We’ve covered a lot of scammers on this blog.
Who can forget this classic:
Woman’s Twitter Thread Breaks Down How She Scammed A Scammer Back
Or this bit of righteous comeuppance:
Woman Trolls Scammer So Hard They Ask Her To Stop Texting
Something just so wonderful about watching a plan blow up in a con artist’s face.
Recently, Artist Brittany Everette fell victim to a scammer when her desire for a Playstation 5 outweighed the natural fear of sending money to a stranger on the Internet. It’s happened to many of us.
The PlayStation is desperately wanted all over the place and it’s in short supply. When she was contacted by someone selling the console, it seemed too good to be true, because it was.
“This guy (we’ll call him Henry) reached out to me saying he was selling his PS5 digital edition that his fiancé gifted him because it was the wrong version.
“He was selling it at the regular price too,” Everette tweeted, starting a long thread about how she got back at the man who took her money and sold her nothing but lies.
She does admit she had some hesitation at first, but she eventually agreed to send him half the asking price, then promised the other half upon arrival of the Ps5.
When she checked in with him about the shipment, he asked her to send the other half, because of his daughter’s medical bills.
A lot of people might have bailed then, but Everette is chronically disabled and understood how hospital bills can add up. She does ask for pictures of the shipping receipt, which he sends, but he holds off on the tracking number, promising it the next day.
Monday comes and I text him asking if there’s any issue with shipping. He says no but asks if it’s possible that he get the other half of the money. He says his daughter is sick and he ran into unexpected medical bills. I’m chronically ill and disabled, so I get it.
— b. (@_BeeEv) January 22, 2021
He sends a picture of the Staples drop-off package receipt, with the store number, number of packages, & date. I send $225. He says he’ll send me the tracking number when it’s sent to him and to text him on Tuesday if I don’t hear from him. Cool. I’m super excited.
— b. (@_BeeEv) January 22, 2021
But when she follows up, she’s blocked. Everywhere. She tries him on her husband’s phone and Twitter and just gets double-y blocked. Realizing she got scammed, she tries to get the money back via Apple Pay or her bank, but it’s no dice.
So, she tries him again, threatening to report him everywhere she can if he doesn’t send the money back by that night:
THE TEXT BUBBLES ARE FUCKING GREEN. I check Twitter where he originally reached out, blocked. I reach out using another number. Blocked. Reach out on my husband’s Twitter. Left on read. He scammed me.
— b. (@_BeeEv) January 22, 2021
It’s Tuesday afternoon now. I decide to reach out again. I tell him he has until 9:30pm to run me my money or I’m taking legal action. He ignores it.
— b. (@_BeeEv) January 22, 2021
9:30 comes & goes. Radio silence. pic.twitter.com/ChEPnYmaH1
— b. (@_BeeEv) January 22, 2021
This is where Everette’s persistence paid off. She would not give up. She kept messaging him again and again. Then she realized that there were actually some things she could do to find that guy. She had that photo of the shipping receipt.
Using that, she found his name and address and email. And the emails of his family members.
He kept changing his Twitter handle to different variations of his actual name. Every time he changed it, I would message him telling him I found him and will always find him lmao
— b. (@_BeeEv) January 22, 2021
This is full-fledged investigation now ok? I got my laptop, my phone, a cup of tea, and my notepad.
A special agent, if you will.— b. (@_BeeEv) January 22, 2021
I used all the names he kept changing his Twitter handle to. And would you look at that, they all pull up the same information with the same aliases.
I found an email too. pic.twitter.com/gHCnawViZk— b. (@_BeeEv) January 22, 2021
She told him to send the money again, to no avail. So it was time to get his family involved.
She made up a fake law firm and sent every email she had associated with him a letter about the situation, threatening legal action.
He then changed his Twitter name to a name he hadn’t used yet, Roberto Williams (also made up by me). Boom. That’s all I needed.
— b. (@_BeeEv) January 22, 2021
PA&P Legal has now entered the chat. pic.twitter.com/ZiLfHlVLzB
— b. (@_BeeEv) January 22, 2021
Surely his family would respond to a super serious email from my legal team. And I already had all their emails, so…… pic.twitter.com/Dv533CjlOJ
— b. (@_BeeEv) January 22, 2021
Now clearly anyone with some sense would be able to tell this email was ridiculous and whoever wrote it has no idea what they’re talking about lmao but nay nay, not he.
— b. (@_BeeEv) January 22, 2021
A few hours later, her phone was blowing up with messages from this man and his fiancée:
My husband interrupts my chill sesh and tells me to look at my phone ASAP. I forgot to mention to him that I founded an entire legal team a few hours prior, so I thought he was sending me a funny video or some other stupid shit.
— b. (@_BeeEv) January 22, 2021
I check my phone to 3-4 long ass texts from his distraught fiancé. So naturally, I start snitching left and right. Screenshots, emails, alla that – including that he used his daughter’s disability and medical bills to scam me. She’s PISSED.
— b. (@_BeeEv) January 22, 2021
Then who do I get a text from? Mr. Scammer himself. What a coincidence. pic.twitter.com/l9tH1tMHxs
— b. (@_BeeEv) January 22, 2021
The fiancée’s texts say that she is totally disgusted with her man’s behavior, and she is planning to leave him if he doesn’t return the money, because she can’t believe she is with someone who is out there scamming people for hundreds of dollars.
It’s very hard to break a scammer. The man is now texting Everette, trying to get her to “drop the charges.” Unfortunately, he is not putting his money where his mouth is and sending that cash back. He does tell his fiancée that he did, which only leads to more grief for him, because Everette has her contact number.
Meanwhile, his fiancé is texting me asking if I had the money.
I was like ???????
This man is saying he doesn’t have it but telling her he paid me back.
So what do I do?— b. (@_BeeEv) January 22, 2021
Not even 5 minutes later I got the notification that my request for $450 was completed. 😂😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/OJuV5ZpZwr
— phelps. (@_BeeEv) January 22, 2021
And that’s how she got back her $450.
Now look. Big guy is blocked, reported to the FDIC, the FTC, with an ic3 complaint.
His lady friend is leaving him, his father is upset, and my money is resting peacefully in my account.
The end. pic.twitter.com/Lmu818vuXY
— b. (@_BeeEv) January 22, 2021
Everette told Bored Panda that she has reported him wherever she legitimately can, but “surprisingly, the authorities haven’t responded after I reported the scam. The only thing I’ve received are confirmations that my reports/complaints were filed.”
She has gotten a lot of support from her thread, however. Unfortunately, she still hasn’t gotten a Ps5.