01x47 - Good Samaritan Teen Rip-Off

[bunniefuu]

How many suckers did you find
on all the apps that sent you money?

A few different people.

He's a member of over 50 different groups.

I felt like it was easy.

I could get away with it.

'Cause you really don't
care what other people feel?

You're really a sociopath.

[announcer] This is Judy Justice.

[theme music playing]

[announcer] Seventeen-year-old Luke Stein
is suing his former neighbor,

nineteen-year-old Gabriel Reyes,

for unpaid loans given
through a social media app.

[Kevin] Court come to order.

[Judge Judy] Have a seat, please.

Hello, Judge.
Case number 1121, Stein versus Reyes.

- Thank you, sir.
- [Kevin] Welcome.

[Judge Judy] Mr. Stein,
this case is about the return of money

that you gave to Mr. Reyes.

And what I'd like you to do is
explain to me how and when you met him.

[Luke] Back on July the 19th of 2020,

the defendant, Mr. Reyes,

made a post on the social media platform
Nextdoor.

- What is Nextdoor?
- [Luke] Sure.

Nextdoor is a social media platform

that enables neighbors
to connect with each other.

So you can maybe connect
with neighbors

about a lost pet that someone found.

You can recommend a local restaurant,

maybe find a yoga group to do yoga with.

So it's essentially a way that neighbors
can connect with the neighbors

and make connections with each other.

[Judge Judy] When did you first join?

[Luke] I joined Nextdoor back in 2017.

How old were you when you joined?

[Luke] When I joined, I was 13.

[Judge Judy]
Did you connect with just neighbors?

Just neighbors.

[Judge Judy] From the time you were 13 on,

were you a regular visitor to that site?

I was relatively inactive on Nextdoor.

- [Judge Judy] Inactive.
- Correct.

[Judge Judy] What happened
in July of 2020, on the 19th?

How old were you in July?

Uh, 16.

- Okay.
- [Luke] And the defendant,

he made a post on the main feed, so...

- Do you have it?
- Unfortunately, I don't.

[Judge Judy] Is there any reason
why you don't have it?

Yes. I tried locating that post,

and I believe it may have been deleted
by the defendant,

which is why I couldn't locate it.

So if the defendant deletes the post...

Do you have the ability
to delete posts that you post?

No. What had happened is
I moved neighborhoods.

And when you move neighborhoods,

all the posts
from your other neighborhoods

get deleted automatically.

Well, they have to know that you moved,

- so you have to advise them.
- Yes. I changed all my...

[Judge Judy] Just a second.
So you changed it.

- Yes.
- [Judge Judy] And it was all deleted.

- How old are you, Mr. Reyes?
- Nineteen.

[Judge Judy] So in July of 2020,
you were 17 or 18?

Eighteen I believe at that time.

[Judge Judy] Well then, I'm gonna ask you.

Do you remember the post

that introduced you to Mr. Stein
in July of 2020?

Yes, ma'am. So at that time,
I did not have a job

so I was looking around the neighborhood
and doing little odd jobs.

And I had broke my phone
and I had logged into my mother's phone

and post on there,
"Can anyone, you know, give...

[Judge Judy] Not...you know.

You logged in on your mother's phone
to the neighborhood website.

- Yes, ma'am.
- And you said...

[Gabriel] "Can anyone
give me money for a phone?"

[Judge Judy]
And did the plaintiff respond?

[Gabriel] He had private messaged me
and asked do I currently have a job?

[Judge Judy] How do you do...
how do you private message?

- I don't understand that.
- When you click on somebody's profile,

it'll say send a message
and you just click it

and you'll type then
what you want to tell them.

So that's what you call a private message?

- [Gabriel] Yes.
- [Judge Judy] As opposed to

a public message that you post.

A public message,
is say they post something

and if you click reply then,

you reply to them
and everybody can see it.

Private,
only you and the person can see it.

Is there a book
that gives you all these rules?

[chuckles] I'm being serious with you.

It's so frightening to my generation
to have to know about all these rules.

I know I sometimes will be sitting
with one of my grandchildren

and I wanna look up something,

and they'll scream at me,

"Don't do that,
they'll know that you're watching him."

I just want to find out how old they are.

Or something, some piece of trivia,

because I didn't know
that if you press something,

that people or the person
who has posted something

can see that you're reading it.

- Did I get that right?
- Yeah.

- [Judge Judy] Close?
- Yes. Yes.

I need a social media monitor.

I think there are many in my generation

that needs social media monitors.

Okay. So Mr. Reyes, you're 18, he's 16.

"Can anyone give me money for a phone?"

Did you get more
than one response or just one?

- No, I only got one response.
- [Judge Judy] Only one.

Okay. And do you remember
what he responded to you?

[Gabriel] He had asked me,
"Do you have a job?

Will you be able to pay me back?"

And I said, "No,
we're in the middle of a COVID pandemic.

I don't have any means of income."

And he loaned me the money anyways

and felt sympathy
and still loaned me the money.

[Judge Judy] Just a sec.
Well, you said those two things.

That's very interesting.

Would you go back to what he said
in the beginning

about needing a phone and his phone broke?

He said, "I broke my phone
and logged into my mother's phone

and posted on there."

Okay. What was he...what did he say
before that what he was doing?

[Whitney] He said, "I did not have a job.

So I was looking around
the neighborhood and doing odd jobs."

Okay. So that's what I thought you said.

You were doing odd jobs
in the neighborhood.

- Yes.
- [Luke] Yes, Your Honor.

[Judge Judy] Just a second.
What kinds of odd jobs?

[Gabriel] I was trying to locate
whether it be mowing yard.

[Judge Judy] Oh, just a sec.
So you were mowing lawns.

Yes, ma'am.

What else were you doing
around the neighborhood?

[Gabriel] I was walking people's pets.
I was washing cars...

[Judge Judy] You what...just a second.

- You would pet-sitting?
- Yes, ma'am.

[Judge Judy] You were washing cars.

- Were you going to school?
- No, ma'am.

[Judge Judy] So you were
making money doing odd jobs?

Okay.

How much money did he give you?

[Gabriel] He had given me $54.

[Judge Judy] And how did he
get that money to you?

[Gabriel] Through Cash App at that time.

- [Judge Judy] Did you ever meet him?
- No.

[Judge Judy] Is this the first time
you're meeting him?

In person? Yes.

[Judge Judy] So he Cash Apped you $54?

- It was $57.
- [Judge Judy] Okay.

- Does that sound right?
- Yes, ma'am.

[Judge Judy] Fifty-seven.
And that was in...

- July 19th.
- [Judge Judy] ...July of 2020.

When did you come back to the wells?

[Gabriel]
I came back and I had to ask him,

"Hey, can you give me more money?

- It was kind of just a [indistinct]
- [Judge Judy] On what date?

[Gabriel] The next month, actually.

- [Judge Judy] In August?
- Yes.

[Judge Judy]
Well, did you buy a phone in July?

I had bought a phone in July,
and the phone didn't end up shipping.

So I had asked for more
so I could get another one

because it didn't even ship to me.

How much did you ask him for in August?

- Fifty-seven again.
- Fifty-six.

[Judge Judy] When did you go back
to the well again?

[Gabriel]
I had asked another time for $25.

Month and year?

It was same time in August,
I had asked for $25.

So now you see you had a sucker?

Yes, ma'am.

A sucker with a little bit.

How many suckers did you find
on all the apps that you were on?

How many? Stop and think
before you answer my question.

How many suckers did you find

on any app that sent you little bits
of money in 2020?

- A few different people.
- [Judge Judy] Yeah.

And they sent you small amounts of money

but you came back regularly.

How did I know that?

You know why I know that?

Because when dishonest people
commit bad acts,

and if they get caught the first time

and have some sort of consequence,
they don't do it again.

That's my history in the justice system.

I did try to use him
because I felt like it was easy.

Social media made you anonymous.

It can make you an anonymous thief

or it could make you an anonymous bully,

so that you can do all the bad things
that, according to you,

you would never do in person.

[theme music playing]

[announcer] Seventeen-year-old Luke Stein

claims his former neighbor,

nineteen-year-old Gabriel Reyes,

owes for unpaid loans
given through a social media app.

You get caught the first time,
you burglarize somebody's house,

and you get thrown into jail
for a couple of days,

and I don't care if you're 14 or 20.

You think twice about
burglarizing another house.

But if you go to court and they say,

"We don't want you to do that again."

You said, "That was easy. I'd made $900.

I got cash, I got jewelry,
I sold it, no consequence.

I'm gonna try that again."

And if you do it again,
and this time they said,

"This time, I really mean it.

Next time, there's gonna be
a consequence."

And next time, nothing happens.

And then you wind up with a 15-year-old
that [indistinct] through people.

Do you understand? That's the rule.

That's common sense.

If you do something
and there's no consequence,

society doesn't impose a consequence,

people think that that's okay to do.

You can scam as many people as you like,

and you figured out Mr. Reyes,

I mean, I'm listening to you.

And you thought I was actually
looking at your history in here.

So you said,
"Well, I better tell the truth."

That's a skill that I learned
over the years.

But I knew that if you did it with him

half a dozen times successfully,

and you can do it anonymously 'cause
you don't even have to look at 'em,

then, there are other suckers out there

that say, "Oh, this poor kid,
he's looking for a job.

He doesn't have a phone.

If he had a phone, he could find a job.

You know, he could post things
and people would give him jobs,

mowing the lawn,
and babysitting, and meanwhile,

you're laying in your bed
using social media

to have several people
send you enough so you can get by.

Would you think that that's sort of
outrageous conduct, Mr. Reyes?

I was actually looking for jobs,
but I felt like,

yes, I did try to use him
because I felt like it was easy.

I could get away with it.

You know, we started talking
and it was kind of, like,

I didn't have to meet him in person.

So it was a lot easier to ask for
something.

I'm not the type
to ask for something but...

[Judge Judy] Social media made you
anonymous, is that what happened?

- Yes, ma'am.
- [Judge Judy] That's what happens.

Social media made you anonymous.

It can make you an anonymous thief
or it can make you win an anonymous bully.

It can make you anonymous,

so that you can do all the bad things

that, according to you,
you would never do in person.

You would think twice
about doing it in person.

So you would say social media
gave you a bad lesson,

taught you something
that was morally wrong, right?

On well-meaning apps, the neighborhood,

what could be better, Mr. Rogers,
the neighborhood,

you could connect, find your last dog,

find somebody to help you move,

find somebody who needs you
to help them move.

All of those things are wonderful.

And then you find somebody and you look...

actually, you, you don't look like
a bad guy.

And you fessed up when you thought
I had the goods on you anyway,

then you can find a predator.

I'm not suggesting that your conduct
was predatory,

although a little bit because you were
looking around for suckers,

and you found them.

Unfortunately for you,
your sucker was a minor.

So you have to return to him
all the money that he gave you.

Because a minor is not
allowed to make a contract.

How much did you give him all together?

[Luke] This is all that I gave him.

Every single one of these
is a transaction from Cash App.

I assume you added them up.

I have the total that he owes me,
not how much I gave him in total.

Well, what's the difference?

[Luke] The difference is
how much I gave him

versus how much he paid,
because he did pay me back.

So at first, for the first three months,
he was paying me back,

which is why I felt comfortable
giving him money.

Oh, so first, he gave...
oh, this is gonna...

- [Luke] Yeah.
- ...get worse than I thought.

So he gave you 57, 56, 25, and then?

[Luke] So ten, then we have fifty-six.

[Judge Judy] Give me the date and amount.

Uh, July 19th, 57.

August 3rd, 56.

August 24th, 56 again.

August 26th, ten.

September 14th, 50.

September 25th, ten.

November 8th, 20.

November 8th, 50.

November 12th, 20.

November 14th, 37.

November 19th, 35.

November 19th, 15.

November 20th, 26.

November 22nd, 25.

November 22nd, 30.

November 23rd, two.

November 29th, 55.

December 3rd, ten.

December 6th, ten.

December 7th, five.

And at this point,
I stopped the rest of requests from him,

and I stopped approving it.

[Judge Judy] I'd like to see the requests.

- Sure.
- [Judge Judy] Let me see it, please.

So what were you at at,
a pizza place, and you needed cash?

I mean, what was five dollars for?

Oh, hold on a second.

Then, now we're getting serious.

So now, you have ten, five,
twenty-five, fifty,

and request, this was on December 16th,

for a hundred dollars.

"I'll pay you in two weeks.

I'll owe you 200."

Then January 8th, 70.

Didn't answer him.

February 4th, I assume of this year?

- Correct.
- [Judge Judy] Which was 38.

- Did you actually give him $20...
- [Luke] No.

- [Judge Judy] ...in February.
- I did not.

[Judge Judy] 'Cause it says received

and request to borrow money until Monday,

May 7th, just recently.

[Luke] Yes, that was his latest request.

[Judge Judy] And he paid you back some.

How much did he pay you back?

[Luke] In total?
He paid me back about $400 or $500?

[Judge Judy] No,
I don't wanna know about $400 or $500.

I want you to take a calculator.

Figure out how much you gave him
and how much he paid back.

- [Luke] Sure.
- We're in court.

You have to be a grown up.

If you come to court, okay.

Do you need a calculator?

[Luke] Yes, please.

While you're calculating the number,
'cause you have no numbers there,

- is that correct?
- No, ma'am.

[Judge Judy] Mr. Reyes,
I want you to tell me

on what social platforms you are active

where you have asked people for money?

I want you to think carefully.

I want you to tell me
on what social platform

and what name you use
on that social platform

to get money from people?

Gabriel Reyes, Facebook.

[Judge Judy] And you have people
put money in what account?

[Gabriel] My personal Cash App account.

- [Judge Judy] That says Gabriel Reyes?
- Gabriel Reyes.

[Judge Judy]
So you have to use your real name?

- Yes, ma'am.
- [Judge Judy] Now,

when was the last time
you posted on Facebook asking for money?

[Gabriel] About a month ago.

[Judge Judy] How much did you get?

Actually, I didn't get anything?
Nobody responded.

[Judge Judy] Nobody responded.

When was the first time
you asked for money on Facebook?

When I was 12 years old.

[Judge Judy] Did you get money
when you were 12 years old?

- Yes.
- [Judge Judy] When you were 13?

- Yes.
- When you were 14?

- [Gabriel] Yes.
- See what I mean?

Cut it off the first time,

all the people that gave you money,

because you made up different stories
about why you needed money.

'Cause you're smart,
I mean, you're smart.

That doesn't mean you're moral,
but you were smart.

Other than Facebook, what do you want?

Those are the only... Facebook and Nextdoor

were the only two I asked for money on

because on my other profiles,
people actually know who I am in person.

Of those two people, one is dead,
k*lled when he was 15.

And one is doing life
without the possibility of parole

since he's 15 years old in solitary.

I'm just telling you.

It's your choice, your life, you make it.

[theme music playing]

[announcer] Seventeen-year-old Luke Stein

is accusing his former neighbor,

nineteen-year-old Gabriel Reyes
of refusing to pay back multiple loans

made through a social media app.

Did you find his Facebook page?

I didn't. There's a lot
of Gabriel Reyeses on Facebook,

and I wouldn't be able
to see the transactions anyway

if they were private messages
or if they're on his page

- because we're not connected.
- Have your phone?

- [Gabriel] Yes.
- Bring up your Facebook account.

[Gabriel] Yeah.

Sarah, would you take his phone
'cause you...

- Okay.
- ...had something better than I do.

I'm gonna show you,
I'll pull up the groups that they're in.

[Sarah] Thank you.

Okay. Sarah, could you look back
at his history

and see any where
her was asking for money?

Sure.

It was through a group on there.

It's called It's Only Money.

It's where people get on there
and ask for money.

- Do you understand what he's saying?
- Uh-hmm.

Glad you do.

It's Only Money.

Did you ever hear of that?

It's on... Facebook. It's Only Money.

So that's, uh, a subtitle
on your Facebook account.

That's the group name where...

[Judge Judy] That's the group name.

You can create groups on Facebook

- with other people.
- Okay.

He's been a member of
It's Only Money since October 27th, 2020.

- Just waiting for the posts to load.
- Yeah. But he said

he's been getting money
from Facebook since he's 12.

That's six years ago.

Different outlets... I'll delete stuff.

I'll leave groups,
and once you leave groups,

you can't see your posts in there anymore.

Well, why would you leave the group
that you were getting money from?

People would catch on.

[Judge Judy] So then you changed it?

Well, that's something that Facebook
really ought to know about.

I mean, they're so vigilant
about so many things,

they should try to be vigilant
about people scamming

through a use of their product.

Are you listening, Mr. Zuckerberg?

He's a member of
over 50 different groups like that.

So, I can't really go through
each individual one.

That sounds pretty right.

Did you come up
with a figure for me, Mr. Stein?

- Yes, ma'am, I did.
- [Judge Judy] What's the figure?

I paid him $1,304.

[Judge Judy] And he paid you back?

Four hundred and sixty-six.

Leaving a net of?

Eight hundred and thirty-eight unpaid.

Eight hundred and thirty-eight dollars.

That's for the plaintiff.

Mr. Reyes, I certainly hope

that your activities shed a light
on a flaw in not only your character,

but in the character of other people
who prey on other people's goodwill

and being good citizens,
and trying to be a good neighbor,

and trying to be helpful.

And then it turns out
that they're a sucker.

And with people who are savvy
on the internet

as it appears that you already at age 18,

I say only one thing to you, Mr. Reyes.

You are clearly a smart man
who has reasonable IQ.

You can either use that,

and I once said this to a couple
of delinquents in the Family Court

who were really smart.

And I said to them,

"You can take that energy
and forge it into something positive,

so that you can leave a positive footprint
of yourself on the planet."

Because you certainly have
the capacity to do that.

Or you can continue to do what you do,

because it's an easy way out
and it really just demonstrates

that you're really a sociopath,

'cause you really don't care
what other people feel, you know.

And what I'm going to tell you is,

though...of those two people,

and we're talking about 40 years ago,

one is dead, k*lled when he was 15,

and one is doing life
without the possibility of parole

since he's 15 years old in solitary.

I'm just telling you, it's your choice.

Your life, you make it.

We're done.

Your Honor. I have one other thing.

The case is now over.

- Okay.
- [Kevin] Court is adjourned.

I think it was a good decision.

I like, uh, how she talked with
the defendant a lot about his actions.

Happy with her decision.

How they were wrong.

Um, I definitely appreciate
her talking with him about that.

It was a lot of just my own fault,
because I didn't...

I wasn't smart enough to not get caught.

Uh, just the fact that
he might do this again,

I think that's highly likely, um,
not only taking advantages of minors.

A lot of it was I forgot to delete things.

Or just people in general.

My generosity, taking advantage of that,

- it's just extremely disappointing.
- I'll take her advice.

I definitely hope
he takes the judge's advice.

And overall,
I am pleased with their decision.

[Sarah] You know,
I like to think of myself

as pretty adept
in the social media world.

But after looking at his phone
and seeing on his own Facebook page,

that he's a member
of 30 to 50 different groups

where hundreds of people hundreds,
hundreds, thousands of people meet.

And the group name is just,
"I need money," or Cash App,

or "Wants, needs, desires,
but need money."

Things like this, I had no idea that
this was an entire subsect of Facebook,

and I could see how
someone like the plaintiff,

especially during the pandemic,

when you can't meet in person,
I could see how, you know,

people could prey upon that
and get in these groups

- and just get 'em on the hook.
- [Judge Judy] Yeah.

That clearly was this young man's
full-time job.

Because he got many people to do
what you don't do something like that

- unless you are successful.
- Uh-hmm.

And clearly, according to him,

he was successful people gave him
lots of little money.

But he was so clever.

He didn't ask for a lot of money.

So if he got 10 people to give him $25,

he's made not weeks income

- and he hasn't left his bedroom.
- Uh-hmm.

But I was so serious, you know,

and I know that there are
a lot of people out there

that disagree
with the position that I hold,

which is if you reinforce bad behavior,

by positivity, people will replicate
that bad behavior.

You're not supposed to reinforce
that bad behavior

without having a negative consequence.

So that it becomes a learning experience.

And this kid started
when he was 12, and nothing happened.

And that's what delinquency is all about,

which is where I come from.

And the system that I think
still hasn't found an answer

on how to teach young people
that there are rules,

and we live in a society,
and society says,

"These are the rules
that we're all comfortable with."

And if you transgress from those rules,

society is going to push back.

A negative consequence has to happen.

I've been crying this song for 45 years.

I hope somebody sometime will listen.

- [Sarah] You made it...
- So far, I haven't seen it.

[announcer] Want justice?



[theme music playing]