Nigerian Unrest - safaris on hold

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Posted: Mon Jan 16, 2012 7:14 pm

news item

Scroll down a bit, there appears to be a block on cross border travel since 31st December, not sure if this has been lifted yet.

Good excuse not to go visit a lad, also, a problem if you want the lad to travel to you, you may have to dangle a bigger carrot to get him to risk a crossing. It does mean that there's a greater chance of him being shot or arrested, getting your lad into this much bother could cause an ethics debate but ought to be worth the risk.

One of my characters is in Chad, and hoping to move to Nigeria to meet up with a long standing lad (Gabriel Fo de) now I have a reason not to turn up.
The same character is also moving from Adre to meet up with the Chad two who are still out there (as of 8th December) in N'djamena. I just hope I don't get caught up in all the troubles.

Posted: Mon Jan 16, 2012 7:40 pm

Ethics? The ones lacking ethics here are the lads. Remember, whatever trouble befalls them... it is because they are willingly choosing to perpetuate a scam against what they believe to be an innocent victim. No one is holding a gun to their head forcing them to do it. Just my two cents.

Posted: Mon Jan 16, 2012 7:52 pm

Yesterday a lad originating from Delta State said he would pack his trunk boxes and head north for a meeting in Chad. Strangely the lad have since gone cold and silent as a dead fish.
When we (me and Sub) made a call from our Chadian number he was all happy to go, so i doubt he have twigged. He is aware of the problem but we downplayed the problem saying that the borders are open during weekends. If this is really the case we have no idea. But a lad gone silent could also mean he is actually also traveling.

Funny thing is that he is also claiming our money comes from the Boko Haram and that he is a Muslim, providing that this is true (which it isn't) it should prove a piece of cake to travel through the northern part of Nigeria.

Edit: No one is holding a gun to their head at least not before the safari. During the safari though, that is a different matter. Very Happy

Posted: Tue Jan 17, 2012 1:07 am

The only good scammer is a...........

Posted: Tue Jan 17, 2012 2:43 pm

In 2005 I was running a bait that involved my character travelling from Seattle to Europe - where he disappeared having possibly been involved in the 7/7 bombings. My bait was roundly condemned here for crossing an ethical line. Do I detect double standards? In my case, an imaginary character got involved in real events - no-one was actually put in harm's way.

Posted: Tue Jan 17, 2012 2:49 pm

ethics...really...as if the true accounts of victims I have read here and at scamwarners were not enough...I just recently had a yahoo chat with a lad where I told him I was going to visit the addy of someone he gave me and put them in the hospital...his reply was a simple OK...that address exist and whether its a mule or an ITP doesnt matter as he doesnt care who gets hurt as long as he gets his $3,000. So I say if any of these guys gets hurt or worst in the process of a bait...screw them

Posted: Tue Jan 17, 2012 3:46 pm

They do get hurt in safaris, leg injuries seem popular.

Posted: Tue Jan 17, 2012 3:51 pm

Maybe that's the price of a border crossing.

"You wanna cross into our country hold out a leg!" LOL.

Posted: Tue Jan 17, 2012 4:02 pm

if some punk is snatching old ladies purses depriving them of their ss check they depend on for medication...and I dress like an old lady with a BIGGER purse...and he chases me, following a trail that leads through pirahna infested waters, is it so terrible if he loses a leg, or arm, or head...I dont think so, and neither do the multitude of grandmas who get to pay for their re-fills each month

Posted: Tue Jan 17, 2012 4:33 pm

My mentor used to say "If your bait hasn't kicked off an ethics thread then you're not baiting hard enough" Laughing

Posted: Tue Jan 17, 2012 5:16 pm

They deserve everything they get. Broken bones, what have we. My only regret is that I can't break them personally.

Posted: Tue Jan 17, 2012 6:13 pm

@krudyf_ingernails

Getting lads to go willingly walk in to religious crossfire is an opportunity that we like to use, especially as it is out of their own greed. But what you did was a bit different. You used a real event in your bait. But you didn't use it to possibly get a lad in to trouble as IG suggests. You used it to (i assume) strengthen your bait when you needed your character to disappear.
While there is nothing wrong with that per say you did one big mistake i think. You used a real event that doubtlessly affected many people on this forum in a personal way. Some baiters probably knew people that had been there, or worse. Because of the choice you made with your bait, it was most likely seen as distasteful and over a ethic line. I hope you see the difference.

Posted: Tue Jan 17, 2012 6:40 pm

^ I think that's at the heart of things.

I dare say making a bait character vanish in a real pipeline blast or Boko Haram bombing would be considered distasteful by those affected by that incident. We could start a whole ethics thread by itself on the use of real disasters to manipulate baits, but I'd rather be torturing lads than getting embroiled in the details.

@sunshine: so true Twisted Evil

Posted: Tue Jan 17, 2012 8:38 pm

Lads use real events to stimulate scams, so why can't we do the same?
I have no doubt that emails regarding the victims of the cruise liner sinking are already out in the wild.

Personally, I'd have no problem meeting a lad in the middle of a war zone, it's his choice to come to the meet. Bit of a shame if a long running bait gets stopped in its tracks by the unfortunate demise of the lad, but there's an icon for that , so no real loss then.

Posted: Wed Jan 18, 2012 8:23 am

This is the latest from our Lagos lad:

Quote:

l am still looking for the $615 usd for my air ticket to meet you this week in Chad.

Am realy sorry that i have not been able to come.The national strike that made banks and airports not to work just ended yesterday.

ls there anything you can be able to help me with anything to make up my air ticket?

l will update you once am reday to come this week.

So the unrest has ended and we're back to business as normal.

Posted: Wed Jan 18, 2012 3:15 pm

Dr Mike wrote:

@krudyf_ingernails

Getting lads to go willingly walk in to religious crossfire is an opportunity that we like to use, especially as it is out of their own greed. But what you did was a bit different. You used a real event in your bait. But you didn't use it to possibly get a lad in to trouble as IG suggests. You used it to (i assume) strengthen your bait when you needed your character to disappear.
While there is nothing wrong with that per say you did one big mistake i think. You used a real event that doubtlessly affected many people on this forum in a personal way. Some baiters probably knew people that had been there, or worse. Because of the choice you made with your bait, it was most likely seen as distasteful and over a ethic line. I hope you see the difference.

I do see the difference and I continue to find it ironic. Death and destruction is death and destruction wherever it happens and whomever it happens to.

Posted: Wed Jan 18, 2012 3:18 pm

By the way, as it happens, I narrowly avoided being caught up in the 7/7 bombings myself so I feel perfectly fine about using them.

Posted: Wed Jan 18, 2012 7:42 pm

^^ And that, really, is the bottom line of most ethical debates. Where do you draw the line for yourself?

Posted: Thu Jan 19, 2012 6:10 am

As has been said before, when you reach the point where you feel uncomfortable with what you are doing, or trying to do, you stop.
We each have our own limits, and its a personal decision as to when you call a halt.

Posted: Thu Jan 19, 2012 1:11 pm

krudyf_ingernails wrote:

In 2005...

I think has a more simple explanation -- simply, things change. Even here on Eater.

Baiting ideas, techniques, and even the board collective as a whole, isn't the same today as it was 7 years ago. While I haven't been here that long, there are members that have been and I am sure they can attest to this. I know that just in the 3 years I have been here, it has changed a bit.

Baiters that may have taken offense at your use of an event in 2005 are probably no longer here and if you did it now the idea might get a different response.

As there is no 'rule' against using RL events in your bait - certainly you can do it. But that doesn't mean people want to read about it on the forum. Wink

Posted: Thu Jan 19, 2012 11:04 pm

^^^ exactly

Posted: Thu Jan 19, 2012 11:46 pm

I'm just glad the unrest is at bay for the moment. I have had some plans I've had to put on hold.

Hey you think they have chainsaws in Nigeria? I'd like to get some video of lads dressed up as clowns juggling chainsaws.

Posted: Fri Jan 20, 2012 2:13 pm

krudyf_ingernails wrote:

My bait was roundly condemned here for crossing an ethical line. Do I detect double standards?

Seven years ago? And you think it's relevant now?
Scambaiting has changed beyond recognition in those seven years. Evolution is hardly a double standard.

By the way: I checked through your posts but can't find any thread where you were "roundly condemned". I'd be interested to read it if you can direct me to it.

Posted: Wed Jan 25, 2012 10:32 pm

Let me refer you to the "wise" words of everyone's favourite scammer: Uzodinma Okpechi

"419 is no be thief, is just a game, anybody can playa"

So yeah, let's play them, forget the ethics! /grin Twisted Evil

Baiting Guru Joined: 10 Oct 2010 Posts: 3877

for me, these news mean, there must be the greatest opportunities outside nigeria. things, which are worth every risk Twisted Evil

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