attention to beggers other than to look around the area they're in. I've never failed to find expensive items haphazardly stuffed away.