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| Con artistry at its worst | Started by: JohnnyAxe on Nov 23, '07 02:00 |
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As the right hand in a powerful criminal organization, I've grown accustomed to handling many disputes and situations emotionlessly. I've had my fair share of "He mugged me!" and "Can we go to war?" and neither really phase me much. Sadly, though, I'm seeing a trend that none of my ancestors ever spoke about, and it has caused me more stress than anything yet in my lifetime. This new plague is the sudden onslaught of newcomers that do little more than beg for money from anyone and everyone they see. Now, I don't horde my money. I give a large percentage of it to Mr McTavish in donations and even more to family members that could use some extra cash for drug runs or to use the range. However, when a person that I have never met before asks me for hundreds of thousands of dollars, I'm a touch hesitant to accomodate. Maybe it's just me, but until you've proven that I can trust you, I won't. It seems that few others share my distrust of strangers though, which I find peculiar for Mafiosi. Somehow, these people manage to suck millions of dollars away from people and families in order to feed their gambling habits (or, as I suspect, a friend's bank account). In many instances, those that are conned out of their money seek out their crew leaders or their right hands for advice in handling the situation. The best advice I can give these people is to think better of it and refer these people to the family's loan officer next time. This does nothing to stop the problem, though. So what exactly causes these people to continually beg for cash? I'd argue that it's everyone blindly tossing it their way along with a polite word or two. That's right, it's your fault that these leeches are able to flush so much money down the drain. Kindly stop. Before loaning out any money, consider the following:
If you have answered "yes" to any of these questions, don't expect to see your loan repaid. You'll also be hard-pressed to get any pity out of me. |
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Whenever a con goes down, it's always, in some way or another, the mark's fault. It's that desire most people have to trust their fellow man. People need to believe that humans are essentially decent. It's a nasty little habit, really. |
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| Reply by: RonMexico at Nov 23, '07 02:20 | |
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The lesson to be learned here? Some people are dumb. And as long as dumb people exist, there will be smart people to take them to the cleaners. Isn't that one of the premises behind loan sharking? If you get ripped off, tough shit. You were a dumbass, stop complaining. Learn from your mistakes. It's part of being a man. Or woman. |
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| Reply by: TylerDurden at Nov 23, '07 02:36 | |
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First off, I like to consider why someone is asking me for money. A) Is he new to this world and just needs a bit to get started in the drug market? B) Is this man/woman a known Casino junkie that has blown their wad gambling? C) What classification of wealth does this mafioso already fit in? If the answer is "A", I rarely hesitate to send the guy/gal between 25k and 30k. This is plenty of cash to get them started. If the answer is "B", I say, tough shit. We all know the risks of gambling, and if you're willing to put a ton of cash down to win a lot of cash, you better be willing to lose that cash as well. If the answer is "C", you certainly don't need my cash. You want a bodyguard perhaps? So does my boss, and frankly, my boss comes first. |
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| Reply by: VonGaunt at Nov 23, '07 02:44 | |
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How can you say they will receive no sympathy? These people are taking money off your members, Money which would probably end up with you. Every dime your members lose results in you losing money and your family head losing money. As much as I despise the practice if you are good at it, which most people are, you can make a fortune off suckers in this world. However, the simple guidelines you mentioned are a easy way to save the more inexperienced people in this world. |
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| Reply by: Tamelo at Nov 23, '07 06:10 | |
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I would say they receive no money because they are stupid. They are harmful to the family. All that money they just let some stranger take from them belonged to the family. And they handed it away like a sucker. Shoot the sucker, hire the con man and get him to work for you. |
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| Reply by: maxwell at Nov 23, '07 12:29 | |
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I agree with Maxwell. "Grifting" as I like to call it, most often known as "con artistry", is a talent and has existed throughout history. A Grifter will do anything to make a quick buck. If you can get someone like that on your side, then they could become a good earner for the family. Granted, some people are new to these shores and are taken in easily by a con. But if they're smart, it will never happen again. If someone is coming to you more than once complaining about how they gave money out and it never got repaid, then this life isn't for them. |
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| Reply by: Cathy_Parks at Nov 23, '07 12:44 | |
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UncleNicky making a comeback and not even telling me? Bastard. |
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| Reply by: FatBastard at Nov 23, '07 13:25 | |
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From what I've seen, these parasites were only making money for themselves with little regard for their families. I wouldn't trust a single one of them to work on behalf of his or her crew. The money that they take is quickly gambled away in blackjack as they are newcomers that are unlearned in the ways and traditions of this world. I've taken one or two of them into the family and tried to explain to them how this thing of ours works. They have been stubborn and have continued to harass people for money. No amount of money is worth the hassle of dealing with all those that have been scammed by them (or the frustration of being constantly asked for money as well). I'd rather keep those that may be naive but are undyingly loyal to the family than these selfish con artists. |
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| Reply by: JohnnyAxe at Nov 23, '07 15:38 | |
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"No amount of money is worth the hassle of dealing with all those that have been scammed by them (or the frustration of being constantly asked for money as well)." Ask your family hit squad how much they'd be willing to pay for a tard to kill, as for those who have been scammed, that's their lookout. If they're stupid enough to give large amounts of money to complete strangers, then that's up to them. |
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| Reply by: FatBastard at Nov 23, '07 15:48 | |
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Maybe I have an extra harsh viewing on this, but here it is... You have to question why they even need it on their new life anyway. Either their previous life was a total cock to their crewleader/family/family rules, or their crewleader is a piece of shit and doesn't take care of their members next of kin. There is also the slim slim chance that they are a brand new player, but this isn't nearly as likely. So after all is said and done and you really don't care about their past... loan them enough to do a drug run. Explain the process to them, even find them a good route... Have them update their profile with "I authorize Squishy to kill me if I do not pay back this loan" and give them 2 minutes to fly, do the drug run, and send it back. This enables them to double their money and get your money back to you in no time at all. Once they do the deal and they double their money, they now have enough to carry a full load of drugs. The risk has just been kept to a minimum. If you are the paranoid type.. open up their profile in another window showing the quote, leave it open until they get you the money back so you may screen shot it if necessary. If they don't pay? Well... then you just paid like 30k for a free kill. Thats cheaper than the range isn't it? —— On a side note, I have to blame the users for this too. Here is an example: Clipper scammed 4 million from Tad. Clipper also was the "holder" for poker money. And lots of it. He transfered it and suicided. These activities show me to believe that his word is not to be trusted, people like this rarely are able to change. And now I am forced to work with him, and frankly do not enjoy it. But I am trying to keep that separation from Admin/Player. However, you players do not. Any time someone lets it known that they are related to someone who scammed/conned big in the past... They need to be blacklisted from all respectable families. They need to be removed from families that are not respectable. They need to be continually abused until you have either extracted what was lost and a hefty interest, or until you grow bored of making their playing life miserable. It is only through severe consequences will then the two-bit scammers will learn to either give up their cons, or step it up a notch to not be caught. Either way, a mediocre scammer who doesn't posses the skills to pull off great scams does not deserve a long, happy and fruitful life. |
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| Reply by: Squishy at Nov 23, '07 15:56 | |
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FlyingWig stands up for his two cents My Line has been around these shores for generations, and i have always valued the input of individuals that are even more versed in this world than me, i mean thay have helped me along the way and i am grateful. But as Johnny say's, for someone that you think new to these shores asking for a loan based on good faith.... I must admit that my patience is wearing thin aswell! I am always willing to help a new comer with money and advice, hell, its the least we should do! But when these individuals start either, dis-respecting , shooting non-valid targets, or are just plain stupid and do not even care to give you an explanation or even pay you your money back! Surely there are other people out there other than myself and Johnny that habe experienced this, fair enough, you may say that it is our judgement and we should not do it. but I want to help the new players to help our families grow But We are willing to help the mew followers and if they dont care to help themselves along the way, then what are we to do?? |
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| Reply by: FlyingWig at Nov 23, '07 17:44 | |
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| FlyingWig, you are going on the assumption that they are new comers. You would be really surprised if you saw how few of them really are new comers. | |
| Reply by: Squishy at Nov 23, '07 18:04 | |
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Well, good. I'd almost feel guilty for killing an ignorant newcomer. Killing some idiot's descendants repeatedly doesn't phase me at all. |
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| Reply by: JohnnyAxe at Nov 23, '07 18:08 | |
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FlyingWig ponder's the god's decision and after gathering his thought's speak's again In that case the continuing inividuals should know not to mess around and screw their friend's that have and are likely to help them along their way, they ruin it by making us dis-trust them, which in turn is reflected on the new comers! |
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| Reply by: FlyingWig at Nov 23, '07 18:10 | |
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*The Rid takes a leisurely stroll out onto the street corner to consider all that has been said.* I think the role of Our Thing in the examples given has been somewhat misunderstood. For me, the idea of a family member being taken in by such a scam is not only reprehensible, it is also unacceptable. Since time and memorial loan-sharking has been a profitable enterprise for two primary reasons. The exhorbitant interest attached to the loan and the ability to collect the debt. Now if you have someone coming to you asking for lots of cash, you already have a problem. They WANT to borrow from you. This should set alarm bells ringing in your head immediately. Realistically an associate to a major crime family is the LAST person that even the self-loathing gambler would consider taking an envelope from. Therefore the average man on the street will face down countless rejected loan applications at the bank rather than take a walk into Little Italy to provide a little ease to his rising debt. Naturally there will always be a degenerate gambler to buck the trend and the situation illustrated is a case in point. The good loan sharks are rarely approached out of the blue for a loan. Instead they will tap up their mark and look for the right time to step in and bleed them dry on a high percentage. Meanwhile if you are handing loans out like candy with no mark-up, what's in it for you? Merely the chance to transfer money back and forth to satisfy your own ego that you are a big player in this thing. Maybe the realisation mighyt come to pass that any chump can lend money. Lending money at a profit is a different story. Two points will finish my feelings on this issue. Firstly, if your worst case scenario is losing your cash without a trace, then nine times ouf of then that is what will happen. And latterly, if you can start from scratch to get into a position of being asked for loans, why can't those doing the asking? All you need in this life to get a start in the drug trade is two hands and the eye for an opportunity. I don't buy helping the new. Everyone starts making money the same way and new or old you need to get used to it. Because after all, will the fact of you simply handing over money when asked for make the person receiving it a better person? Will it increase their value to you? Or will it increase their lack of respect for this thing? Because those given things for free can never appreciate their true value. Worth a thought for the day long into the future when you are a Family head and your ambitious Captain goes rogue because everything they had their whole life was given freely. |
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| Reply by: Rhydian-Roberts at Nov 23, '07 20:03 | |
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