Ok, I had to have something to tonight, that didn’t require money. So, I went to the cafe in Barnes & Noble and did some sketching and cartooning.
While I am drawing, this young guy comes into the cafe and bellys up to the bar. He starts calling about a zillion people on his cell phone about some party type thing going on tomorrow. The guy was happier in demeanor than Barney the Dinosaur on Exstasy. He was so sickeningly friendly to everyone he called on the phone, that he almost seemed "fake. " Then another guy comes in and sits with him. This young guy starts talking to the older guy about how the older guy should change his cell phone provider and stuff. They discuss rates and plans and then I start hearing they weird stuff…
Young guy mentions to old guy that he needs his soc-sec number to do whatever with the phone provider change… (you kinda had to be there, I’m leaving a lot out) anyways, I immediately sense something of a “red flag.” Something about the whole thing sounded like a con to me.
Older guy leaves after they get everything arranged. About ten minutes later, a group of about 5 more people his age come in and sit with him. Barney the Dinosaur guy drops the “super friendly terminally happy act.” He’s now with his cohorts. They start talking about some really weird stuff…
I heard them talking about the “old guy” and the soc-sec number, and then something about a check that wasn’t cashed, and something about making an “amonymous” bank account, and another being empty, and “getting more.” I also heard things like, “and he fell for it?” and etc. Then they started saying things about covering their tracks and some bogus company name as a front, etc.
It was very bizarre. It was surreal. I KNOW they were pulling some sort of large scale con operation. These were college age people. I’m thinking they were hacking credit cards and bank accounts, by duping clueless people into giving Barney the Dinosaur Guy their private info. Again, you kinda had to be there. I don’t remember everything word for word, but something shady was definitely afoot.
What would you have done, overhearing such a situation?