240. 911 Bourbon - Avoiding Bourbon Scammers

Welcome to another trip down the Bourbon Road with your hosts Jim and Mike. So grab a glass of your favorite bourbon and kick back.

Well you know Jim, you know what I love to have? some bourbon aged maple syrup from seldom seen farms up in Ohio. He's taking charred bourbon barrels that have been used. He's taking to fill them with that maple syrup. That's some age six to nine months. And then I get to pour them all over pancakes. It's like a fat man's dream, isn't it?

Well, you're eating your pancakes and I'm drinking an old fashioned made with it. Uh, you know, I'll take a half ounce of that maple syrup, two ounces of bourbon, a splash of bitters, put it over some ice and man, is it one heck of an old fashioned. So you eat your pancakes. I'll drink my old fashioned. We'll both be happy. How's that? Yeah. Where can they find this syrup at Jim? You could find it on seldom seen maple.com. You can buy it by the bottle. You can buy it by the case. They have gift sets. Check them out.

Hey, this is Mike Hyatt and you're listening to the Bourbon Road. This is a special bonus episode, so you want to make sure you listen in on Friday morning to a special kind of an extra for us. But that's our main show on Friday morning with Green River Distillery. You do not want to miss that. We're set now with Jacob Kall, their master distiller. and talking about everything that is Green River. And there's a special announcement in there. So you want to make sure you check it out. There is also a giveaway at the end of that. So don't miss it listeners. But tonight, tonight, or really this morning, Wednesday morning, we're getting to sit down with Mike from 911 Bourbon. You see him on the internet. He's seen him on Instagram. He is fighting bourbon scammers, whiskey scammers, people ripping people off. Mike, welcome to the Bourbon Road.

Mike, I appreciate you having me here, my man.

Yeah, so we wanted to have you on and kind of this is a short show, but we wanted to have you on to kind of talk about how to avoid getting scammed on social media about buying bourbon and stuff.

Absolutely. Yeah. So just get right down to it. Social media is just being flooded with scammers at the moment. And essentially, their motive is to obviously steal your money. They don't have anything that you want. They're just out there just trying to make a quick dollar off you. So essentially, they're just sliding in everyone's DMs. Obviously, noticeable profiles. And they're just going to come right after you be like, Hey, look, you know, like, say, for instance, like, you know, you have a bottle of William Leroux Weller. I'll be like, Oh my gosh, you know, like, I can't believe you got that bottle. I want it. And they're going to be like, Oh, hey, you know what? I got this bottle side in my DM and let's make a deal. And that should never happen. And it won't ever happen. You won't get that bottle. But essentially that's kind of what they're doing. They're trying to entice people on these unicorn bottles, these prestigious bottles that everyone wants on their bars. And they're suckering people for their money.

Yeah, just last week on our episode, uh, on our Instagram post, um, somebody came in there and said, what are you looking for? And we did a post, a photo, I don't know, there was probably 20 different Buffalo trace bottles in there. And some of those are, uh, allocated and I don't know why somebody would look at that and say, do these guys need any more bourbon or their podcast? They'd need more bourbon because we don't, um, everyone finds us some way, but I knew automatically, automatically I knew this guy is a scanner and he's just putting fillers out there to see what he can get to hit. And if he does it a hundred time and every 99th one hits, he's probably making some money. Right. So just kind of. showing what people are looking for tonight. I'm actually drinking a 2020 William LaRue Weller. That's what I'm drinking on. That's what I'm talking about. One of those big boy bottles, right? That everybody's looking for, right? That Prestige whiskey, bourbon, bourbon whiskey that you want to have on your shelf. What are you drinking?

Well, Mike, I kind of wanted to kind of piggyback off this last show here and drink my favorite 10 year weeded Eagle Ray.

Well, hey, I knew somebody was going to say it.

Yeah, that one tickled me a little bit. So I had to kind of throw that one in there. But yeah, no, just some Eagle Rare tonight. May bump it up a notch since you're you're drinking Top Shelf there.

What are some things to look for? You know, if somebody says, OK, I really want to do this, what's some stuff to look for to know?

Yeah, I've kind of like over my time just like jotted some notes down on buying off of social media. One is like, don't buy from people off of social media. That's my number one thing. Rule two is repeat rule one. But my main thing is if it's too good to be true, it is. It's too good to be true. No one's going to approach you and say, hey, look, you seem like a really cool guy. I'm going to sell you this Pavi 15 for $115 MSRP. That's not going to happen. Um, other kind of things to look for is just like just weird names. Um, you know, there's some people out there called like Jim bourbon 007. Um, that that's not going to be someone legit. Um, I hear lately these past few months, I've been seeing the sale of scammers coming out of Jamaica and everything. So it's like home of bamboo or just like bourbon agent or something like that. It's just really awkward phrasing. Just stay away from those. It's like my biggest red flag there.

What about unopened bottles like photos and photos and photos of just like 10, uh, C Y P B's and, uh, 10, you know, Eagle rares and stuff like that.

Right. Um, and so, yeah, great point. Um, you know, I think if you were to look at that account, uh, some of them, uh, you're going to see like, there's going to be 200 posts in two days. Uh, their first first post was two days ago, right? Um, so like stay away from that. Um, and then just kind of look around what the area like is the backdrops all consistent. Um, like, you know, it's like, is, do they have the same, you know, color pigment of skin? Like, you know, if they're like doing a crotch shot or something like that, or, you know, is, um, uh, this kitchen different than that kitchen, you know, this bar different than that bar, uh, things of that nature.

Yeah, there's a, on Facebook, there was somebody that tried to enter our Facebook group, the Bourbon Roadies, using my photos and using the Bourbon Road photos and calling themselves Big Chief. But he didn't quite look like me. And sure enough, our moderators caught it like within seconds. So, and that's what he was, was a scammer. And we get those in our bourbon group. People try to join almost every day and our moderators and Jim and myself know how to look for those and make sure we block them. So what do you need to do if you think you found a bourbon scammer?

Yeah, absolutely. If you found a Burman scanner, you know, I'm not the only one who reports these profiles. There are other ones. There's like whiskey scammers is a big one. I would have to go through my phone, but there's a few other people out there in the bourbon police. We're both all sharing these profiles and everything like that. So if you're not getting one of us, you can reach the other one. I'd like to respond to everybody as fast as I can. Unfortunately, I don't because I've got so many filtered messages and everything. But yeah, definitely just tag our names. I think that bears more weight than anything. Because by the time I reach that tag, they've already blocked me. So we know that that's a scammer there.

Yeah, it's nice to see that you're helping out and stuff. Has Instagram and Facebook, have they embraced you and kind of helped you out or have they been abrasive towards it?

Actually, they've been the latter. They've not been super helpful. In fact, I've had my account threatened to be removed multiple times from Instagram because I called some dude a butt hole. Yeah. And just that not, not, you know, not a hole in just a bottle. And, uh, they, they threatened to remove my account.

Over just over that right there.

Yeah. Yes. And I was bullying, um, and I was like, clearly. And so like I've, I've sent Instagram multiple emails, messages saying, Hey, look, my profile is my, my, uh, resume. Please hire me. Like I would love to come on as like an alcohol person, review content and, you know, let's go. It's sad because like they've got, you know, review specialist for drugs and even like COVID-19 cards, but they don't have anything for alcohol. Beauty products.

Yeah. And that could be dangerous. Even if somebody went so far as to sell booze online, but it wasn't booze. It's something else in the bottles. I'm talking about like counterfeit bottles, like a Pappy or something like that. Right. And those are out there. It's a known fact that they're out there. That could be dangerous and get somebody sick or even kill them. So, um, You know, I agree with you. You got to report those people on the spot right then and there and try to get them blocked. You know, just block the heck out of them. They're just scammers and stuff. They're just looking for money is all they're looking for.

It's a sad fact.

But some of the new people that are coming into bourbon, there's new people coming into bourbon every day. Every day. They're looking for those bottles and they get excited and the thrill of the hunt, that adrenaline rush will push them over the top to go ahead and try that. And if it wasn't working, there wouldn't be no bourbon scammers. So obviously it's working on somebody.

Absolutely. Absolutely. It's a shame. I hate to hear it, but yeah, it's one of the things they're going to find someone new. Well, how did you, how did you get into that? That's a great question. And I think, you know, you're the first person to ask me that in a long time. Um, so back in 2019, um, my wife was near the interim of her pregnancy. And so like, you know, we were doing like a lot of sleeping, just kind of lounging around, just, you know, making sure the baby was comfortable and everything. Um, I got, I got invited into a bourbon group and, um, We had all kind of noticed that these people were just reaching out to us and like, Hey, you know, I got just like unsolicited. It wasn't even in the comments or nothing like that. They would just find like profiles where like we'd like hashtag Blanton's or hashtag Pappy or something like that. Sliding our DMs and be like, Hey, look, I've got this bottle for sale, here's the list of what I've got, yada, yada, yada. And so we all just kind of were like, this is stupid. Let's just play tricks on them, right? Let's say like, hey, do you have Pappy Van Winkie or like you have a purple label Weller or something like that. It's just kind of lead them on and they're like, oh yeah, yeah, yeah, we got that, we got that. say like, you know, just raunchy things towards them, give them like fake addresses and stuff and they would just kind of lead on. So initially 911 Bourbon was just kind of like a parody account to expose these scammers on like how silly they were being with these labels and stuff that they thought they had. And then it grew into like, hey, I actually got scammed from this guy. Can you put his information out there for me? That way no one else gets it. And so I had a couple of people where they were like, hey, look, I got scammed for $1,000 for PAPI 15. I got scammed for 500 bucks for Russell Reserve 13, stuff like that. So can you pump this out? And so it's kind of just grown into that's where it's like, hey, let's collect their information. What's their demo? What's their PayPal? What's their cash app and send it out there. Tag all these, you know, payment platforms and let's try to see if they can help shut them down too.

Yeah, it's, it's not just Facebook or Instagram. Now, you know, we, Jim and I just started, kind of started up our tick tock and stuff. We're not dancing on there, Mike. We're not dancing. Uh, but we, we put some videos up there and you know, we started building, uh, some followers and somebody followed us and said, Hey, I'd like to, sell you some bourbon. And I was like, no, it's not happening. I was like, do you even read who I am or who, who we are? And did you do any research? And I get into that playing mode. I want to play with somebody and say, okay, let's, let's see what you got to say to me. If you want to have a little fun with a scammer and stuff, and they will try everything they can do to, uh, to get you to get you to buy some bourbon from them. So absolutely. Well, it sounds like you're does this fill up your day, you know, or are you just kind of doing this on the side part? You kind of get a job with Instagram, right?

No, I'm definitely not. I mean, if they're going to pay me the bucks, I'd be happy to do it. But no, I have my hand in multiple pods. I work multiple jobs. I'm a mental health counselor by day. I'm a wedding DJ on the weekends. Then I do this kind of in my spare time. Whenever I'm not spending time with my daughter, this is kind of just my fun thing to do.

And you've taken off pretty fast. So how long have you been doing it?

Uh, so it was the end of 2019. Uh, so just, I think November, 2019 is kind of when it started, uh, around that time. And then just kind of just grew from there.

Well, I'm glad you came on and, uh, you know, letting our listeners out there know how not to get scammed on the biggest things, your rules again, what, uh, rule number one, don't buy from Instagram or any social media.

Don't buy from anyone you don't know. Uh, rule number two, repeat rule one.

I mean, that's easy, right? Yeah. And what about blocking people? Um, is how easy is it to block?

It's super easy. Um, all you gotta do is go to the top of their profile, hit those three little dots and just hit block. Um, I find it important to just hit report first and just put like, uh, you know, unsolicited, you know, spamming, something like that. They've got multiple options on there. find just a silly reason to report them. That way Instagram could look into it and they just hit block and then they won't bother you or your followers. And I think that's the biggest thing is that, uh, whenever you're blocking them from your main profile, especially if you have a big following that prevents all your followers from seeing it.

Well, is there anywhere to report people that are calling Eagle rare? We did bourbon.

Yeah, I think there is. I think there's a tab for false information.

Yeah, that's, uh, but just some humor lessons, humor, humor me a little bit and stuff. Um, yeah. Well, Mike, man, thanks for coming on. Where can people find you at?

Absolutely. Uh, so I'm mostly on Instagram at nine one one bourbon. Uh, I will be building a Facebook presence here shortly. So be on the lookout for that. Uh, it will be the same on the domain for that as well. Um, and so those are my bigger ones. Uh, I guess you're going to encourage me to get on TikTok. So I'm not going to be doing anything.

Shut them, shut them down. Shut them down on tick tock, man. I can't, I can't call them bourbon thieves because there's somebody that's called bourbon thieves. Um, but, um, shut down those scammers, down those accounts, uh, your fellow bourbon drinker out. You got some swag too on your website, right?

I do. Yeah. Just a little fun thing I like to do, you know, stir up some silly shirts and stuff. I mean, if you guys want to support that, that means all the world to me, you know, everything goes back to trying to reimburse anyone who's got scammed. Other than that, you know, just, I just try to have fun with it and just try to connect and enjoy, you know, our, our lovely, lovely drink with everyone.

And I also noticed that you're big into bourbon charity.

Absolutely, yes. Yeah, they're actually kind of how I got into Bourbon. Beyond me, I think it was like 2017, 2018, I got put into a special group through Bourbon Charity with huge, huge folks that I have gotten to know and call friends over these past few years. Like I said, I think around that time, the biggest drink I had was Blanton's. And since then, we just kind of just grown together as a group and just kind of supported each other. And yeah, I love Bourbon Charity. I love what they do, especially in their fight against cancer. Being someone who has had multiple family members pass away from cancer, I think it's a great thing to see our drink and the dollars that are donated towards our drink go to something that helps and changes lives.

you

Awesome, man. I love it. I really do love it. Now, Mike, I'm gonna put you on the spot right here. Okay. You offered Jim and I some t-shirts. Yeah. But what I would like you to do is, if you would, would be to give one of those t-shirts away to one of our listeners instead of me. Because, you know, it's going to cost you like 25 extra dollars for my size. That's like sew two t-shirts together. So if you would. Absolutely. Give do a t-shirt giveaway your swag that way somebody out there one of our listeners is rocking it So listeners We're going to go ahead and do this at noon again. You need to tell me what 9-1-1 bourbons rules are right at noon. And we'll hook you up with Mike and he'll send you a t-shirt. The first person that could tell me those rules, there's only two of them. Make sure you do that. Mike will send you a t-shirt. He will try not to send you the big chief size. Well, Mike, thanks for coming on, hanging out with me tonight, which Jim could have been on here tonight with us and stuff. He's probably got more questions than I. He's been doing bourbon for a long time and he's seen his fair share of scammers just like us. It's a sad thing that everybody gets ripped off. So like I said, once again, thanks for coming on listeners. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Listeners, you can find us on social media where you get scammed all the time. You can find us on Instagram, on Facebook, on Twitter, TikTok, Facebook. We have a private Facebook group called the Bourbon Roadies that I had mentioned before. Come in and join us. Three easy rules, right? Aria 21, do you like bourbon? Hell, everybody loves bourbon. And then do you agree to play the dice? Because we don't tolerate any rudeness in there. It means if you want to drink from the bottom of the shelf all the way to the top like this 2020 William LaRue Weller that old Adam Booth recently. Cheers Adam. Great, great guy. We do two shows a week, except for this week, you're getting an extra bonus episode. Two shows a week, a review on Mondays, usually a craft story, sometimes a big boy. And then on Wednesdays we'll have a great guest like Mike from 911 Bourbon on. We'll do an interview. It'll get you to work and back home listening to us. Go check out our website. Um, we got our great swag on there. We got great articles. We also have our reviews. If you're sitting in a whiskey store, you're wondering, Hey, what whiskey do I want to buy? Go in there and do a search for that whiskey. If you see something you don't know about when they're checking out, if me and Jim said it's good, it's probably good. Um, especially if it's a weeder, um, check that out. What we do need you to do is go to the very top of your app there, hit that check sign, check sign, that plus sign, that subscribe sign. Uh, your Apple will tell you, Hey, these two jokers of our release of the episode, you need to listen to it so you can make that drive into work a little easier. Uh, then scroll on down. and hit that five-star review. If you don't, you know what's gonna happen. The big bad booty daddy of bourbon is gonna come find you. Bring some bourbon, drink it all night long. By the end of the night, you're gonna go ahead and give us that five-star review, I guarantee. No, seriously, those reviews, those comments, they help us out. They help us get great guests, great content for the show. They also open doors to distilleries, get great whiskey in our hands. We really would appreciate it.