Maritime Scam Artist

[c9]

FYI: if I call you claiming I've been beaten up and ask you to wire money to me, tell me to fuck off. Then call the cops.

Some shithead has, a few times over the last couple years, run a scam in which he calls reasonably connected members of the Maritime GLBT community, claiming to be some other reasonably connected member of the Maritime GLBT community. He's made thousands of dollars off some compassionate and giving (but unfortunately maybe slightly gullible) people.

This time around he's targeting Wayves. Fucker.

Learn more: http://gay.hfxns.org/LgbtPhoneScam

Comments

[gregr92.livejournal.com]

Interesting, we (Peel Pride Committee) got a similar request for help a couple months ago. Thanks for the tip!

[primary-suspect.livejournal.com]

Crazy. I remember a prof a UNBSJ telling us about a similar scam although it wasn't targetted at the GLBT community specifically. He ended up wiring the guy a thousand or so dollars because he was convincing enough that the prof though he knew him from school days or something.

But luckily the prof was able to get enough info that they were eventually able to track the bastage down and nail him. With the fees he had to pay for legal and investigative stuff, he didn't get his money back, but he didn't care at that point.

[c9.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it's an old scam. Just gather enough information from the phone book, the web, etc, to be able to reasonably sound like the person, then claim something so awful has happened that our compassion overpowers our suspicion.

With Wayves, it's our advertising guy, so the scam artist is calling all our major advertisers (who in theory have money) and talking about where the ad is in the issue, etc. Crazy shit.