Scamula
3rd April 2007, 01:42 AM
Crime does indeed pay. The only people who say that it doesn?t are stupid criminals who were caught and middle school DARE officers trying to discourage kids from a life of crime. But crimes does pay or else people wouldn?t continue to do it.
There are basically two types of crime for profit....violent crimes such as bank robbery and muggings and fraud such as check kiting. To be honest with you, they both carry their risks. If you try a bank robbery and you fail, your head could get blown off or you could end up in jail for a very long time. You could also be forced to kill someone such as an annoying old security guard. Murder is not a good thing morally and legally it is even worse. When you take a life, everything changes and the penalties automatically go up. What would?ve been a simple failed theft gets turned into a major case. The smartest crooks are those who live by their wits. These crooks are called white collar criminals and they specialize in fraud. Fraud is a crime of brains not brawn.
The law is almost always one step behind the clever fraud artist. That?s because victims of your fraud; be they individuals or companies don?t illicit the same sympathy response as victims of violent crimes. If you shoot a man in the chest and rob him of his wallet and jewelry, the entire community will come together in support of this man. The newscasters will be outside of his hospital drumming up sympathy for his ass on the 6 o?clock news. And the cops will be using every ounce of their manpower to find you because you?re *violent* and could?ve just as easily killed the man (or anyone) as you did wound him. And when they do find you, there?s no slinging that bullshit. They will throw the book at you. You are a danger to society in their eyes.
But let?s just say that you conned the man by doing ?The Spanish Prisoner? hustle on him. In the case of fraud, the legal system views your victim as a victim of his own stupidity as well as your deceit. This is true whether you screw over an individual or a company with your fraud. They will feel that the man is an adult and he should?ve done his homework before giving you the money or he should?ve consulted the Better Business Bureau or he shouldn?t have been so greedy or maybe he wouldn?t have been so susceptible to your games. If the victim of your hustle is a company, judges and juries will have even less sympathy. They?ll feel that a company has more money, clout and legal counsel than a mere individual. They'll feel that the company should've looked harder at the ID you presented or checked out more carefully the *money order* you presented. It is hard to feel sympathy for a big wealthy sophisticated jewelry store that gets hustled out of a gold ring and necklace by a couple of college kids. The give-a-damn factor is just not as high for victims of fraud. And the police and legal system are so slow for any type of crime other than violent crime that it?s easy to pack up your tent, clean up the evidence and move on to the next scheme by the time those donut munchers finally decide to do anything.
Knowing this, you now know how to order your priorities. None of us asked to be here so as long as you?re not killing or hurting people to survive in this harsh world, it?s every person for herself in my book. Don?t go doing something stupid like those 18 and 19 year old girls did recently and hold up a bank. The amount that you stand to get is no match for the risk that you put yourself in. People take violent crimes seriously. But the clever fraud artist can stay one step ahead of the law and live by her wits for years?if she plays her cards right.
There are basically two types of crime for profit....violent crimes such as bank robbery and muggings and fraud such as check kiting. To be honest with you, they both carry their risks. If you try a bank robbery and you fail, your head could get blown off or you could end up in jail for a very long time. You could also be forced to kill someone such as an annoying old security guard. Murder is not a good thing morally and legally it is even worse. When you take a life, everything changes and the penalties automatically go up. What would?ve been a simple failed theft gets turned into a major case. The smartest crooks are those who live by their wits. These crooks are called white collar criminals and they specialize in fraud. Fraud is a crime of brains not brawn.
The law is almost always one step behind the clever fraud artist. That?s because victims of your fraud; be they individuals or companies don?t illicit the same sympathy response as victims of violent crimes. If you shoot a man in the chest and rob him of his wallet and jewelry, the entire community will come together in support of this man. The newscasters will be outside of his hospital drumming up sympathy for his ass on the 6 o?clock news. And the cops will be using every ounce of their manpower to find you because you?re *violent* and could?ve just as easily killed the man (or anyone) as you did wound him. And when they do find you, there?s no slinging that bullshit. They will throw the book at you. You are a danger to society in their eyes.
But let?s just say that you conned the man by doing ?The Spanish Prisoner? hustle on him. In the case of fraud, the legal system views your victim as a victim of his own stupidity as well as your deceit. This is true whether you screw over an individual or a company with your fraud. They will feel that the man is an adult and he should?ve done his homework before giving you the money or he should?ve consulted the Better Business Bureau or he shouldn?t have been so greedy or maybe he wouldn?t have been so susceptible to your games. If the victim of your hustle is a company, judges and juries will have even less sympathy. They?ll feel that a company has more money, clout and legal counsel than a mere individual. They'll feel that the company should've looked harder at the ID you presented or checked out more carefully the *money order* you presented. It is hard to feel sympathy for a big wealthy sophisticated jewelry store that gets hustled out of a gold ring and necklace by a couple of college kids. The give-a-damn factor is just not as high for victims of fraud. And the police and legal system are so slow for any type of crime other than violent crime that it?s easy to pack up your tent, clean up the evidence and move on to the next scheme by the time those donut munchers finally decide to do anything.
Knowing this, you now know how to order your priorities. None of us asked to be here so as long as you?re not killing or hurting people to survive in this harsh world, it?s every person for herself in my book. Don?t go doing something stupid like those 18 and 19 year old girls did recently and hold up a bank. The amount that you stand to get is no match for the risk that you put yourself in. People take violent crimes seriously. But the clever fraud artist can stay one step ahead of the law and live by her wits for years?if she plays her cards right.