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 With the legalization of scamming, scammers have found themselves in a playground: an area full of non-suspecting newbs (some would say n00bs), and naïve oldtimers. One favourite vehicle for scamming is the "banking scheme".
Basically, the typical bank-scammer will offer you a daily percentage for a large sum of money you have to lend him. With this money, the scammer would supposedly play the stockmarket. In itself, that is much how banks in real life work: they attract capital from savers, and try to make money with it. But, while banks in real life are under constant supervision (which *should* make saving accounts pretty save), in TC, this supervision no longer exists. So, many mal-intended bankers pop up. One of these bankers is MartinSullivan[180070], who also operated under the name LisaRichie. His name was listed in the forums, many, many times, and he has done nothing to deny the allegations. We approached him for an interview, he was easy to find, we just had to visit the hospital, where he is spending much time nowadays. Upon being asked whether he wanted to participate, he hesitated, wondering whether it would not piss off people even more. But, some gentle, and absolutely non-violent persuasion, made him decide to work along with us.
Wollongong: So, let's start with the most important question: how much did you scam out of people in total?
MartinSullivan[180070]: in total, 3.6bil This amount being about 3 times my own total networth, makes me wonder whether I should have become a scammer as well for a moment, before I ask further: Wollongong: How do you do it?
MartinSullivan[180070]: I started advertising my investment service in the forum 1 day after the 7-day grace period ended where scamming is legalised. I had always thought of making money the easy way through this. I know it's quite hard for someone new to join this line. It's been dominated by famous names such as Tea and MDK. So I figured I had to differentiate myself. I posted a snapshot of my investment in the forum that shows the percentage I made and the amount of money I have. I also offered 2 options. One is a free-to-withdraw and the other is a fixed period. This, I believe, attracted many people to inquire about my service. and to gain their confidence, I did not only provide investment service, but I also became their friends. I talked with my investors on a daily basis about all sort of things. This helped to make ourrelationships become more personal, rather than just client and agent. At this, I interrupt him. Wollongong: So, you deliberately became there friends to scam them?
MartinSullivan[180070]: I planned to scam. Legit business was the means to it.
Yes, I deliberately became friends to scam, but I always reminded myself not to get too personal or it's gonna be hard later. At times Ii do feel bad but only to some. Those who hosp me, of course i am more than happy to keep their money. MartinSullivan continues about how he operated:
My business grew day by day, existing clients added more money in the pot, until it reached more than 3billion. And that time, I decided not to take any more investors. Ii pulled down my advertisement, cleared my profile and forum sig. I laid low for a while.
I actually did invest the money in stockmarket on a daily basis. But then, I realized its a tall order to pay the interest. It was possible but i just couldnt spend so much time on it. And then one of my big investors, Listlegie aka Liz, wanted to withdraw her money. I was stalling, trying to delay her and inevitably I got myself mailbanned. Some of the investments were due but i cited inability to communicate effectively to buy some time.
After a few days, she dropped the time bomb. It was posted all over the forum.... Wollongong: How many people actually fall for it? What percentage?
MartinSullivan[180070]: I think i have more than 20 investors.i still have the spreadsheet. initially i offered them 1.5% for fixed period, and 1% for the free-to-withdraw.but then i increased it to a max of 2.5% depending on the amount. I can' t recall how many people I approached, but most of my investors were those who came to me and not the other way around. It didnt really work if I was the one to approach. Those who came were either unaware of the new rules or just too trustful. From those who came to inquire, i would say 80% invested with me. Wollongong: What do you do with all the money?
MartinSullivan[180070]: I bought a PI, several thousands of points and exchanged them for 14 merits, 300+ xanaxs, 30 DPs, 10 stat enhancers, weapons etc. Wollongong: What did you use these merits on? And why did you not go for drugs?
MartinSullivan[180070]: I spent on merits to upgrade crit hits to at least have a fighting chance. I knew I would be a target. Not really working though... those guys are just too strong. But they did lose sometimes.yeay. Then, continuing about the drugspart of the question: Well, I bought 300+ xanax.i dunno how many more should i get :P Wollongong: How do you feel about scamming making you an enemy of many?
MartinSullivan[180070]: Yeah so many added me on their blacklist. But there are less than 10 who constantly hosp me. There are also supporters. And of course, beggars xD
i hope they will forget about it soon enough.and yes i did return some of the money ;) Wollongong: Fans??
MartinSullivan[180070]: There are a few who kinda hope to do what I did. But i wouldnt go as far as calling them fans. More like congratulations notes from them. Next, I ask him what he feels about the concept that some have brought up: that it is scammers who drive away real players, valuable players. To this, he answers:
I think scammers do not scare away valuable players, they love TC too much.
Then, a little bit of conscience comes into play: MartinSullivan[180070]: I returned around 150m and it was because, I felt bad. Those investors were closer to me than the others. Plus, its not gonna change much of the wealth. In a few days, i could recoup that, and i won 700m RR so i decided to be a bit kind. I ask him one final question: any chance of a few billion coming my way? The heart monitor goes wild, and nurses rush in, pushing me away. Guess that's a no.
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It may have just saved me a lot of
I was about to invest in something not unlike the scam above.
