
Some might call him the Deacon of the CONgregation, and today, he’s blessing us with his presence. Laci welcomes her OG comedian bestie, Jacquis Neal (Grand Crew, Dropout TV), to dive into the wild story of phone call phony and teen fraudster Elliot Castro. As his scams unravel, Laci and Jacquis uncover Elliot’s bad-kid teeth, his absentee father—who may or may not have worked on an offshore oil rig—his obsession with credit cards, and his desperate desire to make long-lasting friendships. And just like George Costanza in Seinfeld got caught pretending to be a marine biologist, Elliot eventually gets busted for faking his way through a profession he never actually worked in. Stay schemin'! CON-gregation, catch Laci's new TV Show, Scam Goddess, now on Freeform and Hulu! Follow on Instagram: Scam Goddess Pod: @scamgoddesspod Laci Mosley: @divalaci Jacquis Neal: @jacquisneal Research by Kathryn Doyle SOURCES https://www.vice.com/en/article/how-a-16-year-old-pulled-off-...
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Lacey Mosley
The love affair event is back at Whole Foods Market through Valentine's Day with sales to help you celebrate that special. Someone set the tone with gifts like scented candles and whole foods market's 24 stem bunch of roses. Skip the reservation and make a sizzling surf and turf with deals on quality steaks, lobster tails and more dessert. Pro tip. You'll find their chocolate covered strawberries in the bakery department. Feel the love with delicious savings at Whole Foods Market.
Jacquis Neil
If you love your phone but not your carrier, just switch to T Mobile. You can keep your phone, keep your number and we'll help pay it off.
Lacey Mosley
Up to $800 per line.
Jacquis Neil
You can also use our savings calculator to compare our plans and streaming benefits against Verizon and AT&T. So switch and keep your phone, keep your number and keep more of your moolah. @t mobile.com up to 4 lines via virtual prepaid card. Allow 15 days qualifying unlock device, credit.
Lacey Mosley
Service port in 90 plus days with.
Jacquis Neil
Device into eligible carrier and timely redemption required. Card has no cash access and expires in six months.
Lacey Mosley
Scams CA Rob and Fraud Scam Cause Robbery and fraud Scam Goddess. What's poppin Congregation? It's your girl, Lacey Mosley AKA Scam Goddess with the podcast all about robbery, fraud and those who practice it. Sometimes we love them, sometimes we hate them. Yes, this is a comedy show. If you guys haven't been tuning in. Scam Goddess, the television show has been trending on Hulu, so I want to thank the congregation for having us in the top 10 for weeks. Having us in the top 15. Okay, we out here. We fighting Twilight. Why are y'all watching Twilight again? Okay, can I say something about that movie? It's a scam because okay, yeah, Edward had the young body of a sexy teenager, but he was 100 years old. That man was creep. Why Was he dating 15 year olds? Just because he had a little hot young body. Weird. Anyways, watch Scam Goddess. You can stream it on Hulu, you can watch it on free Wednesdays. We just had this past week. I sat down with the scammer Kyle Sandler who covered on this show and it was the most terrifying two hours of my life. I have never sat down with a dark triad personality and boy oh boy was I walking him down through all types of lies and oh my God, I'm shaking by the end. But it's a great episode. All the episodes have been really fun. Great. And shout out to all of the people who came forward and were brave enough to share Information with us and shout out for y'all. Watching it, sharing it, streaming it with your baby in the other room while you stream it on your iPad. You know, we'll take anything. We love it. Anything, anything. And if you haven't heard already, then you know, you know. We have a clergy member back on the show today. Okay? The deacon of the congregation has blessed us. Amen.
Jacquis Neil
Amen.
Lacey Mosley
Yes, Congregation, today I am overjoyed to be joined by a great friend and a fellow OG Funny comedian. You might know him from Dropout tv, one of the hottest places to catch original comedy television. Dropout tv. I love Dropout. I've been on Dropout too. Shout out to Monet X. Change. Loved her summer prior day.
Jacquis Neil
You might be back soon.
Lacey Mosley
I want to, babe.
Jacquis Neil
You might be back soon.
Lacey Mosley
Comedian. A hilarious live show experience. And you may just know him as Damien from NBC's Grand Crew. Y'all already know I'm talking about hilarious deacon of the congregation, Jacquis Neil Jacquees. Thank you so much for blessing the show again.
Jacquis Neil
The deacon is back, baby. Yes.
Lacey Mosley
Got the white gloves on and everything.
Jacquis Neil
Ooh, I got the white gloves on.
Lacey Mosley
Is that a collection plate?
Jacquis Neil
It is. It is. I'm passing out collection. We're doing time.
Lacey Mosley
Listen to me, Jess and Rich, you just passing it around.
Jacquis Neil
Yeah, we doing tithes and offerings right now. Anybody want to donate to the. To the old deacon Negro family?
Lacey Mosley
I feel as though it might be past the anniversary.
Jacquis Neil
Pastor. Pastor, need a new car. Pastor. Yo, we used to have tithes and offerings, and they would be honest. They would be like, yeah, Pastor need a Mercedes. I was like, pastor, don't need no damn Mercedes.
Lacey Mosley
Mercedes.
Jacquis Neil
Pastor don't need no Mercedes. He got a drive in style for God.
Lacey Mosley
For God.
Jacquis Neil
For God.
Lacey Mosley
God don't want him in a lemon.
Jacquis Neil
God don't want him in no Camry. God don't want him in no Camry. God want. God want the pastor in luxury.
Lacey Mosley
See, if they were ever that honest, I would have a issue. Now, we did see our pastor start showing up with nicer and nicer cars. The church in Pittsburgh. So we knew something was a foot, you know? But he said he had investments and updates.
Jacquis Neil
See, at least. At least he was lying, like, you know, good. Our pastor was just like, God is blessing me. God is blessing me. And was like, how right? Just he blessing me. He blessing me.
Lacey Mosley
Crowdfunding from us through.
Jacquis Neil
The original GoFundMe is the church. The original GoFundMe is church.
Lacey Mosley
Okay. We also still had a benevolence offering that was at least supposed to go.
Jacquis Neil
To the community that was going to do shit. I don't. Maybe in Pittsburgh, but in Chicago, okay?
Lacey Mosley
Chicago's very different. The south side mayor was fist fighting at the.
Jacquis Neil
I'm not even kidding, bro.
Lacey Mosley
They had, like, one of those, like, city council meetings, and he was fist fighting. It was a she. Apparently, she's a goon out there. And they were trying to get rid of her boyfriend. Cause she had him on the payroll. And they said he wasn't doing what he was supposed to be doing with, like, the youth and the activities and stuff. So they were like, we're putting him on paid leave. And then somebody else was like, why paid leave? Let's just fire him. Like, we gonna pay him to do nothing. He already doing nothing. And at the end, everyone had voted and was like, yes, we're gonna put him on leave. And the guy who was speaking, who's, like, a community activist, he was like, yeah, that's right.
Jacquis Neil
Yeah.
Lacey Mosley
Out of here. And he's talking to the boyfriend. So then the boyfriend gets up, they start squaring up. They throwing hands at the counselor. I'm watching at the.
Jacquis Neil
Like, I love this so much. This is Chicago, 100%. Chicago is like, we always. All right. You know, like the Windy City. The nickname is actually for, like, politicians and shit. Like, it's not because it's windy, which it is. But, like, Chicago politics is. I've seen some people in, like, council or whatever selling drugs, like, outside. Like, I know niggas who sell weed who, like, are aldermans.
Lacey Mosley
Okay.
Jacquis Neil
Or at least they used to. Weed is legal now, you know? So they're selling it the legal way, right? They're selling it the legal way. But I've seen some shit. I'm seeing some shit in Chicago politics.
Lacey Mosley
Side hustle. In your Chicago politics.
Jacquis Neil
You do. Because, you know, you out there for the community, man. You know, you make.
Lacey Mosley
Well, then maybe you're not stealing from the community because you have your side hustle.
Jacquis Neil
You got your side hustle selling weed.
Lacey Mosley
At the city council meeting.
Jacquis Neil
And it was good. It was good weed, too.
Lacey Mosley
Okay?
Jacquis Neil
It was good weed. Am I telling. Cause I bought some weed from an alderman before. That's how I know. I ain't gonna say his name.
Lacey Mosley
No, we're not gonna say his name.
Jacquis Neil
I'm not gonna say his name. I don't know what he doing now.
Lacey Mosley
It was Barack Obama.
Jacquis Neil
It was. It was Obama.
Lacey Mosley
He moved up from hart alderman all the way to president.
Jacquis Neil
Yeah. Community organizer Barack Obama. He had all the good weed in the hood, bro. Shout out to that Hyde park weed from Hawaii.
Lacey Mosley
Okay? He always got his stuff straight from Hawaii. Now, I always ask on this podcast, what's your relationship with scams? Do you love them? Do you hate them? Anything recent? I mean, you just did tell me about an alderman in Chicago that you bought that was.
Jacquis Neil
I love him, man. I love a scam. You know? I love a scam.
Lacey Mosley
I don't know if that's a scam, though. If you got the weed and it was good.
Jacquis Neil
You know, I've talked about too many scams on this podcast. Like, I. I didn't talk about insurance fraud that I committed.
Lacey Mosley
Allegedly.
Jacquis Neil
Allegedly. Well, no, we passed the statute of limitations. I can say I did it, but, you know, maybe it's allegedly, but I also did it on another show. And they was like, bro, how long ago was this? And then the lawyer was like, all right, you good?
Lacey Mosley
Okay. As long as the lawyer said you were good.
Jacquis Neil
A lawyer's good. I love a scam. I love a good scam. But I do wanna point out something that, like, somebody pointed this out. I just did something. It was not a scam, but it could have been. And I'm very grateful that people trusted me, because somebody was like, I gotta tell Lacey. I trusted. Uh. So, like, you know, all the fires and shit was going on, and I did, like, a little thing where I opened up my Venmo and allowed people to donate to me. And then I went to go buy, like, over $3,000 worth of gift cards. That's how much, like, was donated toward me. And the whole time, I was so transparent. Like, I would. Everything, receipts, every little door, everything. I was transparent because the whole time I was like, I know somebody out there thinking this nigga is about to steal our money from us. Which, like, honestly, I would. That's how I would be. Like, Venmo, you. Nah, man. Give me an organization to Venmo. Right? But, like, people trusted me. So, you know, I think you are making people more trustworthy in this world, Lacey.
Lacey Mosley
Okay, well, I don't know if in 2025, we need people to be more trustworthy, but I'm glad in this case, they trusted you because you are a trustworthy person.
Jacquis Neil
Thank you.
Lacey Mosley
How did you disperse the gift cards? Were you just going two organizations or two people?
Jacquis Neil
No, no, no. I sent it to, like, a black organization that was working with Altadena in Pasadena, but also in Alt. Yeah, it was near Altadena. Connectorize. They're. They're pretty dope. So, like, I sent them like. Like gas gift cards, grocery store gift cards, store gift cards, like Marshalls, TJ Maxx, and stuff like that, you know, so people can buy some stuff that they want to buy instead of, like.
Lacey Mosley
You know, receiving donations.
Jacquis Neil
Receiving donations.
Lacey Mosley
Because that's one thing about donations that I feel is very pretentious of a lot of people is like, oh, okay, well, I'll give you socks, and I'll give you food, and I'll give you canned soup. And it's like, yes, those things are necessary to survive. But I'm sure people do want, like, a shower gel or a nice razor or, you know, a comfy sweatshirt that doesn't feel like you just pulled it outta your grandmama attic. And you know it's got mothballs on it and shit. And you're like, here, here, damn, you don't have anything. So you could just have my scraps.
Jacquis Neil
It's like, what if I don't like creamed corn? What if I don't like.
Lacey Mosley
What if I want better eat it? Cause what if I wanna steak right now? You're surviving.
Jacquis Neil
This is all, what if I don't like Campbell's? I want progressive soup, right? I don't want Campbell's.
Lacey Mosley
And I think that's always a thing. It's like, oh, well, beggars can't be choosers. It's like, these people aren't beggars. These people lost everything in a circumstance that could easily happen to you depending on downwind where you live in Los Angeles, bro.
Jacquis Neil
These fires was a scam, I'll tell you that. They were scamming people out of their entire lives. Yeah, it was crazy.
Lacey Mosley
And we know people who lost everything.
Jacquis Neil
We do.
Lacey Mosley
And the wind was so strong, at one point, like, something flew onto my balcony and, like, hit the window. And it was like, black and furry. And I thought it was a bird, bro. It was a Ugg, a black Ugg slipper. And I'm like, did this fly off of somebody.
Jacquis Neil
Somebody's foot?
Lacey Mosley
Somebody, like, so strong, somebody took a step and they shit was gone. This is terrifying. Like, it's not funny, but I'm like, when you got wind blowing embers like that, bro, uggs aren't necessarily the lightest shit.
Jacquis Neil
They're not light. And especially if they was on a foot. Can you imagine if you just start seeing clothes flying around? Like, damn, that person's draws flew off.
Lacey Mosley
We thought it was a dead bird. And then I went and opened the balcony, and I was like, oh, my God, this is someone's shoe.
Jacquis Neil
That's somebody fucking Ugg shoe. And them things is thick.
Lacey Mosley
Yes, it was fur. It had the fur on it too. The black fur.
Jacquis Neil
That's wild. Yeah, that's why that wind was winding.
Lacey Mosley
That wind was winding.
Jacquis Neil
That wind was winding.
Lacey Mosley
So shout out to everybody who's rebuilding right now.
Jacquis Neil
It's wild. It's wild out here in these streets.
Lacey Mosley
LA told us that we're getting evicted. I feel like right now we got a pink slip on our door of Los Angeles. It's like we got earth. Remember we had the hurric was when the hurricane was happening with the earthquake.
Jacquis Neil
That shit was crazy. I was mad. I was mad as hell.
Lacey Mosley
When it was pouring rain and then my building started shaking and doing the Harlem shake. I was like, okay, thank you.
Jacquis Neil
We gots to get up out of here.
Lacey Mosley
LA said, get up out of here.
Jacquis Neil
That was the first time I was scared in la. I was like, wait a minute. Normally I don't get worried about the ground shaking. Cause I'm like, you know, it ain't been no, it hasn't been a big one since I've been here. But I was like, we raining and shaking. Nah, bro, we gots to go.
Lacey Mosley
And I believe it was a year. It snowed too. And you at the time you were chosen Burbank, where there was snow on the palm trees.
Jacquis Neil
My mom just drove up from down from San Francisco and she was like, it's snowing on the way back home. Like near Santa Clarita. It was snowing. Yeah, three days ago.
Lacey Mosley
Okay.
Jacquis Neil
We gotta figure it's, you know, and. And you know, the biggest scam of all. Two days before the wind, my building was like, we raising your rent. And I was like, you motherfuckers could have waited 72 hours, right? And they couldn't have raised my rent. But they got me two days before the also.
Lacey Mosley
That's such a scam. Because I'm like, if you're gonna raise my rent, you better be raising the conditions of the building. Like you gotta new carpets. You better be painting, you better be coming in, you know, pool better add extra few feet.
Jacquis Neil
Somebody, yo, man, yo. I'm gonna need this pool to be 10ft deep.
Lacey Mosley
We need more cabanas, we need more cabanas.
Jacquis Neil
I need pet care. I need somebody to come and take care of my cat when I'm gone, right? You know something?
Lacey Mosley
Cause otherwise, what is the rent going up for?
Jacquis Neil
They always say the same thing to stay competitive with other. Competitive with who?
Lacey Mosley
This is a depreciating asset.
Jacquis Neil
Shit, ain't nobody moving. We all broke.
Lacey Mosley
That's like, if I drive a car off the line, y'all like, well, we raising your car note. For what? It's depreciated as soon as I drove it off the line.
Jacquis Neil
What do you mean, crazy?
Lacey Mosley
Yeah, it's crazy. Inflation is such a huge scam, and I hate it. I'm sorry that y'all didn't get yalls lower eggs for whoever voted for that, man.
Jacquis Neil
You know what?
Lacey Mosley
I don't think you're gonna get them. He said it's very low priority. Immediately.
Jacquis Neil
He said that shit immediately. And eggs is $11. I paid $11 for 18 eggs a couple days ago. Yeah, and I almost threw them bitches back in the store. Like, I was upset, but I need eggs.
Lacey Mosley
Bird flu is killing all the chickens.
Jacquis Neil
We got bird flu again?
Lacey Mosley
Yeah, we got bird flu again.
Jacquis Neil
What's next? Anthrax?
Lacey Mosley
What the fuck?
Jacquis Neil
Like, come on, man. What are we about to do? Like, what's all this?
Lacey Mosley
Honestly, I'm not worried about anthrax because I feel like that's just too much effort for people these days. Like, can't nobody afford to make biochemical weapons at have disposable income like that.
Jacquis Neil
I thought you was about to say, can't nobody afford to send that shit through the mail.
Lacey Mosley
No more postage has gone up.
Jacquis Neil
Y stamps have gone up.
Lacey Mosley
I would have. You would have to hand deliver anthrax these days. Nobody's trying to do that.
Jacquis Neil
Yeah, you got to knock on the door, right?
Lacey Mosley
Hello. Boy, do I have an opportunity for you. Don't open it when I leave.
Jacquis Neil
Yeah, don't. Don't open that now. Don't open that now. I want you to be surprised by yourself.
Lacey Mosley
Yeah. Goodbye, stranger. No, we don't have time to do that kind of terrorism anymore.
Jacquis Neil
Nah, nah.
Lacey Mosley
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Jacquis Neil
Yeah. When they love to be called, especially, you know, trying to sell them something.
Lacey Mosley
Right. That's what people love.
Jacquis Neil
We love that. I love being trying to sold shit when I'm.
Lacey Mosley
When I'm in the middle of my day.
Jacquis Neil
Yeah. When I'm eating my steak that I.
Lacey Mosley
Got on donation, you know, do you want to save on your electricity? And I'm like, sure, yeah.
Jacquis Neil
Yes, I would love to save on my electricity.
Lacey Mosley
And that was back when people were polite to telemarketers. Like, you might be on the phone for a little bit. We don't pick up those numbers anymore.
Jacquis Neil
No, we don't pick them up.
Lacey Mosley
And if we pick up and they're like, is this. And I hear that little boo boo, this call may be recorded. I'm hanging up.
Jacquis Neil
Immediately I hang up. I always hit them with a do not call this number again. And then I hang up.
Lacey Mosley
Oh, you give them a statement.
Jacquis Neil
I give them a statement.
Lacey Mosley
I just hang up.
Jacquis Neil
Which is probably wrong because they probably, like, making my voice AI now, like, so, like, every time you speak, they just, like, recording your voice, literally.
Lacey Mosley
Well, there's too much content out there for me now. We'll have to switch it up.
Jacquis Neil
Yeah, yeah.
Lacey Mosley
So he struggled to make friends, right? But he found it pretty Easy to commit $2.8 million in credit card fraud and become a globe trotting wannabe playboy.
Jacquis Neil
Oh, shit. My man got 2.8 from telemarketing.
Lacey Mosley
Let's see how he got it. But, you know, he was lonely, y'all.
Jacquis Neil
He was lonely.
Lacey Mosley
Call. Call Elliot. And maybe he wouldn't have took $2.8 million. I think those alternatives he had, he was like, either I make friends, I join a kickball league or something, or I steal $2.8 million.
Jacquis Neil
$2.8 million. And honestly, it's an easy decision.
Lacey Mosley
Yeah, he steal the $2.8 million.
Jacquis Neil
$2.8 million.
Lacey Mosley
So. Ah, youth. All right. To understand his present, we must dive into his past a little bit. Right? So Elliot grew up in Aberdeen, Scotland. Oh.
Jacquis Neil
Oh. So he. He a Scottish Brit. He a Scottish boy.
Lacey Mosley
So he stole this in a skirt. That's how you got away so fast. He wasn't encumbered by pants.
Jacquis Neil
That boy was like, I'm breathing free under here. I got all the thinking to do.
Lacey Mosley
Okay.
Jacquis Neil
He wouldn't get caught up, man.
Lacey Mosley
So with his Scottish mother and Chilean father, who was often gone for long stretches of time, working on oil rigs in the North Sea, that's where, like, that's what his family base was. So basically, he was at home alone with his mom a lot. Because his dad was on the rig.
Jacquis Neil
He was on the rig.
Lacey Mosley
Now, do we know if his dad was on the rig all the time? We.
Jacquis Neil
We. We don't know.
Lacey Mosley
Oil ringing is one of them jobs that cheaters take up.
Jacquis Neil
I was going to say he had a whole another family somewhere.
Lacey Mosley
For sure.
Jacquis Neil
He had a whole another family.
Lacey Mosley
He had another family wherever he was working on them oil rigs. Okay, yeah, that's a. But that's what I talk about. If you're a hater, get a hater profession. You know, get into parking enforcement, get into forensic accounting. If you like the pocket watch. If you like to be A cheater. Work on the oil rig.
Jacquis Neil
Work on the oil ricks. Work on a boat.
Lacey Mosley
Somewhere where you don't. You can't be with your family. Like, they're literally legally not allowed to be there.
Jacquis Neil
Somewhere where wi fi is sparse.
Lacey Mosley
Oh, yeah.
Jacquis Neil
You could just be like, I, I, I didn't get your call, baby.
Lacey Mosley
I a. I need to be. We had a spill. We was buying dawn and washing them ducks.
Jacquis Neil
We was buying dawn, baby. We was washing them little yellow ducks.
Lacey Mosley
We had to wash so many ducks, babe. That's how I couldn't pick up my phone.
Jacquis Neil
We had to get BP out the ocean.
Lacey Mosley
We were scooping it out.
Jacquis Neil
We was scooping it out with spoons, baby.
Lacey Mosley
It took a long time.
Jacquis Neil
It took eight months. It took nine months and two weeks.
Lacey Mosley
I suggested buckets, but I'm not in the management level, so.
Jacquis Neil
Spoons. It was the spoons, baby. Why was you gone for nine months? Because it took so long.
Lacey Mosley
Yeah.
Jacquis Neil
Who's this new baby? Nah, baby. I don't know who that baby is.
Lacey Mosley
I don't know who that baby is.
Jacquis Neil
I don't know who that baby is.
Lacey Mosley
Never met that baby in my life.
Jacquis Neil
Nine months for the spoiler.
Lacey Mosley
That baby's a stranger.
Jacquis Neil
That baby is a stranger.
Lacey Mosley
Isn't every baby a stranger when you have them?
Jacquis Neil
That's true.
Lacey Mosley
You don't know that baby yet.
Jacquis Neil
You don't know that baby. Some babies are assholes, right? Some baby.
Lacey Mosley
It's like we always just have to assume a baby's cool. And it's like, we don't know yet.
Jacquis Neil
I say this thing about babies all the time, and Elliot was probably one of these babies. All babies are precious, but some babies are ugly and some babies are assholes.
Lacey Mosley
Yes. And when you meet an ugly baby, you know, you just say, oh, my gosh, congratulations. That's a baby.
Jacquis Neil
That's a baby right there.
Lacey Mosley
You had a baby.
Jacquis Neil
You brought life into this world. You ain't gotta say, a cute baby.
Lacey Mosley
What a blessing.
Jacquis Neil
It's a blessing. It is a blessing. It's a blessing.
Lacey Mosley
We're not signing that baby off a Gerber, but, you know, and the baby might grow into being cute.
Jacquis Neil
They usually do.
Lacey Mosley
They gotta throw out.
Jacquis Neil
They usually do. My cousin, she may listen to this. My cousin had an ugly. I got a few cousins that got babies, so they won't know which one I'm talking about, but my cousin had a little ugly ass baby, and that baby was ugly, bro. And I would tell everybody, but that baby is cute. Now that baby is cute.
Lacey Mosley
I would tell Everybody, she like, I'm.
Jacquis Neil
Not gonna say her age. Cause that may pinpoint who I'm talking about. But the baby has grown into they face.
Lacey Mosley
Okay.
Jacquis Neil
And they cute.
Lacey Mosley
I'm just mad at you telling everybody, like, why did everybody need to. Let me tell you about my ugly ass cousin.
Jacquis Neil
Let me tell you about my ugly ass cousin, man.
Lacey Mosley
Not a looker, this baby. So Elliot felt isolated at school, right? And due to his Chilean Spanish accent and last name and his pastime of reading encyclopedias for fun, he attended eight different schools in Aberdeen and Glasgow. So he was isolated because, like, everybody else is like, playing Pokemon probably, and he's like, you know, up the ass of like, Webster's Dictionary or encyclopedias, reading about history and stuff.
Jacquis Neil
Are you reading encyclopedias?
Lacey Mosley
I had some encyclopedias.
Jacquis Neil
I mean, yeah, we all did, but I was wasn't reading them instead of playing.
Lacey Mosley
I mean, I had to for punishment sometimes. And they were the black encyclopedias, so I had to learn.
Jacquis Neil
They had black encyclopedias.
Lacey Mosley
It's a whole set. They're brown and they have, like little gold outlines on them. Somebody gonna know.
Jacquis Neil
Oh, you meant like the color of the encyclopedia is brown?
Lacey Mosley
Yeah. Oh, I think it's got, like, gold embossing.
Jacquis Neil
I get you. I thought you.
Lacey Mosley
But it is a black people encyclopedias. It's all about black history, like, throughout the world.
Jacquis Neil
Like, yeah, I miss encyclopedias.
Lacey Mosley
That's how you learn. Like, who took over Egypt? They won't bring all types of stuff that they don't see.
Jacquis Neil
That's what the real history was.
Lacey Mosley
Oh, yeah.
Jacquis Neil
That's what the real history was.
Lacey Mosley
So he attended eight different schools. I'm sure that doesn't help with the loneliness. Right?
Jacquis Neil
Yeah.
Lacey Mosley
So they were in Aberdeen and they were in Glasgow. When he was 15, he found a credit card on a train and tried to use it to buy another train ticket. He got caught immediately, but was intrigued by the possibilities of using other people's credit cards from that moment.
Jacquis Neil
Interesting.
Lacey Mosley
So it started kismet. It was just an accident.
Jacquis Neil
It was an accident and he needed to go somewhere.
Lacey Mosley
Well, he just wanted to see if he could use it.
Jacquis Neil
He just wanted to see if he could use it. Which honestly, if you find a credit.
Lacey Mosley
Card, but also being caught immediately and then being like, yes, more of this, More of this.
Jacquis Neil
That's wild.
Lacey Mosley
That's wild.
Jacquis Neil
That's wild. Like, he didn't learn his lesson immediately. He was like, I think I can do better.
Lacey Mosley
He learned the opposite of the lesson. He was like, next time.
Jacquis Neil
Next time I'm gonna do this.
Lacey Mosley
Instead, that's how you know he had a real passion for crime. Ok. Because when you start something, you're not gonna automatically be good at it. But he said, you gotta try, try again.
Jacquis Neil
Yo. He was listening to Aaliyah. If at first you don't succeed, get yourself up and.
Lacey Mosley
Dust yourself off and cry, em again. Crime again, again, again. Yeah. He wasn't gonna let it go.
Jacquis Neil
He wasn't letting that go.
Lacey Mosley
And I left that for him. I don't know. So Elliott dropped out of school and lied about his age to get a job selling mobile phones at a call center in Glasgow. He said, I'm giving up, giving up school. I don't have any friends. Nobody wants to read the encyclopedia with me.
Jacquis Neil
Yeah. And he's smart.
Lacey Mosley
Yeah.
Jacquis Neil
Like, he's a smart kid.
Lacey Mosley
So he's like, school's not for me.
Jacquis Neil
Yeah.
Lacey Mosley
So at this call center, he invented a simple but ingenious system. Card fraud. So this is with system. When customers called into the call center in Glasgow to make purchases over the phone, Eliot took their card number and expiration date to make the purchase. He would then put the customer on hold and tell them there was a problem with the card and that the bank needed additional information. Okay, so he's selling cell phones over the phone, which I'm like, okay, we on the phone.
Jacquis Neil
We on the phone already. What year is this? Is there a year of this? Like, do we know?
Lacey Mosley
So we're talking about, like, the 90s.
Jacquis Neil
We're talk 90s.
Lacey Mosley
So perhaps he's selling cell phones via the home phone.
Jacquis Neil
Via the home phone. And this is also, like, we aren't as technologically advanced at this stage. No, but he's ahead of the game. He already know. He know what's popping.
Lacey Mosley
Right. He's doing stuff that scammers do today. So he's definitely an innovator. Yeah, for sure. Can we pull that picture up of him? I want to look at him.
Jacquis Neil
Look at Ellie.
Lacey Mosley
He looks kind of like precious.
Jacquis Neil
He does look precious. I would not think this kid, although he got bad. He got bad kids. He does, like, his teeth look like he a badass kid.
Lacey Mosley
Like, if he was in America, he'd definitely have some silvers on some clothes.
Jacquis Neil
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Like, if I see, like, he's cute, but if I see that smile, I'm like, that's a bad kid.
Lacey Mosley
Yeah, that's a bad kid. That kid's acting up. We know exactly who that kid's mouth is.
Jacquis Neil
Exactly.
Lacey Mosley
We'll look at that baby's mouth and know that he was up to no good.
Jacquis Neil
He was up to no good.
Lacey Mosley
So he would pretend that the bank was on the other line. And he would ask common security questions like mother's maiden name, date of birth, and write down the customer's answers until he felt confident he had what he needed. Calls to conversations weren't monitored or recorded at this time.
Jacquis Neil
Well, yeah, well. Cause he made his own call center up too. Or was he working for a call center?
Lacey Mosley
Yes, he was a baby 15 year old working at a call center who lied about his age. No, no, they didn't look at his bad kid teeth.
Jacquis Neil
They didn't look at his.
Lacey Mosley
They just set him up with a headset.
Jacquis Neil
He kept his mouth closed while he.
Lacey Mosley
Talked the whole interview. They were like, are you eating peanut butter or something? Like, why won't you open every question? He was like, what is your greatest weakness?
Jacquis Neil
He was hanging.
Lacey Mosley
When can you start? Mm, mm.
Jacquis Neil
They didn't see the teeth. They didn't know.
Lacey Mosley
They didn't know. So he got all this information and now we get on the phone, we were talking about that earlier when we were like, this call may be recorded. This was the time where they were.
Jacquis Neil
Not recording the calls. Yeah, this is probably what started that shit.
Lacey Mosley
Well, probably. So there was no danger of getting caught. Elliot got fired from the call center due to repeat late. But he'd already filled up a notebook with a gold mine of customer credit card info, see?
Jacquis Neil
Oh, so he was not doing it while he was. He saved it for. This kid is smart. This kid is. He's smart. I'm.
Lacey Mosley
He had a little notebook. He had his own little encyclopedia for crime.
Jacquis Neil
And if he was not as lazy, he could have got more fucking numbers.
Lacey Mosley
Right? But we also have to remember that he's 15, so we don't know if he's taking a bus, if he's walking to work, if he's biking.
Jacquis Neil
He gotta be he pretending like he in school, right?
Lacey Mosley
And his mom is the only one who's at home because his daddy with the other family on the oil rig. So it's only one car if they.
Jacquis Neil
Have one, you know, and they ain't had no car. His daddy took the car to the oil rig. To the oil rig. To the oil rig.
Lacey Mosley
Listen, this is all of us joking right now. All we know is that was on the oil rig. But we do know it was one parent household at the time.
Jacquis Neil
Yeah, yeah.
Lacey Mosley
So he then, once he had his encyclopedia of all this information after he got fired, he then called up customers, banks and changed their addresses to his own and requested a new car. The most ingenious part of his scam is that he then changed their home address back before they would ever notice.
Jacquis Neil
Wait, wait. Also, credit card companies are stupid at this time because, like, if I see in the notes that you changed your address two days ago and you calling me again to change it, I'm gonna be like, hold on, brother. Why you change your address twice in one week?
Lacey Mosley
Okay, but if you're Tasha on the hotline, I don't give a shit.
Jacquis Neil
Why would you give a damn? I don't give a shit. You're right.
Lacey Mosley
And you're probably not talking to the same person each time. It's not like there's somebody like, wait a second. And who wants to do more work.
Jacquis Neil
You're right. You're right. They wasn't paying people.
Lacey Mosley
I'm like, okay, hello? And name. They was paying people the date of birth. Yeah, okay. And now you move back to your old house. Okay. What's the zip code?
Jacquis Neil
Yeah.
Lacey Mosley
Thank you for using Chase. Thank you for the phone. And, like, they're off the phone.
Jacquis Neil
And they're off the phone. You right. Not for minimum wage.
Lacey Mosley
Thank you for using Discover. Discover More Opportunities. And actually, I don't got time for that. It's somebody on the other line, but thank you. Bye. Bye.
Jacquis Neil
You're right. You're right. They wouldn't give a shit.
Lacey Mosley
They wouldn't give.
Jacquis Neil
A kid knows. This kid knows.
Lacey Mosley
Yes. And also, this is a time in the 90s where I feel like there was a culture of. I remember that was the first time I was learning about credit card debt as a kid was that people were starting to get, like, credit cards from random companies. That's when, like, stores started opening up their own lines of credit. And, you know, like, they were really trying to get the girls in debt.
Jacquis Neil
Right?
Lacey Mosley
So do they really care that much?
Jacquis Neil
And then also, like, debit cards were coming, like, big, too, cuz like, we like. I remember when I had my first debit card and I would go and buy some shit at Walgreens. Like, a. A woman roasted me. I still remember her to this day. She roasted the hell out of me because I bought, like, a Butterfinger with my debit card. She's like, you ain't got cash? I was like, no, take my car.
Lacey Mosley
What the talking about?
Jacquis Neil
But this is when. This is when, like, debit cards were, like, new. Like, more people had debit cards. She was like, you. You ain't got cash for this. I was like, this is cash. My money is on this card.
Lacey Mosley
She thought it was a credit card. And she was like, I know you're not buying a Butterfinger on credit.
Jacquis Neil
Look, I have bought a Butterfinger on credit before.
Lacey Mosley
Butterfly credit is crazy.
Jacquis Neil
Listen, we've been. We struggled before. We struggled in this life. I didn't bought. I didn't bought some shit on credit, though.
Lacey Mosley
A Butterfinger with interest is wild.
Jacquis Neil
Yeah, that Butterfinger was a dollar, but now it's $1.82.
Lacey Mosley
Now the Butterfinger's $6.
Jacquis Neil
God damn. Damn, damn. That Butterfinger is $42 now, right?
Lacey Mosley
Please. She was trying to help you out. Maybe she thought it was a credit card.
Jacquis Neil
Nah, she was roasting my ass. She saw me put my PIN number in.
Lacey Mosley
Listen, she's got to do something to get through the day.
Jacquis Neil
She did. She did.
Lacey Mosley
She was entertaining herself.
Jacquis Neil
And I was a teenager. I get it, I get it.
Lacey Mosley
She was trying to help the youth. So since he had physical cards now that he signed himself, he didn't even have to forge someone else's signature on receipts. And every time he used them, boy, did he use them.
Jacquis Neil
Yeah.
Lacey Mosley
So Elliot was shopped till he dropped Elliott. Shopping spree started off with CDs. That's the time we're in.
Jacquis Neil
Yeah, yeah.
Lacey Mosley
From the HMV, which is like the British equivalent of like, FYE or Sam Goody, if you're old enough to remember Sam Goody.
Jacquis Neil
Sam Goody in the house. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Lacey Mosley
When people used to physically go to stores and buy CDs.
Jacquis Neil
And buy CDs. I used to love that time.
Lacey Mosley
I mean, honestly, physical media, I miss it so much. Just because now if something's taken off the Internet, it's not.
Jacquis Neil
You don't have it. It's gone. And you can't buy.
Lacey Mosley
No.
Jacquis Neil
Yeah. I was trying to watch some Tom and Jerry the other day, and I wanted a specific episode, and that specific episode wasn't on. I was like, why take just episodes off?
Lacey Mosley
Musicians have changed lyrics in their songs, and then once they changed the lyrics and pulled it from, you know, whatever streaming platforms it was on, that song is gone.
Jacquis Neil
I don't want to derail us, but can I? Can I? Am I crazy? You know the song Frontin by Pharrell.
Lacey Mosley
Jay Z just frontin.
Jacquis Neil
Yeah. So in that song, I'm trying to think, what did I imagine this? Did I. Nelson Mandela this like Mandela affect this, or did this actually happen? So in that song, he was like, what's the. What's the lyrics now? Hold on. No, that's. That's. Don't want to get too close. Yeah. But he says, like, never mind if you show enough. I was just fronting.
Lacey Mosley
Yeah, yeah.
Jacquis Neil
By the way that we. Hold on. What's was it?
Lacey Mosley
I know that I'm carrying on.
Jacquis Neil
Don't mind if I'm showing off.
Lacey Mosley
You know, I want.
Jacquis Neil
But he said something about how fast I touched you. Right. By the way that we touched. By the way that we touched in the original song. He used to say by the way that we fucked.
Lacey Mosley
Oh, yeah.
Jacquis Neil
He used to say that it might.
Lacey Mosley
Just be censored, but, like.
Jacquis Neil
But you cannot. I cannot find that version anywhere. It's all touched, like the. That's the only version of that song that's available. And I'm like, am I crazy? Did I make that up? Like, when I was a teenager that he was saying that? And like, it's not that. Cause I cannot find it.
Lacey Mosley
It's giving me, like, what was that one? Oh, what? She's five two.
Jacquis Neil
Or is it.
Lacey Mosley
She's fine too.
Jacquis Neil
She's fine too. Yes. I think that's what. She's five two.
Lacey Mosley
We'd all be like, but I want you. Is she saying she's fine too? Yeah, like, no, she's five two, guys.
Jacquis Neil
She's five two.
Lacey Mosley
But I want you.
Jacquis Neil
I'm pretty sure I may. I'm pretty sure. I just remember this wr.
Lacey Mosley
I don't know. I feel like he might have just, like, it might have been just easier to just have a fully censored song. Because it was a popular song. I'm sure it was used in, like, media and stuff.
Jacquis Neil
Yeah. And the radio version is now the only version because how fast we touched doesn't make sense to me in the version of the song. All right, okay.
Lacey Mosley
See, but that. But we'll never know.
Jacquis Neil
We'll never know.
Lacey Mosley
Physical media is gone.
Jacquis Neil
We'll never know.
Lacey Mosley
Robbery.
Jacquis Neil
Hey there.
Lacey Mosley
We're Vibe Check and we're partnering with.
Jacquis Neil
Ulta Beauty again this year to celebrate black excellence.
Lacey Mosley
And Ulta Beauty is celebrating black owned and founded brands. Brands like Donna's Recipe Pattern, Beauty, Stack Cosmetics, Fenty Beauty, and more. Ulta Beauty has everything you need for healthy curls, coils, waves and scalp, soothing skincare solutions and makeup for every style. Ulta Beauty is honoring the pride, power and brilliance of black Beauty this month. And always visit your Ulta beauty store or ulta.com to shop your favorite black.
Jacquis Neil
Owned and founded brands.
Lacey Mosley
And of course, check out Vibe Check this month. You can listen wherever you get your podcast. Look, y'all, I might be an expert in scams, but I am not an expert in everything, okay? And that's why I love Acorns. Because they will recommend a diversified portfolio that fits you and your money goals. Don't we all have money goals? I know we all making money moves. You don't need to be rich. Acorn lets you invest with the spare money you've got right now. You can start with $5 or even just your spare change. You don't need to feel like financial wellness is impossible because. Because it's not. Acorns gives you small, simple steps to get you and your money on track. Basically, Acorns does the hard part so you can give your money a chance to grow. I actually use acorns and I love it. And sometimes I forget that it's there. And I'll go look and I'll be like, ooh, money. But then I'll leave the money alone because that's what investment is about. Head to acorns.com goddess or download the Acorns app to start saving and investing for your future. Future today. Paid non client endorsement compensation provides incentive to positively promote Acorns Tier 2 compensation provided investing involves risk. Acorn Advisors LLC and SEC registered investment advisor. View important disclosures@acorns.com Goddess and fraud. So Elliot's running it up at the physical media shop, buying all the CDs, right. And then he escalated to luxury hotels.
Jacquis Neil
There you go.
Lacey Mosley
Yeah. Yachts, yachts, yachts, yachts.
Jacquis Neil
What was the credit limit on these?
Lacey Mosley
And limousines.
Jacquis Neil
So he was also hitting up people that had good credit.
Lacey Mosley
Is this Elliot?
Jacquis Neil
That's. That's how. That's what he turned to.
Lacey Mosley
He turned it to Tommy from power.
Jacquis Neil
He looked like Chet a little bit like Chet Hanks. A bigger. Like slightly bigger.
Lacey Mosley
Right? Chet, like, shaved.
Jacquis Neil
Yeah.
Lacey Mosley
Showered more.
Jacquis Neil
Yeah.
Lacey Mosley
And he got a chain. You know, he up to no good.
Jacquis Neil
And he still ain't showing his. His teeth, right? So I ain't showing it. He ain't like y'all.
Lacey Mosley
I won't lie. A few years in the past, I probably went on a date with a man like this. You know where everything came from. You know, we just went to nice sushi restaurants.
Jacquis Neil
He got my little background behind him. He in front of a Christmas tree.
Lacey Mosley
And he got that fade that says, like, I've been dating black girls 100%.
Jacquis Neil
Like, he got the black girl fade.
Lacey Mosley
Taylor, Travis Kelce fade.
Jacquis Neil
I know, I know. Now, Travis Kelce look like a cop. He got earrings.
Lacey Mosley
He's giving honky tonk now, but donkey donk. Yeah, but it Used to be badunkadunk.
Jacquis Neil
Back in the day. So is this the era where he was scamming people?
Lacey Mosley
Where he was doing the hotels, the yachts, the limousines, you know, somebody had to be on the yacht.
Jacquis Neil
Yeah, it was bad. Who was on the yacht? Some baddies on that yacht, you know, especially he looked, he trying to look like this. Yeah, somebody was on that yacht. He was living that life.
Lacey Mosley
In 1999, Elliot traveled to London on his first fraud vacation. Good fraudcation.
Jacquis Neil
I love this. I love this.
Lacey Mosley
Where he bought, bought a $380 Gucci belt, an $800 Louis Vuitton bag, and spent over $1,200 at a champagne bar. Okay, so now he's getting the drip. He wants to look the part.
Jacquis Neil
He wants to look the part.
Lacey Mosley
I mean, the belt alone cost more than a week of wages at the call center.
Jacquis Neil
Yeah.
Lacey Mosley
So he made his money back.
Jacquis Neil
He'd have made all his money back. And he living a life too, and.
Lacey Mosley
He, it seems like he knows how to live it. Well, he did start with like CDs at, you know, H and B, but then he was like, let me upgrade to yachts and luxury hotels.
Jacquis Neil
But that's smart though. You can't start too, start with some shit that ain't nobody gonna miss. Yeah. You know what I'm saying?
Lacey Mosley
That's how scammers do credit card fraud now. They start by stealing your card info and then they go to Domino's Pizza to see if it works. And then if it works, then they go to CVS and they run up like, you know, $1,500 real quick.
Jacquis Neil
And he's still paying for the CDs. Like he, he, he contributed to these artists wages.
Lacey Mosley
Yeah, he contributed.
Jacquis Neil
He could have just stole the CDs and money.
Lacey Mosley
He was supporting art.
Jacquis Neil
He's supporting art in one way or another.
Lacey Mosley
So Elliott racked up almost $14,000 on a stolen American Express card while on one of his trip. Now this is 99.
Jacquis Neil
These $14,000, which is like $400,000 now, could have bought a home in 46 states.
Lacey Mosley
So between the ages of 16 and 22, Elliot claims to have spent US$2.8 million using other people's credit cards, both from his call center notebook and from physical cards. He's stolen from purses and wallets at gay clubs in Glasgow. Now why are you at the club? Stealing from the girls.
Jacquis Neil
That's wild.
Lacey Mosley
This is the 90s. Gay people had it hard enough, now they got, now they got charges.
Jacquis Neil
They got to deal with they got whole ass charges to deal with.
Lacey Mosley
Imagine you gang your life hard enough, you being oppressed, and now you on the phone with American Express and they don't want to give you your gay ass money back.
Jacquis Neil
They up here still talking about don't ask, don't tell and all this. You're like, I don't think that works.
Lacey Mosley
They're like, don't tell us, gay person.
Jacquis Neil
Don't tell us what you like, but.
Lacey Mosley
You better pay on time. Don't ask.
Jacquis Neil
Don't tell us. Going to ask for our money. We still going to ask for our money though.
Lacey Mosley
Still going to ask for our money. Tell us if you want to.
Jacquis Neil
Yeah, okay, so here's what I. Here's what I don't understand. Like, this dude was frauding, he was on some shit, he a criminal. But this is also like gross negligence from like all the companies involved. Because I'm like $2.8 million. I'm sure he got a lot of fucking credit cards. But at what point did people realize like, these ain't my charges. Charges like, didn't shut down these cards.
Lacey Mosley
Remember this wasn't when we were opening our cards or, you know, via our phones or we were getting text messages like, you know, bank of America will send me a U up text in a second. Yeah, like you up and Are you at Walgreens?
Jacquis Neil
Yeah, I be getting those.
Lacey Mosley
Yeah, but at the time it was like you had to wait for the fiscal credit card statement to come into the mail.
Jacquis Neil
Yeah.
Lacey Mosley
So if he were to use one, run it up and then dump it by the time you get the charges, like he's moved on.
Jacquis Neil
Yeah, this happened to me. I just thought about this. This happened to me last year. Like somebody called me from my bank's phone number. So that's why I was like. That's why I was like, oh, this is my bank. And then, like, they started asking me questions and by the time I realized it, I had already given them too much information. But I shut everything down, like literally in the next like hour. Like I was. And I, I don't even bank with that company. I was like, if they can steal your number, I don't want to bank. Like, you gotta have. You gotta have more.
Lacey Mosley
Now they can clone everybody's number.
Jacquis Neil
I know, but I still blamed my bank.
Lacey Mosley
Oh, it's okay. You had to blame somebody.
Jacquis Neil
I had to blame some.
Lacey Mosley
It can be you, Jacques.
Jacquis Neil
That wasn't me.
Lacey Mosley
Not the deacon.
Jacquis Neil
It wasn't me. I was, I was.
Lacey Mosley
You did give them your mother's maiden card? But we are gonna blame the bank.
Jacquis Neil
You know, it's the bank's fault. It's the bank's fault. Y'all made me do this.
Lacey Mosley
So here's Elliot explaining to Vice how he lived it up on other people's credit. We have a video of Elliot.
Jacquis Neil
Oh, hell yeah. I can't wait to hear his voice.
C
Realized the potential of what was happening. That was when it became a lot clearer to me that the sky was the limit. I mean, I was literally going mental. I was like rinsing this car, going traveling all over the place. Been to pretty much every country in Europe at one point. Been to the Far east, been to America. Been to South America. Top hotels, first class flights, nights out, champagne. When I arrived at a certain airport, I'd make sure that there was a nice car to pick me up. When I was out for meals, I would go to the best restaurants. When you're that age and you don't have many friends and you just want people to like you, that's when you just think, well, if money talks and I know that it gets attention, then that's what I'm going to do.
Jacquis Neil
I'm not going to lie to you. There are certain accents and dialects I wouldn't let scam me. And that's one of them right there. I be like, I don't trust you, bro.
Lacey Mosley
But if you're in America, you know, they were like, foreign accent and he got money like, you know, like Scotland.
Jacquis Neil
Scotland. Yeah, like that. Just you. I. That feels like you scamming me.
Lacey Mosley
I feel like you Scotland, not xenophobia keeping you safe.
Jacquis Neil
Yeah, xenophobia. Look, something gotta do it, Lacy. Something gotta do it.
Lacey Mosley
Something gotta do it.
Jacquis Neil
When I got scammed, it was a white man's voice.
Lacey Mosley
Okay? So that's when you really should have known.
Jacquis Neil
I should have known.
Lacey Mosley
You should have been the most scammed.
Jacquis Neil
I should have fucking know.
Lacey Mosley
When have they not scammed us?
Jacquis Neil
You Right, Okay.
Lacey Mosley
That's their whole thing.
Jacquis Neil
I'm off my game.
Lacey Mosley
That's the cornerstone of the community.
Jacquis Neil
I'm off my game. I'm off my game. I was too trusting, bro.
Lacey Mosley
But what's wilds me here too, is that that he's still blaming it on his loneliness. Yeah.
Jacquis Neil
Which like, bro, you didn't have years of happiness with people.
Lacey Mosley
You couldn't make a single friend while you were stealing millions of dollars. He didn't know how to make a, like a connection.
Jacquis Neil
Connection, man.
Lacey Mosley
So he had to keep stealing because he was looking for a friend.
Jacquis Neil
He was looking for some he was looking for some relations. Yeah, like friendship relations.
Lacey Mosley
You know, they have apps like meetup where you can go play kickball with strangers and make friends. You know, you could. Or, okay, you could just go to the park. Didn't people used to just go to the park?
Jacquis Neil
He probably wasn't in nobody's top in my space. He wasn't on no top eights. You know what I'm saying? He didn't go to college, so he couldn't get Facebook at that time. You know, you had to have college email back then. So he ain't had no social media. Tinder wasn't the thing.
Lacey Mosley
Were you invalidating the family? Like, yeah, he had to keep stealing. He had to keep stealing. He needed friends.
Jacquis Neil
He needed friends.
Lacey Mosley
Maybe he could have done the improv group. He could have used that money to go to a place where he could make friends.
Jacquis Neil
He could go make friends. And back then, like, he white man, he would have easily got on a team.
Lacey Mosley
Yeah, he couldn't hoop. They got pickup games.
Jacquis Neil
They got pickup games.
Lacey Mosley
Kickball.
Jacquis Neil
Yeah, he could have played some baseball or something. He could have even. You know what he could have did?
Lacey Mosley
He could have even went to church.
Jacquis Neil
And made some friends.
Lacey Mosley
Yeah, could have gone to church.
Jacquis Neil
Could have went to church.
Lacey Mosley
Joined a group. Joined a youth group.
Jacquis Neil
Joined a youth group. He ain't had to steal 2.8 million. He had to steal 2.8.
Lacey Mosley
I'm sad that it's taking us this much energy to, like, be like, yeah, no, he didn't have to.
Jacquis Neil
You have to steal.
Lacey Mosley
Cause it kind of seems like he did. He's like, maybe he didn't.
Jacquis Neil
Maybe at least a million of those probably came from bad people, though. But maybe, maybe.
Lacey Mosley
But also, he was stealing from the gays during a very tough time. I'm not with that. That's true.
Jacquis Neil
That's true.
Lacey Mosley
Okay, come on now.
Jacquis Neil
Come on. What's his name? Elliot. Come on, Elliot.
Lacey Mosley
Come on, Elliot. So is there a doctor in the house? At age 18, Elliot used a stolen card belonging to a doctor to pay for a ticket from London to Scotland. So he's going home. On the train, a passenger began complaining of chest pains, and the ticket taker remembered that Elliot's credit card said he was a doctor.
Jacquis Neil
I love that. I love the implication. I don't know if this is where it's going, that he possibly got caught up because he didn't know how to save somebody from a heart attack.
Lacey Mosley
Now, if Elliot was smart, he would know.
Jacquis Neil
Yeah.
Lacey Mosley
If they say if there's a doctor in the house. Like, a lot of doctors will help you, like, on a plane or something like that. But also, doctors, especially as malpractice suits have increased over the years, they're a little bit more reluctant to do things like that, because if something happens to you or if you don't make it, families will sue the doctor who helped them on the plane.
Jacquis Neil
Yeah, 100%.
Lacey Mosley
That's how litigious we are now. You can't even have nobody to hear, like, is there a doctor in the house? You, like, who is there?
Jacquis Neil
I don't know.
Lacey Mosley
Is there? I got my doctor written. Is there a nurse practitioner on psychophedia?
Jacquis Neil
Maybe there's a nurse practitioner on this plane. Also, like, also, if he was thinking more quickly beyond that, he could just have been like, oh, no, man, I'm a therapist. Technically, I'm still a doctor. Right?
Lacey Mosley
There's so many different types of doctors.
Jacquis Neil
I work on feet, bro.
Lacey Mosley
Well, if you can't. Right. I'm a podiatrist.
Jacquis Neil
I'm a podiatrist.
Lacey Mosley
But you mean in medical school, you do learn a certain amount.
Jacquis Neil
Yeah.
Lacey Mosley
So he would have still know Gray's Anatomy A little bit.
Jacquis Neil
I work on feet. You still know about the heart, brother. Help this person.
Lacey Mosley
I feel as though at that point, you gotta start grabbing your chest too, like, oh, I caught it. Ooh, I'm having one too.
Jacquis Neil
Ooh, this heart attack is contagious. Is there another doctor on the house?
Lacey Mosley
Is there another doctor?
Jacquis Neil
Is there another doctor?
Lacey Mosley
We need one more. Cause I'm not gonna be able to help up first. Help up first. No, help first. Help. And then come over here to me, because I got some time.
Jacquis Neil
But I got some time. She's been going through hers a little bit longer. I got about 30 extra seconds.
Lacey Mosley
So Elliot and two other doctors on the train were called for assistance, and he ended up riding in the ambulance with the patient to a nearby hospital. Now, if there's other two other doctors, why are you in the ambulance? I'm definitely not getting the ambulance.
Jacquis Neil
You fucking it up. You fucking up the lie, bro.
Lacey Mosley
You took it too far.
Jacquis Neil
You taking the lie, too. You taking a lot of time.
Lacey Mosley
I'd help them close the doors and been like, yeah, y'all get him all the CC stat.
Jacquis Neil
You hit the back of the door twice.
Lacey Mosley
You hit it twice.
Jacquis Neil
You hit it twice.
Lacey Mosley
That's medical. That's medical.
Jacquis Neil
That's. That's. Yo. That is law. You gotta hit the back of that ambulance twice.
Lacey Mosley
And then that's when they know you the doctor Says, send it away. Send it away. I'm not getting in the ambulance.
Jacquis Neil
No, that's insane.
Lacey Mosley
You shouldn't. If they had two other doctors, why would you. Like, I gotta pee. Yeah. Like, I don't know.
Jacquis Neil
Cause now you gotta be. You are. And what are they asking you for advice in the ambulance? Like, what should we do?
Lacey Mosley
Because they're EMTs, so they know how to do a survey.
Jacquis Neil
They know how to do shit. But they're not doctors. Can you read? Can you read this EKG doctor?
Lacey Mosley
I would have been like, I'm like, Dr. Seuss, y'all. I'm like, Dr. Dre. I'm not like Dr. Hart.
Jacquis Neil
Yeah, I got a p. I just got a PhD in engineering. I ain't no real doctor.
Lacey Mosley
So although the woman was checked out properly by a medical staff at the hospital, Elliot also performed an exam on her using a stethoscope. Sir.
Jacquis Neil
My man. Why did my man.
Lacey Mosley
Maybe he still wanted a friend. He was like, I saved this lady's life.
Jacquis Neil
She's gotta be my friend. She gots to be my friend after that. I saved your life.
Lacey Mosley
Y'all give me a stethoscope. Cause I'm really lonely, and she gonna be my friend.
Jacquis Neil
The first person she saw when she woke up was me.
Lacey Mosley
That's bestie right there.
Jacquis Neil
Twin my.
Lacey Mosley
Where have you been?
Jacquis Neil
My man? All right. He all right. You know, when he was just stealing money, I was like, all right. But now he up here.
Lacey Mosley
Maybe he really did need a friend. He took it way too far, My man.
Jacquis Neil
Taking it too far. And he's also.
Lacey Mosley
Wait again, Jaquis.
Jacquis Neil
The negligence of jaquise. He was 18 years old at this point.
Lacey Mosley
He was in his 20s.
Jacquis Neil
Oh, he was okay. Jaquis. What? What happened?
Lacey Mosley
Elliott then accompanied the woman in a taxi to Glasgow to heat. So he done took her. He went to the ambulance, planes, trains, out of business. He took her from the train to the ambulance. Then he gave her the stethoscope special.
Jacquis Neil
He gave her the stethoscope special. He's like, no, baby, let me.
Lacey Mosley
He was like, it's beating. It's beating.
Jacquis Neil
It's beating. Hold on. Take a breath.
Lacey Mosley
Yeah, take a deep breath. It's going all right now we're doing your back.
Jacquis Neil
Deep breath. Uhhuh.
Lacey Mosley
He's like, I've been to the doctor before. I could use a stethoscope. He don't know what he's listening for.
Jacquis Neil
But he's like, he don't know what. I don't know what they listen for to this Day.
Lacey Mosley
I don't either. And they never tell you.
Jacquis Neil
They never tell. They just be like, yeah, you good?
Lacey Mosley
Sometimes it'll be like your lungs. Like, it sounds like you can breathe. I guess sometimes your lungs might be like. Like they might have, like. You know that sound when the TVs, like, on?
Jacquis Neil
The thuds, the little static?
Lacey Mosley
Yeah, the static. Your lungs might be staticy, and they like, oh, no. But then I'm like, if I put.
Jacquis Neil
My ear up to somebody's mouth, I can hear that shit, too.
Lacey Mosley
I don't know if ear to mouth is a thing. Jacques, hold on.
Jacquis Neil
What'd you. Hold on. Breathe.
Lacey Mosley
See, they would have took your ass to jail immediately if you were on that train. Talk about some ear to mouth. Okay. At least he knew some.
Jacquis Neil
Hold on. They having a heart attack. Let me put my ear to his chest real quick. Now. This sound good?
Lacey Mosley
Elliot took the woman in a taxi to Glasgow. When he arrived back at his hotel, the police were waiting for him.
Jacquis Neil
Of course they were.
Lacey Mosley
Of course they were. Because, sir, what did you think was gonna happen?
Jacquis Neil
This man probably got the police call to him on three different levels. On the plane, in the ambulance, and at the hospital.
Lacey Mosley
They were probably like, maybe if we give him a stethoscope for, like, five or 10 minutes, we can get the cops geared. He's already in a taxi with the woman who's his best friend. So Elliot was arrested as he checked in using a stolen credit card. So how'd they find him? Turns out that during his taxi ride with the woman, he made her feel uncomfortable by continually stroking her hand and then asking her to come back to his hotel.
Jacquis Neil
So he was trying to get some booty.
Lacey Mosley
So you got caught being a creep. You didn't get caught.
Jacquis Neil
You got caught being a creep when.
Lacey Mosley
You bought a train ticket with a doctor's card. You didn't get caught when you pretended to be a doctor on the train. You didn't get caught when you hopped your ass in the fucking ambulance like you were in an episode of Grey's Anatomy. You did get caught when you rode home paying illegally again in a taxi. You got caught for being a weirdo.
Jacquis Neil
He got caught. That's the saddest way he got caught. I was hoping he would have got caught better than that.
Lacey Mosley
Now I can't even be on your side, cuz.
Jacquis Neil
You a weirdo, bro.
Lacey Mosley
First off, this woman just had a heart episode. Why are you trying to. I don't even think she could have that kind of physical activity. One we know you're not a Doctor. But. But at the same time, like, why are you stroking this lady's hand? She just had a heart episode.
Jacquis Neil
Her heart rate go above 80? Not right now.
Lacey Mosley
Not that that's even the point. It's just like, bro, if she was interested in you, she would let you know. Like, I don't now. I'm starting to think she didn't even want you in the taxi.
Jacquis Neil
You hopped in.
Lacey Mosley
Like, oh, well, I'm the doctor. That means I gotta see you home. I've never had a doctor take care of me in the hospital and then be like, all right, scoot over. We gotta get in this Uber. Why are you coming with me?
Jacquis Neil
Never, never, never. Like, I've never had a doctor leave the building with me.
Lacey Mosley
I've never left the office with. They always leave first.
Jacquis Neil
They leave first, and I don't see them again until the next time I' there.
Lacey Mosley
You never know where they're going, let.
Jacquis Neil
Alone coming with me.
Lacey Mosley
I don't even see them in the lobby.
Jacquis Neil
Never, Never. I've never seen a doctor outside of a doctor's office unless they not at work. And I know them personally.
Lacey Mosley
They don't come to the lobby. They don't come behind the desk. Like, it's like you see them in the doctor's office and they leave, and the nurse comes, checks you out. They check you out. The. You don't see the doctor. We don't know where they go. I just assume that, like, Grey's Anatomy, they in a broom closet now or something. Like, they got to go back to cheating or whatever they be doing.
Jacquis Neil
And you in a taxi with me.
Lacey Mosley
You're in the taxi.
Jacquis Neil
Do you have somewhere to go?
Lacey Mosley
You don't got other doctoring?
Jacquis Neil
What was you on the plane for? Yeah, what was you on the plane for? Like, you weren't on plane.
Lacey Mosley
You just gave up all your plans to follow this lady home. This lady who just had a scary, traumatic life event on top of that crazy. This is why you don't have no friends.
Jacquis Neil
This is why. Cause you creep.
Lacey Mosley
You don't want to have friends.
Jacquis Neil
You're a weirdo. See, Lacy? It was them teeth. Them teeth.
Lacey Mosley
We knew. We knew from them teeth.
Jacquis Neil
We knew from them teeth. This dude went up to no good.
Lacey Mosley
He never gave up that lifestyle.
Jacquis Neil
He never gave up that bad teeth.
Lacey Mosley
It's not even bad teeth. I'm not judging. It's not the teeth malclusions or something like that. These are just a specific kind of teeth that we know you're up to something.
Jacquis Neil
It's like, whenever they cast. Whenever they cast bad white kids in movies, they always got them teeth. They always got them little ass teeth that look like they up. No damn good.
Lacey Mosley
I'm so glad you got caught. Cause I was trying to be on your loneliness side, but you took it way too far. I was like, even getting in the ambulance, I was still gonna let you slide because maybe you were just nervous and whatever, but you lost me as time stethoscope, and you definitely lost me when you hopped in the taxi with this lady. And then you're stroking her hand like.
Jacquis Neil
No, that's the wild part, too.
Lacey Mosley
Put him in the prison.
Jacquis Neil
Her for.
Lacey Mosley
Put him in the prison immediately.
Jacquis Neil
What are you touching her for, bro?
Lacey Mosley
So she did not accompany him back to his hotel, of course, but she did alert police that this supposed doctor didn't seem very legit. Yes. From the second he got in the taxi, I'm sure she was like. During the ambulance ride, she may have been disoriented and perhaps was like, I don't know if this man is a. But once he. The stethoscope thing, I think that's when she first got her inkling. She was like, this ain't normally a stethoscope in this gun. And then after that, when he was like, let's hop in this car, she was like, okay, it's definitely not a doctor.
Jacquis Neil
Also.
Lacey Mosley
Also, bro.
Jacquis Neil
Like, I'm like, bro, a stethoscope at the hospital, we passed that. They did that when I got in the ambulance. Give me a fucking EKG machine. Give me some medicine.
Lacey Mosley
Echocardiogram.
Jacquis Neil
Yeah. Take an ultrasound. What you up here checking my lungs for?
Lacey Mosley
If she got checked out that fast, perhaps she was having, like, an anxiety attack or maybe angina or something like that. I'm not a doctor either. I also don't show up at hospitals and. And pretend to be, but Elliot spent four months in jail for credit card theft, impersonating a doctor, and common assault when he got up.
Jacquis Neil
Oh, for like.
Lacey Mosley
For the hand. Hand stroking and hopping in the.
Jacquis Neil
Just four months for all that.
Lacey Mosley
I know. It should have been longer.
Jacquis Neil
Yeah. What's the breakdown on all that? He got one week for the.
Lacey Mosley
So, you know, this is the uk. They. They're kind of lenient on their crime stuff. They be like, would you mind popping into the police station so we could take you down to the jail? If. If you don't mind, we'll have you free. Thank you so much. If you could just come on in, we'd appreciate it. Just got to lock you up for A bit. Because you're really naughty.
Jacquis Neil
That's a good UK accent.
Lacey Mosley
So I'm.
Jacquis Neil
See you in. I'm going. See you in a movie with a British accent.
Lacey Mosley
I'm trying to do a reverse.
Jacquis Neil
Trying to do it a reverse.
Lacey Mosley
All the black British people come over here and act as Americans.
Jacquis Neil
We all go over there and take all their jobs.
Lacey Mosley
And take all their jobs. That's our skin. We go over there. Hello. No. So.
Jacquis Neil
Hello, mate.
Lacey Mosley
Yeah, I'm proper excited to be here.
Jacquis Neil
Hello, love.
Lacey Mosley
Really, really fell in love with the material. Isn't it? Ain't it good? Yeah, yeah, yeah. So when he got out, he decided to change his fraudulent ways by doing a new kind of scam.
Jacquis Neil
Love it.
Lacey Mosley
So he pivoted. He's like, I'm not gonna do this type of crime anymore. I'm gonna do a different type of crime.
Jacquis Neil
This is on. This is on brand. He did that when he first picked up the first credit card.
Lacey Mosley
He did. He never learns his lesson.
Jacquis Neil
He never learns his lesson.
Lacey Mosley
No. He's like, I can get better.
Jacquis Neil
I can get better.
Lacey Mosley
He had four months in jail to read a lot of encyclopedias. Goof.
Jacquis Neil
He improved.
Lacey Mosley
Did he make friends in jail? Who knows? I don't think he's a very affable person.
Jacquis Neil
No.
Lacey Mosley
I'm starting. I'm blaming you now. You know, at first I thought you're a nerd with the encyclopedias and you're lonely and your dad is constantly on the oil rig.
Jacquis Neil
On the oil rig.
Lacey Mosley
He's never home.
Jacquis Neil
He ain't never home.
Lacey Mosley
He won't even bring you a duck back after he's, like, washed the oil off of it. Like you. You know, it's a tumultuous life. Dropped out of school at 15. Your mom doesn't seem to be too pressed about that.
Jacquis Neil
I think his mom never saw him again after 15.
Lacey Mosley
And with them bad kid teeth, she was like, oof, a relief. Cause he was stressing me out.
Jacquis Neil
Now I can go with my husband on the oil rig. She been waiting to go with his ass to the oil rig.
Lacey Mosley
So now we have Elliott's hotel service.
Jacquis Neil
Oh, my God, I love this so much.
Lacey Mosley
So his first step in his next scheme involved calling the reception desk of luxury hotels and asking to speak to a guest with a common last name. Once he got lucky and was put through to a room, he pretend to be a front desk employee. He'd tell the guests there was a problem with their card and their bank was on the other line asking for additional information. So he's Kind of walking it back to his call center.
Jacquis Neil
He's going back to the call center.
Lacey Mosley
And they do do this at hotels still. So you guys have to be really. Anytime someone calls you you from your hotel phone and is like, oh, we have a problem with your card, just say, oh, okay, I'll be down at the lobby.
Jacquis Neil
Yeah.
Lacey Mosley
Don't ever give any information over the phone. And a lot of times they'll call, like at inconvenient times, like really early in the morning or kind of late at night when you're less likely to want to go downstairs and talk to the front desk because they're hoping that you'll be lazy enough to just give your information away over the phone. But anytime someone calls a hotel and is like, oh, we have an issue with your card, you'd be like, okay, I'll be right down.
Jacquis Neil
Yeah, I'll be down. I'll be down.
Lacey Mosley
And if you don't feel like going down right then, you be like, I'll be down in the morning.
Jacquis Neil
I'll be down in the morning. Yeah. What's the deal?
Lacey Mosley
If they real press, they'll come up to the door.
Jacquis Neil
Yeah, like, what you mean you got an issue with my card? If y'all want y money, you can come to me or else I'll see you when I see you.
Lacey Mosley
Right? I'll see you when I see you.
Jacquis Neil
I'll see you when I see you.
Lacey Mosley
When I get down there.
Jacquis Neil
I'm still here. Yeah.
Lacey Mosley
So at this point, with all the guests credit card info at his disposal, Elliot would impersonate the guests with their bank and ask the bank to set up a credit card in his nephew.
Jacquis Neil
Wow.
Lacey Mosley
Their nephew's name.
Jacquis Neil
Wait, wait.
Lacey Mosley
What would their nephew's name be? You wanna guess? So he's saying he calls and he's like, hey, I'm me. Yeah, I need to set up a card for my nephew.
Jacquis Neil
For my nephew. And my nephew's name is Elliot Castro. Castro. Interesting.
Lacey Mosley
Yeah. And they have the same last name.
Jacquis Neil
So now he has. So now he's getting cars in his.
Lacey Mosley
Name, but underneath accounts that have the same last name as his.
Jacquis Neil
Interesting. So he was truly just looking for cash. Astros.
Lacey Mosley
So while on bail for another credit card fraud charge, Elliot was arrested again in Scotland. During his nine month prison stint, he spent time in the prison library learning about the Internet. So when he got out, he was ready to book travel using stolen credit cards on Expedia.com.
Jacquis Neil
Great. So he still had the credit cards. They didn't take the credit cards.
Lacey Mosley
You know how Many credit cards. They can only catch him on what they got him on. So it's like, oh, we got you on the fake doctor, so we can charge you for that. But they don't know he's got, like, a box full of credit cards.
Jacquis Neil
I would think they would go, look.
Lacey Mosley
They don't have probable cause for that, I guess.
Jacquis Neil
I guess not.
Lacey Mosley
This is also the uk In America.
Jacquis Neil
Just like you said, in America, they.
Lacey Mosley
Could have been beating down your block, right?
Jacquis Neil
In America, I'm like, you racking up debt, bro. You would have been. They would have hung your ass. They ain't playing that shit. Discover don't play this.
Lacey Mosley
They would have shot you at the credit card swapper. Like, he's got a gun. He's literally swiping his Discover card, bro.
Jacquis Neil
They don't play that.
Lacey Mosley
We don't. We care about property over here. Property over people.
Jacquis Neil
Yeah. A little too much.
Lacey Mosley
A little too much. Probably a lot too much.
Jacquis Neil
A lot too much.
Lacey Mosley
Yeah, a fair amount of a lot too much.
Jacquis Neil
Yeah.
Lacey Mosley
But over there, they're like, oh, well, he did a little D. And then we. We throw him in the clink.
Jacquis Neil
It was probably only one card, right?
Lacey Mosley
They don't go looking. They're like, okay, closed.
Jacquis Neil
Crazy.
Lacey Mosley
He went to Germany, France, Spain, and New York, where he stayed at the Plaza Hotel specifically because he liked the movie Home Alone.
Jacquis Neil
Home Alone. I was just about to say this motherfucker. That's honestly. When you said the Plaza Hotel, the first thing I thought of was Home Alone 2. You got it.
Lacey Mosley
You literally got it.
Jacquis Neil
Oh, that's so funny.
Lacey Mosley
He always alone. So he was like, let me go eat Home Alone.
Jacquis Neil
That is so funny.
Lacey Mosley
So Expedia opened an ongoing investigation into his online bookings. But meanwhile, on a trip to Dublin, Elliot started to. To make actual friends for the first time.
Jacquis Neil
He meant to make some Irish friends.
Lacey Mosley
And Irish people are very nice. They are very nice. Like when I lived in Dublin, which was fairly recent, y'all know, I was there for three months. Everyone was real nice.
Jacquis Neil
Yeah, people are.
Lacey Mosley
They're nice, you know, I think anybody would let me into their home.
Jacquis Neil
They trusting, too. Yeah, a little too trusting, maybe. Too trusting.
Lacey Mosley
Look, I ain't do nothing, but they would. Like, I did go to a store once, and I was like, hey, I'll leave my coat here. But I just really, like. It was like a expensive coat at, like, kind of like a posh store. But I'm thinking, like, this could be just like, a cute coat or it could be like a real coat that's gonna help me with this, like freezing ass weather. But I need to know. So I was like, hey, do you mind if I just like leave my jacket here? And I walk around a bit in this plaza just to make sure this coat actually blocks the wind and like. Cause I don't wanna spend this much money on a coat that's just cute. And then I'm cold as hell.
Jacquis Neil
And they said, yes.
Lacey Mosley
They're like, oh, yeah, take it for a spin, babe. Yeah, whatever you wanna do. Have a good crack. We'll see you in a bit. Have a good crack. They're like, you don't have to leave your coat or your wallet here. Take everything with you. Come back whenever.
Jacquis Neil
Oh my God. Honestly, like, I'm gonna be real. That's how it should be. You could have just left.
Lacey Mosley
But I'm. But you know, I'm black, so I'm already insecure about like people treating me like a thief. So I'm trying to be like, I will leave. I'll leave my wallet here. I'll leave my doll here. I just want to try the coat. And they were like, no, no, you can take everything with you. We'll see in a bit. Have a good crunch. And like, literally I could have just left with coat.
Jacquis Neil
You just left. You could. And they would have never known.
Lacey Mosley
Never known. I'm not from there.
Jacquis Neil
Wow.
Lacey Mosley
What if that was my last day in town? I just left with the coat and just flew away.
Jacquis Neil
You just gave. You just gave too many people ideas. You just People booking their flights to Ireland right now.
Lacey Mosley
The Irish have been through too much. They have oppressed people, okay? That's why they eat so much potatoes. They said after that famine, it was like everything. One day we was having tuna pokey. Why was there some potatoes? And potatoes they be putting it. They put that shit on everything. You thought Frank's red heart was. They put it on everything. They said potato going with everything.
Jacquis Neil
They putting on everything.
Lacey Mosley
Breakfast, lunch, dinner.
Jacquis Neil
Damn snacks.
Lacey Mosley
Dessert.
Jacquis Neil
Dessert. We can make a sweet potato potato cake, baby.
Lacey Mosley
Yeah, yeah. We gonna have potato cake tonight.
Jacquis Neil
We have a potato cake tonight.
Lacey Mosley
Okay. They not playing about that. So he making friends in Dublin. That does not surprise me.
Jacquis Neil
Okay.
Lacey Mosley
I don't know if I want him making friends because he is a creeper to that lady. So I just don't know how I feel about you anym. I don't really kind of fuck with you anymore, Elliot, but. So the only problem was is that he could never be honest about who he was with his new Irish friends, right? Because he's a criminal.
Jacquis Neil
Right.
Lacey Mosley
So Elliot was finally arrested for booking a fraudulent ticket on Expedia. He was released on bail. They keep giving this man bail.
Jacquis Neil
Yeah. Like eventually put him away.
Lacey Mosley
I feel as though we need to like, sentence.
Jacquis Neil
Like they need sentence reform.
Lacey Mosley
Right.
Jacquis Neil
Like on the other way. We needed to scale it back here.
Lacey Mosley
Y'all can't keep releasing him on his own recognizance. Cause we know he don't have no damn sense.
Jacquis Neil
No, he just coked.
Lacey Mosley
His cognizance is for people with sense.
Jacquis Neil
Yes, he just coke. He gonna keep getting better. He keep getting better at this shit.
Lacey Mosley
Okay, he needs to stay.
Jacquis Neil
Y'all need to teach him a lesson.
Lacey Mosley
So he's released, right. And Irish police arrange for him to stay at a hotel. But Elliot wasn't satisfied with those accommodations. He stays in the Plaza.
Jacquis Neil
So now he bougie too.
Lacey Mosley
He bougies him. So he booked himself a fancier hotel using more stoic credit on Expedia.
Jacquis Neil
Yeah.
Lacey Mosley
Elliott was in and out of jail a couple more times until Expedia's fraud detection system spotted him once more while on the run in Toronto. He was arrested again, but this time without bail.
Jacquis Neil
Finally, somebody, finally Canada got his ass.
Lacey Mosley
The Rusies got him.
Jacquis Neil
Yeah. He came over to North America and he.
Lacey Mosley
And they were like, no, sir.
Jacquis Neil
He was like, nah, brother.
Lacey Mosley
That rap sheet is giving CVS receipt. You need to sit right here. Don't get up.
Jacquis Neil
Yeah.
Lacey Mosley
Don't collect $200. Don't collect nobody else's credit cards.
Jacquis Neil
No free.
Lacey Mosley
So here's how Elliot describes getting caught from the docu series, Confessions of a Teenage Fraudster. So we have a little video of him talking about getting caught. He's done a lot of media.
Jacquis Neil
Yeah.
Lacey Mosley
He wants people to know hotel I was staying at.
C
I would always knock the door and shout housekeeping just so that I can hear if there was anyone else in the room. But this time I didn't do that because my hands were full of bags. So door opened, the house walked in.
Jacquis Neil
I was coming up right behind him. And my partner was inside the room.
C
All hell broke loose. I think I was shocked really at first. I'd never had my hands put behind my back like that before. How dare you? You know I haven't done anything wrong.
Jacquis Neil
He was very cocky and he thought that he could talk his way out of it.
C
Cuz he had been a bit rude to Danny Bell.
Jacquis Neil
A bit rude. He wanted me to have his passport. He told me it was the property of the Queen. Well, we work with the Queen. Too. So he was very defensive of the passport. He can't go anywhere without it. I asked him, where do you get the credit cards? And he told me he knows more about credit cards than me. And I said, I don't doubt it, but I'm not the one. Yeah.
C
One of the very few times realized that someone had outwitted me.
Lacey Mosley
This is also him saying that he had never been handcuffed before. How many times has he been arrested? They were just casually walking him into the police station.
Jacquis Neil
Oh, you mind opening the door and getting in the back seat, sir? I've never had my hands behind my back. You've been arrested 12 times, bro. Not even arrested. You've been in jail.
Lacey Mosley
You've been in jail.
Jacquis Neil
You've been in jail 12 times.
Lacey Mosley
You're like, no, he can open the car door. He can get out himself.
Jacquis Neil
He can get out.
Lacey Mosley
He's just strolling into the police station. What's up, Bobby?
Jacquis Neil
What's up, Tom?
Lacey Mosley
Yeah, he in the backseat.
Jacquis Neil
He in the backseat with the window down, with his arm out the window, driving down the street, just chilling.
Lacey Mosley
I don't even feel like they're putting him in cop cars. Like, he's like, do you mind if I drive? And they're like, oh, yeah, we was. Hop in the back with you. Yeah, Just taking taxis. The precincts. The precincts on the right, just through this roundabout. Like, what is happening? They gave this man way too much freedom.
Jacquis Neil
The leniency he got through his life is amazing.
Lacey Mosley
Wild.
Jacquis Neil
That was amazing.
Lacey Mosley
So he was sent to the Don Jail, one of the worst prisons in Canada, where four months felt like a life sentence because he's used to staying at the Plaza, but now he's at one of the worst prisons in Canada, which is probably still a decent prison compared to, like, Rikers, you know?
Jacquis Neil
Right, right, right.
Lacey Mosley
According to Elliot, it was overcrowded, the food was horrible, and his wing was run by a Portuguese gang.
Jacquis Neil
Yeah, bro, it's jail. Yeah, it's prison.
Lacey Mosley
Yeah. All of those things sound like what?
Jacquis Neil
Yeah, yeah. All those things track.
Lacey Mosley
He said the cuisine awful.
Jacquis Neil
Oh, my God. My meatloaf had no sauce.
Lacey Mosley
They're so stingy with the pepper.
Jacquis Neil
I got no potatoes in jail. My friends give me potatoes every meal.
Lacey Mosley
So after time served, he was scheduled to be deported to the uk but he had one last swindle in store for the multiple governments that were after him. Because now he's like, basically NATO's after him. Like, he's got the whole. Everyone's like, please, can we get him France is like, we would like to get him.
Jacquis Neil
We want to take a crack at him.
Lacey Mosley
Everybody's like, we. We need him.
Jacquis Neil
Even Irish is like, you know what? You can't take that coat outside, right?
Lacey Mosley
He can't take the coat outside.
Jacquis Neil
He can't take the coat outside.
Lacey Mosley
So Elliott was set to take a deportation flight from Canada to the UK which the Canadian government had booked. Before the flight, Elliott called Canadian immigration, pretending to be from the British Embassy. He asked for information about Elliot Castro's flight. The Canadian official told him they were supposed to alert Scotland Yard detectives once Elliott's plane took off so that the detectives would be waiting to take Elliott off the plane. Fake British Embassy. Elliot told them, oh, I can let him know for you. Don't worry about it.
Jacquis Neil
Again, I know I said this earlier, but the negligence of so many companies and entities in this man's story is astounding. Like, so many people had to be dumb for him to get through.
Lacey Mosley
Nobody wants to work anymore, okay? They were like, I don't want to make that phone call anyway, and I got to send three faxes. No, you. Yeah, can you just let him know to pick his ass up? He's not our problem anymore. As long as he's out of Canada, we're good.
Jacquis Neil
We good.
Lacey Mosley
So the Canadian. The Canadian official replied, oh, thanks, Eh? That's helpful. Canadians.
Jacquis Neil
You dumb motherfucker.
Lacey Mosley
Like, that's helpful.
Jacquis Neil
That's so funny.
Lacey Mosley
Of course, Elliot didn't tell Scotland Yard he was coming. And when he landed, no one was waiting for him, and he walked free again.
Jacquis Neil
This man. Oh, my God, at this point, just.
Lacey Mosley
Let him be free. Cause y'all wasted too many resources trying to catch his ass. Y'all fucking flights.
Jacquis Neil
This is like. This is. This is like that movie that Leonardo DiCaprio was in, Catch Me if youf Can. This man is like that version of that for this era.
Lacey Mosley
Because I think you also don't expect for a criminal to have the audacity to be like, oh, they're gonna pick me up. Let me just call. Hello, it's me from the British Embassy.
Jacquis Neil
Bobby. My God, I would never. Bobby T. Crumpet.
Lacey Mosley
Yeah, it's calling Elliot. Yeah, no, we'll pick him up. All good.
Jacquis Neil
All good. This man just. And then when he got off, he was like, well, I guess ain't nobody here. All right. You gonna walk to jail, bro? Yeah, I'm gonna walk.
Lacey Mosley
Elliot had escaped capture in the uk but he didn't have any money, so he called the airline to retrieve the credit card number. That the Canadian immigration had used to book his flight back to England. This man is so hot, using Canadian immigration's credit card info, he booked a ticket back to his home city. So now he's stealing from Canada's immigration. He said, who booked that flight?
Jacquis Neil
Who booked that flight? This man has stolen from people from countries. The government from the government.
Lacey Mosley
My God, who needs friends when you're just gonna defraud everybody in the world?
Jacquis Neil
No wonder you ain't got no friends, bro. You stealing from everybody. You stealing from everybody. There ain't one person you ain't stealing from.
Lacey Mosley
He said anybody can get it. And by that, I mean I will take it from anybody.
Jacquis Neil
As long as there's breath in my lungs and I can press numbers on the phone, I'm gonna scam people.
Lacey Mosley
We keep getting out of jail, going right back to crime immediately. He's literally on bail. He's waiting sentencing. He's already doing crime again.
Jacquis Neil
This man is literally calling the people who are putting him in jail to get out of jail. Crazy.
Lacey Mosley
So he got his first legitimate job. What do you think his job is gonna be? He still got hired after that. Okay, but it's a job that you can get hired at without people looking at a rap sheet.
Jacquis Neil
Oh, what would that be?
Lacey Mosley
Think of the job that no parent ever wants their kid to be.
Jacquis Neil
A gravedigger. No, no, that's honorable. That is honorable. What is?
Lacey Mosley
Think of a job that you came home and let's say you went to four years prestigious college, probably got some debt, right? You come home and you say, this is my passion. To your parents, acting. It's close. It's close. We're up there. You're close. Now you're closer.
Jacquis Neil
Comedy.
Lacey Mosley
No, you were closer with music.
Jacquis Neil
Music. Oh, he a producer.
Lacey Mosley
He a dj.
Jacquis Neil
He's a dj.
Lacey Mosley
Of course he is.
Jacquis Neil
DJ Castro. Castro. Castro.
Lacey Mosley
Castro. Castro.
Jacquis Neil
In the building. In the building. Building. Swiping your music is like a credit card.
Lacey Mosley
That's definitely like his DJ side of, like, you know, mustard's like muster that I beat.
Jacquis Neil
Ho. His is like the little ding you hear when you clap your car.
Lacey Mosley
DJ Castro.
Jacquis Neil
Yeah. Remove your card. This man is a dj.
Lacey Mosley
Enter pin.
Jacquis Neil
I love. This is insane.
Lacey Mosley
Yeah, yeah, no, definitely.
Jacquis Neil
I hate and love everything about this.
Lacey Mosley
Yeah, I don't like his, but the audacity is killing me.
Jacquis Neil
The audacity.
Lacey Mosley
This is his first legitimate job. He's a DJ in Northern Ireland. But the small amount he was paid to be a bad DJ couldn't explain his expensive lifestyle to his friends. So Also love that his friends are like, you're not a good dj. Like, how are you making all this money? Like, your friends being like, you're not good at your job, so you must be doing crime. Like, damn, your friends are shady as hell, bro.
Jacquis Neil
You gotta stop playing Wonder Woman wall, man. Like, there's other music.
Lacey Mosley
You played it four times.
Jacquis Neil
Four times. Your mixing is bad.
Lacey Mosley
And then you tried to mix it with flow riders. Low, low, low.
Jacquis Neil
Low, low, low.
Lacey Mosley
You're my wonder. We were like, it didn't work.
Jacquis Neil
It didn't work. It didn't work. And if you could make it work, you would be a better DJ than this.
Lacey Mosley
So he was ultimately caught for the final time at a department store in Edinburgh. He served two years in prison. Today, Elliot is a music producer and fraud prevention consultant who uses his past to help people avoid falling victim to fraud. He has over 3,000 followers on his Instagram. And let's listen to Elliot sum up his time as a teenage foster. I will not be posting his Instagram, though, because I'm not sure if he's done with crime.
Jacquis Neil
Yo, he got a text check mark, too. He verified, verified, verified criminal. Yeah, verified criminal.
Lacey Mosley
He said that rap sheet is verified.
C
That was it. I know that I never meant to hurt anyone. Even if that's what happened. I didn't mean it, you know, so just got to deal with it now and crack on. I've got a lot to be grateful for. You know, I up, and I'm glad I did it early in my life because I can now get on with the rest of my life.
Lacey Mosley
And it's.
Jacquis Neil
I had.
C
I had my own journey to go on. And it was.
Lacey Mosley
It was.
C
It was different. It was amazing at times, but, you know, there were some pretty dark times, too.
Lacey Mosley
He said I had my own journey going on. Like, he survived, like, a serious disease or something. It's like, sir, you went on this journey. You chose to journey.
Jacquis Neil
You chose this journey, and you chose it at every turn.
Lacey Mosley
He would not stop.
Jacquis Neil
Yeah, you literally had so many opportunities to stop. You could have been a dj in the 2000s when music was popping.
Lacey Mosley
You could have been a dj in the 2000s when music was so bad that nobody would have known you were a dj. You're just playing boom, boom, pow. Everyone's living.
Jacquis Neil
Everybody's living. You playing Superman. There's Superman.
Lacey Mosley
I mean, you. You know, and everyone's fine with it.
Jacquis Neil
Damn, bro. Damn. What a. What a crazy fucking story. I don't think. I truly don't think I've ever heard Somebody get caught so much still keep doing the same thing they're getting caught for and not go to jail for. What was his accumulative time in jail? Four years. Maybe not that long.
Lacey Mosley
He had a few four month stints. He had a three month stint. He had a nine month stint. Yeah, we'd have to do the math on this.
Jacquis Neil
Yes. Two year stint.
Lacey Mosley
Did he have a two year stint?
Jacquis Neil
I think you just said that he was in jail for two years.
Lacey Mosley
Yeah. Yeah, he did just his last stint.
Jacquis Neil
Was his last stint.
Lacey Mosley
So if you add that in, probably like around five.
Jacquis Neil
Probably like four or five years. Crazy.
Lacey Mosley
And he stole so much money now. Maybe he's inflating how much he stole. But we don't know that.
Jacquis Neil
We don't know. He could be under. He could be underplaying it too.
Lacey Mosley
If I were him, I would underplay it. Because, like, you don't want them.
Jacquis Neil
No, you're like, wait, you stole 10 million? I don't know.
Lacey Mosley
But I think because he also spread it out over different countries, maybe there was only so much each municipality, like each country could like, charge him because they're only charging him for the crimes that happened in their country.
Jacquis Neil
That's true. I also think he is, like one of the people solely responsible for, like, credit card reform.
Lacey Mosley
This call is being recorded because of.
Jacquis Neil
Elliott, because of Elliot Castro. This will be recorded on two lines.
Lacey Mosley
He not getting us again.
Jacquis Neil
Yeah, he ain't getting us again.
Lacey Mosley
Now, he did get us the first 12 times, but then, but then we wised up.
Jacquis Neil
Yeah, them first 15 years, he got ass.
Lacey Mosley
Yeah, he got.
Jacquis Neil
He got our ass.
Lacey Mosley
He got the Canadian government, he got the British government.
Jacquis Neil
Yo, that's the wildest part of this to me is that he called the actual, like, police on himself to get himself out of jail. Yes.
Lacey Mosley
And then also had them pay for him to have a flight. Stole from them.
Jacquis Neil
Stole from them. They.
Lacey Mosley
He used. They using the police's credit card is wild.
Jacquis Neil
Yo.
Lacey Mosley
Yo, I don't know if I could ever be that bold.
Jacquis Neil
I don't know. I wouldn't even think of that shit. Like, I wouldn't even. I think I'm a smart person and I think I'm resourceful. I wouldn't even think, yo, like, if LAPD came in here to arrest me, I wouldn't think, let me call LAPD's line and get their credit card number so I can buy me. So I can buy me a Uber back home. That's insane.
Lacey Mosley
Yeah, his mind is, like, very much expanded on a different mind.
Jacquis Neil
That is a criminal mind right there.
Lacey Mosley
He was like, these laws don't belong to me. Like, I'm gonna do whatever I want.
Jacquis Neil
This is a movie. This is 100% a movie.
Lacey Mosley
I mean, I don't know if we need to lie. This guy, I still don't like what he did to that lady. I don't understand why he was all up in her car. He was a cricking on her hand.
Jacquis Neil
He was.
Lacey Mosley
Now he's having his redemption arc. I'm like, I don't know. This is why you didn't have friends. I'm starting to think maybe you didn't have friends cause you were weird as fuck.
Jacquis Neil
Yeah. Also, his redemption. I know he working with fraud prevention now or protection, whatever, but, like, I wouldn't be surprised. In about five years, you know, we hear another story. Elliot Castro back in jail.
Lacey Mosley
For all we know, this is just him basically going to college and just studying harder to get better at fraud. He's like, you're not gonna get me the next time I'm gonna work with the police. So I know how much.
Jacquis Neil
That's how much you know. I'm gonna put the systems in place so I know how to break them.
Lacey Mosley
Yes.
Jacquis Neil
That's what he doing right now.
Lacey Mosley
He was like, I didn't read enough encyclopedias. And this time, after two years in prison, I gotta really make sure I don't go back.
Jacquis Neil
I gotta make sure.
Lacey Mosley
And some people would do that by not doing crime anymore. He was like, no, I'm going to do it the best that I can.
Jacquis Neil
He is a top tier criminal. Yes. He gets better every time and never learns his lesson. That's a dangerous combo for a criminal. It really smart gets better and don't.
Lacey Mosley
Learn your lesson and just brash as hell.
Jacquis Neil
Brash.
Lacey Mosley
The fact that he got arrested and he was like, I've never had cuffs put on me.
Jacquis Neil
What? No one knows credit cards better than me.
Lacey Mosley
Yeah, we know, bro. That's why we're picking your ass up. That's clearly why we're picking you up.
Jacquis Neil
He was like, I was rude to them, bro. Elliot Castro.
Lacey Mosley
Goodness gracious.
Jacquis Neil
Good old, good old bad kid Elliot Castro.
Lacey Mosley
Bad kid teeth. We should.
Jacquis Neil
We knew. We knew from the teeth.
Lacey Mosley
That's why I said, put that picture back up.
Jacquis Neil
Yeah. Saw them teeth.
Lacey Mosley
They gave it away.
Jacquis Neil
Them teeth. Boy, the small teeth, no lip combo will get you ass every time. We get your ass every time.
Lacey Mosley
We know what you're up to. Well, that brings us to the end of a great episode. Jacquees. Thank you so much for blessing the congregation and being here today.
Jacquis Neil
You're doing, you know, listen, you're great, you know, you're great.
Lacey Mosley
Thank you.
Jacquis Neil
As somebody who has known you for a very long. We auditioned for Harrow night together.
Lacey Mosley
Oh my goodness.
Jacquis Neil
Back in the day and I've been lucky to be on this show. You've been on my shows, we've done a lot of stuff together. I'm very happy for you. You're amazing. You're dope.
Lacey Mosley
Thank you.
Jacquis Neil
I'm very happy for everything that's going on with you. And let a brother get $5. Let a brother for the title.
Lacey Mosley
If you get my Elliot Castro credit card out, you can actually have it. I got so many of these.
Jacquis Neil
I'm a nice many of these.
Lacey Mosley
I'm everybody's niece. Thank you. In Los Angeles, in the state of California. Okay. We always ask at the end of this podcast, where would you.
Jacquis Neil
Oh, what I'd like to be found. I love that, I love that. At Jacquis Neil on social media or my website, Jacquis Neil.com lets you know everything that's going on. Got some stuff coming down the pipeline on Dropout which will be pretty fun. About to go into production right now, so a lot of stuff coming down.
Lacey Mosley
Congratulations and if you guys have the pleasure to catch one of Jacques's live show, they're so fun. You better get your tickets fast though because they sell out quick.
Jacquis Neil
If you are listening to this when it comes out. Yeah. Comedian class livestream have happening really soon. Jason Alexander coming to our next show.
Lacey Mosley
Yes.
Jacquis Neil
It's gonna be fun.
Lacey Mosley
See, he said live stream. It is in person. You can't get those tickets.
Jacquis Neil
Yeah, yeah. You gotta hit the live stream up. Live stream up.
Lacey Mosley
Maybe you can, maybe you can try to scam your way in there. I don't know if you can. I'm not gonna advise that though. Get that live stream.
Jacquis Neil
Live stream tickets. Yeah.
Lacey Mosley
And then Going Dutch is on Fox and on Hulu next day and Scam Goddesses on ABC will freeform and then it's on Hulu the next day on Thursday. So you can watch Going Dutch on Thursdays. You can watch Scam Goddess on Hulu on Thursdays and then. And right into the podcast. I know sometimes we don't get to the listener letters but we are going to get there sooner. But you know, we have some time constraints but scamgottispod gmail.com stitch on your friends, family and your enemies. Thank you all so much for the support with the Scam Goddess television show. It was a lot of work and I'm just so happy with how it turned out. And shout out to all the brave people who shared information with us. And I'm just really excited that we are exposing these scammers and also, like, going to the towns and really getting to know the culture and like erasing judgment and shame. It's something that's really important to me, so I'm very proud of it. And also scam Godd. You can pick that up anywhere. You buy your books completely. They all have the same name, but they're all very different children. So I hope you enjoy that as well. Congregation, I just want to say get out there, you know, hit the Castro.
Jacquis Neil
Hit the Castro. Hit the Castro.
Lacey Mosley
Or maybe don't listen. Or if you do, you know, just keep his perseverance. Like, whatever you're doing in your life, that's not crime. You take that level of perseverance that Castro had every time he got out of jail and you keep. You pick yourself up and you crime.
Jacquis Neil
Again, you crime again, you crime again.
Lacey Mosley
Dust yourself off and try again. All right, y'all. Scam Goddess. This has been an Earwolf production in association with Team Coco. Scam Goddess stars and is hosted by me, Lacey Mosley, AKA Scam Goddess. Our producer is Scott Sauni and our audio engineer is Rich Garcia. Research for the show is done by Kate Doyle. Stay scheming. Celebrate Black History Month with the rap and hip hop pre game station presented by Target and celebrate black creators with the Target Black History Month collection. Because the more we come together, the more we create together. Launch rap and hip hop pre game now brought to you by Target.
Jacquis Neil
Black History Month shows us we've come a long way, but we still have places to go. We'll get there one mile at a time. The all new Nissan Murano is an unapologetic refuge amidst the daily hustle and bustle. A place where you can take a beat to reflect and re energize. Step into your power with an elevated modern interior design. Get invigorated by the bold new exterior look and celebrate those driving us towards the future. The all new Nissan Murano. Because sometimes the greatest rush is not rushing at all.
Scam Goddess Episode Summary: "The Phone Call Phony" with Jacquis Neil
Release Date: February 11, 2025
Introduction
In this riveting episode of Scam Goddess, host Laci Mosley teams up with guest Jacquis Neil to delve deep into the intricate world of fraud through the captivating story of Elliot Castro, a teenage telemarketer turned prolific fraudster. The episode, titled "The Phone Call Phony," offers listeners a blend of true crime insights and comedic banter, staying true to the podcast’s unique style of exploring scams without the grimness typically associated with true crime.
Meet the Guest: Jacquis Neil
Laci introduces Jacquis Neil, a seasoned comedian known for his appearances on shows like NBC's Grand Crew and Dropout TV. Their chemistry is palpable as they exchange humorous remarks, setting the stage for an engaging discussion about fraud and scamming.
Laci Mosley [03:04]: "You might just know him as Damien from NBC's Grand Crew. Y'all already know I'm talking about hilarious deacon of the congregation, Jacquis Neil Jacquees."
The Rise of Elliot Castro
The core of the episode revolves around Elliot Castro, whose journey from a lonely teen telemarketer to an international fraud mastermind is meticulously unpacked by Laci and Jacquis. Born to a Scottish mother and a Chilean father who worked long hours on oil rigs, Elliot's isolation and penchant for reading encyclopedias laid the groundwork for his future endeavors in fraud.
Laci Mosley [17:00]: "Call Elliot. And maybe he wouldn't have took $2.8 million. I think those alternatives he had, he was like, either I make friends, I join a kickball league or something, or I steal $2.8 million."
Early Scams: From Call Centers to Credit Card Fraud
At the tender age of 15, Elliot stumbled upon a credit card on a train—a moment that ignited his fascination with fraud. Despite being caught, this incident only deepened his resolve to exploit others' financial information. By lying about his age, he secured a job at a Glasgow call center, where he devised a method to collect and misuse customer credit card details.
Jacquis Neil [23:09]: "He was listening to Aaliyah. If at first you don't succeed, get yourself up and."
Escalation and International Exploits
Elliot's scams quickly escalated from local call centers to international ventures. He leveraged stolen credit card information to indulge in lavish purchases, including luxury hotels, yachts, and high-end brands. His audacious methods included impersonating bank officials and even doctors to gain unauthorized access to funds.
Laci Mosley [36:24]: "Elliot traveled to London on his first fraud vacation. Good fraudcation."
Capture and Repeated Offenses
Despite multiple arrests and short stints in prison, Elliot's ingenuity allowed him to evade long-term consequences. His attempts to reform were superficial, as he continued his fraudulent activities post-release, ultimately leading to his final apprehension in Toronto. The hosts highlight the systemic failures that enabled his prolonged spree, emphasizing the negligence of various institutions in preventing his repeated offenses.
Laci Mosley [47:01]: "He got caught for being a weirdo when you bought a train ticket with a doctor's card."
Redemption Arc?
In a surprising twist, Elliot Castro now positions himself as a fraud prevention consultant, leveraging his notorious past to educate others. However, Laci and Jacquis express skepticism about his genuine transformation, suggesting that his journey might not be as redemptive as advertised.
Laci Mosley [72:57]: "He has over 3,000 followers on his Instagram. And let's listen to Elliot sum up his time as a teenage fraudster."
Insights and Reflections
Throughout the episode, Laci and Jacquis interweave their comedic insights with serious reflections on fraud prevention. They critique the lax security measures of the 90s, the challenges of making friends without resorting to unethical means, and the broader implications of systemic negligence in financial institutions.
Jacquis Neil [73:03]: "I think his mom never saw him again after 15."
Conclusion
"The Phone Call Phony" serves as a compelling exploration of Elliot Castro's life, blending humor with critical analysis of fraud practices. The episode underscores the complexities of scamming—from personal motivations rooted in loneliness to the persistent flaws in fraud detection systems. Laci and Jacquis leave listeners with a nuanced understanding of fraudsters' psyche and the importance of vigilance in financial dealings.
Laci Mosley [81:14]: "And if you do, you know, just keep his perseverance. Like, whatever you're doing in your life, that's not crime. You take that level of perseverance that Castro had every time he got out of jail and you keep. You pick yourself up and you crime."
Notable Quotes
Final Thoughts
This episode of Scam Goddess not only narrates the tale of a cunning scam artist but also sheds light on the human elements that drive individuals toward deceitful paths. With Laci Mosley and Jacquis Neil's engaging storytelling, listeners are both entertained and educated on the intricate dance between fraudsters and the systems they exploit.
Stay tuned for more episodes every Tuesday, and catch classic episodes re-released every Friday. Don’t miss the premiere of the Scam Goddess TV show on Freeform and Hulu starting January 15th!