Anyone gotten an "Army Corp engineer" before?

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Posted: Thu Mar 27, 2008 3:07 am

I'm pretty new to the game of scam baiting, but I have gotten the 419 scam emails for years. Never have I seen one from someone claiming to be an American engineer, complete with Anglo-sounding name, with the Army Corps of Engineers, currently in Baghdad. Too bad his poor English and IP address place him in Ghana (surprise, surprise).

The email itself is hilarious; it sounds similar to the plot of that George Clooney/Mark Whalberg movie "Three Kings". Except that rather than running to the Iranian border with the gold, he needs *my* help

Being as one of my former college roommates is a real Corps engineer in Iraq, and in constant danger...well, this particular email really p*ssed me off, and I'd like to respond. This would be my first bait, a special milestone. I've got a character, a 30-something wife and mother who owns a computer store and sits on the board of directors for a private college. The characters, I find, are the easy part. I just wrote a generic "thanks for contacting me, tell me more" email...can anyone give me a hint or two on how to proceed from there?

Thanks in advance, everyone!

Posted: Thu Mar 27, 2008 3:12 am

These do come up pretty frequently. Sometimes they include a hidden weapons cache, sometimes the cache includes nuclear armament.

You've started the right way by just asking for more information. Continue on the same way. How did he find your email? Isn't the Army monitoring his communications?

You can have fun with these - just take it slowly.

edit: since you are on a college board, perhaps you can commission him to do a scholarly report on how conditions on the battlefield affect the superego. This would take several slow steps, start by asking if he's seen battle, etc. Later in to this, you might ask how he's communicating with you and if he needs a laptop of his own because you have some you are about to scrap from your computer store. Good luck!

Posted: Thu Mar 27, 2008 3:26 am

Krona's advice is spot-on. Take it slow, and stay in control. Keep asking him questions and keep him off-balance, and just go with the flow. Be creative. Think of angles that sound interesting to you and experiment. If he twigs and disappears, there are (unfortunately) plenty more where he came from. Baiting is an endless learning experience. I've never used the same angle twice, I love trying new ideas, new characters, new attitudes. Use your imagination and have fun, while messing with scammers and wasting their time! Very Happy

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

Quote:

Being as one of my former college roommates is a real Corps engineer in Iraq, and in constant danger...well, this particular email really p*ssed me off, and I'd like to respond.

I wish your friend well. It was a multi-gender dorm, I guess?

For baiting this, just stick to stuff you see in the movies. I particularly like the AT rockets going off in small spaces and everybody calling everybody 'Sir'.

Posted: Thu Mar 27, 2008 4:29 am

TS makes a good point. Whilst it is tempting to throw a bunch of real militaryspeak at these kinds of scammers, you will lose the bait if he thinks you know too much about the military.

Good luck, and keep us posted.

Posted: Thu Mar 27, 2008 5:13 am

Tsnerd wrote:

I wish your friend well. It was a multi-gender dorm, I guess?

Ahhh...you are assuming that my old roommate and I are of different genders, and I'm guessing you think I'm a girl and that my roommate was a guy. Very Happy

That's good, that means my gender-specific handle is doing its job.

I wonder if the scammer would notice if I began calling him/her by a name from that movie. Heh heh.

Posted: Thu Mar 27, 2008 5:16 am

~ Krona,

Oooh...I like this idea. Thank you!

And thank you, everyone, for the input! I'm anxiously awaiting my lad's reply.

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

Quote:

I'm guessing you think I'm a girl and that my roommate was a guy.

Yep.

Posted: Thu Mar 27, 2008 8:21 am

Welcome to Eaterland!

I bet your lad is a Sgt. right? They all are. This modality is pretty common these days. As said above, I wouldn't go overboard on the military stuff as it will probably scare him off.

Have you signed up for a mentor? If not ,I would recommend that you do so.

Posted: Thu Mar 27, 2008 8:27 am

^^^ Signed up for a mentor yesterday. Haven't been assigned yet, but it looks like that's updated every 3-5 days or so, so that's fine. I'm patient.

He didn't call himself a sergeant in his initial email. Who knows what he'll call himself later. I'm not going to act like I know much about the military, I'm just a thirty-something wife and mother, after all! Laughing

Posted: Thu Mar 27, 2008 9:02 am

There has been a large influx of new members of late so it may take a few days for a mentor to be assigned. In the meantime don't be afraid to ask any 'stupid' questions. We promise not to laugh to loud and will try to help you. Laughing

The good thing about this 'hobby' and this forum is that everybody has a different approach and opinion. However, we all have a common goal...lad misery. Twisted Evil

Posted: Thu Mar 27, 2008 9:26 am

Welcome to eater, I'm also betting your lads a Sgt.
If you're like me, you'll enjoy the modality he uses because it's stupendously easy to waste their time questioning certain inconsistencies.
I always start by questioning why the news article they linked (and more often than not, they do) is dated from 5 years ago, then judging by their response move on to other questions.

Enjoy. Smile

Posted: Thu Mar 27, 2008 2:09 pm

I had a few errands to run this morning; nothing in my catcher account before heading out. But lo and behold, once I arrived home, there was a nice surprise in my inbox - my "Army Corps" lad had written back.

And he attached two little presents to the email, how sweet of him! I now have two small trophies that I didn't even have to ask for! So thoughtful, this lad. They are two absolutely horrid ID fakes; one for a Mississippi drivers license, the other for a civilian Army Contractor. I'll be sure to Photoshop "Fake" over them this weekend so I can share with the rest of the class.

So far, he hasn't claimed any real military status, and the fake Army ID says he's a civilian...which I'll remember if he suddenly claims to be military.

Just had to share that with the rest of you. Unless something really funny happens, and I do so hope it will, after posting the IDs I probably won't update again on this lad until I've got something substantial to post. Thanks everyone for the advice and support, I appreciate it!

p.s. I forgot to mention, he has told me he wouldn't "be in a position" to receive phone calls from me due to "security reasons." He's thought of everything. Rolling Eyes

Ah well, that makes it that much easier for me!

Posted: Thu Mar 27, 2008 3:22 pm

<--The king of stoopid questions... am I right? oops another stoopid question Embarassed

good luck on your first bait

Posted: Thu Mar 27, 2008 3:58 pm

BoogiepopGirl wrote:

...And he attached two little presents to the email, how sweet of him! I now have two small trophies that I didn't even have to ask for!

Sadly BpG, they don't really count as trophies as they are not bespoke to you. He just sent them out as part of his scamming kit.

Let us know how it goes, and don't be afraid to ask for advice.

Posted: Thu Mar 27, 2008 10:41 pm

^^^ Ahh, I see. I didn't know that didn't count, thank you for letting me know. Smile

Now I won't look like an idiot in the future...at least on that front, heh.

Master of Master Baiters Joined: 06 Feb 2008 Posts: 720

Quote:

waste their time questioning certain inconsistencies

Dont educate the lads Surprised

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