WEBVTT - The Marijuana Manipulator w/ James Mastraieni (Fraud Friday) 0:00:00.520 --> 0:00:04.840 What's poppin congregation? Is your girl? Lacey Mosley aka Scam Goddess. 0:00:05.080 --> 0:00:09.600 Welcome to an episode of Fraud Fridays, where we release 0:00:09.760 --> 0:00:13.880 older episodes from the Scam Goddess Bault. That's right, Fraud 0:00:13.920 --> 0:00:16.360 Fridays is where we bring back your favorite episodes from 0:00:16.440 --> 0:00:20.280 behind the paywall. Enjoy this episode from behind the paywall, 0:00:20.320 --> 0:00:24.119 and as always, stay scheming scarce. 0:00:25.400 --> 0:00:42.240 God, Rub and run scam, Come, Rub and froll Goddess. Hi, 0:00:42.280 --> 0:00:44.920 Welcome to Scam Goddess. As you've heard, I'm here with 0:00:45.080 --> 0:00:49.559 James Mastriani. Yes, Oh my gosh, I've known James for 0:00:49.760 --> 0:00:50.920 a few years now. 0:00:50.800 --> 0:00:53.640 Like are you, oh, longer than that. 0:00:53.640 --> 0:00:54.920 That's as long as I've been in La, So as 0:00:54.960 --> 0:00:56.160 long as we could have known each other. 0:00:56.280 --> 0:00:59.520 Oh really yeah, wow, I thought for sure. It seems 0:00:59.560 --> 0:01:02.400 like long ago. I guess I know it really does. 0:01:02.560 --> 0:01:04.480 Maybe I just know you well enough that it just 0:01:05.160 --> 0:01:06.600 it seems like we've been friends for a while. 0:01:06.720 --> 0:01:10.440 Yeah, that's something a scammer would say too. Guys, I've 0:01:10.480 --> 0:01:11.600 known you since childhood. 0:01:11.640 --> 0:01:13.080 Yeah, we've known each other so long. 0:01:13.720 --> 0:01:19.880 Believe that now what I'm saying about the social Yeah, well, James, 0:01:20.080 --> 0:01:22.400 you have to tell me, like, what's your relationship with scams? 0:01:22.400 --> 0:01:23.800 Have you been in any scams? 0:01:23.840 --> 0:01:28.600 Have you You know, I am as an adult, I'm 0:01:28.600 --> 0:01:31.640 not really I'm not really a scam type of person. 0:01:31.680 --> 0:01:36.200 I damn shade you call right, I'm a child. 0:01:36.360 --> 0:01:39.520 No, I'm saying you're an adult with with loose moral 0:01:39.840 --> 0:01:42.440 uh fiber. 0:01:44.120 --> 0:01:44.200 No. 0:01:44.560 --> 0:01:49.240 I you know, my my parents have been the victims 0:01:49.280 --> 0:01:51.520 of scams because my parents are like older, and I 0:01:51.600 --> 0:01:55.280 feel like a lot of scams target older people for sure, 0:01:55.440 --> 0:01:59.600 for sure, but you know, honestly, I just don't think 0:01:59.640 --> 0:02:04.240 that I would be very good at it, like just 0:02:04.280 --> 0:02:05.360 in general scamming. 0:02:05.520 --> 0:02:07.200 Why not, Like, do you have an experience where you. 0:02:07.160 --> 0:02:10.640 Tried I do, Actually yeah, I had so. But this 0:02:10.800 --> 0:02:14.240 is like a uh so, this this is a scam 0:02:14.240 --> 0:02:15.760 I tried to pull when I was in high school. 0:02:15.760 --> 0:02:21.239 Oh okay, and I was seventeen, and so just a 0:02:21.280 --> 0:02:23.760 little bit of backstory. Uh So, first of all, I 0:02:23.760 --> 0:02:26.399 should say, audience, we're just getting color. 0:02:26.440 --> 0:02:29.079 Audience, the congregation, Okay, the congregation. 0:02:29.280 --> 0:02:31.680 Yes, I would just like to say, first of all, 0:02:31.680 --> 0:02:34.720 we don't know each other, and this story makes me 0:02:34.800 --> 0:02:39.040 sound not great, Okay, So I would say, give me 0:02:39.080 --> 0:02:40.919 a little bit of the benefit of the doubts. 0:02:40.919 --> 0:02:44.040 Okay, you're seventeen, I'm seventeen years old with a booming 0:02:44.120 --> 0:02:45.160 deep voice. 0:02:44.840 --> 0:02:50.360 Exactly, with a booming deep voice. And so a little 0:02:50.360 --> 0:02:52.760 bit of backstory. My uh so, growing up, my mom 0:02:52.880 --> 0:02:54.920 was disabled. Ryan, She was in a wheelchair, and so 0:02:56.360 --> 0:02:59.040 if you know, for a lot of people that are 0:02:59.080 --> 0:03:01.919 in wheelchairs, you have to have like very specific types 0:03:01.960 --> 0:03:03.200 of vehicles. 0:03:02.840 --> 0:03:05.640 Yeah, and handicap pass So you got to park in 0:03:05.639 --> 0:03:06.600 the front of. 0:03:06.400 --> 0:03:12.079 Everything everything front front line at every amusement park, which, oh, 0:03:12.120 --> 0:03:13.800 here's a minor scam we used to do because my 0:03:13.800 --> 0:03:17.600 mom couldn't go on rides, but we would use her 0:03:17.639 --> 0:03:18.960 to get to the front of the line at an 0:03:20.080 --> 0:03:23.520 and then lever and then just like sort of let 0:03:23.520 --> 0:03:24.760 her sit there. I think. 0:03:26.360 --> 0:03:28.200 Now of your mom happy to sit there while you're 0:03:28.240 --> 0:03:31.160 on Splash Mountain is hilarious and maybe a little sad, 0:03:31.160 --> 0:03:33.240 But I think your mom probably was also proud that 0:03:33.280 --> 0:03:34.680 she loved it help her kids. 0:03:34.960 --> 0:03:38.760 Absolutely, Yeah, it helped make her, you know, it felt 0:03:38.760 --> 0:03:41.920 to her like made her feel needed, I guess. But 0:03:43.040 --> 0:03:48.400 so when my mom's insurance improved approved of a new 0:03:49.080 --> 0:03:53.560 disabled van, I got my mom's old van, which was 0:03:53.800 --> 0:03:56.960 a nineteen eighty eight Dodge conversion van with a wheelchair 0:03:57.000 --> 0:03:58.280 lift out this side right. 0:03:58.520 --> 0:03:59.880 For a kid, this must have been a dream. 0:04:00.000 --> 0:04:01.920 Oh my god, it was a dream. And at this point, like, 0:04:01.920 --> 0:04:03.960 I'm a big stoner, and so I turned it into 0:04:03.960 --> 0:04:08.480 this big exactly, I turned it into this big smoking van. 0:04:08.680 --> 0:04:10.960 Like I took the seats out and replaced them with 0:04:11.040 --> 0:04:14.920 bean bag chairs, put up like beads and black lights 0:04:14.920 --> 0:04:18.520 and all this stuff. And uh, this this story is 0:04:18.600 --> 0:04:23.960 also just seeping with white privilege, because there's no like 0:04:24.040 --> 0:04:26.760 I should have been arrested multiple times for all of this. 0:04:27.040 --> 0:04:31.200 But so one night, we're in my basement. My parents 0:04:31.279 --> 0:04:32.960 used to go to bed very early, and I used 0:04:32.960 --> 0:04:34.920 to have friends over to come and hang in my 0:04:35.120 --> 0:04:36.240 in my basement and smoking. 0:04:36.360 --> 0:04:39.719 You were that friend who like hosts things and stuff. 0:04:39.760 --> 0:04:43.800 Absolutely, oh man, my parents are asleep at you know, 0:04:43.960 --> 0:04:46.520 eight eight thirty. Come on over, we'll get higher, we'll chill. 0:04:46.600 --> 0:04:48.240 What kind of sleep is this? They don't hear shit? 0:04:48.640 --> 0:04:49.600 No, No, I. 0:04:49.560 --> 0:04:53.440 Mean like maybe I fucking crack my ass upstairs. Yeah, 0:04:53.520 --> 0:04:54.640 oh I was a petty sleeper. 0:04:54.760 --> 0:04:57.760 That's really funny. Now, my parents the deep, deep sleepers 0:04:58.360 --> 0:05:00.680 and Uh, well, we'll get we'll get to that part 0:05:00.680 --> 0:05:03.599 of the story. So we were all smoking weed, but 0:05:03.640 --> 0:05:05.880 we decided like and so I'm all high and shit, 0:05:06.000 --> 0:05:08.280 and we're like, oh man, you know, we're only seventeen. 0:05:08.279 --> 0:05:12.360 We're like, I want to get some booze right level exactly, 0:05:12.400 --> 0:05:14.080 let's take this part of the next level. And I 0:05:14.120 --> 0:05:16.200 was like, how we're trying to come up with an idea, Like, 0:05:16.200 --> 0:05:18.320 how do we get some booze? Right? We're not twenty one. 0:05:18.640 --> 0:05:20.760 None of us have fakes right when the scam comes in. 0:05:20.839 --> 0:05:24.279 This is where the scam comes in. So I'm like, Okay, 0:05:25.000 --> 0:05:28.640 I think I have an idea. And so my mom 0:05:28.720 --> 0:05:32.080 had two different wheelchairs. She had a regular wheelchair and 0:05:32.080 --> 0:05:35.599 then she had a really dope like a like a scooter. 0:05:35.320 --> 0:05:36.400 Wheel yeah, electric one. 0:05:36.440 --> 0:05:38.760 An electric one, yeah, and which she used to keep 0:05:38.880 --> 0:05:42.719 charged in her bedroom. So I tell my friend, like, 0:05:42.839 --> 0:05:46.039 pull my van around front and lower the ramp and 0:05:46.080 --> 0:05:49.479 I'll be right back. And I went upstairs and I 0:05:49.520 --> 0:05:52.560 went into my parents' bedroom while they were sleeping, and 0:05:52.680 --> 0:05:58.960 I unplugged her electric wheelchair and I slowly start scooting it, 0:05:59.120 --> 0:06:00.520 you know, out of the bedroom. 0:06:00.640 --> 0:06:05.599 So you're like doing it with like it's like exactly, like. 0:06:04.440 --> 0:06:06.400 One hundred percent, Like I would go back a little 0:06:06.400 --> 0:06:08.200 bit and then they would start and I would just 0:06:08.279 --> 0:06:11.840 freeze because I'm also like, if my parents wake up 0:06:11.920 --> 0:06:14.520 right now and they see me in the middle of 0:06:14.560 --> 0:06:18.400 their bedroom in the dark, highest shit, sitting in my 0:06:18.480 --> 0:06:21.760 mom's wheelchair one, if I'm there at them, I'm like, 0:06:22.520 --> 0:06:24.520 is it like, is he here to kill us? Like? 0:06:24.560 --> 0:06:28.479 What is what the fuck is going on? Exactly? It's 0:06:28.520 --> 0:06:31.360 so freaky. And so you know, I'm doing this thing. 0:06:31.400 --> 0:06:33.800 I'm slowly backing it out and I'm going backwards too, 0:06:33.839 --> 0:06:36.720 and I'm trying to back my way out in the dark. 0:06:37.480 --> 0:06:40.520 And so I finally get it out and I grab 0:06:40.560 --> 0:06:43.640 a blanket because in this mid in the in in 0:06:43.680 --> 0:06:45.280 my head, this is going to help make it better. 0:06:45.320 --> 0:06:47.640 So I pull it into into the van. I'm like, 0:06:47.680 --> 0:06:49.720 all right, here's what we're gonna do. Pull up to 0:06:49.760 --> 0:06:53.320 the liquor store, right, make sure that the owner sees 0:06:53.720 --> 0:06:57.719 you lower the wheelchair ramp or the yeah, the wheelchair 0:06:57.800 --> 0:07:00.320 ramp out the side. I put this play it on 0:07:00.360 --> 0:07:03.800 my lap because I thought it made me look more disabled, 0:07:04.520 --> 0:07:08.360 and I was like, there's no way that they're going 0:07:08.360 --> 0:07:11.680 to ask me for ID if they think that, like, 0:07:11.760 --> 0:07:14.240 I'm disabled, right, and I'll just go in, I'll grab 0:07:14.280 --> 0:07:18.280 a couple of bottles and uh, it'll be it'll be great. Right. 0:07:18.720 --> 0:07:22.440 So this youthful teenage boy is now has a blanket 0:07:22.480 --> 0:07:25.040 over him in an electric wheelchair. I do have to say, James, 0:07:25.040 --> 0:07:28.600 that you are a scammer because the confidence level of 0:07:28.640 --> 0:07:32.080 saying I'm gonna go unplug an electric mobile vehic card 0:07:32.160 --> 0:07:34.480 right then I'm going to back it up in the dark. 0:07:34.560 --> 0:07:37.000 I'm also high, so I'm a little impaired and all 0:07:37.040 --> 0:07:40.000 this so that my parents don't realize that I'm doing it, Like, 0:07:40.040 --> 0:07:42.240 that's an extreme amount of confidence. Yeah, And so now 0:07:42.240 --> 0:07:43.920 you're also the one who's the most confident enough to 0:07:44.040 --> 0:07:47.440 roll into this convenience store and play the sympathy card 0:07:47.480 --> 0:07:48.240 to buy alcohol. 0:07:48.520 --> 0:07:50.880 Yep, Okay, yeah, I guess that's true. Maybe I am 0:07:50.920 --> 0:07:57.640 a scammer. And so I go in and immediately and 0:07:57.920 --> 0:07:59.600 I don't know why this makes me laugh, but I 0:07:59.600 --> 0:08:01.760 guess it's it's just that age of like the kind 0:08:01.800 --> 0:08:04.760 of alcohol you drink. But I picked up a bottle 0:08:04.800 --> 0:08:08.240 of Captain Morgan's and a bottle of ninety nine bananas oh, 0:08:08.400 --> 0:08:11.560 it's like the two that I got for for us faded. 0:08:12.440 --> 0:08:12.520 Ye. 0:08:12.960 --> 0:08:18.560 Absolutely, nine bananas ninety nine berries was really bad. But 0:08:18.600 --> 0:08:21.840 I used to do the same ship. And so I take, 0:08:22.040 --> 0:08:24.400 you know, I take the wheelchair up to the counter 0:08:24.800 --> 0:08:28.120 and I put the and and so I'm like pretending 0:08:28.160 --> 0:08:32.320 to be like kind of frail and I put put 0:08:32.400 --> 0:08:36.800 the Oh it gets worse, it gets worse, congregation, it 0:08:36.800 --> 0:08:40.960 gets worse, And I'm so sorry for this. And so 0:08:41.240 --> 0:08:44.440 I put the bottles on on the the thing. And 0:08:44.480 --> 0:08:47.439 by the way, I'm the only person in the liquor store. 0:08:47.520 --> 0:08:49.520 Wow, okay, nobody distractions. 0:08:49.679 --> 0:08:52.640 No distractions, which I wish there would have been. I 0:08:52.640 --> 0:08:54.160 feel like if it would have been busier, it would 0:08:54.160 --> 0:08:54.600 have been easier. 0:08:54.760 --> 0:08:56.800 Yeah, like if you had some other friends had come 0:08:56.800 --> 0:08:59.000 in and maybe bought snacks or something. Yeah. 0:08:59.120 --> 0:09:02.720 Yeah. So I go in and I put the bottles down, 0:09:03.240 --> 0:09:08.560 and the guy's like, hey, I gotta see some id 0:09:10.200 --> 0:09:13.720 And in my head I was like fuck immediately this 0:09:13.800 --> 0:09:17.280 is what he asked me. So I'm like, okay, pretend 0:09:17.440 --> 0:09:21.760 you didn't hear them. 0:09:22.160 --> 0:09:24.199 So are you trying to make yourself daft? Dude? 0:09:24.240 --> 0:09:28.720 Oh it gets worse, it gets worse. So I pretend 0:09:28.760 --> 0:09:30.559 not to hear them, and I just pushed the bottles 0:09:30.600 --> 0:09:32.840 further towards him, and I put some cash on the thing, 0:09:33.640 --> 0:09:37.040 and he goes, hey, man, I'm sorry, but I got 0:09:37.040 --> 0:09:38.600 to see some id I got to make sure you're 0:09:38.640 --> 0:09:41.959 over twenty one and so this at this point, I'm like, okay, 0:09:41.960 --> 0:09:46.800 I have to double down. So I then put on 0:09:46.880 --> 0:09:54.480 an affectation no that I am mentally disabled. No, j 0:09:55.240 --> 0:09:58.400 I still remember the exact thing that I said. Oh God, 0:09:58.800 --> 0:10:02.600 and so cong gation, please stick with me here, and this. 0:10:02.480 --> 0:10:05.280 Is we all we all stray, guys. 0:10:05.000 --> 0:10:07.400 Okay, we all stray. I was seventeen, this. 0:10:07.240 --> 0:10:09.360 Is not twenty fourteen, and nobody was wok he. 0:10:09.520 --> 0:10:12.240 Yeah, nobody was woke. Nobody's woke. Believe me. I feel 0:10:12.320 --> 0:10:15.080 terrible about this. Uh. And I looked at him and 0:10:15.120 --> 0:10:22.360 I said, please, no, I was so much pain, just like. 0:10:22.400 --> 0:10:30.600 That JAP was all horrible. But I do have to say, 0:10:30.640 --> 0:10:33.520 the dedications are not just bailing on this. 0:10:33.679 --> 0:10:35.959 Oh, I know, because I think I would have just reversed. 0:10:35.559 --> 0:10:37.920 That joint and been like we're here atly out of 0:10:37.960 --> 0:10:38.480 the store. 0:10:38.840 --> 0:10:43.040 Absolutely, And so he looks at me for a moment 0:10:43.800 --> 0:10:48.959 and he goes, I know who you are. He goes, 0:10:49.240 --> 0:10:51.160 and this is like an old, middle aged white guy, 0:10:51.520 --> 0:10:54.480 and there was this restaurant next door called Frishes. He's like, 0:10:55.480 --> 0:10:57.960 I've seen your I've seen your van, I've seen you 0:10:58.000 --> 0:11:00.439 and your friend smoking weed outside the restaurant all the time. 0:11:00.480 --> 0:11:02.120 I know you're not in a wheelchair, and i know 0:11:02.160 --> 0:11:04.839 you're not old enough to be in here, so I'm 0:11:04.880 --> 0:11:07.959 gonna give you two seconds to get the fuck out 0:11:08.000 --> 0:11:13.079 of my store otherwise I'm calling the police. 0:11:14.360 --> 0:11:16.679 As fucking exactly. 0:11:16.600 --> 0:11:19.280 The whole fucking time he knew. He was just like, 0:11:19.360 --> 0:11:22.640 I'm gonna let this dumb fucking kid. I'm gonna let 0:11:22.640 --> 0:11:26.720 this dumb kid just do this whole bit. I'm maneuvering 0:11:26.760 --> 0:11:31.120 my way through these narrow ass liquor aisles in this wheelchair. 0:11:31.760 --> 0:11:36.280 And I immediately fess up and I was like, I'm 0:11:36.280 --> 0:11:41.560 so sorry. I shouldn't have done this. I just my 0:11:41.600 --> 0:11:43.360 friends and I were just trying to have a good time, 0:11:43.400 --> 0:11:46.160 and he was like, get the fuck out, and but 0:11:48.000 --> 0:11:50.319 the funny thing is I was like, yes, absolutely, and 0:11:50.400 --> 0:11:54.319 I started I started moving the wheelchair and I got 0:11:54.400 --> 0:11:58.920 it stuck in the door on the way to the exit. 0:11:59.040 --> 0:12:01.880 Like trying to leave, and I couldn't maneuver it, and 0:12:01.920 --> 0:12:04.520 I had to get up out of the wheelchair and 0:12:04.600 --> 0:12:07.240 try to like drag it through this narrow door, all 0:12:07.960 --> 0:12:11.960 while this dude is staring daggers straight through me, and 0:12:12.000 --> 0:12:15.480 I just sheepishly like pulled back into, you know, back 0:12:15.480 --> 0:12:16.040 into the van. 0:12:16.360 --> 0:12:18.240 James, when the jig was up, why didn't you just 0:12:18.280 --> 0:12:19.960 get out of the wheelchair and push it out of 0:12:19.960 --> 0:12:20.640 the store. 0:12:20.720 --> 0:12:25.000 Because it's heavy as fuck, Like it's this big motorized wheelchair, 0:12:25.000 --> 0:12:26.920 Like you can't really push it and you have to 0:12:26.960 --> 0:12:30.000 like use the handle and then because when it got stuck, 0:12:30.040 --> 0:12:32.720 I had like use the handle and then like maneuver 0:12:32.800 --> 0:12:35.119 it through the door because it was like a wide wheelchair. 0:12:35.200 --> 0:12:38.839 Okay, I appreciate this man's petty for letting you do 0:12:39.160 --> 0:12:41.600 all of this before he told you. He even lets 0:12:41.640 --> 0:12:44.800 you do another He let you dig yourself into a 0:12:44.800 --> 0:12:47.000 deep asshole before he finally was like, I know who 0:12:47.040 --> 0:12:49.320 you are, James. I think that this scam would have 0:12:49.320 --> 0:12:51.360 worked if you had gone somewhere that wasn't a place 0:12:51.400 --> 0:12:54.280 that you go all of the time. You can't go 0:12:54.320 --> 0:12:57.959 to your loco, You hang out in front of this place. 0:12:57.800 --> 0:13:01.360 Jay, Literally, the liquor store was next to the restaurant 0:13:01.400 --> 0:13:04.080 where like four of my friends worked. Oh and so 0:13:04.360 --> 0:13:06.880 we would just go get free food there and get 0:13:06.960 --> 0:13:10.959 high around back, you know, almost every day. So for some. 0:13:10.800 --> 0:13:13.400 Reason, so you insulted that man's intelligence. 0:13:13.480 --> 0:13:17.000 Absolutely, I insulted a lot of people's intelligence. I insulted 0:13:17.040 --> 0:13:21.640 my own intelligence. I insulted my mother, who you know, 0:13:22.120 --> 0:13:26.520 has to endure the suffering of being disabled, and I 0:13:26.559 --> 0:13:29.599 exploited that to try to get ninety nine bananas for 0:13:29.679 --> 0:13:33.200 me and my friends. She also has never heard this story. 0:13:33.640 --> 0:13:36.840 Wow, so you put the chair back. She never noticed. 0:13:36.920 --> 0:13:39.280 She's never noticed I took the chair home. I took 0:13:39.320 --> 0:13:41.880 it back. I put it right back where it was. 0:13:41.920 --> 0:13:43.000 Plug that shit back in. 0:13:43.400 --> 0:13:45.800 I think you got enough punishment from the liquor store man. 0:13:46.160 --> 0:13:50.400 Yeah. Yeah, I think I would love to hear his 0:13:50.600 --> 0:13:51.480 version of that story. 0:13:51.640 --> 0:13:54.240 I'm sure he loves that story because he godd you on. 0:13:54.760 --> 0:13:56.920 Like he probably saw from a second that you came 0:13:56.960 --> 0:13:58.920 in and knew exactly what you were doing, saw you 0:13:58.920 --> 0:14:01.800 pick up the liquor bottles, all you driving around the store. 0:14:01.840 --> 0:14:05.080 He was like, okay, please, I know he knew, Like 0:14:05.120 --> 0:14:08.959 he probably saw the van and immediately was like, what 0:14:09.040 --> 0:14:12.120 are these fucking idiots trying to do? And because he 0:14:12.200 --> 0:14:16.400 probably my van was so recognizable. The outside was completely graffitied, 0:14:17.080 --> 0:14:21.720 like it was just tagged up. So there's no way 0:14:21.760 --> 0:14:23.120 you wouldn't know what this van was. 0:14:24.000 --> 0:14:24.120 Yo. 0:14:24.360 --> 0:14:26.560 All you needed was some You needed a consultant. You 0:14:26.640 --> 0:14:29.760 had look, you had confidence, you had co gumption. You 0:14:29.840 --> 0:14:32.280 just needed somebody to get you with the logistics. Like 0:14:32.280 --> 0:14:34.040 your friends, none of them were thinking they were all 0:14:34.080 --> 0:14:36.400 just along for the ride. You one friend Tod be like, okay, 0:14:36.920 --> 0:14:38.600 but we got to park the van across the street. 0:14:39.000 --> 0:14:40.760 And also we can't go to. 0:14:40.920 --> 0:14:43.800 The place that we always I know, I know, I. 0:14:43.800 --> 0:14:46.040 Think without those two major factors, you would have gotten 0:14:46.120 --> 0:14:47.680 your lips around some ninety nine bananas. 0:14:47.720 --> 0:14:50.600 Probably. Yeah, I needed some scam goddess smartness. 0:14:51.560 --> 0:14:53.480 But we knew each other back then, James, I know, 0:14:53.840 --> 0:14:54.640 I know, I'm sorry. 0:14:54.680 --> 0:15:01.240 That's right. We've known each other that long, scar God. 0:15:03.000 --> 0:15:05.840 So this is our segment what's hot in fraud? Guys. 0:15:06.240 --> 0:15:08.040 We don't want you to get scammed, at least not 0:15:08.120 --> 0:15:10.720 by other people. Okay, Now, if I call you and 0:15:10.760 --> 0:15:12.600 I need you to spin in a cup or give 0:15:12.600 --> 0:15:15.320 me a lock of your child's hair. You mail that 0:15:15.400 --> 0:15:17.720 to me, okay, because it's for a good cost. But 0:15:17.840 --> 0:15:19.520 if anybody else is trying to run game on you, 0:15:19.520 --> 0:15:21.640 we just can't allow it. So this is a segment 0:15:21.680 --> 0:15:24.880 where we'll talk a little bit about a fraud, a scam, 0:15:25.280 --> 0:15:30.400 a hoodwink that's really popular right now. So today we're 0:15:30.400 --> 0:15:32.680 going to talk about romance fraud. Guys, we've talked about 0:15:32.760 --> 0:15:34.800 romance fraud before, but the reason that I want to 0:15:34.800 --> 0:15:36.920 bring this up is because we actually got some legit 0:15:37.400 --> 0:15:40.840 numbers on romance fraud. James, do you know that romance 0:15:40.880 --> 0:15:46.000 fraud makes up about one hundred and forty three million 0:15:46.160 --> 0:15:48.640 dollars domestically in losses? 0:15:49.120 --> 0:15:52.320 What? Okay? So first of all, what is romance fraud? 0:15:52.600 --> 0:15:54.960 So romance fraud, which I already told you guys, love 0:15:55.040 --> 0:15:59.960 is a scam, stay woke. Look it's one we all participated. 0:16:00.120 --> 0:16:04.840 It's still a fucking scam. But romance fraud is where 0:16:05.000 --> 0:16:10.840 people talk on things like bumble Tender, Christian mingle grinder, 0:16:12.240 --> 0:16:14.680 and they talk to people who are looking for love 0:16:14.760 --> 0:16:18.000 and commitment as a means to defraud them out of 0:16:18.120 --> 0:16:19.960 small or large amounts of money. 0:16:20.280 --> 0:16:20.960 Interest. 0:16:21.280 --> 0:16:24.000 Yes, So in twenty eighteen, romance scams were the most 0:16:24.000 --> 0:16:26.080 expensive type of fraud scam and that's where we got 0:16:26.080 --> 0:16:28.640 that one hundred and forty three million dollars. And this 0:16:28.720 --> 0:16:31.440 actually comes from the Federal Trade Commission because you can report. 0:16:31.480 --> 0:16:33.120 If you, guys get scammed, you can report it to 0:16:33.200 --> 0:16:35.520 the Federal Trade Commission. Will you get your money back? 0:16:35.760 --> 0:16:39.440 Probably not, but maybe you're gonna save somebody else, Like 0:16:39.600 --> 0:16:41.600 come on, guys, that's that's good, right. 0:16:41.720 --> 0:16:42.560 Yeah. 0:16:42.840 --> 0:16:47.120 So some of the biggest scams are often military men 0:16:47.520 --> 0:16:50.240 on tender, which I think is a good one cause 0:16:50.280 --> 0:16:53.200 it's like men who are saying they're deployed fighting for 0:16:53.240 --> 0:16:55.200 their country overseas. 0:16:55.800 --> 0:16:57.000 Wow, that's fucked. 0:16:57.720 --> 0:16:59.520 And so it's like, how can you really say who's 0:16:59.520 --> 0:17:00.560 in the mill terry or not? 0:17:00.880 --> 0:17:01.400 Yeah? 0:17:01.560 --> 0:17:04.120 Yeah, a lot of people in the military. 0:17:03.840 --> 0:17:06.679 And like that feels like it could easily appeal to 0:17:06.840 --> 0:17:11.280 like any sort of like maga type of person on tender, 0:17:12.080 --> 0:17:15.200 you know, like like an uber patriotic type of if. 0:17:15.080 --> 0:17:18.000 You're scamming mega people shout out to you, ye keep 0:17:18.000 --> 0:17:18.480 doing that shit. 0:17:18.560 --> 0:17:18.639 Ye. 0:17:19.080 --> 0:17:21.159 I will never discourage it and I will never report you. 0:17:23.440 --> 0:17:26.639 But I want to read one of the reports is 0:17:26.720 --> 0:17:29.879 somebody who actually got scammed by this? All okay, So 0:17:29.920 --> 0:17:34.200 I'm on the Federal Trade Commission website and they actually 0:17:34.240 --> 0:17:38.119 have consumer information because this is so popular, people getting 0:17:38.160 --> 0:17:42.760 scammed by online lovers or whatever. So their advice is one, 0:17:43.359 --> 0:17:45.960 never send money or gifts to a sweetheart you haven't 0:17:45.960 --> 0:17:46.679 met in person. 0:17:47.480 --> 0:17:49.879 It seems obvious, right, That seems super obvious. 0:17:50.400 --> 0:17:54.880 Take it slowly, ask questions and look for inconsistent answers. 0:17:55.040 --> 0:17:58.960 Check the person's photo using a search engine like Search 0:17:59.000 --> 0:18:01.520 by image Google. If the same picture shows up with 0:18:01.560 --> 0:18:03.840 a different name, that's a red flag. 0:18:04.440 --> 0:18:06.160 Oh yeah, that makes sense. 0:18:07.119 --> 0:18:10.440 Talk to someone about this new love entrance and take attention. 0:18:10.760 --> 0:18:12.920 And friends and family are concerned. 0:18:15.400 --> 0:18:20.200 That seems impractical, right Maybe I don't know. I feel 0:18:20.240 --> 0:18:22.920 like if well, no, I guess it. Yeah. I'm trying 0:18:22.960 --> 0:18:24.640 to think of like if I were talking to something 0:18:24.640 --> 0:18:26.879 like I'm talking to somebody on hinge or whatever. 0:18:28.920 --> 0:18:31.080 Are you gonna tell people that you matched with someone 0:18:31.160 --> 0:18:31.480 on him? 0:18:31.480 --> 0:18:33.640 How would they know if they're How would somebody else 0:18:33.680 --> 0:18:34.600 know if they're a scammer? 0:18:34.840 --> 0:18:37.199 I think because what they're saying is like, maybe you 0:18:37.320 --> 0:18:39.200 don't realize this shit is weird. But if you say 0:18:39.200 --> 0:18:41.800 it out loud to somebody else, You're like, oh, yeah, 0:18:41.840 --> 0:18:44.160 I'm talking to this new man. His name is John Doe. 0:18:44.160 --> 0:18:48.199 He in the military. He said he needed six thousand 0:18:48.200 --> 0:18:52.240 dollars for his medical bills. I said, let's FaceTime before 0:18:52.240 --> 0:18:54.040 I send the money. He said, I ain't got no 0:18:55.080 --> 0:18:58.160 FaceTime out here in Bagdad. And I was like, are 0:18:58.160 --> 0:19:00.480 we still in bag Dad? He was like, I guess 0:19:00.560 --> 0:19:02.440 we are. We definitely are, for sure. 0:19:03.480 --> 0:19:05.240 That's really funny. That makes sense. Yeah. 0:19:05.280 --> 0:19:07.120 He said they're trying to get garbage to tear down 0:19:07.119 --> 0:19:13.320 that wall. And I was like, Okay, I'm here in Hanoi, Vietnam, 0:19:13.440 --> 0:19:16.240 and I've been station here for forty years. 0:19:16.880 --> 0:19:17.080 Yeah. 0:19:18.920 --> 0:19:20.400 Yeah, they never brought all of us back. 0:19:20.440 --> 0:19:21.400 They never brought us back. 0:19:21.480 --> 0:19:23.760 They didn't tell you. But we're still fighting in the vita. 0:19:25.240 --> 0:19:27.880 So y'all remember Norman Dy you were, Yeah, he's still 0:19:27.880 --> 0:19:32.360 at Norman Dy So I wired him six thousand dollars. Yeah, 0:19:32.400 --> 0:19:34.239 so maybe your friend will be like, hey, girl, that 0:19:34.320 --> 0:19:36.439 war has been over for a long time. 0:19:38.680 --> 0:19:40.480 Let's open up the history books, shall we. 0:19:42.080 --> 0:19:44.560 And then the last one is if you suspect a 0:19:44.640 --> 0:19:48.000 romance scam, cut off contact right away. Then report the 0:19:48.040 --> 0:19:51.359 scam to FTC which is FTC dot gov slash complaint 0:19:51.720 --> 0:19:55.720 and notify the dating site where you met the scammer too. So, guys, 0:19:55.760 --> 0:19:57.320 if this has happened to you, you don't have to 0:19:57.359 --> 0:19:59.560 tell us, but also you should tell us email scam 0:19:59.560 --> 0:20:03.680 Goddess pod because we'd love to hear about it. But yeah, 0:20:03.760 --> 0:20:06.600 it's it's crazy. So the website went further. They made 0:20:06.720 --> 0:20:10.680 an instructional safety video for people who are online dating. 0:20:10.680 --> 0:20:12.080 And it's right behind you, James. 0:20:11.800 --> 0:20:12.840 And your lot shit. 0:20:14.480 --> 0:20:17.439 Looking for love and all the right places like popular 0:20:17.520 --> 0:20:21.919 dating sites, mobile apps, and social networking sites. Ron seems 0:20:21.960 --> 0:20:25.000 like a perfect match for you. He's thoughtful and says 0:20:25.000 --> 0:20:25.919 he can't live without you. 0:20:26.000 --> 0:20:27.160 Ron looks like a serial killer. 0:20:27.400 --> 0:20:29.200 He says he's from the US but works out of 0:20:29.240 --> 0:20:31.800