Say hello to Lance and Barrett. And Kingston, the rat in a dog suit.
Let me back the car up a bit to Morro Bay, where Ms. Muse and I spent a few days over the 4th of July. On the long scenic drive back through Central California's beautiful rolling hills and intermittent peeks at the Pacific, she suggested we listen to a podcast.
Unlike many of you I'm not a podcast guy. I don't spend a great deal of time in the car. And because I've spent a lifetime working in advertising, I have the attention span of a caffeinated 5 year old at a state fair.
But this was different, because it was about scammers. And if you've followed this blog for any amount of time you know I'm fascinated by scumbags who pull the wool over the eyes of unsuspecting victims. I'm looking at you, Red Hats.
More specifically, I'm interested in the psychological interplay between the predator and the prey. And how, with cunning and bald faced lies, the scammer is able to manipulate and fleece the scammee.
As I've done in the past with book reviews, I will not give out too many details. And this podcast has a shit ton of details. Including the many aliases, used by the man on the left, let's call him Lance. Or Michael. Or Lawrence.
After a failed attempt to put together an online newspaper, Newsaratti (better than the Huffington Post) he and his partner, Barrett, set out to scam newlyweds.
If you know anything about putting a wedding together you know it's an endeavor with many moving parts: catering, music, invites, decorations, photography, chocolate waterfalls, etc.
Some of you will notice I wrote about chocolate waterfalls yesterday. Not only do I have a weakness for chocolate, I am simply amused how Americans can be so easily hypnotized by a mechanism that simply melts chocolate and pours it off a decorative ledge.
It's confectionary fireworks.
In short, weddings are a big deal. They're also inordinately expensive. Newlyweds invest a great deal of money into these once-in-a-lifetime extravaganzas. Not just money, but emotion. All of which makes them vulnerable. Especially to heartless vultures who would take their money (in advance) and then partially or entirely not deliver.
At one of these weddings where envelopes of money were given in lieu of gifts, Lance and Barrett literally absconded with a satchel full of cash.
Think about it, while a bride and groom were crushed on their special day, Kingston, their dog was chewing on filet mignon.
While a couple of young entrepreneurs saw their nest egg disappear, Kingston was sporting a bedazzled sweater and booties.
While an enterprising young pastry chef was wondering where all her money went, Kingston was riding shotgun in a brand new BMW 626 Series.
By the time we came over the hill on the 405 freeway, I was seething and wanted to see these two fuckwads, torn limb from fatty, never-worked-an-honest-day-in-their-life limb.
I won't tell you how the story ends, suffice to say my oversized need for justice has been piqued. And I'm not done with these two.
Look for The Wedding Scammers on Spotify. You're welcome.
No comments:
Post a Comment