Who is the con artist we refer to as “He That Shall Go Unnamed” ?
In this blog there have been a couple of us going back and forth about a con artist who makes some outrageous claims about himself and his experience with container construction experience. Today I got an e-mail from a reader asking if it was a certain person. In the words of the US Government, I will answer “I can neither confirm or deny if that is the person”. Actually, the truth gets a bit more complicated. There are a number of people in this business that are con artists. The specifics of who it is are unimportant because there are so many of them.
There is one here in Atlanta that for the longest time showcased the house my company did the structural design of as “his” house. He actually never was inside of it, except for the day he trespassed and took a news crew for a tour. There are a number of blogs out there that make wild claims too, but give absolutely no information about the person writing them.
So, if I confirmed that such and such was “He That Shall Go Unnamed”, how would it help? Would you then go to one of the many other con artists, like Jodie Foster’s father? To go the other way, what if it wasn’t? Would it make you feel better, and that you weren’t being conned? I guess the final question, what made you suspicious enough to send me an e-mail?
All of the scammers I’ve come across in this business have shown the same pattern. Let me list the common characteristics of all of them:?
1. They are very elusive with the specifics of their backgrounds. If you look at my profile, I tell you where I went to school, when I graduated, and a quick run down of my experience. I don’t have my full resume posted since it is a bit too much verbage, but if you contact me, I give specific information about my background. I have 3 years in the US Army, one year in the Army National Guard, 16 years in the Air National Guard, and 7 years in the Air Force Reserves. I have done 4 deployments to the Middle East, one before the War in 1997, the other three afterwards. That’s pretty specific. The scammers generally are non-specific, or their backgrounds sound like something out of a bad spy novel.
2. They make outrageous claims to the numbers of projects they have done. For example, they will say “I’ve built HUNDREDS of shipping container homes. I don’t think there are hundreds of shipping container homes in the USA, unless you count the unpermitted boxes that street people live in, or people that are modern day hermits in the woods. Those don’t count – putting a rug in a rusty box doesn’t make it a shipping container home in my opinion.
3. They will lay claim to projects they had nothing to do with. This one really made me mad at first. The guy here in that claimed to have built the house here in Atlanta was given credit for that house on various blogs, lauded for his “achievements” by a lot of prominent people in this area, and still claims to be on the verge of saving the world through shipping containers. However, there was one hitch that I was told about him. He couldn’t answer specific questions about the construction of the house or how it was designed. Once somebody has lied, they will lie again and again, and can’t be trusted.
4. They have no licenses. I am licensed all over the darn place. I pay a bloody fortune in various fees. It’s inconvenient, but required. Is your container guy a licensed Architect? licensed Engineer? or a licensed contractor? It’s easy to check, all state licensing agencies allow you to verify licenses online. None of the con artists I’ve come across have had even the basic business license.
So, to defend yourself should do your own due diligence. Ask for specific project examples, background, and licensing information. Also, if in doubt, get references. Don’t set yourself up to be conned. Even if I told you the names of the guys I know who are conning people in this business, there are dozens more waiting to take their place. So be careful out there.
George