Con-Fessions: Travel Tomfooleries

Summary

Scam Goddess – Con-Fessions: Travel Tomfooleries

Host: Laci Mosley
Guest Co-Host: Priscilla Davies
Release Date: August 19, 2020

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Overview

In this lively installment of “Con-Fessions,” Laci Mosley and guest co-host Priscilla Davies share and dissect wild travel-related scams submitted by listeners. Centered on “Travel Tomfooleries,” the episode shines a comedic light on the creative, sometimes diabolical ways scammers take advantage of good intentions—from exploiting support groups for free moving help, to rental car rackets, to classic vacation cons in foreign cities. As always, the duo balances keen scam analysis with humor and personal stories.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Al Anon Free Mover Scam

[00:16-13:03]

• Scam Description:
  Laci reads a listener submission (pseudonym “Al”) describing how scammers regularly infiltrate Al Anon meetings, a support group for friends/family of alcoholics, attend for a few weeks, claim they’re moving within the area, get help from generous group members for their move, and then vanish, having scored free labor.

• Ethical Breakdown:

  • Both hosts are aghast at the audacity of exploiting such a sensitive, supportive group.
  • Laci contextualizes: “You’re taking advantage of the vulnerable. ...That’s where I take issue with certain scams.” [06:50]
  • Priscilla jokes about policy changes: “By number 12, you damn skippy I would. You know what? I’m sick and tired of hearing about moving here!” [10:58]
  • They lampoon the long-con nature, riffing on “the complicated bed frame” and the possibility of pickup truck requests morphing into emotional confessionals [08:34-09:08].

• Memorable Moments:

  • Laci paints a vivid scenario: “You got the elderly moving your flat screens. That’s trash.” [05:30]
  • Hypothetical confrontation: “We gonna be in the parking lot after the meeting if anybody wanna roll over to Jessica house.” [08:16]

• Takeaway:

  • Don’t exploit safe spaces or those seeking help. As Laci sums up: "Don’t scam Al Anon—that seems like real trash. I do not approve." [12:56]

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2. Rental Car Extortion Letters

[13:06-20:42]

• Scam Description:
  Listener “Dale” shares a story about renting a car from Budget, then receiving a suspicious letter months later demanding $10,000 for damages—complete with a Photoshop logo and no real employee name, only “Fast Track.” Follow-ups came from actual debt collector Sedgwick, but it turned out the damage and odometer readings didn’t match her rental period.

• Detection & Resolution:

  • Dale had meticulously taken pre/post photos, making it easy to disprove the claim.
  • Laci and Priscilla stress the importance of always documenting the car’s condition and keeping records.

• Anecdotes & Laughs:

  • Laci tells her own DMV loophole story: “I went to driver’s school in Texas ... then I got a license. I never had your eyes are wide right now. This is so.” [17:56]
  • On getting rental insurance: “As a scammer ... if I had paid the extra $17 a day, I could have ran that forward into a fucking pole and walked away.” [16:27]

• Memorable Quotes:

  • Laci: “Everything is fake, guys. ...Don’t ever get in the car with Laci—art mostly.” [19:15]
  • Priscilla: “Shout out to Dale. She fucking was a smart hoe. Made sure she had all her facts in order.” [19:48]

• Advice:

  • Always take copious photos and videos when renting/returning cars.
  • Don’t ignore weird mails—vet all claims, ask for verifiable evidence.

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3. Paris Metro Ticket Scam

[20:42-32:03]

• Scam Description:
  “Pepe” shares a vacation horror story: after struggling with a Paris ticket kiosk, an insistent man offers help, uses his card to buy tickets (turns out they’re children’s fare), then demands cash repayment. Soon after, police stop Pepe and companion, declare the tickets invalid, and fine them on the spot—possibly as part of the con.

• Scam Mechanics:

  • The scammer’s “help” diverts from high language/technology barrier, runs his own card to buy intentionally improper tickets, then collects cash.
  • Complicit (or at least unsympathetic) “police” push fear (“pay now or jail time”) to secure more money.

• Analysis & Jokes:

  • Laci: “Anybody who's aggressively trying to help you, that's a sign. Because why do they need to help you so bad?” [31:37]
  • Priscilla on the con’s impact: “I’m just gonna go ahead and say you got doubly scammed. This was a whole racket.” [30:33]

• Memorable Quotes:

  • Laci: “That’s like if I went to AMC and bought the Early Bird Special…ain’t nobody gonna come get me about Bad Boys 3 and take me to jail.” [28:42]
  • Laci (on screaming for help): "If you a white woman, you gotta use that lack of melanin privilege. Just scream, girl." [26:23]

• Practical Tips:

  • Avoid accepting unsolicited help at transit kiosks.
  • If pressured to pay a fine immediately, question legitimacy.
  • Give yourself extra time, especially when traveling abroad with language barriers.

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Notable Quotes & Timestamps

• On exploiting support groups:
  • Laci: “You can’t take advantage of the vulnerable. You gotta take advantage of the people who already got the juice. Like corporations, the government, your parents…” [06:50]
• On group policies:
  • Priscilla: “Y’all gotta have a policy. Like, you got to be a member for at least three months before you ask anybody or take you to the airport, any kind of like that.” [11:12]
• On rental car insurance:
  • Laci: “If I had paid the extra $17 a day, I could have ran that forward into a fucking pole and walked away and been like, ‘I’m—’ and they could have done nothing to me.” [16:27]
• On drivers license loopholes:
  • Laci: “I never had to get in a car with someone and they evaluate my driving skills.” [18:19]
• On overseas travel scams:
  • Laci: “Anybody who's aggressively trying to help you, that's a sign. ...Nobody is like, oh, I just want to help people. Ooh.” [31:37]
  • Priscilla: “I’m just gonna go ahead and say you got doubly scammed. ...This was a whole entire racket.” [30:33]
• On using privilege abroad:
  • Laci: “If you a white woman, you gotta use that lack of melanin privilege. Just scream, girl.” [26:23]

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Additional Insights & Tone

• The episode maintains a comedic, conversational tone with frequent asides, callback jokes, and relatable personal stories.
• Laci and Priscilla consistently emphasize not just identifying scams, but the ethics involved—who it’s “okay” to trick (never the vulnerable!), and who deserves vigilant suspicion.
• The hosts repeatedly urge listeners to be prepared, document everything, and be skeptical of pressure tactics, whether at home or abroad.

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Timestamps for Major Segments

• 00:16 – Start of “Al Anon Free Movers” scam
• 03:14 – Discussion of how scammers target support group logistics
• 06:50 – Ethics of targeting vulnerable people
• 13:06 – Rental car damage scam letter and breakdown
• 17:43 – Laci’s driver’s license loophole story
• 20:42 – “Pepe’s” Paris metro scam story
• 23:53 – How the scam was executed at the kiosk
• 27:01 – Police fine confrontation
• 31:37 – Takeaways and warning signs

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Episode Conclusion

The hosts wrap up with repeated advice to their audience: Don’t prey on the generous or vulnerable, always cover your own ass with documentation, and stay sharp for scams—especially when traveling. Above all: “Stay schemin’, but ethically… and be smart, y’all!”

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Transcript

[A]

What's poppin, Congregation? We're back with another installment of Confessions on Stitcher Premium. Yes, it's me, Lacey Mosley, AKA Scam Goddess. And as always, I'm joined by my

[B]

lovely host, Priscilla Davies.

[A]

Yes, and today we're talking about some travel scams. Just some different little travel scams that have been confessed to us. This first one is a little messy. So basically the quick summary of this is that scammers show up to AI Anon. How do you say that?

[B]

It's Al Anon. Like, Al.

[A]

Al Anon. Al Anon meetings for a few weeks, mention that they're moving soon, and get help from the Al Anon members, then stop showing up to Al Anon Free Movers.

[B]

Oh, wow. Wow, y'.

[A]

All. If you need. You're supposed to. Everyone knows, supposed to con your friends into helping you move. Okay. You give them some pizza and some beer, and you. You have your friends be your slaves. Or like a real adult, you go out and you get movers.

[B]

Hey, that's. That's a possibility. I've never done.

[A]

Well, listen, when I was in college and when I was.

[B]

Oh, yeah.

[A]

Didn't I help you move into that place you in right now? I didn't do a lot, but a little bit, yeah.

[B]

What did you probably. Yeah. Or maybe I think you helped me move out of my last spot. That was it.

[A]

Yeah, I helped you move out of the last spot?

[B]

Yeah, yeah. Something like that. Yeah.

[A]

Yes, right.

[B]

She was very helpful.

[A]

I got some free food out of it, and we had a good time. So, yeah, it was a good time, but this is kind of fucked up, considering that. So Al Anon is basically like a meet. A members meeting for people who suffer or for people whose family members suffer. Family or friends suffer from addiction. So it's a place for them to talk about how that has affected them. And it's supposed to be this super safe space and a very supportive environment. I think that this is so shady that scammers are doing this.

[B]

I know. I'm like, y' all are rude as hell. Okay. Do you guys scam priests as well? But let's continue, right?

[A]

Although.

[B]

Although.

[A]

Anyway, right, you know what?

[B]

Let's move on.

[A]

This guy Al. We call this guy Al.

[B]

Al. Al from Al Anon.

[A]

Al says that this is a scam that happened to his great aunt. She occasionally attends the Al Anon meetings, which is a worldwide fellowship that obviously offers recovery for family and friends of alcoholics. Whether or not the alcoholic recognizes the existence of a drinking problem or seeks help, these Meetings are groups of people who empathize and want to help each other get through their issues that they have with an alcoholic loved one. My great aunt described the phenomenon happening many times over the span of several years. It always went the same way. Someone new would show up to a meeting which is not out of the ordinary. New people would welcome all the time, you know, and come in all the time. That's the nature of these meetings. The new member would be friendly and show up for at least a couple weeks before mentioning that they happen to be moving somewhere within the same part of town. This is important. If the new member were moving away from the geographic area of the meetings, this would be less motivation to help them move, as it would not be the interest of building community. Because you're not gonna be living close, so you can't come in and be like, hey, y'.

[B]

All.

[A]

Yes. So I am very sad about my family. Addiction. That's what we do here, right? Yeah, addictions. I'm moving to Colorado. Like, that's not gonna work. Like, they're not gonna help. You gotta be moving in the area. So essentially, these are probably people who, like, are looking for an Al Anon meeting that's near where they're gonna live.

[B]

Exactly what I was about to say. This is so shady. So these motherfuckers are like, oh, I'm moving to Colorado. So let me see. Let me look up some Al Anon meetings in Colorado. They're preemptively. This is some. Aw, y', all, come on now, Alan.

[A]

All. Do you really need to move this badly? Like, you couldn't just do this over a few days? You really gotta go get people who are grieving and trying to get through their issues with their, you know, family. This ain't shit.

[B]

Horrible.

[A]

So the new member would, in theory, still be attending the meetings after they moved because the new member was just trying to move from one place to another within the same area. Participants of Al Anon meetings were encouraged to help the new member. After all, they're not there. They're not there to help each other. Like, they're there to help each other, right? So my great aunt described moving at least a dozen people over the few years, and none of them offered any compensation, food, or even water.

[B]

Now, that's tacky.

[A]

You know, you're supposed to hook your mover friends up with some pizza and some beer or. Or maybe at Alamod. Not beer, but. Oh, well, they don't got the problem. They don't got the problem, right?

[B]

Okay, stop digging your Hole even further. But also there's non alcoholic beer. So you're okay, right?

[A]

Juice, water.

[B]

But you are right, they are not the problem. Hey, nobody's the problem here.

[A]

Nobody's the problem. Nobody's the problem. Okay, Fuck, cut all of this. No, nobody's the problem. Guys having an addiction is a disease. Is not a problem. Please don't cancel me.

[B]

Please.

[A]

Please. No. But yeah, so they're not offering them any food or water, anything that's so trifling. Now come on now, if you already gonna get free movers, you can at least go down to whack ass Papa John's and get some of their sweet ass pizza to give them a something.

[B]

Their pizza is fucking sweet. And that's why I love it.

[A]

And also like he said, his great aunt is helping people move. So I imagine that she's probably an older woman. You got the elderly moving your flat screens. That's trash.

[B]

Come on.

[A]

So the week following the move, the new member would stop showing up for meetings, effectively getting free movers. There's the obvious issue of having people you don't know move you. But considering that these people who are already just trying to help and are members and show up and leave all the time, there's little risk of retaliation. Wow. So also, you know, you're dealing with people who, like, if you're going to Al Anon meetings, you're probably like somebody who cares about healing and who is trying to be productive with their life. And you're probably not out here seeking vengeance.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

For having to do a free move.

[B]

It's kind of like almost the perfect scam. It's like scamming people. It's like scamming nuns who are sworn to always love and turn the other cheek.

[A]

Right. Except for when they beating your knuckles up.

[B]

Okay, well, those are different kinds of nuns. Those are the Dominican nuns. How do you say it? Dominican nuns. I used to know all that when I went to Catholic school anyway, so.

[A]

Yeah, I thought you were saying Dominican like the Republic. I was like, it ain't just Dominican nuns. And then I was like, okay, I'm lacking some Catholic information now.

[B]

No, I did mean Dominican nuns, you know, Nancy. And no, I can't. No. But yeah, this is extremely fucked up. I'm just, I just feel like it's like you're taking advantage of the vulnerable. And that's, that's where I take issue with certain scams. You know, you can't take. You can't take advantage of the vulnerable. You gotta take advantage of the People who already got the juice. Like corporations, the government, your parents, you know what I'm saying? Like, those are. That's who you scam, you know?

[A]

Yeah, I agree with you on that. Because this just feels like these are like good people. They're obviously trying to, like, do positive stuff. They're helping your whack ass move. And I feel like you at least got to go to a few more meetings. And what's crazy is that, yeah, you are like, basically you're telling. Showing these people everything that you got. You're showing them exactly where you live. So if they wanted to come pull up, like, you better watch. Imagine you and bitch, you better watch

[B]

what Al Ani meeting you go to. You feel me? Okay.

[A]

Right? Cause you might go to the Al Anign meeting with the real niggas. You feel me?

[B]

I wish you would, cuz.

[A]

Come on, cuz. Like, you show up. You show up to the outline meeting, you're like, hey, y', all, today during Sharon's circle, I would like to talk about how Jessica never came back here after we moved her waggedy ass into that condo.

[B]

Woo. Woo. Glad you brought it up. Glad you brought it up.

[A]

So I just wanna let y' all know, we gonna be in the parking lot after the meeting if anybody wanna roll over to Jessica house.

[B]

Okay? Shit, I ain't doin nothing after this shit.

[A]

We'll go pull up on her ass, okay?

[B]

She got that 50 inch flat screen. Okay?

[A]

Also, this is just sociopathic to me. Like, you're going to these meetings for a few weeks to gain these people's trust and then being like, oh, also, by the way, I gotta move. This is like the complicated bed frame. Do any of y' all have a toolkit? Any of y' all got a whole. A drill set? Speaking of alcoholic mothers, does anybody have a drill set?

[B]

Oh, my God. And then, you know, you know, after I cried myself to sleep last night. Pickup trucks, Anybody here? Pickup trucks. Trucks that pick up flatbeds. Anybody?

[A]

Anybody?

[B]

I mean, it's just like. What also bothers me about this is it's a long con, right? Like, you have to like. It's like, so you. You had all these opportunities to say, you know what? This is wrong, right? And you refuse and you like, dog, man, I want to meet the person.

[A]

I think that's what bothers me the most about it. Because then it's like, if you go in and you're like, yeah, my dad, he's a recovering alcoholic, or he, you know, he's been relapsing and the thing I miss most about having a dad was, you know, having somebody to move my couch into my new condo.

[B]

Okay?

[A]

Like, are you weaving this into your stories, you sicko?

[B]

Probably.

[A]

Like, do you even need to be an Al Anon? Is it like, how did you learn that you could con these people? Also, somebody's great auntie, you know, she. Oh, you got her out here with her arthritis. You got her out here. She taking Boniva every day. She taking Activia. Jamie Lee Curtis yogurt. This shit. And you got her out here in the sun. You got my Activia queen out here in the sun, okay, with no water.

[B]

That's so messed up. And she said at least 12 times she's done this. Also, great auntie, you haven't figured this out. You still. But she probably just has a good heart, and I'm not even mad at her for that, right? And how can you.

[A]

You can't really accuse the newest person and to Al Anon to be like, you're lying. You don't need our help to move. You're faking it. Like, I don't think you can do that in a. I don't think you can be like, you're faking it.

[B]

Like, I would by. By. By number 12, you damn skippy. I would. You know what? I'm sick and tired of hearing about moving here, okay? I'm sick of it.

[A]

Right? Y' all gotta have a policy. Like, you got to be a member for at least three months before you

[B]

ask anybody or take you to the airport, any kind of like that, okay?

[A]

We've been hurt too many times, guys, please don't try this scam. Apparently, it works, but please don't do this. This is terrible.

[B]

Don't be that person.

[A]

Don't take advantage of a community, okay? Get on. Get on Bumble. Get on Tinder. Get on J. Date. And then be like, hey, boo, let's. Let's make our first date a real experience. Wear clothes you're comfortable moving in.

[B]

Wouldn't it be cute if we have, like, a picnic in my new apartment? Like, on some milk crates? Cause there's no furniture. Cause it's in my other apartment.

[A]

What would you do if you showed up to a date and it was like they was asking you to help them move?

[B]

Oh, my God. I would be. Well, if I was a lesbian, that'd be okay, right? Isn't that how it works? Right?

[A]

Cause then it's like, you would also move in.

[B]

I mean, I think it's already pre established, so in that case. So I guess there's a cultural element to it. As a semi heterosexual woman, I would say. Ah, you know what my dumb ass would be like. I don't know, man. He just might be the one.

[A]

Wait, can I just say that I got a text. This is irrelevant, but it says, hi, Lacey. Sending love from Saint Laurent at the Beverly Center. Hope you and your family are staying healthy and safe. I know my Saleswoman at Yves St. Laurent did not just send. Girl, I ain't buying no ysl. We in a pandemic.

[B]

Oh, man, these pandemic ads, I just can't.

[A]

I truly love it, though. All right, so guys, don't scam Al Anon. That seems like real trash. I do not approve.

[B]

Yeah, not cute.

[A]

So we'll call this next person Dale. Dale says, dealing with something that I very much consider a scam and something fellow congregationers need to know. I rented a car from Budget back in February, about a month after my mom called me, saying that I had mail at their house, which I haven't lived there in eight plus years, in an unmarked envelope. According to this letter, I owe 10k in damages to a car that I rented. When I say the letter looked fake and like a total scam, I'm underselling it. See for yourself. I attached the PDF. You can open that PDF for Solenton.

[B]

I'm gonna check it out.

[A]

Red flags include shoddy Photoshop job of just slapping the company's logo on the top round number invoice, asking for my credit card info, asking for a description of the alleged incident, and my car insurance info. Not to mention, the letter was signed Fast Track. Not even a real employee name. Yeah, what is fast Track?

[B]

And then it's, like, written twice. Was it written that way or is that just a typo? I bet you it was written that way. Fast track. Fast Track.

[A]

Like, what is that? Like, urgent? Like, did you Google urgent? I feel like these people don't speak English. And they just started Googling.

[B]

Okay?

[A]

It was like, how do we say give us the money now?

[B]

Fast track. Fast track.

[A]

Rosetta Stone. How do I say give us scam?

[B]

Fast track?

[A]

So her dad said, ignore it. And then about two weeks later, she started getting voicemails from different numbers saying that they represented Sedgwick. Now, Sedgwick is a popular debt collector out here in these streets. And so they said that they needed to contact. She needed to contact them about the incident. Luckily, one of the dads, one of her dads, I guess this is a girl, but I Called her Dale, whatever.

[B]

So one of her.

[A]

Dale can be gender neutral. Exactly. So one of her dad's buddies is a lawyer, so he offered to get involved. He sent some emails and said he'll get back to me. Turns out this company is legit, But I had never damaged any rental car. So basically, she had to show Budget, Renter Car and Sedgwick the information from when she rented the car. Luckily, the info that they sent her worked in her favor. So basically, she had kept a record of the odometer of the rental car that she took. She took pictures of the rental car before and after she got out of it. So she has all of this stuff, right? So she asked them to send the same information. And when they sent the information over, the odometer on the rental was 200 miles under what the accident pictures read. And according to Carfax, the accident happened four whole days after she had returned the car. So they were basically just trying to extort $10,000 from her, hoping that she wouldn't fight it. And she says, Dale says the moral of the story is rental cars are scams. And always take photos and videos when returning a rental car. If it had been anything more minor and not easily disproved, I would have been fucked.

[B]

Yo, Dale, this is some legit ass shit. I have. I've definitely rented cars over the years, and I've never, ever thought to do this, like, take pictures of what now I will.

[A]

I do take pictures Also, guys, if you're getting a rental car, get the rental insurance. I know it's expensive. I know it feels like a scam, but I'm telling you guys, as a scammer, the last time I didn't get rental insurance on a rental car, I totaled the rental car. And yeah, I had my own insurance, but guess what? Now there's a total on my insurance, my personal insurance. If I had paid the extra $17 a day, I could have ran that forward into a fucking pole and walked away and been like, I'm. And they could have done nothing to me.

[B]

Nothing. Damn. I don't think. I'm sure I've gotten insurance the older I got. But when I was young, I used to fucking chance it. I'd be like, I'm a good driver.

[A]

I am not a good driver. Which is even more reason why I should have gotten the insurance. But I was on the phone with my mom, and she was like, well, we have good insurance that covers rental cars, so you don't need to pay that extra. And she forgot who she was talking to. Cause I did need to pay that.

[B]

So she did.

[A]

If you're out there and you somehow got your driver's license without taking a test at the dmv, like I did, you know, maybe get the rental insurance.

[B]

Wait, what? What do you mean you took your. What? What? How did you get your license? Are you going to share?

[A]

I mean, I'll tell it again real quick, but I went to driver's school in Texas. And then afterwards, they were like, here go your driver's permit. And then I got a license I never had. Your eyes are wide right now. This is so.

[B]

You never.

[A]

There was some kind of glitch in the system because my sister had to take a driver's test, and she went to the same driver's school that I did. She still had to take a test at the dmv. I didn't. They were just like, here you go, queen. Like, here your paperwork. And then when I got a driver's license in Cali, I already had a Texas one, so I just provided that. And they didn't make me take any tests other than a road test, which is on paper.

[B]

Because you never took a road test. Right?

[A]

That's what I'm saying. I took the paper exam, but I never took the accompanying road test. I never had to get in a car with someone and they evaluate my driving skills.

[B]

Bitch. Meanwhile, I done. I done failed my first driver's test. Oh, my God. What? Why the hell did I go to Texas?

[A]

I guess there was a glitch in Texas. And then.

[B]

Were you the only person that this happened to?

[A]

I don't know. I gotta ask around. I gotta ask the people who are in my class. I don't remember them muh fuckers. But I'll put up a poll on Facebook and see if anybody had the same experience. Cause, yeah, I didn't take a driver's test. And you know, that happened to, like, 20,000 teens in Georgia when they reopened the camp, let them just have licenses and said, y' all gotta come back later and take a test.

[B]

This lets you.

[A]

Ain't nobody coming back later.

[B]

This just lets you know how everything is fake.

[A]

Everything is fake, guys.

[B]

Everything is f. This girl done. No wonder why you be crashing into everything. Guys. Don't ever get in the car with Lacey. Art mostly. I'm just telling you right now, don't

[A]

put my whole gun out like that. I'm not that bad. I drive much more cautiously now. Cause I care about my car.

[B]

Oh, yeah? Yeah. Now you drive good. Do it. Ride good.

[A]

Right. And I've had years of practice hitting things. Now I'm like, oh, don't hit that.

[B]

It only takes years of practice to figure that out. Wow. Well, shout out to Dale. She fucking was a smart hoe. Made sure that she had all of her facts in order. Like, this is big. Like, I would have been fucked if this was me. Like. Cause I don't be taking pictures. And I mean, I wonder how long the time was from. Did she say it? From when she rented the car to when she got that letter in the mail. I wonder if it was, like, crazy long. And she held it for all that time.

[A]

It was like a few months.

[B]

Okay. Even still, that's a long time for me. I would. I'd have been like, I don't need this anymore. Let me throw it the fuck away.

[A]

Right? And it's curious to me because obviously the car was rented to somebody else afterwards. And why did they go after that person for damaging the car? They was like, oh, Dale got more money.

[B]

Like, Dale had a black car.

[A]

Dale got the courts. Right? We might need to go hit Dale back up. Oh, Lord. All right, guys. Another. So this is another travel scam. These are all, like, the theme of travel. So we've done moving, we've done rental cars, and now we're gonna do vacation in a foreign city. So this person wrote in. Let's call Pepe Pepe. So Pepe wrote in, talking about how she got scammed in Paris, which I lived in London for a few months, and I would go to Paris and, like, if you don't speak French, like, luckily I spoke a little bit of Latin just from, like, school. So I can. And I speak Spanish, so I can, like, read a lot of French on paper and be like, okay, I know what this word means or what they're saying. Other than that, it's je m' appelle Lacy. Pois les vous les anglais and voulez and voulez chabot. That's it. Only phrases you need. My name is, would you like to have sex? And do you speak English?

[B]

Hey.

[A]

Oh, goodness. So she got engaged and finally decided to go on a European vacation that her best friend and her had talked about for years in order to celebrate. And before, she spent all her money on beautiful scammer called a wedding.

[B]

That's true.

[A]

Anytime you put wedding on something, the price just goes up. If you go buy a white dress, it's way cheaper than if you buy a bridal gown. They know that the girls are gonna spend the coins on the Weddings. But this is interesting. So she got engaged, and then her and her homie was like, let's go on a European vacation. Not your man.

[B]

Yeah. That threw me for a loop. I was like, I had to reread that as well. Okay, okay, okay, Pepe.

[A]

She said, look, we gotta have one last hot girl summer.

[B]

I'm not mad, Pepe.

[A]

Gotta get these cheeks in these European streets. Okay, honey? I'm not mad. So they decide to go to Europe. They said that they got everything super cheap and were looking out for scams the whole time. Paris was the most terrifying because neither of them knew French. She said she practiced speaking a little before. Before we left, but still couldn't read anything. So she probably got on duolingo and was like, why am I not. Why am I not fluent? I've been talking to this owl for a week and a half. I don't know shit.

[B]

Okay?

[A]

Rosetta Stone was like, bitch, I still don't speak French.

[B]

Rosetta, what's going on? I want my money back.

[A]

So on their last two days of the trip, she says, we took the train from London to Paris. So she took the channel? Yeah. Which is like, the whole, like, train station there is very, very big. I went there to take the channel. I. Luckily I was with people who were very responsible and planned shit to a T. So I kind of was just, like, along for the ride. But they were like, we should get there, like, an hour and a half early, two hours early, so that we can, like, figure out where we're going and make sure we're on the right train and make sure we buy the right tickets and ask the right questions and shit. I was like, okay, I just show up, look at you, you know, with my money.

[B]

Yeah. Wow.

[A]

But luckily. So luckily I knew that, but. So they decided to take the tunnel. They go to the Paris station. They decided. So when they go to the Paris station, we decided to buy tickets for the local transit system from an automated kiosk. While we tried to figure out how to switch the language from French to English, I noticed a man circling behind us. Honestly, he looked like a henchman from a James Bond movie. He was short and very thin with bad teeth and only one eye. Woo.

[B]

Oh, come on.

[A]

Even though he was sketching me out, I felt bad for him because I figured he probably had to run whatever scam that he was doing. Yeah, you know, he seems like he might be down and out, y'. All. After a minute, he swooped in and started asking us if we needed help and trying to Touch the machine. I knew stress is key for scamming people, so I tried to slow down the situation. I brushed him off and firmly said we were fine. Please go away. This did not deter him. After another minute of failing to figure out the machine, he came back and started punching a bunch of buttons, running his own car to pay for the tickets.

[B]

I knew this was a scam, but

[A]

I couldn't figure out the angle since he had used his own card. Then he loudly demanded that we pay him for the ticket since he had helped us. At this point, all I wanted to do was get away. And since I couldn't see any police, I just gave him the money, took the tickets, and ran to the subway platform.

[B]

Now, see, not me wouldn't. Couldn't be me.

[A]

I would have ran away. I would have been like, girl, help him wa.

[B]

Help

[A]

play Civil play. Help him wa. Girl, like, help me is not French. Somebody speaks Spanish. Yeah, no, I'm sorry, I'm not gonna pay. You're not gonna pay for something and be like, I'm trying to help you. Give me the money, Girl, you better

[B]

take that Malcolm X assassination, get your hand out my pocket bullshit out of here.

[A]

Okay, but listen, if he got one eye and he's already looking seedy, like, you know, and people. And that's not to be making a joke about people with disabilities, but, like, if he seems like he is, like, already down and out, like, I would kind of be shook. Like, maybe he would do anything, you know, maybe he would hit me.

[B]

True.

[A]

So true.

[B]

I would definitely remove myself from that. There's just no way. I would just be like, here, take this money. No, I don't think.

[A]

And I don't know if these are white women, but it sounds like they might be white women.

[B]

I'm just gonna go ahead and say my assumption is that these are white women.

[A]

And I'm like, if you a white woman, you gotta use that lack of melanin privilege. Just scream, girl.

[B]

Okay, That's a fact. That would work.

[A]

Every time I be screaming, they be like, I don't know what that black bitch doing. They keep walking. You start screaming, it'd be 50, 11 people over to save you immediately use your privilege. So they paid for the tickets, and then the guy obviously ran away. So they were really relieved to get away. They said that was a rough start, but at least we're safer now. When they got off the train a few stops later, there was a security police verifying passengers and tickets as they exited the station.

[B]

Oh, my God. I think I know where this is going.

[A]

They stopped us, and we gave them our tickets willingly. They then told us that our tickets were children's tickets, not adult tickets, and that we would have to pay a large fine. We explained what happened in the train station and how the scammer who intimidated us, but they told us it didn't matter. We needed to pay the fine right then or we'd go to jail.

[B]

So were the police in on it, too? Watch that. That's. What.

[A]

Are these police people even legitimate? Because I'm like, usually when you get a fine, they get it that shit in the mail. Like, you don't pay immediately. Like, I feel like this scammer may be working with the popo.

[B]

I mean, I'm just saying, like, because here's the thing. This sounds like. This sounds like a tried and true kind of scam. So. So policia should have. Would have heard of this scam. You know what I'm saying? So, like, when they came to the police, the police should have been like, oh, yeah, you know, we understand. You know, we have these crimes, like, time. So. But you have to be very careful, you know, I will let you go. You know, that's what I was right.

[A]

But instead, they were like, listen, this is a shield ticket.

[B]

You are stolen from.

[A]

You are not a shield. J. Give us 200American dollars now or we will take you to the jail.

[B]

Oh, 150€. It's the same. Yeah. This just seems like some. But also, I feel like if this was New York, it would be the same shit, you know? I feel like if you told a cop you just got scammed, they laugh in your face and fucking throw you in jail or find your ass right there, right?

[A]

And also jail for buying a children's ticket. That's like, if I went to AMC and bought the Early Bird Special, ain't nobody gonna come get me about bad boys 3 and take me to jail. Like, that ain't how nothing works.

[B]

Can you imagine?

[A]

That's not how tickets work.

[B]

Girl, being in that prison, like, yo, what you in for, son?

[A]

Man, Bitch, if I get pulled over,

[B]

I done got me a children's ticket. I done got me a children's ticket up in Paris.

[A]

I got a poop in front of me. Like, that's a fucking heist. Like, come on, you're gonna take us to jail over a children's ticket? Bitch, I'm young at heart talking about.

[B]

Right? That's bullshit. But that's. I mean, that's a good scam. But it's also like, yeah. I'm like, girl, these couldn't have been no black girls. This would have been a fight if it was black girls, right?

[A]

But guys. So then she said that they're basically stuck. They had no cell reception because they were cheap out and didn't get the cell phone plans. Then they were out of all of this money. They lost all their cash. She said in less than half an hour, we just wanted to sit down and cry. After we were finally safe at our hotel, I realized that the scammer's game was to pay the price for the child's ticket using his own car, but collect the cost of an adult ticket from the mark in cash. So. But I also think the police might have been in on this. Cause this whole, like, pay a fine right now or go to jail. That ain't how fines work.

[B]

I brushed him off and firmly said we were. Wait, no. Yeah, I mean, he probably. Did it say, pay a fine right now, though, or did it say pay a fine at some point?

[A]

No, because they were out of all their cash, so they paid fine right then and there. That's not how fines work, girl.

[B]

You got.

[A]

That's like. If you got a parking ticket and the meter maid was like, 65 right

[B]

now, I'll be like, what the fuck? Okay, here. Yeah, you got doubly. I'm just gonna go ahead and say you got doubly scammed. Like, by the. Yeah, yeah. This was. This was a whole racket. This was a whole entire racket. Wow. So the little man is only getting his little coin, right? Because what's the difference between an adult and a child's ticket? And then the middleman.

[A]

Probably a few euros, right?

[B]

And then the middleman is getting the real bucks. Maybe he's got to throw a little something back to the og, Right, for starting the scam.

[A]

Yep. Well, guys, be careful, especially when you're overseas. Give yourself plenty of time to go places if you don't spend. Speak the language. Cause that's how they get you. If your train about to leave, then you might have to let the henchman pay you. You know what I mean? And also, like, you'd have to let

[B]

a henchman pay for your ticket to get onto a train. It's normal. It's very. It's normal.

[A]

Very normal. Guys, for also, anybody who's aggressively trying to help you, that's a sign. That's a sign. Cause why do they need to help you so bad? I wish the world was better, but nobody is like, oh, I just want to help people. Ooh.

[B]

Ok. Come here.

[A]

Let me help you, girl.

[B]

That is bullshit.

[A]

All I want to do is help you, girl.

[B]

Okay?

[A]

That's what I live for. So, guys, watch out for that.

[B]

Be smart.

[A]

But that brings us to the end of another Confessions Premium episode. Hope you guys enjoyed it.

[B]

I did.

[A]

As always, you can email in your scams cons and write on your family and [e-mail] you can reach us at scamgodesspod on all platforms. You can reach me at D I V A L A C cidy on all platforms. You can reach Priscilla Davies at.

[B]

At. Priscilla Davies, actor all platforms G Goddamn.