How stupid are they really? - Newbie question

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Hello I'm New here! Joined: 25 Nov 2007 Posts: 13

Having read a few correspondences and replied to the first scam myself, I have started to consider a few things. All of the scammers seem to be extremely stupid, but surely, sooner or later, to some extent they will start figuring our tricks out!?! Could scammers even be watching sites like this to figure out which scams we know of and which we don't? What is the general development here?

cheers, TGD

Posted: Mon Nov 26, 2007 12:59 am

I think lads are more lazy then just plain stupid. They cannot understand why baiters bait so they appear stupid but most really aren't. As far as them visiting this site, yes they have. I think SP and jojobean had one ask about a bait that was in progress. I don't think that's too common though since most wouldn't want to use up there cafe time browsing sites like this.

Oh and welcome here Smile

Elite Baiter Joined: 28 Feb 2007 Posts: 1731

Quote:

All of the scammers seem to be extremely stupid

Hi and welcome to Eater. They are greedy, it should not be assumed that they are stupid. I have a few that are very good at what they do.

Posted: Mon Nov 26, 2007 1:08 am

Yeah I agree with Ghost's sentiment.

Think about it from their shoes. They consider what they do as "work". They spend hours on the computer trying to cultivate victims to pay them money. They would most certainly not do it for fun, they do it because there is a pay day in it for them. Even the notion of just scamming for fun (not money) is foreign to them.

So then try to reconcile how foreign it must be for them to imagine that someone is out there wasting copious amounts of the scammers time by indulging in the fantasy instead of actually being a willing and ready participant.

It is, in all logical senses, unlikely that someone would do such a thing (in their minds anyway). They believe that everyone wants something, and that something is wealth. What they don't figure is that we're here for the greater good and do what we do as volunteers. This is something they cannot understand and refuse to accept because it complicates matters too much for them... I mean, take a step back... it is a little ludicrous that someone would communicate with a scammer for a year for nothing other than to waste his time. While we can certainly justify it, they can't.

I don't think they're all "stupid". Some are well educated and speak a second language (namely English) far better than I speak any second languages.

It is the temptation of the easy life and the cheap efforts for big pay off that make them appear so stupid.

That said... some are genuinely stupid... and often, they're the most painful Laughing

As for them figuring it all out and learning our tactics:

Some of them do, and they know that if you ask for a trophy photo within the first few emails you're a "joker". That's because those baiters have no patience, and this is something that the lad can relate to, because the lads also have little patience.

But on the whole, they don't have time (nor the inclination) to spend hours reading baiting sites trying to figure it all out. They pay for their internet time and they would much prefer spending it sending emails to potential victims than researching the enemy they don't even know exists.

A few occasionally stumble across this site, for example, but they don't learn anything. They do become more suspicious, but that works in our favour and means they're more likely to drop a real victim when that victim acts a little irrational themselves.

Welcome btw! Very Happy

Hope that helps answer your questions.

Not quite a Newb Joined: 14 Jul 2005 Posts: 41

Quote:

All of the scammers seem to be extremely stupid

If you go into baiting with that mindset, you'll just be hamstringing yourself.

Some lads know about Eater and what we do here. Some occasionally join. It doesn't matter, particularly- they don't get baiting or why we would waste our time doing it if there isn't any money to be made.

Posted: Mon Nov 26, 2007 1:14 am

You could turn the question around and ask why the victims fall prey to tales of deposed dictators wanting to hand over millions of dollars for no good reason.

The lure of money tends to make people lose touch with reality. Scammers often accuse their victims of being nothing more than greedy people who get what they deserve, so there is a delicious irony in turning the tables on them.

There is nothing easier than deceiving conmen/scammers as they are usually too conceited and arrogant to believe someone they have marked as a 'mugu' (fool) can turn the tables on them.

Welcome - you'll enjoy it.

Baiting Guru Joined: 03 May 2007 Posts: 18313

I don't think the lads are stupid. (Ok, a few of them are really dumb). I think that for the most part, they let us get away with our shenanigans because they don't care. They just want money from us. They go along with our stories and ploys because they either don't understand them because of the cultural references, don't understand them for the reasons posted above (why would we do it?) and as I already said, they really don't care if we tell them wild stories, as long as we're willing to pay money.
The smarter ones are more fun to bait. Wink

(and we're probably doing more of a service by baiting those, because they are more likely to get more victims)

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 25 Nov 2007 Posts: 13

Ah, yeah I guess stupid might not be the right word here. On the surface though, the things you guys can make them believe is way beyond what I ever imagined.

@ Ima Baeder, how do you distinquish between the smarter and the less smart scammers? Any particular examples? (Reading Shiver's Artful Dodger now and find it very enjoyable)...

Posted: Mon Nov 26, 2007 1:42 am

It's very difficult to generalise and I am always attracted by home made scam scripts that are laughable, and though they are clearly being used by idiots they tend to make unproductive baits. That's usually because those Lads tend to lack the imagination and sophistication to understand even simple requests.

I have one now, for whom I have been trying to get a simple character reference from his banker which, in the situation, is quite amusing but the joke is long lost as he is totally clueless.

Ideally you want a self confident Lad who 'thinks' he's smart, but how you tell them from a distance, I can't help. Well, I say that, but I have been mass baiting some Lotto Lads and looking for those who will work for me, but it has never developed further than that as I can't pull off a Ladspeak phone call, but those who responded are likely to be more susceptible to being led off script. I have saved their details for future use.

Baiting Guru Joined: 03 May 2007 Posts: 18313

It's hard to tell the intellect of a lad until you've baited them for a while. Once you get them off script, it starts becoming clearer.
That said, a few indicators of brain power might be: Willingness to go off script (though that could be command of English, less lazy or less stubborn), and unpredictability. Some of the lads are so damn predictable that it gets really boring to bait them. Again, this is hard to tell until you've baited them for a while. I did a dollar chop on a lad who stayed pretty calm and said that the criminal had been apprehended (I blamed it on a nearby lad) the money had been recovered and received, and he wanted to move on to the next installment of payment. Laughing

(that is not what I anticipated his reaction would be).

Since you're completely new to baiting, you're probably not going to be able to tell if you have a smart one or not for a while, as you have no basis for comparison. Don't worry about it too much. Just start baiting. You'll learn as you go. There's no penalty for messing up and having a lad drop you. Wink

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