FBI Visits YouTuber Marques Brownlee Studio

FBI visited Marques' studio regarding the Escobar phone video, leading to evidence collection and subsequent permission to share the story.

### The Time the FBI Visited Marques Brownlee's Studio Over the Escobar Phone Scam
* 📱  In June 2020, Marques Brownlee was visited by **three FBI and IRS agents** at his studio, inquiring about his video exposing the **Escobar phone scam**.
* 🕵️  The agents took the Escobar Fold and scratched gold iPhone from Marques' video as evidence in the case, sealing them in **plastic bags labeled "evidence."**
* 🔇  Upon leaving, the agents requested that Marques not talk about the visit publicly, with **no specific timeline given** for when he could share the story.
* ⏳  Marques waited for the situation to unfold, as PayPal and Klarna stopped working with the scam company, leading to the **arrest of Olaf Gustafsson in Spain for fraud and money laundering**.
* 🏢  The FBI agents eventually confirmed that Marques could now **share the story**, providing papers as **proof of the evidence they collected**.
* 💼  Marques expressed interest in creating more investigative content in the future, as these types of tech scams are **rare but fascinating** when they occur.
* 🎥  The entire incident was not filmed, but Marques shared this story in a video, **detailing the events that transpired during the FBI visit**.
* 🎙️  Marques also mentioned the Waveform podcast's bonus episode, where **more behind-the-scenes stories from the studio** are shared.

(upbeat music) - So I've made a few references
over the past couple years to that time that the
FBI visited the studio, and I was asked not to talk about that for what I feel like are
pretty obvious reasons. So for years, I haven't, but it turns out I am now
finally able to tell that story. So here we are. So for those of you who don't
know, we have a studio here, and it's in a larger building with more tenants in it, obviously. It's like an office building. It's not exactly like an office building, but you know, there's a front desk, and security and all that. And I've been in this building long enough that we have a pretty good
relationship with them. So we have this one rule, basically. So there's the guy at
security at the front desk. We'll call him Bob, just for this. But Bob and I have this one rule.

which is that if anyone ever
shows up at the front desk and asks for me, that
he doesn't let them in. I have to come out and meet them to confirm that I was expecting them, and then I bring them back to our studio. So if someone just randomly shows up, which you shouldn't, but if they do, and I don't show up at
the front to meet them, then I wasn't supposed to meet them. But if I have someone
coming and I expect them, I meet 'em outside. That's our one rule, and we stick to it. So in June 2020, it was pretty early in this
new space that we have, and it's also right
around like peak COVID. So I had sent everybody home, and it was just me and
Andrew coming into the studio to work on basically building furniture, and making videos, and recording
the podcast every week. So I got here pretty early on
one of those summer mornings,

and I'm starting to get
all my stuff settled, and then there's a knock on the door. (door knocks). So I open the door, and it's
our front desk guy, Bob. And Bob basically says, Hey,
Marques, there's some people with badges at the front desk to see you. I, of course, didn't let them in, but if you would like
to, they're up there. And then he just walked away. And my first thought is confusion. I'm like, what? What did I do on the way here that someone with badges
would show up asking for me? I'm a little concerned. I'm not sure what to think. So there was a solid
minute where I just like stood there in the doorway,
like, okay, do I go up there, or do I just stay here in the studio without asking who the
people with badges are? Eh. And then I just went up to the front.

I went up. I went up to the front desk, and sure enough, there's three people with badges there, and they walk right up to me, and they all like flash their badges. FBI, just like the movies. Like FBI agent this, IRS agent this. And they're like, Marques, good to see you. We've got some questions for you about the Escobar phone. So immediately I'm relieved, but I'm like, oh, oh, oh, the Escobar phone. Oh. Because see, a few months earlier I had published a video about the Escobar Fold. If you guys haven't seen that video, basically the story goes, there's this company parading around and selling this $400 gold folding phone, which they're gonna use to destroy Apple and Samsung. And they had these insane marketing campaigns and all this. But really what they were doing, as I uncovered in my video, was covering Samsung Galaxy folds.

cheaply with like gold stickers, and then shipping them to YouTubers and people who they believed
would talk about it positively. And then not shipping
any of the other orders from regular people or the audiences that watched those videos. Those people were getting
scammed out of their money. And honestly, in hindsight,
I don't know how they thought they were gonna get away with this. Like it felt pretty obvious to me. But, you know, eventually
their whole plan backfired when I made a video
about the entire thing. So now fast forward a couple months, and it actually makes sense that the FBI and the IRS are interested. I just didn't, I didn't realize they were just gonna show
up one day, but here we are. But, you know, shout out
to Bob at the front desk for sticking to our rule. Even though he probably
had a bunch of people like Flash FBI badges at
him, he stuck to our rule.

and that was great. So I appreciate that. But yeah, so I came out, I
brought them back to our spot, and they basically then
had a bunch of questions about that video and the process of dealing
with that company in any way. Like any and all communications
that I had with them, any email I'd ever sent or
received from them ever, they wanted everything. And actually it was
funny, another tidbit is, Andrew at the time had
just started running the business email account here. And when they were asking like, has anybody else on your
team possibly ever been in email communication with this company? And I was like, I think Andrew might've. And Andrew just had arrived at the studio and walked up to the
front door of our spot. And so I like, I go, Hey, hey, come in. And you know, first thing he sees is like me in an empty studio with
a bunch of people in suits.

like waving him over. So he has a pretty funny
alternate perspective on this story. So the FBI actually took
the half-peeled Escobar Fold and the scratched gold
iPhone from my videos as evidence in the case. They literally asked for
them and took them away. They put 'em in sealed plastic bags that said evidence on them, which is why I said at the
end of the smartphone awards that year. Also honorable mention
to the Escobar Fold 2, which I also don't have on this desk because it is in the
possession of the FBI. Someday I'll be able to tell that story. So as they're leaving, you know, they've asked me all the questions. As the FBI and IRS people are leaving, they're like, Hey, don't talk about this at all publicly, please. And I'm like, Of course, yeah. No, obviously you're the FBI, of course I'm not gonna talk about it.

I don't want to interfere with
the investigation in any way. But also like, when could I talk about it? Like, how long do you think
before I am allowed to? And they said, We'll let you know. So I've been biting my tongue for years, not talking about it,
hinting at it a little bit, but not anything too serious. But since then, a lot of the
dominoes have started to fall. You know, at first when
the scam was happening, PayPal stopped working with them. So they'd switched to
this only non-refundable direct transfer thing with Klarna. And then they stopped
working with them too. And then eventually the whole
operation starts falling down, and the guy at the head of
it named Olaf Gustafsson, this guy finally ends up getting arrested and going to prison in Spain for fraud, and money laundering, and
a bunch of other things, basically for everything
that I talked about.

in those videos. So I've been holding onto
this, not really knowing like, okay, is it cool now that he's
behind bars to talk about it? So we actually reached back
out to those same FBI agents because they left their cards, and they're like, Oh yeah, no, it's cool
now to talk about it. You're totally fine. So there unfortunately is no footage of any of this incident, but there is these papers,
which they provided as proof that they received property to be used as evidence in the case. So one Pablo Escobar
Fold 2 mobile flip phone, AKA Samsung, and one Pablo Escobar
Gold 11 Pro mobile phone, AKA iPhone 11 Pro. But hey, now you basically know the story. Yeah, pretty serious business out here, making videos about phones
sometimes, you know? Apparently also, if this guy
Olaf ever does get charged in the United States, then it's very likely my
videos would show up somewhere.

in those court documents, which is crazy. And also the phones that they
took may show up as evidence. But yeah, I do wanna get back
into a little more of the more investigative deep
dive type of videos. Obviously, the giant scams
don't happen very often, thankfully, in the tech world, but still they are fascinating
stories when they do. And by the way, that's not the
only encounter that we've had with the FBI in running
this YouTube channel, but that's another story for another day. But hey, if you want more
fun stories like this one, let me know with the comments. But also the latest episode, the bonus episode of the Waveform podcast is just stories like this one
(upbeat music) from the past couple years at the studio, whole story time episode. It's fun. So go over there and
subscribe and watch that. But yeah, that's basically it. Thanks for watching.

Catch you guys on the next one. Peace. (upbeat music) It's a story of how I became a villain. For at least 24 hours, I was hated. - A couple weeks, I would say. - Yeah, oh really? A couple weeks. Well, oh, 'cause the video had to come out. Hang on here for a second, I'm gonna go get him. I literally wait there with all my bags and stuff, and like this guy disappears into this booth, comes back out with another guy. He goes, Hi. Oh, good to meet you. And he's filming me now. Okay. - Oh no. - So now he's filming me. A couple weeks later I log into YouTube, and everyone on Twitter's like, Why is Marques such a jerk?

My FBI Declassified Story

Marques Brownlee

The YouTuber had a strict rule with building security not to let anyone in without his prior confirmation.

During the peak of COVID in June 2020, he was surprised by a visit from people with badges, leading to confusion and concern.

Despite the unusual situation, he decided to confront the visitors at the front desk.

The narrator is approached by three people with FBI and IRS badges, who have questions about the Escobar phone.

The Escobar phone was the subject of a video the narrator had published a few months earlier, exposing it as a scam involving gold-stickered Samsung Galaxy folds.

The FBI and IRS's sudden interest in the Escobar phone makes sense in connection to the narrator's video.

Unexpected Interaction with the FBI during a Business Deal

The FBI requested all communication with a company and took away props as evidence during a case.

Andrew had a funny perspective on the situation, coming into the studio to see the unusual scene.

The authorities asked for secrecy after the interrogation, creating a memorable and unexpected experience.

The Long Silence: A Story of Holding Back Information

The speaker refrained from discussing a fraudulent operation for years, waiting for the right time.

The operation's leader, Olaf Gustafsson, was arrested for fraud and money laundering, giving the green light to finally speak out.

The FBI agents confirmed that it was now acceptable to share the story, which involved providing evidence of the property involved.

The YouTuber teases a crazy encounter with court documents and potential evidence.

They hint at multiple stories involving the FBI and express a desire to create more investigative videos.

The YouTuber also promotes their Waveform podcast for more stories and asks for feedback from the audience.