called out scammer, now worried

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Hello I'm New here! Joined: 08 Feb 2011 Posts: 2

I own a small service oriented business, and I got emailed by a guy with an opportunity for work. I called him and he offered to get me bids for a small percent. It sounded great, and was about to sign a contract, but he didn't tell me much about his business, and he only wanted to correspond by email after that, which made me suspicious. So did a little research and found out he had been convicted of fraud and has ripped off a lot of people online. I wrote him back and told him what I found and that I wasn't going to work with him. I was kind of harsh, but not over the top. He responded saying I had better guard what I say or publish about him or his company, because he had sued a guy who had defamed him.

Anyway, this was a few days ago, and I just got to thinking about how dumb it was for me to respond and call him out like that. He seemed to have dropped it, and told me the deal was off the table, but now I'm kind of worried he will try to harm me. He lives only a few hours away. I only gave him my name, phone, and company name, but I know he could find my info if he tried. Should I be worried?

Wannabe Baiter Joined: 24 Jan 2011 Posts: 90

Mod edit - no need for a full requote of the previous post, we can see it right there ^^^^^- JF

Did you get or confirm any personal details of his? If he is indeed a scammer it is likely he will soon move on to someone else. However I can understand it is worrying, if you are concerned contact your local authorities.

It sounds to me it is just all 'talk' from him being found out. Do not reply to anything he sends, and if you have his details he is unlikely to threaten you in person.

Most frauds like this will generally chalk it off and move on.

Posted: Tue Feb 08, 2011 11:32 am

Hello businessguy , welcome to the site. Sorry it is under these circumstances.

If you haven done so already , i'd suggest taking a look at http://scamwarners.com and their forum. that site is is specialised in scam victim support. They might be able to help you out as well , since this forum is dedicated to baiting scammers.

Other than that i would suggest dropping all contact with the scammer and possibly contacting the authority's if you feel this person will physically come harm you.
I personally think this person will have better things to do then coming to harm you and risk getting apprehended by the cops; but its better to be safe then sorry.

Posted: Tue Feb 08, 2011 1:04 pm

Hi businessguy.

Even if this isn't an African lad, it sounds to me like it shouldn't be a problem. Look at it this way: if the guy is wary enough of you putting his details out there as a fraudster and has to threaten you with some legal crap, he's unlikely to risk anything else that may cause his reputation bigger harm. More than likely, he's sitting there, hoping that you won't out him.

Put yourself in his shoes. If you're a crook and someone tells you they're not going to deal with you because they know about your shady past what are you going to do? You'd make a denial and then try to walk away as quietly as possible.

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 08 Feb 2011 Posts: 2

Thanks for the replies! I did confirm his name and "company". I'm not really that concerned since he didn't threaten me with violence. I also told him that my business partner saw the emails. I guess its just in the back of my mind that he might be afraid I'm going to turn him in, or that he is mad I dug up information on him. I guess even if I did want to turn him in, I didn't have enough info for him to get in trouble.

Posted: Fri Feb 11, 2011 2:41 pm

Hi Business men,

Sorry to hear you are being annoyed by people with bad intentions.

I would like to add one thing, barking dogs don't bite. It's not a guarantee, but in general if someone threatens with something they don't do it. I could go into the psychology behind it, but that would very quickly become off topic.

Anyway, like mentioned before, your "friend" is at least as much afraid of exposure as you are of him. Otherwise he would not warn you not to do so. He needs anonymity for his business to work. If you could find information on him so easily, others can too. And that is bad for his "business".

Don't worry too much. Good luck!

Skamsam.

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