Massive VTuber scam just got exposed, dude deletes EVERYTHING 

pin, perhaps?

That is an incredible amount of potential fraud, hope they get the book thrown at them. If Paypal is your only hope of getting your money back without legal action, then you're in a really bad spot.

I really appreciate you covering this Hero Hei. This guy needs to face his consequences

I heard about this before from the purple V-tuber man reporting about this on his V-tuber News segments and man. This guys wallet is going to be empty once everyone he scammed gangs up on him, which he deserves.

My favorite part of this is that James' profile pic on his deleted account looks like the main character of YIIK, who was a complete asshole as well.

Kinda a shame that having him sued would cost more money than could be recouped, because this dude deserves to be made bankrupt and have a criminal record for fraud. I guess if someone can find out where he operates out of, they could potentially forward a folder with evidence of the fraud to the local prosecutor and see if they can't at least have him charged with the criminal aspect of it.

Where's the money, Lebowski!?

I've never seen Bao in this state before, its hard to listen. Losing such a large amount of money hits hard. I hope she gets the justice she deserves, this meant a lot for her.

I'm no lawman, but isn't this like... fraud? Like prison-time fraud? I imagine Bao and co haven't yet pressed charges cause they're still hoping it won't have to go that far (or the cost of going to court may be worse than the money lost) but damn, this guy should be in prison

Bro got caught and is now trying to dip. The amount of money he took from Bao and Saruei alone is absolutely ridiculous, let alone how much money he may have scammed from all those other creators. Not to mention the unprofessional takes he made towards Merryweather and his team. All I know for certain is if this guy is ever found, he is going to be facing down the barrel of at least a few lawsuits, key words here "at least"

Can’t believe someone with such reputable backing could actually be some kind of scammer. That’s terrible.

Seeing Bao like this truly hurts. And to find out this isn't the first time this scumbag did this, yeah, there's no way there ISN'T a big ass lawsuit coming over the horizon.

I saw the whole Bao situation on Twitter and Merry made a statement saying the studio was filled with bad people and was really shady and bad overall. Lots of people considered to Bao and her manager legal action as well. Stay safe Bao and I hope you win all of your money back. Every. Last. Penny. Was earned by you and it’s rightfully yours!

Let this be a lesson to everyone: put everything down in writing and don't just blindly trust your business with anyone. You never know what anyone is capable of until situations like this happen.

This is why you MUST go public if you feel fraud is happening, because if you don't the one scamming you will just f off and disappear with your money. They should've gotten in contact with lawyers and the courts the second the problems started, dude was clearly scamming from the start and probably does live in a country were he will face little to no punishment. And he also doesn't care, he just made thousands off other people's work. He could care less, he'll probably try again under a new face and name when the heat dies down

Nothing screams "I did nothing wrong" more than deleting your whole twitter account, yup clearly nothing wrong going on here.

Things like this is why people should speak up. They choose to be quiet and handle things privately, meanwhile leaving orher people to fall victim to the same thing.

There's gotta be some sort of lawsuit action made against this person, we can't just simply let this person get away with this! And especially doing something like this to bao, who is so sweet and kind and works her ass off to do things for herself and her community, is just disgusting.

that guy is in a deep fryer of trouble and will be lucky if he avoids a jail cell.

Are you kidding? He may have deleted everything, but the vtuber community is rabid when it comes to their idols. Give it like 3 days and this guy will be found and be held accountable.

Kudos to Saruei for paying the animators from her own pocket even when James took her money.

My heart goes out to Bao and the others caught up in this scam, but my mind tells me to be cold and nab these scammers out for not only robbing Bao, they are burning the bridges in the hopes they think they’ll get away. Not in this hot pursuit they will not, those white collars are too dirty to be noticed.

I know it's not the major story but the fact that selen is not allowed to hire a secretary but ALSO isn't getting that kind of support from management really shows just how scummy the management in niji is. if they were there to support the talents they'd try to remind her of that, but clearly they don't care to support the talents, they're just there to ensure they follow restrictions and regulations.

Never EVER under any circumstances pay the full amount in advance. Doesn't matter how many people tell you the person is an upstanding guy, doesn't matter how reliable the company may seem, doesn't matter who is supposedly backing the project. If a person/company refuses to sign a contract and allow you to pay only a portion up front with the remainder on completion, walk away and find another company to work with. Especially when talking about projects costing in the tens of thousands of dollars. On top of that, if the person you are working with keeps asking for more money throughout the course of the project: Refuse additional funds and if they say they can't complete the project demand a full refund and terminate the project. Make sure you do this soon enough to demand a full chargeback from paypal or whichever payment provider you used if they either refuse a refund or try to use delaying tactics. It is on the customer to protect themselves from these kinds of scams. Know your options. Make sure any contract you sign guarantees a full refund if services cannot be rendered in time and on budget, and make sure the payment provider you use has a chargeback option that will get you your money back.

5:28 Sounds like his studio was going under, and he panicked. Like he asked people to pay upfront to try and keep the studio afloat, but then messed up and used the money for business expenses instead of paying animators, so they all left and he couldn't finish any jobs... At least, that's what I'd hope happened, because that would mean there's a chance of people getting their refunds.

literal breaking news as it happens. Good Job, Hei. :)

I'm happy everyone's at least working with lawyers to try to sort this out and get their money back, I'm assuming it shouldn't be too hard if it goes to court since they have proof about the work and money, and if they can find him there's shouldn't be a problem legally.

There is a scammer born every minute within the Vtuber sphere.

Not delivering on what you are legally required to provide is a punishable offence. When you take another's money to deliver a product you are opening yourself up to prison-time for not A) providing the product advertised, or B) refund all money given to you for it. Taking the money and running is theft. This person should not just be sued; they should be arrested and left to rot in prison.

Should’ve talked to eddy before hand so the scam would’ve succeeded

Better get the popcorn out since this whole drama is a big one

Where's the money Lebowski

That Geega person said "no one signed a contract with him". Just how are you giving 5 digit numbers of dollars to someone without a contract and knowing all his contact details?

This kind a crap happens all the time with small businesses. The business starts to fail or personal issues comes up and stops working, they still accepts customers in bad faith to create some form of financial parachute and then skips town.

Im glad someone finnaly spoke up. This idea of staying quiet only hurts the community, and its not like the authorities can do anything about it since they're probably in a different country.

That kind of person working with so many people is going to leave a lot of breadcrumbs behind and boy, he sounds like he made a lot of enemies especially with his former coworkers. I'll give it a few days.

How about we track the scammer? Mutahar style. Follow where the money went. Most likely he's going to liquidate the asset into [ *Oopsie, Can't show this. Because that would just give him ideas* ]

Always funny when people delete twitter accounts to avoid consequences or hide information, because they clearly don't understand that the Wayback Machine exists to prove the account existed and show some of their posting history.

When something is too good to be true, _do not_ eat the bait. Better be safe than sorry. Though, I understand what it feels like to be scammed. I wouldn't elaborate any further because it's personal story

When people like that do this kind of stuff for months they don't feel any regret at all. Why would they do it in the first place when they felt bad about it.

I feel like this should be a quick process. They have his original hired work place, evidences of his scam, and lots of allegations. If twitter doesnt get this down as fast as they’re hungry to cancel someone then idk wtf 😂

As much as im rooting for the folks affected to get justice, its gonna be quite the uphill battle getting their money back. No contracts signed (b r u h), the guy was probably originally legit since he had an actual team (will be harder to argue in court it was malicious vs negligence type stuff), and transactions being done through paypal as your only sort of protection is pretty rough. at least the dude is prolly fucked if he ever shows his face in public/online. Maybe the vtubers can get Tonari in on it since he was falsely using their name/work as his own.

“… I don’t know how he’ll feel good about himself.” You clearly aren’t familiar with scammers. They legit don’t care.

Happy memorial day Hei sama! 🇺🇸

Isn't that illegal? Like, "call the Feds" kind of illegal?

I hope this guy gets caught and put in prison. Vtuber’s have to go through so much already then they can’t even catch a break by some person scamming them.

Complete s0y b0y scamming people? Wow I'm shocked.

Name and shame. Suits to follow. 🎩 🐍 no step on Snek! 🇺🇸🇭🇰

Please sir may I have a pin?

oh my god

Bao is one of my favorite VTubers, seeing her go through this is so heartbreaking. I really hope she can recover from this and know her community has her back. That scumbag needs to be brought to justice!

And twitter Freak surely worship the scammer

I guess James wick is going to have to BAO down to the law… Heh

DUDE... Archive that webpage INSTANTLY. The fact you got a snap shot of it before it was deleted, THAT IS EVIDENCE.

DAMN THAT'S CRAZY

Happy Memorial Day! I hope she gets justice.

This guy... james... is gonna get stabbed... that is the real danger of vtuber fanbases... the anonimity...

one penny over $30k and it becomes a federal commerce crime with 10+ years of prison... ask Elizabeth Holmes how I know.

Welp... If the sucka ever ends up in Jersey we'll handle this. (Pulls out baseball bat) Play BALL!!

Few rules in business: Rule number 1 in business: know who you are dealing with and their history (even weeks worth of background checks if you have to). Rule 2 in business: if they are asking full cash upfront then chances of them scamming you are drastically higher then you may think and you honestly should rather take your chances somewhere else. Rule 3 in business: if you’re able to get a ID of them in anyway you can that is legal so even if they try to disappear with your money then you have a bit of leverage for them to return your money or you will publicly show them the face of the person scamming and what they been doing. (I admit this rule is pretty dramatic for some people understandably but this is what I would do if I want giving away huge amounts of money). 4 rule in business: in online business always have text receipts and have a record of your interactions (especially on the phone and places where they can delete their message at any time) so when it’s time to be in court their is little to no breathing room for them to bs their way out of it and watch their defence crumble to pieces and don’t let them gaslight you ether when your asking for your money back. Things like “oh but I got a family mwamwamwa” or “please I need the money, I’ll pay you back later” do not fall for that crap if they making excuses to keep your money. They brought it on themselves and those around them and they have to deal with the consequences for their actions. That’s my personal rules of business engagement because I got scammed once and it was not fun. Never again

When this much money is concerned don’t they think to sign binding contracts? I never pay any large sums of money with any sort of legally binding receipt or contract. Sure, i’ve never really trusted others, but a contract seems basic when money is concerned. I’m not saying the douchebag doesn’t deserve to be sued into oblivion, but without binding contracts and receipts i’m pretty sure there isn’t much point in a lawsuit right (i’m not a lawyer)?

Please pin. I am british 🇬🇧

Paying for animations that were never fully delivered reminds me of the Misty Chronexia scandal from a few years back if anyone remembers that.

4chan & Reddit investigators, its your time to shine.. FIND THIS FOOL!

Sounds like there was a reason he was fired though, man was obsessed with dollar bills, probably gonna run out soon when no one else wants to hire him for his abysmal reputation from now on

I'd hate to see the vtubers there that are getting scammed. Hannah was lucky, though. But still, James is a huge bastard. Justice need to be upon that guy.

3:06 Violating an NDA?! Now they’re not just on the hook B2B, cuz that’s a legal contract they just broke, that’s grounds for a lawsuit.

Scammers and swindlers have zero ethics and morals, he will never lose any sleep over any of this. I can bet you this isn't the first time he's done stuff like this and made out like a bandit. People like this make a career out of it; roll in, get imbedded in a company or project, overpromise and pull resources, and then bail. It's unfortunate a lot of them got hit with this. Never pay money up front for anything.

If someone with his credentials pulls something like this how are clients going to trust or feel comfortable with smaller artists and animators. Its not the end of the world but he has done some severe damage to peoples trust and finances. Its a Shame.

Twitch streamers try not to get scam challenge : Impossible. Poor twitch streamers are too trusting, they cant ever catch a break lol

I dont want to sound like an asshole here but it looks like there were alot of redflags, notable of them being a lack of nda's. That alone is a huge redflag for professionalism let alone the marketing issues with taking someone else products to use in promotional material. So if you land into something like this you had to have not looked into the business practice or done more due dillegence regaurding the matter. Hope they can fix this eh.

Dude best cut his losses and give the money back asap because there's blood in the water and with such an open and shut case the lawyers will tear him apart.

Hahah in our place someone got raided this week for fraud he rode and hide in other city got caught and i just read that if your guilty of fraud you get permanent cell for free😂

Man this sucks i know commissions are hard work but these people paid and should get what their paid for wtf any and all should no matter who you are. I hope a freelance website that can stop any to all con artist from scamming those just seeking a piece of work to be scammed! hope this person and or group is brought to justice!

James Wick seems like a real jerk.

Never ever trust a promise in business, always get a contract.

This is what I'm terrified about should I start a channel and if i would get a sponsor or anything like this, just to get scammed out of the money I was promised. It also is the reason why I would be worried about partnering up with a company.

I’m guessing that 4chan is already working on tracking this guy down.

thank you for sharing this with people, i REALLY hope bao gets her justice soon

It should be a fairly simple process to take him to court over breach of contract. They did have physical contracts written up in the presence of their lawyers, yes?

Pin

This is why you never treat anyone you don't know as trustworthy. "Recommended by a friend" means nothing. Hold your money like its your life, or one button press is all it takes to lose a ton of it.

This is a lawsuit and if not, then it should happen, who in the right mind watch someone breakdown on stream after being scammed and not do anything like refund the right amount but chose to sit there and watch those who paid him breakdown, what a scumbag and deserves to be sued, this what these people should do then let it all out on social media tbh

Full name, studio and previous employer? Yeah, people are gonna find this guy fs.

I would never scam a vtuber, Their fans would hunt me to the ends of the world.

Pin

Might aswell call this VTubergate?

Apin if cool

Hunt him down and "persuade" his knees

This is the only time doxxing and witch hunting should be allowed for a scum like that. Honestly we should get together and find this PoS and force to payback everything.

Pin

IMO it feels like mismanagement to the highest degree, wanting to overpromise and only realizing too late how expensive it was to make animation and pay animators, but figured if he kept taking money from more project at some point he'd be able to deliver one and use the kickbacks for the next projects. It's popular in the business world to use other's money to finance your own projects and success, and never yours. Maybe at some point he realized he could make all of this money from these victims if he did a total rugpull, got as many projects as possible, and dipped out. Geega's pretty cutt-throat and honest when it comes to business and content, not surprised she'd be going in with an escape strategy.

Man.... I know what it's like to get tricked. I hope this gets fixed.

Pin if cool

Geega is never gonna financially recover from this disaster.

The guy looking like Alex from YIIK kinda screamed red flags at me.

Pin me brother

There’s a saying in my church. If God told you once to stop, he shouts your sins from the roof the second time. While not many believe in Karma or divine retribution, I’ve seen patterns like this all the time; when the criminal who commits heinous crimes think they get away after getting revealed. To summarize, they don’t.

Is it common for people in 1st world countries to do business without a contract? Just curiosity.

i will not get pinned so im just doing this cause its funny