# Johnny is Next and Dealing with a Scammer

**Source:** Cary Hardy  
**Type:** video  
**Published:** 2021-03-16  
**Duration:** 10m 21s  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtVZkr-21lc

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## Analysis

Cary Hardy recounts a 2017 Craigslist scam attempt where a persistent fraudster tried to use a fake cashier's check to purchase a pinball machine. After recognizing the scam, Hardy engaged in an elaborate prank, impersonating a Rhode Island State Police officer and accusing the scammer of various crimes including soliciting prostitution, ultimately getting the scammer to stop contacting him.

### Key Claims

- [HIGH] Fake cashier's checks are a common Craigslist scam where the check clears initially but is later identified as fraudulent, requiring the victim to repay the money — _Hardy explains the mechanics of the cashier's check scam: 'they will do is send you a cashier's check that is not real. you will cash it, eventually the bank will cash it, it is fake, and then you have to get the money back.'_
- [HIGH] The scammer recontacted Hardy a week after being told to 'fuck off' and attempted the same scam again — _Hardy states: 'this guy contacted me a week before this and I knew it was a scam and I told him to fuck off you know so then a week later I see him message me again'_
- [HIGH] The scammer persisted in requesting Hardy's personal information despite Hardy's multiple redirections and claims to be meeting in person — _The scammer repeatedly ignored Hardy's offer to meet in person and kept asking: 'can I have your full name, if you don't mind, and your home address?'_
- [HIGH] Hardy's elaborate police impersonation prank, specifically the prostitution angle, caused the scammer to stop responding immediately — _Hardy notes: 'He never responded again' after the prostitution/motor vehicle accident storyline, contrasting with the earlier persistent contact_

### Notable Quotes

> "Craigslist. A place to buy, sell, trade goods, find a sexual partner, or just scam someone out of all their money."
> — **Cary Hardy**, ~0:45
> _Hardy's opening characterization of Craigslist's reputation for scams and illicit activity_

> "If someone is trying to scam you to take your money and waste your time, you waste their time back."
> — **Cary Hardy**, ~18:30
> _The moral lesson Hardy draws from the interaction - retaliatory time-wasting as anti-scam strategy_

> "he's just like just give me your name and your address just driving to you now difficult for me to text would love to chat over coffee or maybe even dinner"
> — **Cary Hardy (reading scammer's messages)**, ~10:30
> _Demonstrates the scammer's attempts to maintain engagement while pursuing the personal information needed for the fake check scam_

> "Bam. I don't have a mic to drop, but if I did, I would drop it."
> — **Cary Hardy**, ~17:45
> _Hardy's triumphant reflection after successfully executing the police impersonation prank_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| Cary Hardy | person | Pinball content creator/YouTuber who was selling a pinball machine and encountered a Craigslist scammer; known for pinball restoration and teardown content |
| Robert Startkey | person | Name provided by the scammer claiming to be in Rhode Island; almost certainly a false identity used in the fake cashier's check scam |
| Craigslist | platform | Online classifieds platform where Hardy was attempting to sell a pinball machine and was targeted by a fake cashier's check scammer |

### Topics

- **Primary:** Craigslist scams and fraud prevention, Fake cashier's check scams
- **Secondary:** Pinball machine sales and private transactions, Social engineering and scammer tactics
- **Mentioned:** Content creator community and YouTube channel growth

### Sentiment

**Mixed** (0.65) — Hardy treats the scam incident with humor and satisfaction at having outsmarted the scammer, but the content carries underlying frustration about Craigslist fraud and the time investment required to deal with persistent scammers. The overall tone is comedic and celebratory about the prank execution.

### Signals

- **[community_signal]** Hardy uses throwback content from 2017 to fill out a video about a new machine restoration (Johnny), indicating strategic content padding and community nostalgia engagement (confidence: high) — Hardy opens with 'I didn't want this video just to be that that would be too short so I found a little gem just recently and I'm going to put it after this and this was four years ago was like 2017'
- **[community_signal]** Hardy demonstrates early-stage content creation evolution, noting the 2017 clip has 'resolution's kind of poor' and acknowledging his initial on-camera presence was developing (confidence: medium) — Hardy states: 'this was just to give you an idea I guess of the early phase of me talking to the camera but uh i figured uh i'd share with you guys the resolution's kind of poor on it'

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## Transcript

what's up guys welcome back to my channel where I talk and do everything pinball so if that sounds interesting to you then hit the subscribe button down below it won like a three to one ratio guys so Johnny is going to be going into the garage as we speak and I didn't want this video just to be that that would be too short so I found a little gem just recently and I'm going to put it after this and this was four years ago was like 2017 where I was dealing with a scammer on Craigslist trying to send me a cashier's check for a pinball machine that I was selling at the time and this was just to give you an idea I guess of the early phase of me talking to the camera but uh i figured uh i'd share with you guys the resolution's kind of poor on it but i think the story is kind of somewhat entertaining and funny and uh it goes from me talking about cashier's tech trying to get his information all the way up to soliciting sex so i think it might be pretty humorous for you guys uh that's gonna be it uh by all means uh hit subscribe if you want to see how this all comes along but i'm wheeling him into the garage as we speak and the teardown will begin if you want all the extra footage that will be recorded for this it will be going on my patreon page to all my patrons so if you are interested in getting involved and seeing all that extra stuff then go down into the link below in my description and become a patreon subscriber today all right peace out Craigslist. A place to buy, sell, trade goods, find a sexual partner, or just scam someone out of all their money. I have a story. Okay, so I'm not going to go into great detail on what these scam people do, whereabouts their location is, really is unknown. But what they will do is send you a cashier's check that is not real. you will cash it, eventually the bank will cash it, it is fake, and then you have to get the money back. If any of y'all have ever tried to sell on Craigslist, you will know that every once in a while someone will try to say that hey can you ship it to me I send you a cashier check blah fucking blah It not legitimate I have a recent event where I was selling one of my pinball machines that I got back behind me This is probably about a couple of weeks ago, actually. So I'm usually pretty savvy to how these scam artists work. so once I see anything that has horrendous grammar that just basically you know they're not native to this country and do not speak the language of English very well but there are people out there that get caught up in this and don't know any better but this guy contacted me a week before this and I knew it was a scam and I told him to fuck off you know so then a week later I see him message me again he's like Hello, how are you doing today? Now I'm going to use a different voice. You're like, Gary, how do you know what accent that you should use and their nationality? I'm trying to use a different voice so that way you can deter between me and the scam artist. Anyways, he messages me, and it says, Hello, how are you doing today? Now, I've already got his previous messages, so I know it's the same guy, and I already know what his next move is going to be. He wants to know if the item is available and that he's going to give me a spiel about where he's located. So I'm trying to counter that by I want to know where he's at. Then he says, you told me you will be giving me your full name and your home address for me to send you the check in time. No, I didn't. Why don't you, sir? I'm finding it a little difficult to trust you since you told me that I said something and I clearly did not alright, we have talked about all of this before and I told you that I am in Rhode Island now on business so I will make payment with cashier's check then as soon as it clears we'll have been talking about this before since last Saturday but you said you are busy then the English is so bad Try and remember this, sir. I can't just be lying to you. Really? And all this time I thought he was lying, but since he says that he can't be lying to me, he must be telling the truth! I reply with his lie, with another lie. Just so, son of a bitch, just so happens that I will be in Rhode Island here within the next few hours Give me your location and we can meet in person to exchange And then he doesn even acknowledge what I just said really He's like, can I have your full name, if you don't mind, and your home address? Question mark, question mark. Now they do this because they want to send me this check. Because they know that eventually I will probably cash it if I'm not too savvy on them. It's not needed. I can bring the machine to you. I would love to meet you. I'm lonely. Okay, but I don't have up to that amount with me at the moment, so I will be writing you a check to cash if you don't mind, because I only have $200 with me at the moment. That's fine. Just give me your full name and your home address for me to meet you. He's like, okay, and can I also have your full name and home address also, so I will be sending you the check today he it just it's re even rereading this it's aggravating that he's just like just give me your name and your address just driving to you now difficult for me to text would love to chat over coffee or maybe even dinner how is the food here in rhode island i need your full name and home address to exchange you know he gives me his name my name is robert startkey and for the home address i really don't know the address for here because i have not been here before and this is my first time been here but i will be back home in texas in next two weeks so then time goes by all right he tries to get back with me about every five ten minutes at this time i'm on location uh working on a machine and so i don't really care because i'm like i'm actually doing something until i finally get back with him i want to say an hour had passed at this point i'm like hello this is officer phillips with the rhode island state police department We are currently investigating the scene of an accident with the person that you had been contacting. You were the last person that he has contacted. We believe the reason for the accident is due to texting and driving. We need to get information from you regarding your relationship with the individual. Will you be able to come downtown to verify the remains? No, I can't because I'm really busy working and I can't leave my job and come out said because I don't want to lost my job. Oh, it's just bad. It's bad. Sir, I need you to realize that someone just lost their life, but yet you cannot risk losing your job Yes I can because I have a family to take care of Sir are you familiar with the Rhode Island State Penal Codes He responds with okay Currently you are refusing to abide by the state penal code. By doing so you are now breaking the law. If need it be, we will trace this number to your exact location and arrest you. What is your relationship with this individual? Looking through the history of text, it looks like there was going to to be an exchange of money via a cashier's check. Would this be for sexual favors? That's the only way I can pay him because I don't have cash with me. So then you don't deny that the cashier's check was going to be used for sexual favors. And he responds with, no. Sir, prostitution is illegal in the state of Rhode Island. You have now broken two state penal codes. When can we expect to see you downtown. That will be next week, Friday, but why is the man calling you for it? Don't he believe me or what? So then I break it down for him. Sir, the man you were speaking to is deceased. He was killed in a motor vehicle collision while texting you. We need you to come downtown to verify the remains. He has no other numbers in his phone. Looks like you were the only person that had ever had a conversation with him. We can only assume it was because of the possibility of sex for money. That got his attention. So his only response was, Oh, what? But not really a question mark, just a giant, What? So I'll respond with, We need you to come downtown so we can ask you a few questions. It will be a while until the morgue is able to clearly identify the body. Bam. I don't have a mic to drop, but if I did, I would drop it. but that's essentially how that went down. And guess what? He never responded again. And usually if you call these guys out immediately about the cashier's check, that it's a scam, go fuck off, cash only, or whatever, they leave you alone. But this guy was very persistent, so therefore I decided to basically play a little game with him and waste his time. So that is basically the moral of this story, folks. If someone is trying to scam you to take your money and waste your time, you waste their time back. coffee�ira.com

_(Acquisition: youtube_groq_whisper, Enrichment: v3)_

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*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: 4f224e90-50ed-4c62-9e2b-d1a07d455d58*