Sob story moves man to help - only he gets conned
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PORTLAND, Ore. – At least four people who cashed checks for a 19-year-old man, trying to do him a favor, say they got stuck with a worthless piece of paper and are out hundreds of dollars in cash.
Adam Wallace was one of those alleged victims and was surprised he may not be the only one.
"I found out there were seven victims and that's the ones that talked to me," he said. "And some of them were his close friends – like closer than I was."
Wallace had reconnected with Paul Byun through the personal ads on Craigslist.
"And he had told me, he gave me the sob story – cuz I had hung out with him for a week – he gave me the sob story that his mom had died in October of ovarian cancer and that his father drained the bank account and went to Korea," Wallace said.
The two made a deal. Byun told Wallace he didn't have the right identification to cash a check so Wallace put it in his account and gave Byun back the same amount of cash. But two checks in two days bounced – about a thousand dollars' worth.
Wallace said Byun tried to pay him back with a third check.
"And I realized it was the same account. But by then he'd already disappeared," Wallace said. "So I posted on Craigslist in several categories to watch out for this guy. And I was getting hits from people saying, 'Oh yeah, I met him and then he wanted to meet up and wanted me to cash a check, too.' And I thought that was kind of weird. Other people said they already met up with him and cashed checks and the checks came back."
Police said the checks Byun was passing were actually stolen from Byun's grandfather.
Wallace decided to beat Byun at his own game. He arranged to meet him Tuesday night and tipped police. They arrested Byun.
"He was on the ground in handcuffs and said, 'Don't worry, I'll pay you back, I'll pay you back, I'm gonna do it tomorrow.' I said, 'Every day is tomorrow. And tomorrow never comes.'"
Byun has been charged with forgery and ID theft. He was released from jail Wednesday morning. KATU News tried to make contact with him through the number he used on Craigslist. While he'd been pretty quick to respond to other people, so far he hasn't responded to KATU News.
This story came to us as a news tip. If you have a story for us email us at newstips@katu.com.
And he was released WHY??? Â This is one reason Identity fraud and this type of scam are so common - no one takes them seriously. Â I saw if he conned all these folks he should be doing jail time unless he can work off the debt and pay them! Â
 @BCH mom the jails aren't big enough, better talk to the taxpayers.
Why would anyone cash a check from a virtual stranger
without waiting for it to clear?
Feed him if he's hungry. Give him bus fare if you must.
But that's it. Then you're out next to nothing if he's a scammer.
Notify ICE !
I cannot believe people actually fall for this scam. This scam has been around forever, and people are warned time and time again about it, yet they still fall for it. Unbelievable.
I applaud Mr. Wallace's courage in working with law enforcement to hold this scammer accountable.
There will always be scammers and those who take advantage of well meaning people. Don't let them prevent you from helping the truly needy.  Better to help 9 needy people and 1 scammer then no one at all.
I was also scammed by this young man. I got to know him through a craigslist ad. He has sex with older men to gain their confindence, and then pulls this kind of stuff. As a married man I was too embarrassed to press charges. I thought I was helping a sick young man with medical bills. I'm sure I'm not the only one.
 @GotMe2 It sounds you got what you had coming, does your wife know you had sex with a dudett you met on craigslist?
Hey but if you come forward then you can have justice too right? I am sorry to hear that he got you too.
 @GotMe2 Find out of you can press charges privately. And if you are cheating on your spouse, here is a word of advice: STOP IT. You have no right to put your spouse unknowingly at risk for STDs that can cause serious illness, infertility,  cancer...even death. If you want to do something "nice" for someone...that is what you do. If you need to come out of the closet, then DO IT and quit messing up someone else's life. Be compassionate.  Be honest. It will feel  and be worth it in the long run. Living a lie only spirals down and down and destroys everyone it touches.
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 @PDXGUY8484 Everyone who is hiding their connections to this guy about sexual activities with him  needs to quit hiding and be honest ...esp. if you have a spouse. Being scammed is not a sign of anything other than trusting someone who lied to you. Don't tell lies and don't believe lies. Karma comes around.
Sores on face, and sucking his upper lip, i would say he is a Meth addict :( Â Checks ,, who uses checks other then to pay bills lol
If you check out the other photos he is a clean cut person. Also he was addicted to xanax and oxycodene.
The sore on his face was because he was faceplanted by the police when he was tased.
 @James Lunz My thoughts as well...
Yea that's why the dispatch told me that a second call just came in regarding the same incident Thnx tho
Actually Mr. Wallace tipped the police the exact location according to the 911 call. Mr. reportnewsnotgossip.
Mr. Wallace did NOT tip the police I called Portland Police at 1:58 AM I called Washington County at 3:09 AM
And Mr wallace did NOT tip the police I DID
A lot of people have probably become victims to this guy and are scared to come forward. But at least he did.
At least Mr. Wallace had the guts to let people know and to track the man down. Most people would feel embarrassed and not do anything and just let him continue. I respect the man.
Reports like these put the victim in more danger
I also wonder if the school (WPC) was notified by the gossip reporters that they (the gossip reporters) were gonna film on school grounds
I wonder why he (Mr. Byun) hasn't responded, who in the world would wanna respond to gossip reporters?
Like W.C. Fields says,there's a sucker born every minute.And this proves it.
I can't believe he (mr. Wallace) talked to the "news" people all they do is report gossip, which makes the "suspects even angrier, which would make the suspect target more people. People should just let the police do their job, if people wanna do the police's job maybe they should apply to the police force.
Just another con game.
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Here's another con game: I got an unsolicited check in the mail a while back. It was postmarked from Scarborough, Ontario Canada and the person requested that I deposit the check into my account and then withdraw x-amount of money and send it to him via Western Union. The person said do not say anything to Western Union since they were secretly evaluating their performance. Nice try! I kept the check to show my kids what a scam looks like.
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Here's one more con game: a guy came through the lunch area I was at today and tapped my shoulder and handed me a card. The card said he was "deaf and selling these ABC cards." It's just another con game. When the guy saw me signing, he immediately collected all of the other cards and left the building. NEVER NEVER give those folks any money. It's a con game to them as well. Another time I confronted a guy doing the ABC cards and asked him why he does it and his response was "easy money" and he laughed.
Mr. Wallace feels he has been reduced to the size of an atom, hope he learned his lesson.
@swimbad I hope so too
Well Atom Wallace, I bet you don't feel so big now!
@swimbad I love it when you post to yourself ;)
 @Pvpbw  @swimbad I learned that trick from LEE.628739428596248372877
That was pretty stupid, I think I'll leave it.
Funny...he doesn't look Nigerian...  :-P
You were in tune with a buddy and trusted him and we can no longer do that in regards to anything on Craigslist, or any social medium. Sorry, but I no longer even do Facebook and block all calls that have a long period before someone comes on to try and scam me. Money is tight right now - just be very wary, OK??
 @boned Hmmm. I can understand some websites and phone calls but Facebook is only as safe and dangerous as you make it. Not sure how long it's been since you were on Facebook but they have security measures in place that do protect your account but you have be diligent in making sure you take precautions (such as changing your password, etc.) but I'm sure you know that.
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I've been on Facebook for 4 years now and I've never had any problems but I'm pretty cautious about who I friend and let see my Facebook page content.
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 @scoreboard /agree I have ~50 friends on facebook and they are people I am friends with in the real world or family. Amazingly, I have never had an issue with facebook... ...other than thier horrid programming.