Michael David Coons Michael Coons, Mike Coons This individual lied repeatedly about his destitute circumstances over the course of 10 months to encourage me to transfer money to him in order to pay his bills and keep him afloat financially. Canandaigua New York

Over the course of twelve months, from May 2021 through April 2022, I made dozens and dozens of transfers ranging from $3,2000.00 to $50.00 to assist a "friend" with expenses related to a series of situations, most of which were totally fabricated.

 The total amount of all the transfers exceeds $40,000 and does not include assistance I gave him in cash, plus clothing and food I helped him obtain. These transfers were all made through the Zelle network from my checking account. This "friend" returned to CO after an absence of about three years. Prior to his arrival in CO, I helped him to secure a used car.

After he arrived, I saw him occasionally, but not frequently, because we lived over six hours apart. (To the best of my knowledge, he has now returned to upstate NY, near Canandaigua/Rochester.) 

Over the course of the year, he contacted me almost daily with stories related to being destitute due to illness and various hard luck scenarios, including requests for everything from food and rent expenses, to car repairs, transportation (e.g., trips to be with his supposed "dying" father in upstate NY), assorted expenses like clothes for his "job," and bills such as car insurance, cell phone, life insurance, parking and towing tickets, and the like.

 I came to determine (but not soon enough) that almost all of these requests were for non-existent situations, items, or bills. For example, he lied about having a storage locker that contained the belongings of his deceased son. He begged me to pay this monthly bill so as not to lose these "precious" items.

 He requested that I pay for a non-existent insurance policy on his last living son. I paid for rent on an apartment that was never occupied by him. I helped to pay for bail for his oldest son, who was never in jail in the first place. He told me his father died on 2/26/2022 and he would pay me back with his inheritance. (He also repeatedly promised to repay me by turning paychecks over to me when he returned to work.)

I then found out in late April that his father did not die and is alive and well. He concocted a story about his 32-year-old son being missing and asked for money to track him down in Connecticut. I also paid for at least three airfare changes as he falsely attempted to return to Denver from NY after the fake death of his father; these flights never took place and were never even booked, as he never had any intention of returning to CO.

I had determined by late April 2022 that 90 percent of what he told me was completely fabricated in great detail. This was borne out by conversions with a family member and by my own extensive research. If this person would treat a friend this way, someone who has been loyal to him and known him since 2016, imagine what he might do to someone he barely knows, or to an employer or a business associate.

I cannot even verify that he was ever working during this time. Beware that he has a previous criminal record in CT that involves assault and endangering the life of his own son (unknown to me until recently). He is an exceptionally motivated con man who can lie straight-faced and seems to have no remorse whatsoever.

When I started to push back on these requests for help, he then did a number of vicious things just to hurt and inconvenience me. He moves around to avoid being found by those he has scammed. I am filing this report to help others who may come in contact with him, because he can easily convince an unsuspecting person that he is just some poor soul who has been dumped on by the universe.

 He uses the fact that he has some health issues to convince people to care about him. The "poor me" tactic is what gets compassionate people hooked into his fake dramas, and he likes to describe how others have treated him terribly. Beware, and don’t do business with this person or listen to his pleas for help. He's a pathological liar.

 This does not include a complete list of his lies, deceptions, and fraudulent requests, but it's enough to give you an idea of how relentlessly corrupt and malicious he can be.