I don't usually share warnings about sketchy people — they're everywhere. Growing up in a city during the crack-era, I've become conditioned to be not only vigilant, but somewhat numb to the presence of snake-oil salesmen. And having quite a few friends who've slipped into the other side of drug-misuse and addiction; I've seen ugly face-to-face so many times I'm not even triggered anymore.
What makes me share this post today is that one such desperate broken soul has schemed upwards of $5000 (probably way more) from beloved witnesses of our block-chain (and many others.) Witnesses are responsible for the well-being our investment by upholding the technology that runs this Steem experience. How we respond to these matters deeply effects the trust others put in one another and into this platform. And so for this reason, I feel called to step in.
THE REPORT
Name: Ben Schwartz (maybe, who knows)
Known Steemit Accounts:
Know Discord IDs:
slothyy#2322
Panda#3993
psychsherpa#3610
Reports:
https://steemit.com/scam/@neoxian/scam-warning-fatpandadesign-getslothyy-ben-schwartz
https://steemit.com/abuse/@therealwolf/warning-ben-schwartz-is-a-scammer-who-owes-me-2600-sbd
Testimonials:
https://steemit.com/scammer/@drawingly/my-experience-getslothyy-experience-rant-scammer-alert
Who Got Jammed:
What I'm Doing (And What You Can Do)
I know my posts usually only garner between 1-10 dollars but I've made the 3 above the payout beneficiaries of this post. I believe the 
The reason I only chose the above persons to be included and not others is because I'm confident Mark will look out for others, I'm sure of who they each are (witness) at least as far as them being verified witnesses, and I believe what they're saying is true because, well, they have screen-shots.
You can do the SAME.
You can raise awareness about this person's proactive sketchy behavior and also help repay the guys above by making a post and doing the same thing. If you cannot or will not make a post, I would be very thankful if you resteemed this one or up-voted it (it's rare I ask for votes.)
I realize the above witnesses don't need the reward money and that this is insignificant support at best. It's however GESTURAL of solidarity.
More Opinion
You may be wondering why in my beginning paragraph I referred to this man Ben as a desperate broken soul and not a scammy evil douchbag. I'm very careful with those words for a number of reasons. While as Neoxian pointed out in his report, this person does have a strategy to his scheme; to me (and this is subjective) this is everyday bootlegger shit. This is not a diabolical madman sitting in his lofty suite somewhere tapping his fingers like Mr. Burns (see Simpsons cartoons) and plotting devestation. No. I believe he's your everyday run-of-the-mill bottom-feeder.
I don't pity him. If you do some intuitive research on the links provided, look through the commentary, listen to the video and so on you will likely come to the same conclusion.
- He is homeless a.k.a. "travels a lot"
- He is a recovered heroin addict a.k.a. nobody recovers from heroin (you only stop, you're addicted forever.)
- He is a gambling addict a.k.a. addict again a.k.a. addictive personality traits
- His appearance, rooming, etc... unkempt
- People have met him in person, in the past
- He's on multiple occasions appeared to be jonesing, unstable, and strung out
It's my experience and observation that those who are JONESING — that means obsessively fixated on their object of addiction — will say or do anything to get a hit (a temporary relief though satiation and enabling of their addiction.)
People this deep in despair are mentally ill and need professional help (like a psychiatrist.) Do not attempt to help them yourself. They will not, of their own accord, make the choice best for themselves (or others.)
Oh but the trickery! Indeed. Many people in this condition are otherwise functional as long as they're not on a bender. They can seem high on charisma, manic, and like they're flying. I think the guy really tried to do the gaming thing and stuff. I'm not defending his shit choices in the end and I'm not saying he's not dangerous (to your wallet - and mental health — because he is) only sharing that I'm personally of the opinion that he's mentally ill. With that said, do not approach. But beware of giving this guy too much credit. Fear can control you.
Even More Opinion
I've been thinking about doing some posts about red flags of unstable persons. Being here awhile longer, I've come to notice there are many persons in the crypto-space that are great at protecting their wallet keys, but not so great at protecting their heart's keys. I've simply refrained because I'm not a doctor.
I mean no insult in that respect. I'm a mother. I tend to care a little too much sometimes. And I intimately understand as well, because I was once upon a time a HEAVY drinker. I see people like Ben and think, "Man, that could have been me." Slippery slope.
Watching the video of Mariza speaking about how she hopes he does the right thing made my heart break a little, because I'm fairly certain he won't. Maybe I'm wrong, I hope I'm wrong, but I'm fairly sure he not only will continue this scheme but be back with new accounts.
Remain vigilant. Never forget that the world is a Jungle. There are many beautiful sunrises. There are also tarpits. If we watch for tarpits too much, we will miss many sunrises. If we watch sunrises too much, we could step in a tarpit. Live and learn I guess.