Originally published at: Watch this scammer get glitterbombed and then arrested | Boing Boing
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It really is is more than just a glitter bomb video. They various twists uncovered in the scam process were amazing to me. And then the tie in with two renowned anti-scammers (such as Jim Browning) made it a compelling watch.
Also, one of the scams was in the Chicago area so I spent another hour trying to pinpoint the exact location from YouTube screenshots
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Fantastic fun to watch these guys go from “let’s glitterbomb package thieves” to “we’re tracking down international scammers preying on the elderly.” Kudos to them, great work!
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Please keep a lookout for the next one! I wanna see a scammer unboxing some dog poop!
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Those pants have a celestial, outer spacy look to them.
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True Justice
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Scammers are scum, but if you think it can never happen to you, here’s a cautionary tale. The names have been changed to protect the innocent. My good friend “Bob” got a frantic email from a mutual friend “Harry” who needed his help. He was traveling in Europe and had his wallet stolen and needed some cash to get home and asked if he could wire $2,000 to him to be repaid on his return. Bob was suspicious and thought the easiest way to know if this was truly Harry was to ask him to relate a personal anecdote about his grandmother known by both of them. He also called him, got his voicemail and left a message. An hour later Harry replies with a detailed accounting of the story. Bob, having no reason to doubt it was truly him, promptly wires him the money. The next day Harry calls Bob and tells him he’s not in Europe, his email account had been hacked, so don’t send the money. Bob tells him it’s too late but wonders how the scammer knew the story about his grandmother. Turns out Harry had emailed a draft of a memoir to his publisher a few weeks previously that included the anecdote about his grandmother. The scammer did his homework!
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Yeah, the detail of the scams is excellent. It’s impressive how elaborate they are and also interesting how involved that whole criminal network is.
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This is near and dear to my heart. I can not tell you how many friends and family have to deal with these scum, and the time it takes to rectify the financial chaos it creates. Elder Abuse is on the rise, and the GOV. needs to step up the game against it.
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Wow, having watched this Rober put a lot of money into tailing the people who pick up the packages and their supervisors in all of those different states.
One of the constants in this particular video is that delivery companies will just hand packages to someone standing outside a building, enabling the scammers to have cash sent anywhere without needing a legit physical address.
I was surprised that the same lower level contractors actually travel between states to do pick ups that they hand off to their supervisors.
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It surprises me that law enforcement is not more involved, with the proper resources and authority, all you need to do is buy one extended warranty from a robocaller, track the company down and end that scam. Likewise, is there any cooperation between law enforcement in India and the US? It is amazing how successful the YouTube guys are with basically no resources or authority.
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I get a fair amount of these calls and when I have free time I like to try to waste their time so they can’t scam other people while they are busy messing around with me.
The last time this happened it was a social security scam. I played along like I was elderly and depressed and had been having a bad run of luck, and this was coming at the worst possible time for me; I needed my social security to live, etc.
At the point of the scam where I could tell I would either have to put up or lose their interest, I went on about how I couldn’t take the stress anymore and then I played a sample of a shotgun blast very loud into the telephone. They hung up at this point.
I’m hoping that they fell for it and reconsidered their profession believing that they had driven someone to their death.
My wife had a similar experience with an IRS scammer. The scammer asked for some amount of money and she claimed that she had just given her credit card number to somebody at the IRS to pay the fee. The scammer was confused and asked who she had given her CC info to, and she said “Someone at your office who just called me 5 minutes ago. Did the charge not go through? Look it up.”
I’d like to think that this caused a scammer gang war because one outfit thought another was moving in on their turf, but it probably doesn’t work that way irl.
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My elderly mother was the victim of an India-based tech support scam. Now she’s on the sucker lists and gets called constantly. My sister and I now take turns reminding her every month about different scams (this month it’s the IRS scam) to keep her alert. She gets a bit insulted, but since these scumbags continue to call and try new angles, I’ll take that heat.
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I had the hardest time trying to figure out what this bit had to do with the story. Funny Bit BTW. Then I clicked back and saw the image. LOL well done
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Because they treat drivers so badly I suppose few are motivated to take anything but the simplest course.
The banks releasing the money are another constant and an industry which should be more motivated to prevent scams involving moving large amounts of money (obviously the scammers are taking measures to prevent their efforts, if they do make them).
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Please be Trump please be Trump…
Oh well, I’ll take it
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A fascinating overview of this phenomenon.
I’m curious what his legal exposure here is. When his glitterbox is inside the scammer’s car, he’s taping private conversations that he is not a party to. (States are either 1-party or 2-party with regards to tapping communications, but here he’s 0-party.)
I do know that, even if this were an illegal wiretap, it would be allowed as admissible evidence since he is not a LEO.
They really shouldn’t be.
I’ve been working outside at home and i’ve had delivery drivers ask me to unlock my front door to prove i live there before they’ll hand anything over.
And working at UPS, i know for a fact that’d at least be a disciplinary offense if they got caught doing that…
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Okay, but that seems like a helluvalot of homework to do for a crappy $2k.
