Why does no-one who could scam properly do it?

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Posted: Sun Mar 02, 2008 10:02 pm

OK I fully admit that I am a total n00b to baiting (but getting some great help thanks to folks here and my mentor!) but I was thinking... how come if lads like the ones that land in my catcher account can make money at this with their rotten grammar, spelling and woeful faked documents that criminals in, say, Liverpool or Las Vegas who can string a correct paragraph of English together and know their way around Photoshop are not doing a "419"?

Surely they would fool a lot more people that our "100% risky free" lads in Lagos?

Apologies if this has been discussed before... Mods feel free to zap this thread if it has.

419Eater is my life Joined: 18 May 2007 Posts: 428

In Nigeria, it's a lot more "risky-free", at least according to the natives, because you can just give the cops part of your earnings and they'll ignore you. Elsewhere, the police tend to be more strict.

Posted: Sun Mar 02, 2008 10:27 pm

That's easy to answer, the ones that are good at it already have jobs . . . we call them politicians Twisted Evil

Posted: Sun Mar 02, 2008 10:48 pm

sunshine wrote:

. . . . . . doing a "419"? . . . . .

419 is 'advance fee fraud'.
That rears its head in many ways.
There are thousands of scammers trying their luck at '419' in many guises.
There are sophisticated scams and many that are quite basic.
There are clever scammers and many that have a shortage of brain cells.
There are scammers that work together in international gangs and many who work alone.

Victims can also be from a variety of backgrounds; have a variety of educational skills; be more or less susceptible to scams or be more or less aware of the things you mention like spelling, grammar and fake documents.

I would suggest that the most successful scam baits are those that match a clever-thinking scambaiter with a not-so-clever scammer.

A successful scam, including 419 scams, only requires a gullible victim to fall for something that convinces him that it will, or may, lead to him receiving a reward.
There are also victims who, not realising that they are being scammed, are motivated by helping some poor downtrodden third-world country person to reap rewards they would otherwise be deprived of.

Never under or over estimate the intelligence or gullibility of either a scammer or a victim.

Posted: Sun Mar 02, 2008 11:28 pm

You see fraud all over the world. Identity theft is a growing problem, especially here in the States. People create fake IDs to sell to high schoolers. Counterfeit money operations. Charity scams. Online-auction fraud. The list goes on and on. We have lots of fraud here in the States. And I'm sure that the UK has fraud, too. And any other place you can think of.

These types of fraud are not as risky (here in the States, anyway) as actual 419 fraud.

Good luck catching the criminal who stole a dozen identities and lived well on the victims' credit. Yes, some are caught - just like some 419 scammers are caught. The odds are in favor of the thieves, though, so it's apparently worth the risk to them.

As for poorly-written scam e-mails: well, not everybody is a complete nerd for his or her native language. If the scam e-mail is in English, it could very well go to somebody who speaks and writes English as a second...or even third...language. So even the scammers who suck at writing letters can convince victims to pay up.

Posted: Mon Mar 03, 2008 1:05 pm

The types of fraud practised in the west are probably far more lucrative, and much less conspicuous.

Posted: Mon Mar 03, 2008 1:25 pm

I have come across one lad (passed way up the ladder due to my modality at the time) that typed perfect English and was absolutely surgical in his replys and what he wanted let alone could spoof email addys.

He was so far from the stereo typical lad its not funny, sadly and I can see why people would fall for his scams

Posted: Mon Mar 03, 2008 3:31 pm

There are scamms originating from the "western" countries, basically the same, but better setup. There was a nice one in Canada/US
'Erin Investments" not too long ago. And another one I can remember in the southern States where hundreds of churches were take on a ride with no destiny. It's all done a bit better and who knows how many are successful, but there are other options there too and no other options over there, so they all jump on it.
But just do a search on" US investment scam " and you'll find plenty "smart" guys there Smile

Posted: Mon Mar 03, 2008 3:32 pm

LOL @ justicebdone Laughing

Posted: Mon Mar 03, 2008 8:09 pm

sunshine wrote:

... but I was thinking... how come if lads like the ones that land in my catcher account can make money at this with their rotten grammar, spelling and woeful faked documents that criminals in, say, Liverpool <snip> Vegas...who can string a correct paragraph of English together and know their way around Photoshop are not doing a "419"?

That's because they are too busy robbing your hub caps for Everton's meagre trophy cabinet. Laughing

As for Vegas, I think we all know who have got that pretty much sown up don't we?. Shocked

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