ShareHustler Casino Live regs Benjamin "Blank Check Ben" Lee and "Wes Side" Wesley Fei have been targeted by a sophisticated scammer who attempted to extort the pair by pitting them against each other.
The two victims have a strained relationship, possibly making them a perfect target for the fraudster. But in the end, it was their ability as poker players to take the most +EV decision that saw them bury the hatchet, temporarily at least, and take the fight to their tormentor.
How Did it All Start?
Back in August, Wesley faced strong allegations that he had scammed a finance industry professional in a crypto pump and dump scheme. A website was built to tell a damning story that, to be frank, sounded believable and left many people in the poker community pronouncing Wesley guilty before he had his say.
Not only was he accused of stealing approximately $250,000, but also of sending hired thugs to intimidate the alleged victim and rob his house of data storage devices that were supposed to contain evidence.
Wesley shrugged off the heat and posted on Twitter that it was blackmail and he already thought he knew who was responsible.
What we didn’t know at the time was that the scammer was now in contact with Ben and asking for funds to investigate further and out Wesley. With Ben and Wesley not having the best of relationships, this move was almost certain to work and indeed it did.
On September 4, 2023, a website called “Uncovering Wesley” went live after Ben sent the scammer $2,500 following a conversation where he was told Wesley offered $35,000 to expose Ben as the mastermind behind the entire scam.
Within a day more than 200,000 people read a Reddit post detailing the story from the website.
The scam then pivots to the scammer telling Ben that his life is in danger and he needs money to buy evidence that Wesley has committed fraud regarding his immigration status. Ben sends payments totaling ÂŁ30,000 but soon learns that he has been scammed.
At this point, Wesley and Ben get together with Hustler Casino Live co-founder Ryan Feldman acting as mediator to try and get to the bottom of what had happened.
Blackmail
After the full story went public, we learned that the scammer’s name is Russell Thamer. Ben had now set up another website to put all of the details together, explaining how it all happened.
“I sent £30,000 in cryptocurrency (broken down into 3 separate payments) to a trusted friend in London, who then met Russell in person and gave him cash. Russell promised that we would have the necessary documents within two hours, and that the crisis would soon be over.
“The next day, I discovered that these documents did not exist, and that I had been scammed. I called Ryan Feldman to tell him what happened, and he said Wesley had been in touch that same day.
“Wesley was evidently in some distress, and told Ryan that someone was asking him for $35,000 to take down the website and also show that I was the one behind it.
“Immediately, I asked Ryan to set up a meeting with Wesley.”
Ben and Wesley met up the following day to discuss what they knew and to share evidence.
Russell was now trying to get money from Ben, threatening he would expose him as the man behind the entire scam, at the same time as trying to get Wesley to hand over ÂŁ55,000 for the non-existent evidence that this was the truth.
Check out the video below where Ben and Wesley talk through their experiences.
