I have been ripped off (by Mick Mason of Leicester - Facebook scammer/thief)

[cetera]

This thread needs to be left up at least until he has faced fraud/Police action. Otherwise he will just go back to scamming people. This isn't a one-off unfortunate case of forgetting to refund someone, it is outright fraud...

[dmccombe7]

18 minutes ago, walshy said:

*** UPDATE***

I have received my money in FULL this morning. I will speak to the ADMIN about having the thread removed/frozen.

Thanks All

Great news Walshy but i'd leave this thread running until everyone is refunded.

Dave

[ForbiddenWytch]

The police will require the thread to be left available so don’t bow to Mason’s pressure and remove it. 

[cetera]

19 minutes ago, Steve Browning said:

Question./ Have all the scam's been related to the same Sansamp pedal? 

 

A mate has told me he's been scamming people on guitar pages with other equipment for sale too...

[ForbiddenWytch]

Update: he’s deactivated his Facebook page but his messenger is still active so he’s clearly tried to go in to hiding.

Inb4 anyone says “he’s just blocked you”, no, his messenger is active as I can send messages to him but he’s deactivated his actual Facebook page.

[prowla]

I would like to say that I wish no harm on the fraudster, nor his friends, and most certainly not to his family; further, I would say that I don't believe that anybody on this site genuinely does either, either in posts on the thread, nor in private messages. However, I was genuinely fearful that he would come to my house and attempt a confrontation and my local police advised me to call 999 if he did turn up.

I do however want him to be brought to account for his deeds, according to the law of the land, and also to warn other potential victims of the risks in dealing with this particular fraudster and others of that ilk.

As far as outcomes go, I  have learned a lesson and for one, will never pay for an item via unsecured means again (ie. bank transfer, PayPal Gift/F&F), and will also research buyers details before proceeding with a purchase.

[Kev]

I am sure no one means him any true harm, I’m sure everyone just wants to make sure that as many people as possible know what he has done, and help those who he has taken money from, which is a number sadly increasing all the time it seems.

Try not to be personal, folks, the facts are damning enough 👍🏻  

[Dood]

For future reference, The Musician’s Union has a pro-active legal department who invite communications regarding the behaviour of musicians and acts. 

https://musiciansunion.org.uk/contact

 

[dave_bass5]

3 minutes ago, prowla said:

Yes, I get you; I think the idea of a suspended sentence for fraud is to suggest that continuing to commit fraud is a bit of a bad idea.

Which might not actually stop him though.  I get the impression its common knowledge that he is doing it amongst  his mates, who don’t seem to care. 

Edited December 24, 2020 by dave_bass5

[prowla]

1 minute ago, dave_bass5 said:

Which might not actually stop him though. 

You can lead a horse to water, and all that...

[dmccombe7]

32 minutes ago, Bunion said:

 

I think it’s best not to lump other people in with his failings. 
Often what people are doing or did aren’t privy to even friends and neighbours.

Let’s not go into a witch hunt on everyone associated with him. 

I'm repeating what was mentioned by other people on this thread who had contacted his bandmates on FB.

I suggest you read the full thread as his bandmate made a comment on FB that he had been doing this for years.

Its not a witch hunt to state my own personal views that i wouldn't accept people i know behaving like that.

 

Edited December 24, 2020 by dmccombe7

[Kev]

1 hour ago, spencer.b said:

I'm pleased you've got your money back but why try and get the thread removed ? If it's Mick that asked you why would you talk to the mods, taking the thread down will help him start stealing from people again

Don’t worry, provided that no one takes things too far with their comments, this thread isn’t going anywhere.

Edited December 24, 2020 by Kev

[Chris2112]

What I would note, and I say this having had experience dealing with matters involving fraud, this thread contains useful evidence that would help a court to understand the breadth of the alleged fraud, the chronology of the events that led to them coming to light and the tactics employed by the person against whom the allegations have been made. When you consider the motivations for wanting this thread to be locked or removed, it is reasonable to conclude that the accused might want that done to destroy evidence or to limit the potential for further victims to come to light. 

As an aside, scammers are effective because their victims are usually not connected. The fraudster can operate the same scam with little variation over and over to great effect, so long as the victims never get to know of one another or make contact. Soon, a plausible sounding excuse can be exposed as the simple modus operandi of a fraudster. This is why things like Watchdog have been an enduring success, because they connect victims and allow strong cases to be built. 

 

Edited December 24, 2020 by Chris2112

[prowla]

1 hour ago, bass_dinger said:

Having read this thread, I must say that I have been impressed with the quiet dignity and measured response of Prowla and Walshy, and the passionate support of the forum members.

Thank you very much for your generous comments; I have to say I am humbled by the support of the members here and, of course, the site admins who have behaved quite admirably in this matter.

58 minutes ago, Chris2112 said:

What I would note, and I say this having had experience dealing with matters involving fraud, this thread contains useful evidence that would help a court to understand the breadth of the alleged fraud, the chronology of the events that led to them coming to light and the tactics employed by the person against whom the allegations have been made. When you consider the motivations for wanting this thread to be locked or removed, it is reasonable to conclude that the accused might want that done to destroy evidence or to limit the potential for further victims to come to light. 

As an aside, scammers are effective because their victims are usually not connected. The fraudster can operate the same scam with little variation over and over to great effect, so long as the victims never get to know of one another or make contact. Soon, a plausible sounding excuse can be exposed as the simple modus operandi of a fraudster. This is why things like Watchdog have been an enduring success, because they connect victims and allow strong cases to be built. 

 

As you've observed, this concerted effort has enabled a fraudster's victims to gather together, corroborate evidence, determine where the lies are, uncover and expose the fraudster's deceitfulness, conniving and bullying, and to inform on the legal procedures available to deal with it.

We've seen a number of victims have their money refunded and have more coming forward, for whom we can aspire to similar outcomes.

There must now be a number of legal cases building up which will hopefully lead to a satisfactory conclusion for all of the decent people here, including of course the fraudster's victims.

[prowla]

19 minutes ago, spencer.b said:

I'm just irked that Mick successfully imposed conditions on him giving the money back after trying to steal walshy's money and intimidate him

It's all about the control and manipulation, but they don't have a moral code and there is no gentleman's agreement with the fraudster to which the victim is required to subscribe.

The fraudster's only hope is that they can repay everybody they've tried to defraud to mitigate against the upcoming charges of fraud which have been put in motion and are heading their way.

[ForbiddenWytch]

Serious question, had any one else on here been contacted by an account called “Jason Lear” claiming to know Mick/ask for details on anyone who contacted you about him??

If so, Jason Lear isn’t real. It’s Mick Mason... 

he’ll ask you for details on people who’ve contacted you about Mason (I refused to give the names of the genuine people who contacted me) then claims that “Mick doesn’t need to steal, he’s a HUGE promoter, I’m shocked”. He kept asking over and over if I got my money back then blocked me when I wouldn’t give him any details of others.

[prowla]

17 minutes ago, ForbiddenWytch said:

Serious question, had any one else on here been contacted by an account called “Jason Lear” claiming to know Mick/ask for details on anyone who contacted you about him??

If so, Jason Lear isn’t real. It’s Mick Mason... 

he’ll ask you for details on people who’ve contacted you about Mason (I refused to give the names of the genuine people who contacted me) then claims that “Mick doesn’t need to steal, he’s a HUGE promoter, I’m shocked”. He kept asking over and over if I got my money back then blocked me when I wouldn’t give him any details of others.

Yes, I dealt with him; did he mention Graeme/Graham too?

He kept asking me to take down my threads and even suggested I should apologise to Mick. 
He also said that he had seen the proof of posting which then meant that I was in the wrong, but that I couldn’t see it. 
He also suggested I unblock Mick. 
He also “communicated from Mick” that I had 1 hour to take down the threads, which I said was not possible and I had only posted the truth. 
He tripped himself up at the end when he said that the liable case could cost me a lot, £3000, and I said No problem, to which he responded I’ve got more than £100 too. (I’ve??? - oops!).
In the conversation I repeatedly said I would only post truth and so I posted an update saying I’d received my refund and mentioning the proof of postage but noting that it was not proof of delivery. However, when I found we had the same tracking number, I removed that. 
I blocked him too. 
I posted some of the transcripts here. 
He seemed to think that giving me my £100 back was closure, but I said it had gone past being about the money when the insults, bullying, threats, and smears happened. 

Edited December 24, 2020 by prowla

[warwickhunt]

So not only is he scamming people but he's creating profiles/fake IDs to cover his tracks?  

I'd have thought that takes it beyond a doubt that these weren't 'mistakes' but are premeditated fraud.

[Pseudonym]

9 minutes ago, ForbiddenWytch said:

...“Mick doesn’t need to steal, he’s a HUGE promoter, I’m shocked”...

I suppose everyone needs a hobby.

Perhaps it is worth noting at this juncture that "Jason Lear" might be aggravating any offences that might have been committed. Should any of this get to court, that might bode ill for a defendant.

This is becoming very serious indeed. It is well past time to stop playing games with people online, or by any other means, if the purpose of doing so could in any way be construed as intimidation of potential witnesses.

Also, I recall from my days as a snot-nosed legal lackey in Britain that judges and magistrates really dislike people who hurl around nonsense threats about libel, especially when those threats appear to be designed to conceal culpable behaviour. Still, tant pis.

[walshy]

6 hours ago, bass_dinger said:

Having read this thread, I must say that I have been impressed with the quiet dignity and measured response of Prowla and Walshy, and the passionate support of the forum members.

 

 

 

Thanks for that, it does mean a lot. It’s been a pretty awful time, the support from everyone on here, the Admin guys and chatting with @prowla helped loads, that’s why we are a strong community that sticks together.  It was never about the money, I don’t ‘need’ it but it’s the principle of it all, it’s something I was brought up to believe in, what’s right and wrong!

Im not gonna say too much for obvious reasons but a huge thanks to everyone on here ( nice to actually chat with @ped for about 40 mins today) and people on FB who reached out and backed up everything I’d already found out and who are/will be going through the same thing. I would imagine that this is going to run for some time and I’m sure there will be a resolution.
 

Anyone has any questions feel free to PM me, let’s keep this clear for people who are in the same boat. I’m happy to help if I can. Please let it be known I don’t condone any physical harm or threats towards him, his friends or his family, that’s not what we are all about, we are all better than that. 

Please remember this is thread available to one and all on the inter webs 🤘

Happy Xmas all

Edited December 24, 2020 by walshy

[Maude]

15 minutes ago, warwickhunt said:

So not only is he scamming people but he's creating profiles/fake IDs to cover his tracks?  

I'd have thought that takes it beyond a doubt that these weren't 'mistakes' but are premeditated fraud.

On his caravan holiday scam he created false bank statements to 'prove' to customers that he had refunded them. 

I should add that that's according to the media reports, which I've no reason to doubt. 

Edited December 24, 2020 by Maude

[Bassfinger]

Mrs Bassfinger (she has her uses ) says such fake bank statements are a "false instrument", yet another crime on top of any actual fraud.

[hiram.k.hackenbacker]

3 minutes ago, Bassfinger said:

Mrs Bassfinger (she has her uses ) says such fake bank statements are a "false instrument", yet another crime on top of any actual fraud.

Fraud is/was the overriding offence and false instrument on top of that would be construed as two bites at the cherry. She's right, but you probably wouldn't see a court convict on both. Academic now as that has been dealt with.

Edited December 24, 2020 by hiram.k.hackenbacker

[Maude]

The caravan job, was five charges of fraud by false representation, and two of falsifying articles for the purpose of fraud, which his current suspended sentence is for, 22 weeks for each of the fraud charges and 26 weeks for each of the falsifying articles charges, to run concurrently. 

Again according to the media. 

 

[ForbiddenWytch]

1 hour ago, Pseudonym said:

I suppose everyone needs a hobby.

Perhaps it is worth noting at this juncture that "Jason Lear" might be aggravating any offences that might have been committed. Should any of this get to court, that might bode ill for a defendant.

This is becoming very serious indeed. It is well past time to stop playing games with people online, or by any other means, if the purpose of doing so could in any way be construed as intimidation of potential witnesses.

Also, I recall from my days as a snot-nosed legal lackey in Britain that judges and magistrates really dislike people who hurl around nonsense threats about libel, especially when those threats appear to be designed to conceal culpable behaviour. Still, tant pis.

I’m keeping all the conversations in my messenger inbox. Happy to provide access to anyone who needs and wants them.