Charlie Hartman
Appearances
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
Taking these homeless guys, cleaning them up. We're just getting routing numbers and accounting numbers, going from Vegas all the way up to Reno. The plan was make a bunch of money with Nick, and I was just gonna go disappear. You get the adrenaline rush of more and more and more. I can't be stopped. Cops just surround me. That's a PBL.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
And how old were you? I was like 14. Okay. So now I'm like gathering up all my friends and like we're like plotting and we're like going to like books a million. And we're like doing this like we did this for like a year. Like so I had like a whole organization of like scamming kids, you know, using my friends like to go to bookstores and start scamming people.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
Yes. Yeah, because he used QuickBooks.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
Routing and the count numbers. And what we would do is a lot of times we would find people that we knew that worked normal jobs. Hey, I'll give you $100. Let me take a photocopy of your check.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
now now now we know what it is and they didn't have watermarks like they do now so it's like it's easy you get the logos put it on there next thing you know you print it plus these little gas stations they're not paying attention to detail like paper and certain things are right till they get hit a few times yeah then they start paying attention but by then you've already moved on to the next store and you're doing so i did that for like three years just like i had i
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
good luck, man. I had good luck. My problem was I started doing drugs.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
I started doing pills and then I get sloppy. Right. Cause you get sloppy when you start, when you start getting on pills because you're, you're needing, you know, now you're, you know, I'm getting a, you know, a couple hundred dollar a day pill habit. Then it turns into a bigger habit and then it turns into other drugs. And I was like, so I got to the point where we'd burned our area so bad. Yeah.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
I was like, I have to figure something out to do. And I ended up hooking up with a – I don't know if you remember back in the day the magazine salesman.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
People that would knock on the doors.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
It's the biggest scam of all time.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
They'd say, hey, I'm winning. I'm making money for a trip for school or I'm going to be this and that. And so I ended up hooking up and going with them on a job. And I was like, this is the perfect cover. These people travel to a town for a week or two. Then they travel to another town. They're paying for the hotels.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
So I'm just like literally working part-time for them, traveling with them, and I'm just out doing checks in little stores. Yeah. I'm just like, this is great. I'm not going to get caught because we're not going to be here long enough. Because the check's not going to immediately show back up, right? It takes several days for it to go through, so it's not going to immediately happen.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
So, I mean, by the time it comes back to the store, we're already in another town.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
So, I mean, I have like a year-round doing this. Like, I'm just making money. And I'm like, there's points where days I'm supposed to be out selling magazines door-to-door. I'm just out doing checks, and I come back, and the manager's like, did you sell anything today? I'm like, oh, yeah, I sold two magazines. Here's $90. Right. Like, I just made $1,000. I mean, like, who cared?
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
Well, the problem was my pill habit got too big. And I got to the point where I wasn't doing checks properly. Now I'm knocking doors trying to sell magazines, right? I'm trying to make money. And I'm like going through people's bathrooms like, hey, I'm selling magazines to go to school. And they're like, oh, yeah, come on in. And I come in and be like, hey, can I use your bathroom?
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
And they're like, yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm going through their medicine cabinet. I remember this old lady is like – I remember we were in Illinois and I'm going through this lady's medicine cabinet looking through pills. And I'm like trying to – and I end up taking the pills and putting them in my pocket. And she went right back in the bathroom right afterwards and she's like –
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
Like eventually they were like, how many times are you going to return this book?
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
And I ran out the door, and I'm like, holy shit. She's like chasing after me, and I'm like, oh, my God. I know it's all going to come to an end, right? I mean, eventually, right? So...
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
And I was like, oh, I don't know. Then eventually they started giving us like gift cards. So they were no good at that point. You know what I mean?
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
We come to Florida. Now, that old saying about Florida, right? You come to Florida on vacation, leave on probation, come back on violation. Right. That's me. Like, when you were, I was like, Matt, where do you live? And Tampa's like, fuck. Anywhere but Tampa, God, please. But I was like, all right, you know, it's fine now.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
But I was like, so, you know, so we come down here, and dude, this is right before Christmas. Like, 05, I'm like, dude, I'm so messed up on pills. I end up, like, knocking on this girl's door, and I'm like, hey, I'm selling magazines, let me in. And I walk in, and I go into the bathroom, you know, doing my little thing around, and I look into the bottom cabinet.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly. But yeah, so I was always like trying to always think ahead. Like how can I make money and everything like that and that scheme and scam like that. And basically – I was like 16. My mom came to me and she's like, Hey, look, I'm found a dude. I want to get married. He does not want to be a stepdaddy. I'm going to give you the house.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
She's got freaking just stacks of grass, cash, pills. I'm like, oh, man. I'm like, oh, my phone rang. My boss is waiting for me. I got to go. You know what I mean? She fucking starts screaming and hollering. She's like, you're robbing me. I'm like, oh.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
She knew. She knew. So I'm like, she comes right out, and I push her out of the way, and I just run out the door. And I'm like, as I'm running, keep in mind, I'm like, at this time, I'm over 500 pounds. I'm big now, right? I've lost a lot of weight since then. I'm over 500, right?
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
Okay. By the time I went to prison the first time, I was 610.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
Yes. So just imagine this 500-pound guy just like, wah, wah, wah, wah. Like, I ran so fast, my shoe fell off, right? So, like, they found my shoe, like, and I'm, like, going down the hill. So, I call my manager, and he picks me up, and he's like, what are you doing? I was like, oh, this dog tried to attack me and stuff, and, like, I left my shoe.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
So, he took me to Walmart to get me another pair of shoes. So like I ended up like five hours, I'm going back to work, right? I'm like, all right, nothing happened. You know, no big deal. You know, we're going over to the next town over. I don't think it's in any way. I don't realize this is all the same county. So they got like APBs out of all of us.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
Like people selling magazines, trying to figure out what's going on. Next thing I know,
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
cops just surround me guns on and how they know it was me yeah yeah yeah yeah it wasn't me the other fat guy wasn't me you know so i'm like so i ended up getting so they busted and arrested me and they charged me with burglary they charged me with uh burglary of an occupied dwelling with a battery well in florida that's a pbl
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
But that's... Once you cross a dwelling and someone's asked you to leave or you commit a battery in Florida inside of a dwelling, you're done. Yeah, because, I mean, that's... So then... But here comes the worst part. Now... Checks, they started finding out about checks. They found out because my name was, there were certain times I would use my ID. These checks I'd try cashing.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
And I had some in Putnam County. I had some down here in Hillsboro. And they were just like, oh, what's all these checks and warrants you got everywhere? I'm like, oh. So I knew I was done. So now, I mean, I end up going into Lake County Jail. And I'm sitting there for like three days. You know, I'm just like going through withdrawals, which is the worst thing to do in jail.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
You're going through, you're just like hugging a toilet. You don't want to be around it. You're just like, you feel like crap. Well, I ended up basically... I'm sitting there and I'm almost like, I feel like I'm at death. And I finally start getting my senses back now. And now the next thing I know, I go and this public defender comes and sees me. It was right after Christmas.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
I'm sitting there and she's like, well, I think I might be able to get you 40.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
She's like, no, no. She's like, you've got to punish me about life. She said, we might want to get you, you know, she said, you know, I'm like, there's a burglary inside of a dwelling with a lady. And I was like, there was drugs. Look, this is all you're charged with. I was like, well, you're fired.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
I'm going to give you the car, go to school, do not fuck this up and make sure you just go to school and everything will be fine. So I go for like the first year. Right. Then I find this thing in a, it's like a magazine and, It's how predated this is. It's like 96, 97. Get your high school diploma from home.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
I called home to my mom. I was like, Mom, they're trying to stick me down here. She thought that, okay, this is going to be another little incident, a little slap on the wrist. Another probation. A little probation. I'm not coming home. 40 years is life. That's a long time. And so they were so they went and I started asking around, you know, who's good attorney. He gets me.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
They find me a good attorney there. Right. And he's like, look, he's like, you know, he's like, oh, he's like, just you need to just sit. You need to let them forget about you. Right. And just, you know, work as a trustee, do whatever, hang out, just stay. Stay out of trouble. And gain signatures in there as a trustee. Yeah. And just be good. And I sat for like a year.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
It's either you're going to give them 20 or you're going to give the state 20. One of the two. So I sat, and during this time, like, I make good for the officers because I'm likable. You know what I mean? I'm not in there for fucking murder. You know what I mean? I'm not a child molester. You know what I mean? It's easy. You know what I mean? Do your time. Keep your mouth shut.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
You know, no one bothers you. And I'm in there, and I end up working as a houseman for a couple of housemen. Officers, and Officer Pollack and Officer Brown are there. So if you guys ever Google it, Lake County officers bringing in drugs and contraband. They're bringing in drugs and contraband to us. We're selling it and getting the money back.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
I mean – It's frowned upon at least. It's frowned upon. But then the funniest part is I'm sitting there. I'm supposed to go to court for like two or three months and they just keep getting – I keep getting my attorney to push it back. I'm like – because I'm making money while I'm in jail. I'm like, plus two, I'm getting good time.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
And I'm like, you know, and then they're even writing letters of reference for me too. And I'm like, you know, this is going to be great. I'm going to, you know, oh, yeah, we'll probably get you down to probation or something, you know what I mean? But, well, it ends up coming out basically that comes to me and says, look, the best I can get you is three in and a suspended sentence with 20.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
But you'll be home in, at that point, you'll be home in two years. I'm like, well, fuck, man. I was like, whatever. You know what I mean? I mean, this is the best we're going to get, the best we're going to get. Yeah. I mean, the dams are better than 40.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
So I end up signing it. signing it and going to prison. And I get to prison and it's a whole nother world. We're not in Lake County, Florida anymore. I mean, this, I mean, we're walking around. I mean, I get off the bus and I'm like, holy shit, what have I got myself in? Like, it's starting to really dawn on me. Like, like there's no guarantee you're going home.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
And it was like a correspondence place called International Correspondence School in Scranton, PA. It's like for people that are like kids that are like traveling or, you know. Yeah, I know the GED, yeah. But they can mail it? You can mail it off? Like you could do your classes at home and like over the phone and like take your tests and stuff like that, everything.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
Like, you're in prison here.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
Yeah, so the first time I went to prison in Florida, they sent me to Orlando, to Orlando Reception.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
Two months. So you're in open bay in like the first day that you're there. You're going through like – it's cattle prodding. They're just sending you through and they're just trying to figure out where they're going to send you. And I mean I remember like being in there like – And, like, the officer's walking through, and the guy who was in there was like, Chomo?
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
And he would be like, Chomo and bunk 21. Chomo and bunk 21. And I'm sitting there like, holy shit. Well, I'm taking my coffee break. I'm going to be gone for the next couple hours. Yeah. And you already know what time it is. It's all bad for that dude. It's all bad. And, like, I'm just – and, I mean, I'm – the good thing at that point is I'm a pretty big dude.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
So I'm like, okay, at least I ain't got to worry about – someone's going to, like, jump on top of me here, I don't think. You know what I mean? Right. So, you know, I end up going to my first camp. They sent me to Cross City CI. Yeah. It's like medium, maximum security level camp. And I get there, and I meet my buddy Nick and become dear friends to him to this day.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
And he basically is like showing me the ropes. He's like, hey, man, you just got to hear. I'll get you to working in the kitchen. I was like, man, you'll fit in perfectly with us, man. You know, we run the kitchen. You know, everything will be good. I'm like, all right. I get in the kitchen, and, man, I walk in. It looks like they've got an operation going on.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
Punishable by life.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
They've got sandwiches they're making on the table. They've got food. What is this, for like outside people? Oh, no, this is for us to sell in the compound.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
Like, what are you guys doing? So they're like wrapping up these cheeseburgers. And they start wrapping up all these different little cheeseburgers. And one guy says, hey, come here, big guy. I'm like, what do you mean? He's like, come here. They take the saran wrap and wrap these cheeseburgers around my belly, underneath my belly. My belly is like this big.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
And underneath it, like the little poach right there, I got like 10 cheeseburgers wrapped. And they were like, they're like, just when you go out, the guards are going to pat you down. But you're so big, they're not going to feel that. They're going to let you go. So I'm like, the first day, I'm like carrying like 20 cheeseburgers off the compound.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
And next, that's how I got the name cheeseburger in prison.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
Oh, this guy, this guy, this guy's our meal ticket. You know, he's going to, you know, and so I never get no problems. You know, I'm going to fit in how I get in because I know, look, I'm here for two years. I got to do this two years. I'm going to get out of here.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
And, I mean, during that time, me and Nick had become really tight. What was he in there for? Fraud, forgery. Of course, your kindred spirits. Yeah, kindred spirits. We're just hanging out. He's telling me he goes in Vegas. He's just like, man, this is great. I was like, man, you've got to come hang out. You know how people are in prison. Oh, yeah, when you get out, you know. Yeah.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
So at the age of 16, I started doing this during my summer between the start of high school. and ended up graduating with enough credits before the start of actual high school. And I went and turned the paperwork in, and the school was like, whoa, whoa, whoa, this is supposed to take like three years. What are you talking about? I'm like, no, I'm done. Here's all my certifications.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
And after like a while, you're like, okay, sure, Nick. You know what I mean? So he leaves. He OESs. Two weeks later, I get an envelope from him. Hey, man, here's my address. I sent you some money on your books. Hey, man, if you ever need nothing, I'm here for you. Solid dude, right? Yeah. So I end up finishing my time. I know, me, Matt, I know that I'm not going to do probation.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
Like, I know I'm going to fuck this up.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
Like, I know this is not going to end well for me. I have a 20-year spending sentence, and this is not going to end well for me.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
I could do the 20, plus if I catch new charges, they can enhance the sentence.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
See, Florida has the craziest law ever. You ever heard of the Reoffender Act in Florida? No. No. So this is how it works. So if you get out of prison in Florida, within three years of you getting out, you catch any charge, they can ten times your recommended sentence. So you could end up 85% of people that are in Florida's system right now are on probation violations. It's not new charges.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
They call it a burglary charge, which would usually be like five years, right? Well, now they're going to get 15, 20 years on top of whatever their violations are because it's a system to make money.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
Because, you know, the state, that's how, I mean, U28395 made them a lot of money. That was my prison. I made them a lot of money every time. That's the reason they do prison counts in Florida three times a day. Because every time that they count your number, they're billing the state. So I'm like, man, I know this is not going to work out. I got to figure something out.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
So I end up, I'm trying to go back home to Virginia. It was the original plan. But they tell me, oh, no, no, no, no, no, no. You have to transfer your probation. I'm not from here. They're like, well, you got to pick somewhere to go. What do you mean? I don't live here. They're like, well, pick a county, pick somewhere to go, find a halfway house, figure something.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
So I ended up basically ended up coming to St. Pete because I had a friend that I knew lived in St. Pete. And I couldn't end up staying there. I ended up staying in a shelter for two days until I could meet my probation officer. Oh, that sucks. So you're fresh out of prison. You're thinking, oh, man, now I'm in a shelter. These guys are doing more drugs than they were on the street.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
I'm like, this is great. So I'm like, I got to get out of here. So I go meet the probation officer. He walks in. He's got this big stack here. He said, all these right here, these are the ones that have failed. This couple right here, those are the ones that have passed. Which one do you think you're going to end up in?
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
I was like, I don't want to go back to home in Virginia. And he's like, well, we're going to have to get approved by the state. That's going to be 60 to 90 days you'll have to stay here. And 60 to 90 days you're going to violate me.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
I'm not going to make it. I'm not going to make it. I mean, I don't have a job. I don't have no family down here. I have no support system. I'm going to screw this up. So I'm like, well, look, can I get a travel pass at least to go home and see my mom, you know what I mean, and do this and that? And he's like, all right, all right, I'll give you a travel pass. You can be back here in 30 days.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
So I know when I come back to see him, I got 30 days to come back to see him. That means I got 29 days, Matt, to get going and get going where I'm going and not coming back from. Right. So I basically went home, see my mom for a couple of days. I was like, she's like, well, what are you going to do? I'm like, I'm going to run. This is what I'm going to do. I'm not staying here.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
I've completed everything. Now, they're like, well, how did you do advanced algebra and all this and that? Because I didn't have the grades for that stuff. And what I did was I paid somebody that knew how to do it, took the test for me, Pass all the correspondence and that's it. They were like, they were flipping out. They're like, this can't, because there's three or four kids started signing up.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
Uh, mindset at that moment was that I'm not getting a job. I'm not, I'm not going back to making minimum wage. And they were talking about probation. You're going to have to pay this fee, that fee, this fee, that fee. I'm like, Holy shit.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
Yeah, and so by the time I'm like, I'm thinking, I'm like, 90% of my income is going to go back to the state here. I'm never going to make it.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
So I don't have any really money, right? So I call him Bunny Nick. I'm like, he's like, you come out to Vegas. He's like, I'm busting checks already. I'm like, I'll be there. I'm right there. So I fucking – now I've got a 20-day lead, so I have to be back to probation. So I know – so I get to Vegas. I take a Greyhound because I don't want to take an airline because I don't want to have records.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
You go up to Greyhound, you pay cash for a ticket. Took a three-day Greyhound to get to Vegas. I get to Vegas, and Nick's got a check scam just booming. It's like – Getting in how you fit in. Let's go.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
So what we're doing is he's going around, he's getting homeless guys. My God. And he's cleaning them up and he's taking them to like the casino and places like that. And you're using them to cash in because casinos will give you free play when you cash in your check there. They'll also give you like sometimes a 10% bonus or 10%.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
you know vig or whatever just to get through what's what's scumbag just think they want your like just to get you to come straight from work give us your paycheck and blow it here at the casino exactly so so he's taking he's taking these homeless guys cleaning them up taking them around he's he's got he's got an id machine he's got you know he's got a You know, printer.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
He's making bussing checks. And he's just like, we're just getting routing numbers and accounting numbers. And he's just taking them. And we're just going from Vegas all the way up to Reno and just hitting them, hitting them, hitting them, hitting them.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
Probably 10 to 15 grand. Hmm.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
i can't believe it's really the casinos it's a there's that and they threw you in prison yeah it's really them they're horrible they are i agree to this day but um how much does a homeless guy get you know we we would get a check for like 500 bucks because we'd always keep small amounts so you go up there and you cash them and what we would do is so imagine this we would we pull into reno we find we'd find a homeless guy
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
You know, we'd go to a hotel, get him cleaned up. Nick would run to Walmart, grab some clothes, some cheap Walmart clothes, you know, khakis, polos, so he looks decent. Yeah. Nick drives up. I'll walk in with the guy. I'll go stand over and just keep an eye out.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
And he'll go and he'll go start, you know, he'll start cashing a check and then go meet me in the bathroom because there's no cameras in the bathroom, hand me the money, and then, you know, tell him to go back outside to the car. You know what I mean? 15-20 minutes later I come right back out to the car Go to the next casino and just keep doing this over and over again.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
They're all going to do it too.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
They're like, well, we can't have this.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
And because the thing is, is they're not going to pay attention to it if it's one name, right? It's one name. And then the thing is, is half the times we wouldn't have to make IDs. They would just use the homeless because homeless guys, crazy as them, they have IDs.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
So they actually made a law in the county banning this correspondence school in the whole county. But by that point, you'd already... I've already graduated, so I started working. Because my thing was like, I need to go to school, man. I need to work. I need to make money. So I started working at a hotel, and I'm working at Holiday Inn doing banquet setup. And I run into this guy named Barry.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
Yeah, some like $1,000, a couple hundred bucks each check. They're going to be set. They're not thinking about tomorrow.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
Right, right. And so this goes on. And I remember like one Friday night we were like looking for a week. We didn't have routing account numbers. We were out. So we're, like, one behind this, like, checker cash place. We're, like, inside the dumpster of, like, digging through, looking for receipts, looking for paperwork, looking for anything. Here comes a cop car down.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
So me and Nick are, like, crouched inside this dumpster, like, hiding.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
No, man. Dude, I was like the best kid, Boy Scout, everything. You know that thing, Matt, when they talk about like, oh, I started my crime way off when I was like stealing candy and stuff? Right. Like mine came from a Christian bookstore, right?
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
Cops just, like, driving by. And I'm thinking, and at this time already, I've already not showed back up for probation. So I already know I got a warrant for probation dangling over my head. And I'm like, it's like, I gotta get the fuck out of here. And I had no excuses, man, because I had saved a bunch of money, right? I could have ran.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
The plan was make a bunch of money with Nick and I was going to just go disappear. Well, you get the adrenaline rush of more and more and more. And it's working. You start feeling invincible. Like I can't be stopped, you know? And then we ended up going into this one little, little spot near Elko. And,
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
we go in this and we get a hotel room and we go, it's so easy to find guys out there like that, you know, walking around, Hey man, you want to make some money? And the guy's like, what are you going to do? I'm like, just come with us and cash some checks. So we didn't do it. And we, we get to like the third casino and, and I see like something's not right.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
Like the guy's like standing there too long. You know what I mean? And next thing I know I see these security guards come up and they grab him. Well, time to run again. Right. That's time to go. So I'm like, get back in the car. Nick, we got to go. I mean, we're going to leave him. So we're like literally. driving back to this hotel.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
And like, we get back to this hotel and we got all this, we got checks here, we got IDs, we got, you know, money started out. Like, we're like throwing stuff in the car. It's not going to be long until... Yeah, I was going to say, does a homeless guy know where you guys were out of? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Because we take him there to clean him up. Yeah, yeah. So it's not going to be long
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
And here comes the troops. Yeah. But the thing was, Nick would always go get them their own room. So he didn't know which room that we were in. We were just there.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
Or sometimes he would act like, oh, yeah, this is our room here. You know what I mean? Yeah. And so all of a sudden we're sitting there and we just look out the window. We see these two cop cars pull up. And we're like in the window just like looking out. And we can see the homeless guy in the back of the car. I'm like, oh, God, this is not good. It's that room right there.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
And they go to the room that we get for him, and we're in the other room. I don't know that Nick's got a gun.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
So Nick's got a gun, and I'm like. What are you going to do with a gun?
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
What are you doing? This is a Wild Wild West, bro. What are you doing? He's like, I'm going back to prison, bro. I'm like, oh my God, this is where life ends for me. Like, I'm like, this is crazy. Why do you have this? What are you doing? Just put that shit away. Like, we're going to walk out of here and we're going to get in the car and drive away. We waited for like an hour.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
Because they went and they looked through the room. They looked around. They couldn't figure it out, you know what I mean, where we're at. So basically they left. They thought the guy was maybe just lying. Maybe he didn't really have accomplices. You know what I mean? Right. Whatever. We leave. I'm like, we get back to Vegas. And I'm like, and Nick's like, oh, we'll figure something else out.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
He was like a just classic con man. He's working the front desk. He's like getting people's credit card numbers. He's doing scams. And he takes a liking to me, and he's like... Let me show you a couple things. He starts showing me how to take people's credit cards and order stuff. And the main reason he was doing it was because guess what? I'm 16.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
I was like, no, I'm going to figure something out away from you. Right. Because, like, I didn't know that you were going to go to that extreme. Like, it's one thing, it's like checks and stuff like that. Like, dude, I'm not trying to have a shootout with cops. Dude, like, this, dude, like, come on, man, this ain't, no. So, like, it was like the classic end of a great movie with us.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
Like, we're like, he's going to go this way, I'm going to go this way. Nick, like, it's been fun, man, but I got to get away from you. So, I'm like, I got to have money. So, I got a nice chunk of money saved. I'm like, I need to get.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
Probably close to 200. Oh, okay. That is a nice – more than I thought. Yeah. Yeah, because I was just stacking it up. Right. So I go to Mexico. I cross the border. I'm like, I'm just going to – my plan is I'm going to Tijuana. I'm going to hang out here, and I'm going to drop down eventually down and just hang out because I know I have charges now. I've figured I've got charges.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
I know I've got at least a minimum of 20. I'm not coming back. So how do you, when you say, what do you just walk across the border? So with Greyhound back in the day, they would literally drive you because that was before they passed the laws where you had to do your passport, immigration card, you know what I mean? You literally just walk across the border.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
So I'm in Tijuana. I'm like in Revolution, right off Revolution, which is like the big party strip. I find a house that's like an apartment complex, and it's like it's all a bunch of Americans that are living there. And they're all living there super cheap and working in San Diego. Yeah. And they're just crossing the border.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
Like every morning in San Diego, if you look at the border, the line is wrapped around the room because people live in Tijuana and work in San Diego because of the cost of living. I find this house, this apartment complex, and the lady's like, oh, it'd be like $200. I'm thinking she's like $200 a week. She's like $200 a month. I'm like, oh, well, here. You know what I mean? No problem.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
Here's a couple months worth of rent. So I'm like hanging out, and I meet guys in there, and I'm like, I got to get an ID. And you can start talking to people, and it doesn't take long to get an ID.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
ID. From like a state? Yeah, just a state, California.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
And so, you know, he takes me to this little shop, a couple hundred bucks later. He's like, yeah. He said, I'm like, yeah. He's like, this is good for you to just have just for, you know, for down here. He's like, but if you try to cross the border with it, it's not going to work. And I mean, this is good for just here. I'm like, all right.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
He was working on getting me a really good one for I could use for when to travel back and forth. Well, I'm there, man, for like two months. And I start noticing like the Mexican, the police are watching me more and more. And I started getting nervous because I'm like, I'm hearing about all these Americans getting kidnapped, you know, either cartel or whoever.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
And I'm like, I'm hanging out down there. I'm hanging out at the bar every night. And I'm spending money. I'm flashing money. I'm like, this is not good. Something's going to happen. Either I'm going to get kidnapped, get robbed. You know what I mean? So I decide I'm going to go back across the border. So I had my buddy just drive me back across the border. And I'm like, I got to hope my I.D.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
If we get busted, he gets no trouble, and the 16-year-old gets in trouble. What happens to me? Nothing.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
And I know I'm about to use my real ID. So I'm praying they don't actually run it. If they run it, I'm done.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
So we go at like a busy kind of time, and we're just sitting there looking like, oh, yeah, just came back from Mexico. And they just look at us like, go ahead, U.S. citizens, go ahead. I got lucky. I got across the border. Well, I'm back in California. So I'm like, what am I going to do? I still have a little bit of money. You know what I mean? But I can't get a job now.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
Now I'm going to go get a job. I didn't get a job then. What am I going to do now? So I go back to what I know. I go back to I call a magazine crew. I'm like, hey, you looking for somebody to sell magazines? They're like, yeah, yeah, yeah. They send me a Greyhound ticket. Next thing I know, I'm back on the ground. I go to a magazine. I'm selling magazines. And I'm walking around.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
Remember, I have this fake ID.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
This one fake ID. So I'm using this. And I go for like a year, man, working, selling magazines, just hanging out doing this magazine crew. And I know I've got shit in Florida. I've got warrants here in Virginia. You know what I mean? I'm like, I know eventually I'm going to get called. You know what I mean? Yeah. Yeah.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
So I start doing scams with him. He introduces me to warranty scams, and life changes.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
And one fateful day I knock on the door and I'm like, hey, we're selling magazines. And it was a cop. Right. And he was like, what are you doing? He's like, oh, I'm selling magazines. Well, you have a permit? I'm like, permit? What's a permit? And the guy's like, oh, you need a permit to do this. Like, man, I don't know. I work for this guy. I was like, this is the permit they said I need to have.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
And I was like, nah, man, this is not. Now we've heard about you guys coming in and scamming. You know what I mean? Because it's all a big scam, right?
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
No, no, no. The scam always was with the magazines door-to-door was you would tell them, you would say, hey, I'm going to school in the area. I'm working to win a trip somewhere, blah, blah, blah. I was always a big guy, right? So I was like, yeah, I'm going to culinary school. I'm going to be a chef. I was like, you know why you can't ever trust a skinny chef, right?
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
And they're like, why is that? Because they don't eat their own food. I eat my own food. You can trust me, right? You'll get your magazine. The guy was like... And they're paying like $40 for these magazines. They're overpriced magazines. But it's like when you buy stuff from kids from fundraisers, right? It's overpriced. Well, they never give them a magazine.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
You're getting a cut off of the money, and these guys are making bank. And they've got 30, 40 kids working for them.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
So, like, for example, these microphones, right? Yeah. These cameras. They're very expensive, right? Yeah. Well, I mean, so, I mean, what I would do is most companies offer a free warranty. So what we do is we would call these companies up and say, hey, we shipped in a camera to you. And then we would do a reverse address search. We would say, well, how did you ship it in? We did it by UPS, right?
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
Then we kicked back, and then the thing is, at the end of the day, all these kids, you've got 20, 30 kids making, you know, $500, $600 a day for you. It adds up very quickly. Right. I knock on the door, and the cop's like, you know, man, where's your ID? And I gave him this ID. The fake one? Yeah. I mean, I can't. I'm going to give him a real one. I never even carried my real one with me.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
I always left the little one at the hotel.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
Still California? No, I'm in Boise, Idaho.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
Right, right, right. Well, he runs it. He does. He runs it, and he runs it, and he goes, and it comes back, not file, not on file.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
He's like, that's weird. He said, you should at least come back on file. I was like, I don't know, man. I don't know. He's like, so he almost lets me go. Like we're at that point where he almost lets me go.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
And he's like, something's not sitting right with this man. Hold on. He calls down to the station and they send a unit. They bring him in and they ask me my name, my birth date, what's not coming up in the system. So they're like, come on, we're just going to run your prints real quick, man. And I'm like, I'm done.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
And so they get me in the car and they're like, last chance to tell us who you really are. I'm like, all right, Charles Hartman in 11-9. They're like, oh. Positive 51. Ding. Positive 51. Warrant. Active warrant. Transportational warrant. Oh. Oh, this is Florida, dude. Oh, they're probably going to come get you. Why didn't you just tell us, man? I was like, I don't know. I was like, yeah.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
They're going to come get me. Yeah, I was like, they're going to come get me. And he's like, and so they take me to Boise jail, and I go in front of the judge and sign up the little thing, you know, to get transferred back to Florida. They said, well, they have 30 days to come get you. If they don't get you, you'll get released. Nice. I'm like, okay. So 28 days go by.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
I'm like, yes, I'm going to get out of here, man. I'm getting out of here. 29 days go by. I'm like counting it on the head. Right? It's the 30th day. They're like, Hartman, roll it up. I'm like, but usually if they're taking you down to be transported, right, they'll cuff you. They tell you to roll it up and roll it up all the way. That means you're leaving.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
They told me to roll it up all the way. I thought maybe, oh, I'm out of here. Nope, I'm good. I'm walking down, around the corner, see two friendly, smiling detectives from Lake County. Hey, Charlie. I'm like, son of a bitch. I knew I was done. So, and look, I was like, oh, look, they got their job to do. They're not trying no problems. They're like, look, man, look, man, we'll take you.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
We'll get you something to eat. We're going to fly. I was like, we'll be driving back to Florida? I'm like, no, we're flying. I'm like, okay. I'm like, but we're going to Cleveland first. I was like, I don't have charges in Cleveland. Like, what are we talking about? He's like, no.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
He's like, the way we work, man, is when we pick you guys up like this and you guys are spread out like this, we'll pick up a second one in another city to make it worth, you know what I mean, the trip. I'm like, okay. So we get to Cleveland. We fly. So first we get to Boise at the airport. Like, you're talking about walking straight onto a plane like you're a rock star?
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
Yeah, I was straight on there. Nobody's on the plane. We're sitting there. One's here. One's behind me. They uncuff me, and they're like, look, just don't give us no problems, man. I'm like, dude, look, look. They're like, you're probably not going to get that much time anyway. They don't know the case. They just know it's a probation violation. Yeah. Yeah, they don't know.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
Like, I'm fitting to get murdered when I get back. And he's like. All right, cool, man. Just go to, you know, just be cool, man. We get to Cleveland. They're being real relaxed with me. We pull into the Cleveland jail. And when I tell you I was the only white dude there, it was not a good situation. And I was like, oh, this is not good. They didn't even want to leave me.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
Like, they were like, oh, sorry. We'll have McDonald's in the morning for you, kid. Good luck. I'm like, son of a bitch. But no, I go in, everything's fine. This is normal jail, right? Well, they go to release me out in the morning to come downstairs. Well, they didn't screw it up with the paperwork. They put me in the release pile to release me to the street.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
And UPS, like, okay, well, do you have a tracking number? You can provide us proof. We'll just send you a new one. Okay. So I would call UPS up. And then I would sit there, and this would take several steps. Call UPS up would be the first step. Then I would say, hey, I shipped in Sony, a camera, Sony. They say, oh, what date did you do it? Okay, great. Would you know who signed for it?
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
I don't know what I'm going to do, but I was like, I can't get in trouble. They let me go. Right. Like I'm not, I'm not, I'm not escaping. They're, they're telling me to leave. I'm not going to, I'm not going to stay here. So I'm like talking to this guy. I'm like, man, are you living right here? He's like, yeah.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
It's like, uh, Hey man, if I gave you a couple hundred bucks or something, man, could you take me to your, I can use your phone. I can get some money wired to me and stuff and everything. He's like, it's like, I ain't supposed to be getting released right now. He's like, yeah, I got you. I mean, like criminals are always like, you can tell someone will help you. You know what I mean? Yeah. Yeah.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
So it's like, all right. So I'm sitting there and they're just like slowly letting everybody out. And it's down to like me and like two other people. And they're like, what's your name? Like, uh, Hartman. Like, yeah, I got to go. Remember Rod's waiting for me. He's like, They're like, nah, man, you're supposed to be over there, kid. So they take me in and put me in a cell.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
And I'm in there with this other guy, and he's the guy we came to pick up. So I'm sitting there. I'm laughing because they come like 15, 20 minutes later. They handcuff us, take us there. They fly us to Orlando. I told them, I was like, what are you going to do? I was like, I was going to run. What do you mean, what was I going to do? I'm going to figure it out. I'm going to figure it out.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
I ain't going to be here for y'all. I said, do you know how much paperwork and hell this would have been? I was like, yeah, but it would have been fun. So I get there, and, man, I get to Lake County. And, I mean, I know I'm done, right? I know I've got to spend a sentence. I already know what time. I know I'm minimum, I'm getting 20.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
You know, I got other charges I've caught, you know what I mean, in between, you know what I mean? So I don't know what they're going to do. So I'm just sitting there and I'm like, well, yeah, I already had my mind. Like, this is it. You know what I mean? You know, you know, and my lawyer, he comes down and he's just like, just hang out, just chill.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
New lawyer or same, same lawyer, same lawyer, same lawyer. He's like, just relax. He's like, he's like, I want to, he said, you know, he's like, he said, give me 10. He said, if you give me 10, I promise you, you will not, you will not, you will not do all that time. So I called my mom. She arranged it. Got him the money. And I'm thinking, man, this better work. This better work.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
And he's like, yeah. He's like, I think I can get you just the 20. I'm like.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
mean i was like maybe he was he was screwing with me he knew what he already done right he's like just just hang out he said oh we'll go to court we'll go to court tomorrow so i'm going to court i'm like in my mind said i'm already all right i'm finna go i know i'm going back to prison i'm gonna be at least you know 20 i'm just gonna you know because at that point you there i mean what are you gonna do you know i mean you're you have no defense
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
Right. You have no defense. There's no, there's no, there's no, there's no, it's like, I'm sorry for what I did. You know, I, when I can't say those people are like, Oh, I'm so sorry. I did that. Your honor. I'm like, really?
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
I'd write down who signed for it. Now I know on this date a package was signed for by this person. I don't have anything else. They won't give me anything else. I hang up, call right back. Hey, on this date I had sent a package in, and this person signed for it. And it was weighing between this and this. Okay, yeah, I see the package here. Oh, great, can I get the tracking number? I lost it.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
I was like, I was, I was an asshole. That was my excuse. Your honor. I like, and, and, So I was like, man, I was like, I was like, man, let me just go in here. Let me just did this. And we get in there and he pulls us aside and they, they would have, they had these like cells were like cage cells where you could talk to your attorney. Yeah.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
And first thing he goes, I mean, he says, when you get inside, you say, yes, ma'am, no ma'am. And shut the F up. Like I was like, well, I thought, well, I don't know. This is have judge Hill. Say, why am I selling Judge Hill a woman for? He's like, Judge Hill's not in there. Just be quiet. Judge Hill in Lake County, Florida is famous. They call him Hang'em High Hill. Right.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
He loves giving sentences out. He gives decades out. He said literally in his campaign to be judge, he'll give them a million years out before he retires.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
Yeah.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
Yeah. So I so I know like I know the judge and the prosecutor. I know what's going to happen to me. Well, I'm sitting there, man. I'm like, man, it's going on. And I know it's a female judge, young, young female judge, too. Like she just got appointed and it's a different prosecutor.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
And they're like, Mr. Hartman, here's, and he's receiving all these affidavits over and all this paperwork over and everything and all these witnesses and everything. I'm like, of my character and how I've changed my life. None of what you had? None of what I have. I'm like, there was a thing from the pastor and I'm like, what is this?
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
Like, oh, Mr. Hartman, I see, you know, you're really trying to change your life and get better. We're going to go on the sentencing guidelines. And the sentencing guidelines guided out the four years Department of Corrections. With time served, all I had to do was go do my four years. I was like, wait, wait. And that would end the probation?
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
Because he found a loophole in the way the probation was written, so they went back and they originally sentenced me just to four years. So I'm getting four years with time credited from the county time. So I got like three years to go do and I go home.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
I'm like, I can't sign this fast enough. I'm like, yes, ma'am. And we're going to put you in drug court when you go in. I'm like, yes, ma'am. Make the best of your life. Yes, ma'am. I'm out the door. I'm like. Like, and like, when you're like, I'm like sitting there like skipping back across the thing. And I was like, what, what happened? I thought you were going to get time.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
I was like, man, I don't know. He's like, that's crazy. He said, I wouldn't say nothing when you go inside, man, because everybody don't think you snitched. There's no way your sentence gets converted down that cheap. So I was like, yeah, you're right. So I started thinking about it. I was like, I ain't going to say nothing. You know what I mean? Just got 20. Yeah, I'm just going to go.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
Because when somebody gets that kind of time, you don't ask them how to go. So I just kind of was solemn, just sitting around. And I was waiting to go to prison because I figured I was going to be on the prison run that week. Well, the prison run goes, comes, they don't take me. It's weird. I should be back at a Lando today.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
Well, the following week comes, that Thursday comes, and I get called back to court. I'm like, this is weird. Like, why am I going back to court? Like, I don't have any cases here. Well, I'm going to end up calling in and Judge Hill's there. He's sitting there. He asked me where my attorney was. And I was like, I don't know. I haven't seen him since last week.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
They give me the tracking number. Then I take the tracking number, call back again, and ask for a proof of delivery. Hey, here's the full tracking number. Can you send me the proof of delivery? Well, they'd be like, okay, well, how does that work? And they're going to send that person's name on it, right? Oh, no, that was just my assistant. He was just shipping it out for me.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
I never plan to see him again, to be honest with you. He's like, well, Mr. Hartman, I don't know what your attorney did. I'll have a word with him later. But if I ever see you back in my court again, don't plan to leave. It's like, okay, okay, yes, sir. He said, if I ever see you back in the court again, he said, you won't be going home.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
I'm like, he got pissed because my attorney did was he moved. He had the case moved to a different judge for sentencing and it moved when he was on vacation because he was on vacation a week before. Right. He was supposed to originally sentence me that Thursday. He got it moved to a different judge. And so and once you're sentenced, you can't be sentenced again. Yeah. It's done. Yeah.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
So I end up going, and I end up going out, and then they tell me, oh, you have a charge in Putnam County for a check from an old check that popped up. You have to go up there and deal with that. So they sent me up there, and then I end up dealing with that. They ran it concurrent. They're like, okay, you're just going to go to Lake County from here, and you'll start your prison time.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
Well, I go to prison, Lake County, way different than Orlando, that's for sure. If you've ever heard of Lake Butler CI, it's not the place to be.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
And the judge has put it in my file, I'm a menace, and I need special treatment.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
Oh, the hands on treatment. They want to make sure they want to make sure I adjusted well.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
Yeah. So first couple first couple of days of just getting smacked around in the face and just what can you do? You can't we don't fall out of form, complain to somebody like, no, you don't take this. Shut up. So I'm sitting there and I'm supposed to score out to like minimum security. I was supposed to be able to go to work release.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
No, no. He sent me to FSP.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
Florida State Penitentiary. This is the same place where they have death row. Right. They sent me to a max institution. I'm like... You're a nonviolent. Nonviolent person. They're just sticking it to me. Right. I get off the bus and the guy's looking at me and he's like, who did you piss off? Because there's no way you're supposed to be here.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
Right. I'm supposed to go to a work camp, work for six to nine months, and then go outside the gate, work there, and then eventually go to work release.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
No, he made sure that didn't happen.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
You're done. You're a troublemaker.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
Yeah. Oh, he put the paperwork. It was a complete screwjob. So, you know, so I go in there and... Matt, to be honest with you, when I got there, nothing really changed because I was just like, okay, now I'm thinking three years, I'm back out. I'll be back to my normal shit. You know what I mean? Figure out what else I'm going to get into.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
Well, this time now I'm going to have probation, so start all over again. And it was to a point where I hooked up with an old-timer named Joe, and he started really talking to me. And he was like, man, you realize you're doing a life sentence, right? I'm like, what do you mean? No, I'm not. I'm getting out in three years. What are you talking about?
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
Can you put my name and my address on it? They would alternate and put my name and address on it. They would either fax it to me or email it to me. Okay. Now I've got a proof of delivery that says Charles Hartman, my address, this. Oh, can you put a description of merchandise, what was inside of it too? Oh, yeah, sure. Oh, camera, Sony camera. And that was it.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
So what ends up happening is my aunt, who's a divine Christian, was like, hey, do me a favor. I'm like 14. She's like, take this back to the Christian bookstore and return it for me and just get the money back. The guy knows who I am. No big deal. So I'm like, I'll go do it. And I go return it, get her the money back and everything.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
He's like, no, man, you're three years here, two years here, three. You're just doing it on the installment plan. You should just go ahead and go out and murder somebody and get it over with and come back. And then that way we're going to be roommates forever.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
It started dawning on me, like, I've got to turn this shit around. I've got to figure out how to use my brain. From 14 to now has been how to scam, and I've got to figure out how to do it different. Right.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
Both.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
But to do a legal scam.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
Find the right way to do it. And he's like, dude, you're like a salesman. You're the greatest salesman. You should be in sales. And I'm like, I didn't even think about it. You know what I mean? Like, I want to be in sales. So I was like, I need a fresh start. I'm finishing my sentence. They're asking me where I want to go. So I want to go to Vegas.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
I was like, because I'm like, at least there I know is a 24-hour city.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
No, Nick's gone.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
No, I'm good friends. He's in New York. He's still in New York.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
He's hanging out. And he's a guest of the state. Right. Okay. But I knew Vegas very well.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
I didn't want to go back home to Roanoke because I was like, I'll be around the same friends, same stuff. If I go to Vegas, I could start fresh. It's a 24-hour city. I'm not going to have a driver's license so I can get around on the bus. You know what I mean? And I knew some people. You know what I mean? So I figured it was a good place to get a fresh start. Right.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
So, like, this time I go, and I go to a halfway house. I go to a program. And, like... And I get there, and I'm like, man, I started to realize, like, I can change. I just got to turn this in a way to start hustling. Right. And I ended up working, like, two jobs, two dead-end jobs, just to making money, just trying to figure it out.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
And I ended up hooking up with a guy that ended up selling satellites door-to-door. And I was like, I already knew I could sell doing the magazine thing. That's a scam. So I started working for DirecTV. And he gave me a job because his brother had been arrested and went to prison and got out and nobody would give him a job. It's the only reason he gave me a job.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
And, like, in the first year, I made $150,000. Holy shit. Selling direct. Direct TV and Dish Network door to door. Because you're in Vegas, nobody wants to knock in Vegas. Right. Because it's 100 degrees. You know, I'm getting $300 to $500 a deal, you know, on closing deals. I'm just like, just, I turned my addictive personality into something else completely different.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
And then I just started, man, I just started hustling. Like, I just started hustling and doing it that way. And I was like, okay, I don't have to scam. I was like, this is too much money. I can turn around. And I'd always been a fan of, like, I had always, when I was younger, a fan of pro wrestling, right?
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
And so me and my buddy was like, we could start doing these little wrestling shows and these little fundraisers and stuff. And there's so much money in sponsorships and sales. I said, we started doing that, and we started killing it. We ran a company for three years, and we were making $200,000. I mean, it was great. It was just like, man, it was just like nothing could go wrong.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
Now I've got a proof of delivery from UPS. I give it to the company. The company says, well, I don't know. We must have lost it.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
You know what I mean? I was like, life was perfect, man. I had a good little business going. I was going to jet. I'd gotten past the three years of – usually they say within three years you're going to go back to prison. And I ended up meeting an amazing girl. And without her, I would be done. Like I would have went back. I would have slipped back into something. I know.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
And so I'm in Philly, and the crazy thing is I'm taking an Uber, right? And I'm taking an Uber to go to an event, and the Uber driver – Cancels and then she pops up this girl pops up and pulls up. I'm Jessica. I'm your uber driver. I'm like, okay, great I'm talking to her next time. No, we're talking. We're she's driving me out back up the hotel and I'm like, what are you doing tonight?
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
We'll just replace it. Or how much did you pay for it? Well, we paid $1,000 for it. It would either cut me a check or send me a check.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
She's like, what do you mean? I was like, you wanna go get a drink? It's like early. It's like 10 o'clock. She's like I can't do that. I'm your Uber driver. I was like, who? Is there a code of conduct? Are you violating the rules here? I was like, you don't want to get a one-star review here. And she's like, fuck you.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
So we started having a couple drinks, and next thing you know, I'm flying back to Philly all the time, seeing her, and we end up getting engaged and got married.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
So life was good, man. She was the reason. And then even when things got tough, like, you know, when COVID came and we all lost everything because I was doing live events. So I'm doing multiple live events. I'm done. So, like, what's my mind think now? Let's go back to scams. Yeah, yeah. We'll go back to scams. We'll figure out a scam or something to do. She's like, fuck, you are doing that.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
She's like, you're not doing that. She's like, you've gone too far. And the crazy thing was is while I was in Vegas, one of the jobs I had for like a week or two, I worked for a sports betting company. And they would call and they would sell sports betting advice to different people like that wanted to buy.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
They would call people calling, hey, who should I bet on the New York Knicks or the Orlando Magic tonight?
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
Yeah, very much so. Yes, sir. Okay. So I was like, man, I always had fun doing that job. That was a fun job for a couple of weeks. call around. I called around and, and finally found this, I found this ad of this guy and he was like, yeah, you know, handicappable. And he's like, all right, cool. Let me get you in contact with the manager. And he's like, can you, can you work virtually?
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
Okay. So between 16 to 21, I probably did well over half a million dollars in warranty scams.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
I'm like, yeah, I'll start tomorrow. And he was just like – I mean, I knew nothing about sports betting.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
Like, you know, besides, you know, when I was in prison, I learned about sports betting. Like, in prison, people sports bet for tunas and laundry.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
The ticket. The ticket, man. You know what I mean? And so – So the guy was like, I was like, just follow the script. And I followed a script and start working. And next thing I know, I'm working like 18, 19 hours a day. Just like, I'm working all night. Like, cause sports gambling, like we had to cut my phone off cause it's dingy. Right.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
And it's like, cause you know, you got West coast, you know, and then I'm working for like some of the best handicappers in the country. So I got clients calling me all the time, wanting to buy packages and services and different stuff. And now I've been there four years, and now I run my own thing. I run my own thing as an independent contractor now, and it's been an amazing run.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
Basically, I started with him and then kind of branched to my own and did my own thing. And he basically just backed me completely. It was like, yeah, he's like, you've outgrown this being here.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
So you run your own thing. Yeah. This year I've made a half a million dollars doing sports betting advice. I mean, it's great, man. I mean, I found a way to turn my addictive personality into something that's legal to make money.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
So, so, um, it's a, it's a joint operation. So like one of the services we work for is a multi, they do advertising and then they'll send clients and then they'll get a percentage of it. It's kind of like a franchisee.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
And then, then I can do my own advertising I want, but I have enough clients through their funnel. I don't need to.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
So yeah, it works good.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
Oh, yeah, yeah. A lot of times they'll mail me a product, right?
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
Yeah. So so I was like I was like 19 years old and I went and got a job at Target and it was supposed to be just as a simple little job just to make some money. You know what I mean? Yeah. And it was more just honestly get my mom off my ass because I was doing checks and I was doing shit. And was doing the warranty stuff. And I just needed a job. So the guy walks in.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
The guy's like, hey, you're a pretty big-sized guy. You want to work in loss prevention? I'm like, sure. What do I got to do? He's like, oh, you just walk around, act like you're shopping. You know what I mean? And everything. And you just basically catch people shoplifting. I'm like, okay. It's easy. So within like a couple weeks, they are having me close the store at nighttime.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
No, I just go sell it. I had a network of pawn shops. I come in and I'm like, hey, I got a $1,000 camera. Give me $500 for it.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
Yeah. So we used to shop. We'd always bring our merchandise back to our office back, right? And we'd dump it in our office.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
They'd put it back out again. And I was like, wait. It's like, huh, no one's really going to see. I'm in the one room in here that doesn't have a camera. If I just take this merchandise and put it in my bag, no one's going to notice that.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
So I would literally just take the merchandise and I would – I'd open these CDs and DVDs and just stack – and have stacks of book bag of stuff, PlayStations and whatever, and just walk right out the door, walk right out the front door. I would always take out the little tag so it wouldn't beep.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
And then like I remember like – I took the, there was like a little ceiling tile.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
And I took the ceiling tiles and I would shove the stuff up in the ceiling tiles and I would just leave it up there. And eventually when they, they said when they eventually, eventually what happened was they actually put in a little, I guess I had missed one of the magnets and I went afterwards and my bag beeped. And I just kept walking, and the manager seeing it was like, that's weird.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
It's not stolen. And it has a warranty right here.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
I was like, I don't know. Maybe something – I bought a drink or something earlier. I don't know. But it just made him think. It's like, why did it beep? Right. It was just that one moment. You know what I mean? So –
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
they ended up putting in a camera inside the lost prevention offering just they don't trust you at all no that's so why would you why would you why would you give me any keys to the city like why i was like you're showing stupidity so so so that friday night i do my normal deal
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
Yeah, and the problem is you can only do your name so many times, right?
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
walk out the door saturday morning i walk in to come to work i walk right in there's two cops and they're and regular and and then my boss and then his boss and and all the little plastics from up in the ceilings laying on the table and they're like so what do you want to talk about I was like, I don't know. So they were like, look, look, we're not going to press charges.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
So I started, you know, finding people I can use their address, use their name, next thing you know. And I did that for over five years and never got caught.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
Just sign this saying that you stole this stuff so we can turn this into the insurance company so we can get reimbursed.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
That's all they care about.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
They don't care about the prosecution. They just want to be able to turn it in because I had stolen so much of it. It was affecting their quarterly sales. Right. They're like, we got to account for this. You know what I mean? So, yeah. So that would basically, yeah. And that was it, man. I probably got away with thousands every week from Target for months and just kept on banking money up.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
Yeah.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
All right, so stealing dead people's information. Yes. So my buddy worked at Okie's Funeral Home, and people – he would come in and – People are dying to get in there.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
It's a business that never quits, right? So they literally – He would always have these people come in. And when he turns in the death certificates and everything, right, and then they get sent off, you usually have a two to three week period, right, of time or until they actually file it with the state. Well, he was providing me all their information because he's got all their information.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
He's got their wallets there, their IDs. So he's just giving me their information and we're just like running up credit cards and things because it's taking, remember this isn't modern technology today where somebody dies and they can put the person in the system and it's over, right? I mean, now, back in the day, it takes days and weeks to get everything sent, right?
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
Right.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
Usually we had about a 90-day window.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
If at all, and all that's going to happen is the credit cards are going to go to them. The bills are going to go to them. What would be even better is if you could pay the minimum payments for a couple of months to keep them open. Keep them open. I never thought it that way, but that's what I should have known you years earlier. And that's what we would do.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
We would do that, and then we would take it, and we would just run these cards up and charges up. And then by the time it was all said and done— I mean, now all these bills are stacked up, but what are they going to do? They're going to send them to help. This person is dead. So the credit card company is just going to write it off.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
Oh, yeah, yeah. Yeah, exactly. And that's what we would do. I mean, with him working at Okies, I mean, we're getting literally the day they're dying, he's giving me their information.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
We were getting credit cards. We had a friend that worked in a loan office. Oh, okay. So we're getting loans. And then we're just racking up the bills. Right. And then we're sitting there like, oh, give me a... Get their information and just keep racking it up and open up a checking account. I don't know why this excites me.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
So rental car scams, very similar to what you're talking about your buddy did. Yeah. Yeah. We would get rental car scams, and what we would do is we would go to the – we didn't have this technology like he did. We would just roll up an hour, and we would find the paperwork inside. And sometimes, you know, like a lot of times they would drop the cars off, right?
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
And, you know, the paperwork being inside the cars. So we would grab the rental cars. We'd also go into the airport inside the actual, where the luggage is. And we'd grab the luggage too at the same time. And just walk right out and just act like, you know, and just go up to the lot. Because back then people would just drop their key and they would have their keys inside the car.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
We would just grab the keys and we'd have the paperwork. Now you get the paperwork. You know all the information are the doors unlocked?
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
Yeah, a lot of times people just leave the doors unlocked and your girl and there's all the information on how to get you know This car is running under this as cars running or that that and then and we would see we would grab it and use that to get grab that information and
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
I mean, but. I mean, but worst comes to worst of it. I mean, most of the places that have got keys, right? All you're going to do with them keys is if we need to get them keys, then you get the car. What are you going to do?
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
You're still driving around in a stolen car. We take it to the chop shop and get a couple grand quickly, very quickly for a car.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
Yes.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
Remember earlier when I was telling you about the officers when I first went to Lake County, right? Officer Brown and Apollo. Well, I'm sitting there, and this is the craziest thing. I'm sitting there in Lake Butler. This is the second time in. I'm sitting there, and all of a sudden I look up, and I see Pollock walking in. But he's not walking in in brown. He's walking in in blue. Right.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
And his face is just... It's like, why are you here? Because I should have went through Orlando, but I went through there. Well, he ended up getting arrested after I went to prison for snuggling in contraband. And he was actually in the process of going to prison. Don't tell them. He's like, they don't know that I'm a CO. You know what I mean? I'm like, well, man. I'm going to give you a list.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
No, I'm like, man, I'm going to go tell the dude running the pod because I'm like, because I can't. It comes out. You know what I mean? I know this dude. I don't say nothing. I'm just as guilty. You know what I mean? So very, very quickly. He actually was being given a list out very quickly to people. And he said, I just want to do my time. I don't want to go to people. Of course, of course.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
Yeah, yeah. I'm one of you guys. I was bringing in the stuff. And they're like, nah, nah, man. That's not how it works. Nah, brother. You're going to that store first thing tomorrow morning.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
But the funny thing is, is when I started doing my YouTube shorts, like six months ago, right? Six, seven months ago. I'll send it to you guys so you guys can put it on the reel or whatever. But he actually messaged me. He's out. He's like, I see you talking about me on your thing. He's like, oh, man. I was like, oh, man.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
And that's the same thing because what happens is the company doesn't want a product.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
Yeah, for sure. I definitely will. Yeah.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
Probably the worst I think I ever felt was the first time I went to prison. Because, you know, when you get there, you know, when you go to Orlando, you get your first roommate, right? Right. Selly. You're Selly, right? And everybody's on transit. Like, you don't know when you're leaving. You don't know where you're on your camp and everything. And everybody's in the same boat.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
You're coming from the county. You're trading stamps for stuff, coffee and everything. And I walk in, and it's Selly. He's like, my name's T-Bone. I'm like... And you're locked in a cell with this guy for 12, 13 hours a day. So, so I have to like, you have to be cordial and you have to listen to him. Right. You know, even though, you know, they're like, well, he's telling you his bullshit.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
You know what I mean? It doesn't make sense. You know what I mean? Whatever. And so he's like telling me how he's like the King of Miami. He's a drug Lord of Miami. He's got millions of dollars.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
Yeah, yeah. Really? So he's telling me about, hey, he's the kingpin of Miami. He's got a helicopter, and he flies privately to the Lakers games.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
Yes, and the fact that he's got no commissary money. He's waiting for his money to come on. And I'm just sitting there like, but his stories are so entertaining. I'm like, okay, man, I've got free TV in here, so go ahead, kill me with the thing. And I'm sitting there letting him tell these stories. Well, my money hits. Because I brought money from the county, so my money comes on.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
And remember, at this time, how old am I? I'm 16, 17 years old. That's a lot of money. Yeah, for a kid. I mean I'm just – I'm living life. Well, until eventually – The UPS driver, I had too many packages get delivered to my house. Right. And the UPS driver was, it was strange. It was like, all this electronic stuff keeps coming here over and over and over and over again.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
So I go get coffee, and I go get slides and everything. I'm like, man, this dude ain't got no slides. He ain't got no yoder. Here, man, here's the yoder. Here's some slides. Here's a shampoo. You know what I mean? you know, go take a shower. You know what I mean? Don't use that state bar soap they gave you. Use this to go, I gotta be trapped in there with you. At least be clean and you're good.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
And he's like, hey man, can I get some coffee? You know, yeah, my money's on the way soon. I'm like, stop. That's okay. That's okay. Just keep telling me them stories and keep my time rolling here so I can, I'm good. And, We're in there, and he's telling me about he was driving down the road with his brother, and he was losing street cred with his crew.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
So him and his brother pulled up on a car, one of them car carriers that have, like, these expensive cars, and he, like, jumped from the truck onto the thing and, like, laid the thing out and, like, right on Miami, right on the highway. And I'm just like... This is insane.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
Right? I don't know if you've ever seen them in prison. There's books that are traditionally written by black authors.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
Urban novels, yes. Called Cartel.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
Yes. And this guy was basically reading from one of those. He's telling me this story. So I'm just like... So, like, a day or two goes by, and I'm, like, I'm hanging out with the white dudes downstairs. They're just like, yeah, what's up with your roommate? I was like, man, he's just a bug, man. Don't worry about him. You know, I'm just stuck with him. You know what I mean?
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
I haven't heard that term in a while. They call like guys that are nuts.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
Yeah, yeah. And all of a sudden, here comes the next group of people in, and I guess a couple dudes from his county jail recognizes them. And he basically said, and they're like, oh, what's up, man? He's like, oh, what's up, man? And then I find out he's basically been snitching for the past two months.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
And now they all know he's a snitch from the county. And they're like, so they come to my table where I'm at. I'm playing cards. And they're like, yo, man, we're finna go up there and tighten him up, man. You know, he told on a bunch of people from at home. I'm like, what? I was like, oh, I thought he was a big drug dealer. I'm like playing along. I thought he was like, he was a man. Nah, man.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
I was like, he's like, we're not taking anything that's in that room. I'm like, well, the shit in the bottom bunk, that's my shit. I'm going to go lock that right now. Anything else you want to go in, y'all hand y'all's business. So I go in there and I'm like, I locked my lock. I said, Hey man, if I was you, I would get on your feet, man. You got some visitors coming. Yeah.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
And I walked back downstairs and all of a sudden you heard it.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
A remix album, 2.0, and it's like, oh, my God. I come back upstairs, and he's swole up and all. And they took all the stuff that I gave him, and they even took his state shoes and everything. He's just laying there. I was like, now what happened? He's like, man, I got to tell you the truth, man. I was kind of making up a few of them stories, man. Oh, man, for real?
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
He said, yeah, man, I've done a lot of bad things, man. I was like, oh, my God. I said, welcome to prison. It's like the Army. Be whatever you want to be. And that was just like, some of the characters you meet in prison are just amazing.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
And then I was like, he asked me one day, he said, what do you order? I said, oh, we have a wholesale business.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
And it just, something didn't sit well with him. So he turned it into their investigation department. Investigation department turned it into the police department. They start watching. Next thing you know, I'm sitting there, I'm expecting an amplifier to come. Because car stereos was like, that was the thing back then, right? Like amplifier speakers.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
I don't want to lose my stuff.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
I mean, that's the thing about prison. Like, I had a lot of friends, man. I was smart. I had money on the streets. Right. So I always knew, surround myself with people, you know what I mean? But them kind of people are good to have because you need stuff done in prison.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
See, I guess it was different because, like, you know, for state because, like, you know, my two big cents was, you know, 05 to 08. And then, you know, from 2010 to 2014, right? And, I mean, we were just, I mean, we were loaded with cell phones.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
And then they would replace them like there was nothing. You could get top dollar for it. You can either sell them to somebody you know or whoever. And I would sit there and all of a sudden I'm sitting there, I'm like, I'm waiting for this package because I got a guy waiting to buy it because that was the only thing. As soon as I knew it was shipped, I'd start looking for buyers. Right.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
So then that's worth it. It's worth the time, you know? I mean, because, I mean, the guy, I mean, especially in the state, I mean, you can groom officers so easily. Yeah. I mean, you're just hanging out with them, buying them sodas. And it always struck me weird, like, you would be able to groom them, like, the easiest way by, like, oh, go get me a honey bun and a soda. Yeah.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
And then like a couple weeks later, I noticed at Dollar General, I'm like 14. I'm out walking around with my friends. I see the same books in the Dollar General store. and then is in the Christian bookstore. So I'm like, wait, these are only a dollar here, but they're $30 there. So I went and bought four of them, went and returned them at the Christian bookstore and got the money back.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
You want a shitty honey bun and a soda?
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
I mean, and you're using dark psychology on these guys. You know, you're gaslighting these guys up, and, you know, and this is – It's such a mind manipulation when you're with the guards.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
Yeah. I mean, that's the reason I think prison is the greatest education you could give a person in sales and marketing because you drop somebody in prison and you're like, live with this person, different race, different background, different everything, and survive.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
And, man, I'm sitting there waiting, waiting, waiting, and the next thing you know, like it doesn't come and it says, oh, package was held at the UPS center. We missed the thing. You have to come pick it up. That's not good. I'm stupid. I'm thinking, okay, no big deal. You know, I'll go up there and get it.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
Yeah. I mean, that's the thing. I mean, I don't know about the federal level, but the state level is it is very much us versus them. It's the blue versus brown. You band together. You know what I mean? Yeah.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
Oh, yeah. I mean, and I mean, I don't know if this is with the racist, but like in Florida, like it's like, you know, black and white get along. work right along with each other. You know what I mean? Like in other states and like federal, I've heard it's like, it's very, you know, segregated. You know what I mean? To a certain point.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
Does that still got to bother you? It would bother me to this day if I looked down at my phone and was like federal prison. I'm like, fuck.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
And I walk in, and the moment I walked in, I seen a guy stand over in the corner, and I'm like looking at me weird, and next thing you know, I came up to the corner and just gave him my ID, and next thing you know, they're like, Charles Hartman? handcuffed me. I'm like, and I'm at that time now I'm past 18. Right. So I'm like, so I'm like, I know I'm getting arrested.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
Yeah.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
Oh, yeah, yeah. That's the thing, like, on the state level. You've got the white gangs, and they're like, oh. But then most of the gangbangers, those are the same guys that have punk girlfriends. Yeah. And then, you know, that are just like – hanging out with each other, you know, and they're like, oh, yeah, can't be around them guys. And as soon as the cell shuts, it's like, oh.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
No, it's not even that way. It's, you know, no. You got the course, you got the ones versus their...
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
white power and them guys but but then it's like you know it's like oh then you see them secretly making deals with you know people and it's like it's like it's mostly mostly i feel like it's a front and it's really more for protection like you feel more protected well yeah because it's a numbers thing you feel like you're protected because you have all these people here and that i mean i remember the like the worst thing i think ever happened to me where i realized it's like
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
I think it was toward my second stint, and I was in there, and I had got a razor blade, and I was using it to chop up food, like sausages to make goulashes. I got it in my locker, right? Well, this guy comes to me. He's like, hey, man, can I borrow a tuna? I'm like, yeah, same thing you're talking about. You know, hey, I'll get you tomorrow. I'll get you tomorrow. No problem, man.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
Hey, can I borrow a cheese? No, my money's coming. Because it's not like in Florida State, like your money can come on any day. It's not like a certain day. I mean, it just refreshes. It's 75 hours every Monday. It refreshes. Right. You know, but on Saturday, your money can come on. You can have 75 hours. So he's like, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
I was like, finally, after about the third time, I was like, oh, man, look, man, I can't keep letting you borrow stuff, man. He's like, oh, man, I got you for real. I got you for real. I was like, all right, man. And my buddy was like, my buddy Cali boy was like, look, man, you better have his shit tomorrow. For real. I was like, yeah, I got it more. I just talked to my mom.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
The money will be there. So he goes and borrows the stuff out of my locker, right? And I was sitting there at the table playing cards. And next thing I know, you know, it's lockdown. We're sitting there and I'm laying in bed. I'm sitting there relaxing. Next thing I know, here comes cops in my bunk. Get up, get up, get up, get up, get up. He went and dropped a kite that I was going to escape.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
And I had a knife.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
I have to pay the debt. And then, so he's like, they're like digging through my locker. And this female is like digging through my locker, and she pokes herself with the razor. Oh, no. So, and her fingers are like just bleeding down. I'm like, oh, fuck. This ain't good. And they grab me up. And they're taking me and they got me handcuffed and I'm walking.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
And medical was straight ahead because whenever you go to confinement in Florida, you automatically go to a medical just to make sure you're going to be okay in confinement. Like you have any medical issues, you need a board bunk, whatever. Well, they take me the opposite path and I'm going around the building. where there's no... It's a blind spot where there's no cameras. That's fine.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
So they arrested me and they take me downtown and they take me into the room and see, you know, use the interrogation, big interrogation. They're like, all right, tell us where your boss is. Tell us who the guy is. I'm like, I'm the guy. Right. What are you talking about? No, no, no, no, no. Who are you working for? Like, where's all the equipment at? Who are you working for?
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
That's good. Not good at all. Next thing I know, feet get kicked out underneath me. I go straight to the ground. They're dropping... I mean, luckily enough, I was cuffed. They probably would have done more damage if I hadn't been cuffed. Right. But I was cuffed.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
I was so tight, and I dropped down, and they're, like, just dropping elbows on me, and they're, like, taking their mace and, like, trying to shove it in my mouth and, like, shoot me. And I'm just getting... I got maced, and I'm just getting elbowed, and I'm, like... And I'm not screaming because I'm not going to sell for it.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
The one thing is I knew if I don't sell for it, the more I react, the more they're going to react. So I just get maced and get the shit kicked out of me. And they take me to the cell, to the shower cell, and they have me uncuff and shower me. And I'm getting showered down and everything, and I'm not saying anything.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
Am I saying anything? And I'm like just, and then I'm like bleeding from the side of my face and everything. It was like, they take me to the cell and they put me in a one man cell. I mean, it was a two bunk cell, but I'm empty. I'm like, and next thing I know, I'm just sitting there and like 10 minutes later, the sergeant comes up to the door.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
the trick they would do is they would get you back there. Now they got you back there, you're kicking the door or you're doing something. Now they're going to spray you again or they'll starve you to death. What they'll do is they'll say, oh, refusing to eat.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
Yeah, because they walk by the cell and they've got to hand feed you your tray. Oh, refusal to eat. And they would open your flap and they'd shut your flap. And they would take two or three days and they wouldn't even feed you. And then eventually they would, you know, the nurse come, oh, you want to eat? All the officers not feeding me? Right. That's going to go over well.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
So, you know, so the sergeant comes to me and he knows me. He's like, what's up, man? I was like, look, look, I had the thing. I was like, dude. And he's like, yeah, he's like, he's like, it's the same. He said, it's on fire. I said, sergeant's like, look, man, just feed me, man. Don't gas me. I ain't saying a word.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
He said, all right. Two or three hours later, I get a roommate. They move somebody into my thing. So that way, now I know since they put somebody in there, they're not going to gas me every day.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
So now I'm in there with them, and I end up getting like 60 days for a weapon charge or whatever. And the whole time I'm on the compound, I'm like, you know, my buddy sends me a note back there. He's like, the guy I checked into, he's downstairs. He's in fear of his life now.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
But the problem now is I have a weapon charge, and he put the fear of life, he checked in under me, so they can't put us both back on the compound. Right. So they transfer me, and I end up getting transferred to Taylor C.I.,
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
Yeah, but he thought the first time when he dropped the note, I would just go away.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
No one would say anything. Yeah. And then, yeah, that's how it is, man. People in prison will literally sell their soul for a noodle. Yeah. It's the craziest thing I've ever seen.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
Oh, yeah. So catfishing in prison. So my buddy Nick, good old Nick, man, he had the catfishing game down. Right. So you would sit there and you would do this. These crazy women will write dudes that are locked up. They're in love with it. It's such a control thing, right? It goes back to dark psychology where you're like –
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
I'm like, there is no equipment. I don't have anything. They're like, no, no, no, we've pulled your address, and we see you've gotten thousands of packages delivered here, and you've gotten all in your area. Who are you working for? It's like, you know, just snitch is okay. I'm like, I would have snitched. I'm going to jail here. Like, I got nobody to snitch on but myself.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
you're controlling them but they think they're controlling you right and he's like writing these guys he's even writing dudes right and i remember one time like he's writing the dude wanted to come visit him and he's like nick's like no bro you can't come visit me because like i'll get in trouble here you know they'll you know they'll they'll beat me up here you know they think they find out that we're we're an item we're in love and he's just like getting them to send money to him and
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
Yeah, and I mean he would just and he literally catfish this one girl. I mean She was literally working at Walmart You know, he does not make it a ton of money, right?
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
So she's like sending him his whole paycheck every week and it's like And it's like amazing It's like that it was just like you would sit there and watch these guys Like I mean a girl's name in prison like a pen pal is worth gold, right? And now, I mean, now they have, like, websites you can get put on and all kinds of stuff.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
But it's, like, I remember there was, like, there was the, like, they would pass these girls around like pen pals. Like, they would be like, oh, you know. So, I mean, the thing is, is, like, that's the reason you always would, in state, I don't know how this is unfair, but you always tear your corner of your envelope off and you throw it away. Like, the return address is.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
Yeah, because you don't want someone writing your people and stuff, right? Well, I even had a friend who was basically, he was playing both sides of the fence in prison. He had a girlfriend in prison, and he had a wife on the outside, and he was like even, you know, he was like telling the punk, oh, we're going to get married, and when I got out, we'll leave my wife.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
So the punk goes and grabs the wife's address and writes a letter to her and tells him everything. I'm here with your husband every night. He talks about me. I knew your kids' names. And it's like, this poor guy goes to visitation thinking his wife like starts snapping visitation, like jumped over the table and was like literally choking him. You know, like, you know, it's like, what do you do?
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
Like, why would you even put yourself in that position?
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
What do you want? You know, draw out your penis or something?
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
And they're just, they're like baffled. They don't know what to charge me with. They don't know to charge me with fraud. They don't know to charge me with, you know, they finally end up charging me with attaining property on a false pretense. And I'm like – Do they have a dollar amount? Because I'm assuming nothing. Just for that particular one. That's all they ever got me for at this point.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
Harold, for a cheeseburger, what do I do here?
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
I can't. Yeah, it was just, I was like, I mean, he had, like, a lab going. It was just like, he was writing four or five of them at one time. Oh, listen, there were guys.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
Hey, man. Hey, man, it's... I'm telling you, man, people in prison will... I've never seen people willing to sell their soul for a honey bun and a noodle as much as they will. You're right. I mean, they will. It's like they'll make the craziest lies up or they'll do whatever. They'll promise all kinds of stuff. Oh, yeah.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
My dead grandmother is going to come back from the grave and mail you $100, Matthew. for this honey bun this week.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
Like, you don't know this person. You've written 20 letters. What are you doing? Yeah, like, it's crazy, man. And the thing is, like, I think the worst, though, is the relationships people get in prison. When you start getting into the marriages inside prison, like, some of these guys, they, I mean, like you said, some of them have a lot of time, right?
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
So they look at, like, this is really my husband or this is my significant other. I remember I was at Cross City CI, and, like, I'm sitting there on, like, the pedal bike, and I'm, like, just hanging out with a couple buddies. And I watched one of these, you know, she-male guys come up and see— Punk. They call them punks in prison. Yeah, I didn't know what she wanted to say for the video.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
But, yeah, but so, like, people don't realize the punks were in the prison.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
So they basically take me in front of the magistrate. I've never been in trouble before. The magistrate R&Rs me, lets me go on my own bond. I'm back on the street. The detective calls me like a week later. He's like – I don't have a lawyer. I went to the arraignment and or whatever. And and I was like, I guess we'll get an attorney or whatever.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
The punks... Like, they ain't the gangbangers.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
Like, they run the show. Yeah. They're rock stars. Yeah. They're like, oh, and... Because they got the inmates wrapped around their finger, and they got the guards wrapped around their finger.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
And they're like... So I remember this one monk was sitting there, like, hanging out, and his brother came up to his brother and just slapped him right on the ass and was like, hey, tonight I'm gonna fuck you. And he's like, no, I'm married. My husband's in confinement, blah, blah, blah. And I'm like...
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
Yeah. Yeah. He, he, he wouldn't grab the, he was on the, he was on the weight bar. He was on the weight bar working out. Next thing you know, he couldn't grab, he couldn't grab the knife and just.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
The punk. Oh, went to confinement. Went to confinement. He already had a life sentence. He had two double life sentences. Oh, okay. So what does it matter? What can you do? Okay, this is what you do. You kill somebody in Florida prison like that, right? You slap somebody up. They don't...
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
I mean, if you already got a double license, you're going to get sent to either Santa Rosa or you'll get sent to Florida State Penitentiary. And you'll go to closed management. You'll be in closed management three to five years. And then when you're done there, then you go back on the compound. Like – Yeah, there's nothing you can do. Like, that's it. Like, what are you going to do?
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
I mean, but now when you get people in closed management, there's been – because when I – when they sent me to closed management, I was like, man, there's some dudes that have been back there seven, eight, nine years. And, like, that's a mindfuck.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
To be in a small one-man cell for, you know, 20 hours a day. I mean, it's a, it's a mind fog.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
And my mom was like, I didn't know how serious trouble I was in.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
Like, like, like they were building a case because they're like they're like they have years of this stuff. Like they're like, like, you know, we're going to, you know, so the so they get me to get me back downtown. And then I went to an attorney and I guess they're working a deal out. They don't care at this point about what I've done. They just want to know how I did it.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
So the deal I strike with them is show us how you did it and you'll walk on probation.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
So they take me into this room at the UPS center. We go to meet downtown. We drive up to the UPS center, and there's all these UPS executives sitting there. They're like, show us how you scammed us. Right. I'm like, what? I'm like, we're getting in trouble here? He's like, no, go ahead. It's fine. So I do the scam in front of them.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
And the guy's like, oh, this is not going to work. This is not how you did it. He's got to have it. Because they thought I had somebody working for UPS on the inside. They're like, our employees are not going to just give you information. I was like, well, they are, pal. So I just sit there and we go through the steps. I call step one, step two, step three, step four.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
Next thing you know, the guy's face is just like you could just see the face. So now if you ever call UPS back in the day. They won't even give you no information unless you have the full tracking number.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
So if anybody has a package issue, you probably can blame me for that.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
No, no, no, no, no. She was returning a book. She's asking me to return a book for her. You're going to run down and return a book for her. And I'm like, I started figuring out like, oh, I can just scheme and scam this way.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
They didn't want to believe that. They don't want to believe that their, their big corporation is so vulnerable to something. Right. Exactly. So, so, you know, I ended up getting basically probation and have to go do like community service and shit. And I'm like, So I basically end up going and getting a job because I got to because I have probation. Right.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
You can't. So and I'm like working at like Kroger. I'm like, this sucks. Like, what the what am I doing? Like, this is horrible. So I end up getting hooked on my buddy of mine. And he's like, look, man, he's like, I know how to do checks. If you're if you if you'll work with me, we do checks. I'm like, I say, well, let's go.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
I was like, so he starts showing me how to do check scams. And I'm like, so wait, because a lot of these in my area up there, a lot of these Habib stores, you know, little mom and pop little stores have no ID needed. You just walk in, you know, on Friday night, hand them your check and you just put a little fingerprint right there. Boom, there you go.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
You cash it in at the gas station, buy a six-pack of beer, and they give you the difference and, you know, no big deal. Right. Well, what we would do is we would go and we would find companies that had, you know, that were in that area, and we would go after 5 o'clock so the company is closed so they can't call and verify it. Right. And we'd go in these, you know, small stores. Right.
Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast
Check Scammer Explains How To Beat The Banks | Charlie Hartman
He would put super glue on our fingers right here. Right. Kind of throw the, you know, the, the sin off and we put them on just randomly. We would do like small amounts, $436, $396. And we would just go and we would just bang checks in five, 60 stores in a row every Friday and Saturday and just make money.