Automating scambaiting

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Hello I'm New here! Joined: 12 Mar 2012 Posts: 5

Hi guys,

I recently developed an automated scambaiting system as part of a project. It is essentially an artificial intelligence bot that would enter into conversation with scammers and try to keep them occupied for as long as possible. I won't go into too much detail, but it uses various natural language processing techniques to "understand" messages and respond back. It also focuses mainly on lottery scams (although I had a few instances of orphans and mystery shoppers)

I've got a bunch of statistics, but the two most of interesting ones are the response rate - 58% for the first message. After that, the average conversation thread length is 6.20. It is quite hard to achieve much beyond that with an automated system. I can post more detailed statistics, if there is interest.

Anyways, my main purpose for this post was to say thank you because I found this site very useful. And to also give back to the community the corpus of 419 messages I constructed. It has 32,000 messages in 22 scam categories. This corpus can be used to build a better spam filter specifically for 419 scams, other automation purposes, analyses of the scams, etc. I'm hoping you'll find creative uses for the data.

The 419 Corpus [Moderator Note - Following this link will start an automatic ZIP download- Spot]

Here are some sample conversations with scammers. These are all generated automatically by a computer. (and, as such, are sometimes a bit odd)

don't write to me again guy wrote:

Message: 1
Sender: [email protected]
Origin: CRAWLER
Subject: Dear Friend pls Open the Attachment Appeal for Assistance

Body:
Contact Email} [email protected]
Tel:+27832380105

Dear Friend,

You may be suprise to receive this mail since you don't know me personally, but with due respect, trust and humility, I write to you this proposal. I am Mr. Davies Rossman, the elder son of Hamas Rossman of Dafur Sudan. It is indeed my pleasure to contact you for assistance of a business venture which I intend to establish in your country.

I got your contact while I was doing a private research on the Internet for a reliable and capable foreign partner that will assist me and my family to transfer fund to his personal or private account for investment purpose Though I have not met with you before, but considering the recent political instabilities in my country, I believe one has to risk confiding in success sometimes in life.

There is this huge amount of money (Fifteen Million U.S dollars) ($15,000,000.00) which my late Father deposited with a Financial Security Company in South Africa awaiting claim before he was assassinated by unknown persons during this war in Darfur Sudan. Now I have decided to invest this money in your country or anywhere safe for security and political reasons. I want you to help me retrieve this money for onward transfer to any designated bank account of your choice for investment purposes on these areas below:

1) Transport Industry
2) Mechanized agriculture.
3} Estate investment

We have to negotiate on what will be offered to you for assisting me to handle this project while 25% will be for you annually from the profit of the partnership company we are to establish .Please, read more on the news. www.savedarfur.org

All I require is your honest & kind co-operation. I will give you further details as soon as you show interest in helping me.

I wait for your kind consideration to my proposal.
Contact Email} [email protected]

Best Regards,

Mr. Davies Rossman
Tel:+27832380105

Message: 2
Sender: [email protected]
Origin: SYSTEM
Subject: Re: Dear Friend pls Open the Attachment Appeal for Assistance

Body:
Hi Davies,

I would like to express my sincere condolences for your loss. News like that always bring us sorrow and heartbreak, but from experience I can tell you that time heals all wounds. Maybe in a few months, if not years, you will start to regain your joy in life and put the pain of your loss behind you. I'll do my best to help you through the process. It was not long ago, when I lost my dear mother. Please let me know what I can do to help you and I will do my best.
Please help me better understand your situation by answering a couple of questions.
What do you plan to do with the funds once they are released to you?
Have you contacted the authorities about your situation?
Do you have any brothers or sisters that also need help? If so, can you take care of them when we arrange everything for you?

Regards,
Ethan Stokes

Message: 3
Sender: [email protected]
Origin: IDENTITY
Subject: Information

Body:
Dear.Ethan Stokes

Thanks for your mail with clear details, It is my greate pleasure to
inform you that i and my family were very happy to notice your
readiness to assist us for this transaction.

We contacted you to stand as our foriegn partner for the execution of
this transaction the amount involve is US$15,000,000.00 which my late
father deposited with a financial security company in South Africa as
a family valuable with a consignment box under my name as the first
son of the family Mr.Davies Rossman.

We have three options to conclude this transaction as below.

(1) You will come down to Johannesurg South Africa for us to meet face
to face and conclude the transaction.

(2) The fund can be send to any of your home or office address in your
country by a couirer company through diplomatic means as a diplomatic
cargo in your name

(3) In case you are unable to come down here in South Africa we can
conclude the transaction by bank wire transfer from any good bank in
South Africa to any of your nominated bank account in your country
with a help of a lawyer & banker.

(4) This fund can be shipp to Madrid Spain Or Kulu Lampur Malaysia
through the security company agent so that you can meet him in Madrid
Spain or Kulu Lampur Malaysia face to face and receive the fund there
as a consignment from him.

Please do respond to this message and inform me if you prefer
option1,2 ,3 or 4 inorder to proced immediately.

Kindly send your direct mobile number to me in your next response for
easy communication,

I look forward to receive your urgent mail soonest.
Thanks
Mr.Davies Rossman
Tel:+27832380105

Message: 4
Sender: [email protected]
Origin: SYSTEM
Subject: Re: Information

Body:
Hello,

I am glad to hear back from you.

Please allow me to introduce myself.
I'm Ethan Stokes. I work for a small firm here in the city as an accountant. I'm at the age of 47. I usually don't give out my contact details over the internet, but I'd like to earn your trust. My address is 21 Quay Street, Manchester, UK, M3 4AE. I can be reached at 07425902430, but beware that I have a hearing problem, so it might be better to contact me at [email protected].
So I hope this answers your questions. If not, please feel free to ask.

I am wondering why you have not replied to my last email.

I hope you are doing well and everything is alright.

I am still waiting to hear from you, as soon as possible.

Talk to you again soon.

Warm Regards,
Ethan

Message: 5
Sender: [email protected]
Origin: IDENTITY
Subject: Mr.Dsvies Rossman

Body:
Dear.Ethan Stokes

Thanks for your mail, Please tell me if you prefer to receive this
fund by wire transfer or can you come to South Africa? I wait for your
urgent mail.
Thanks
Mr.Dsvies Rossman

Message: 6
Sender: [email protected]
Origin: SYSTEM
Subject: Re: Mr.Dsvies Rossman

Body:
Hello,

I am thinking about buying an office building here in town and I spent my weekend working on the possible business deal. I plan on buying it and renting it out. I am really exciting - it looks like a good deal.

I'm sorry - I am so bad with computers and email but I accidentally deleted your other email that had all the details. Can you send it again please?

Talk to you again soon.

Regards,
Ethan Stokes

Message: 7
Sender: [email protected]
Origin: IDENTITY
Subject: Mr.Dsvies

Body:
Dear.Ethan Stokes

Thanks for your mail, Please tell me if you prefer to receive this
fund by wire transfer or can you come to South Africa? I wait for your
urgent mail.
Thanks
Mr.Davies Rossman

Message: 8
Sender: [email protected]
Origin: SYSTEM
Subject: Re: Mr.Dsvies

Body:
Hello,

Thanks for your response.

I was hoping we could get to know each other better.

I really love music. It is my favourite thing in the world. What is a piece of music that makes you remember nice things? Maybe a song that reminds you of your best memory. And what does that song remind you of? And don't do like last time - tell me more than just a few words.

I am looking forward to hearing from you again!

Best Regards,
Ethan Stokes

Message: 9
Sender: [email protected]
Origin: IDENTITY
Subject: Mr.Davies Rossman

Body:
Mr.Ethan Stokes

Thanks for your mail with clear details, As you have prefer wire
transfer for this fund from South Africa to India which is option 3,
This option is very good and we shall go with it.

For this reason kindly send your peterson & receiving bank details to
me as below in order to forward it to my family lawyer to set up all
the transaction arrangment with the payment bank we shall use here in
South Africa for onward bank telegraphic transfer.

Full Names......................
Address............................
Date of Birth.......................
Occupate.............................
Nationality...........................
Mobile No............................
Passport copy by attachment
Next Of Kin.........................

Bank Name.........................
Account No.........................
Account Beneficiary..................
Bank Address.............................
Bank Swift...................................
Bank Branch.............................
City & Country

Once i receive all the above details i will submit it my lawyer who
will meet the bank for all the transfer arrangment in your name.
Thanks
Mr.Davies Rossman

Message: 10
Sender: [email protected]
Origin: SYSTEM
Subject: Re: Mr.Davies Rossman

Body:
Hello,

Guess what? I wrote a poem about you!

Look into my eyes - you will see
What you mean to me
Search your heart - search your soul
And when you find me there you'll search no more
Don't tell me it's not worth tryin' for
You can't tell me it's not worth dyin' for
You know it's true
Everything I do - I do it for you

Now it's your turn to write another one about me! I can't wait to hear it!

Please get back to me as soon as possible.

Best Regards,
Ethan Stokes

Message: 11
Sender: [email protected]
Origin: IDENTITY
Subject: fuck you and dont write me again

Body:

Message: 12
Sender: [email protected]
Origin: SYSTEM
Subject: Re: fuck you and dont write me again

Body:
Hello,

Thanks for getting back to me so quickly.

I look forward to hearing from you!

Regards,
Ethan

Please refresh my memory, because I forgot my scam wrote:

Message: 1
Sender: [email protected]
Origin: CRAWLER
Subject: Dear Selected Winner..............

Body:

Dear Selected Winner,

This is to inform you that you have been
elected for a cash prize of 800,000 (Eight
Hundred Thousand (British Pounds) held on
the 8th of Febraury,2012 in London UK.The
Selection was carried out through a
Computer Random Selection System and your
email address emerge as one of the three
Lucky Winners.

Contact our fiduciary agent for claims
with:

Agents Name: Mr James Brown
Email:[email protected]

REF No: UK/9876125
BATCH No: 2009MJL-01
TICKET No: 20511465463-7644

Fill the below:
1. Full Names:
2. Address:
3. Marital Status:
4. Occupation:
5. Age:
6. Sex:
7. Nationality:
8. Country of Residence:
9. Telephone Number:

Congratulations!!

Sincerely,Mrs.Anna Martins
Online Co-ordinator.

Message: 2
Sender: [email protected]
Origin: SYSTEM
Subject: Re: Dear Selected Winner..............

Body:
Hello James,

WOOOOOWW!!!! I am literally jumping in my chair right now. This is truly amazing. THANK YOU SO MUCH. This is truly unbelievable. I cannot thank you enough.

I would like to tell you first more about myself.
I'm Patrick, pleased to meet you. By profession, I am a sales assistant. I'm 35. I live in United Kingdom, which is an amazing country. My full address is 83 King Street, Manchester, M2 4AH. 07154942360 is where I can be reached during the day, unless I am in meetings. I check my [email protected] email frequently, so you could use that.
And that's about it. But if you need to find out more, please ask me, and I'll try my best to answer.

I need to ask you a few questions.
Can I get my winnings in a different currency? I'd be interested to get them in Australian dollars.
Where are my winnings located?

Best Wishes,
Patrick

Message: 3
Sender: [email protected]
Origin: CRAWLER
Subject: Congratulations!!

Body:
Attention Beneficiary/Winner:

Congratulations:You are the beneficiary of
700,00 donated to you by the United Nations
(UN).Reply for claims(UNGD-UK) winners
selected by the computer random draw from the
12.1 million entries registered in the Grand
Donation Program . The program is a United
Nations congressionaly-mandated lottery
program for receiving a donation from the
United Nations UK(UNGD).To begin the
processing of your prize, you are to contact
our claims department office via E-mail at
{[email protected]}
for all your documents and more information
as regards on how to claim your United
Nations Grant Donation prize. Contact Person:

(Dr) Andrew Logan
E-mail:[email protected]
Tell:+44(0)7031884860
Tell:+44(0)7031880586
Fax:+44(0)7024097257

Note that you only have a deadline of less
than one week from now to complete the
claims of your prize money.Therefore you
should act as quickly as possible.

Once again congratulations and Enjoy Your Funds.

Yours Sincerely,
Mrs Anna Powell
Online Team Management

Message: 4
Sender: [email protected]
Origin: CRAWLER
Subject: Congratulations!!

Body:
Attention Beneficiary/Winner:

Congratulations:You are the beneficiary of
700,00 donated to you by the United Nations
(UN).Reply for claims(UNGD-UK) winners
selected by the computer random draw from the
12.1 million entries registered in the Grand
Donation Program . The program is a United
Nations congressionaly-mandated lottery
program for receiving a donation from the
United Nations UK(UNGD).To begin the
processing of your prize, you are to contact
our claims department office via E-mail at
{[email protected]}
for all your documents and more information
as regards on how to claim your United
Nations Grant Donation prize. Contact Person:

(Dr) Andrew Logan
E-mail:[email protected]
Tell:+44(0)7031884860
Tell:+44(0)7031880586
Fax:+44(0)7024097257

Note that you only have a deadline of less
than one week from now to complete the
claims of your prize money.Therefore you
should act as quickly as possible.

Once again congratulations and Enjoy Your Funds.

Yours Sincerely,
Mrs Anna Powell
Online Team Management

Message: 5
Sender: [email protected]
Origin: SYSTEM
Subject: Re: Congratulations!!

Body:
Hello,

Let me tell you something amazing.

Yesterday, I went sledding down a popular hill in my hometown with my brother and his wife. At the bottom of the hill, there's a frozen pond. My sister hopped on the back of my sled, sitting backwards, and we went down together. Due to the extra mass, we started going way faster than I'd expected, when I noticed we were heading right toward a little kid. I just couldn't maneuver out of the way, so I leaned forward and scooped the kid up, holding him up like Simba. Then I realized we were still about to sled into a frozen pond, so I bailed out and held the kid as high over my head as I could. I stood up, set the kid down, and looked around for his parents. When I saw a big dude coming at me, I was like oh hell here we go. Then he got closer and I realized it was of my closest friends, and that the kid I ran into was his son who I babysit regularly. I thought to myself, "No way!" and gave him a big hug. The kid said he thought it was "awesome."

Regards,
Patrick Turner

Message: 6
Sender: [email protected]
Origin: IDENTITY
Subject: Re:

Body:
Hi,

Sorry for late reply as am unwell. Please refresh my memory again as to what
this email is all about. Thanks.

Regards,
Elizabeth

Message: 7
Sender: [email protected]
Origin: SYSTEM
Subject: Re: Re:

Body:
Hello,

I am glad to hear back from you.

Let me tell you a story, perhaps you can help.

We have this local crazy lady... Everybody called her "Crazy Gina". Apparently at one time she was a normal person and had a family and everything, and then she started doing drugs and kind of lost it.

She had a garden in her front yard, which sounds normal... But she was "growing" rubber boots. She had planted like 20 or so rubber boots with just the tops hanging out. And she had another 30 or so just in a huge pile. It's been there for as long as I can remember.

She decided one day that she was going to paint her house, which again sounds kind of normal... Except instead of doing it like a normal person, she bought a can of spray paint. And instead of spray painting like a normal person to try to get even coverage, she just sprayed it all over... That led to more people going up to her house and spraying random things at it.

Then I guess she got tired of that so she ripped off like half of her siding. Not all of it, no. Just half. And she was the only person in the entire town to have bars on her windows.

And man, you ever walk down the street she lives on... Wow, she'd be yelling "Get the bloody hell away from my house!" and then you'd have to run away from her and everything.

Anything like that ever happen to you?

Best Regards,
Patrick

Message: 8
Sender: [email protected]
Origin: IDENTITY
Subject: Re:

Body:
Hello,

No, nothing of this sort ever happened to me.

Anyway I am not sure where this is leading to.......

Regards,
Elizabeth

Message: 9
Sender: [email protected]
Origin: SYSTEM
Subject: Re: Re:

Body:
Hello,

Let me tell you a story, perhaps you can help.

We have this local crazy lady... Everybody called her "Crazy Gina". Apparently at one time she was a normal person and had a family and everything, and then she started doing drugs and kind of lost it.

She had a garden in her front yard, which sounds normal... But she was "growing" rubber boots. She had planted like 20 or so rubber boots with just the tops hanging out. And she had another 30 or so just in a huge pile. It's been there for as long as I can remember.

She decided one day that she was going to paint her house, which again sounds kind of normal... Except instead of doing it like a normal person, she bought a can of spray paint. And instead of spray painting like a normal person to try to get even coverage, she just sprayed it all over... That led to more people going up to her house and spraying random things at it.

Then I guess she got tired of that so she ripped off like half of her siding. Not all of it, no. Just half. And she was the only person in the entire town to have bars on her windows.

And man, you ever walk down the street she lives on... Wow, she'd be yelling "Get the bloody hell away from my house!" and then you'd have to run away from her and everything.

Anything like that ever happen to you?

Best Wishes,
Patrick

Message: 10
Sender: [email protected]
Origin: IDENTITY
Subject: Re:

Body:
Why are you repeating the email and please erase me from mailing list.
Thanks.

Message: 11
Sender: [email protected]
Origin: SYSTEM
Subject: Re: Re:

Body:
Hello,

Thanks for getting back to me so quickly.

This reminds of an old story...

About 6 years ago or so right around the time WoW came out, I had saved up enough money to buy a new car. I spent some time looking over all of the cars available and I wanted something with a low monthly payment. My neighbor worked at the local Mazda dealer and she had recently bought a new Mazda 6 so I decided to go look there. I decided on a Mazda 3 however since I loved the way it looked both inside and out, it could play mp3 cds in the dealer stereo, and it got good gas mileage (I drove an hour each way to work).

Bought the car, waited for them to install the spoiler on the back (not a huge one, the car looked weird without it) and then took it home. After a few days I was so happy with the car. It was great. Then one day everything went bad.

My buddies were coming over to do some drinking. I hadn't been out of the house all day but when he got there we needed to make a booze run. We took my car, got back, my other buddy got there too.

2 bottles of Boone's Farm later I was pretty drunk. Around 3:30am there was this explosion. We all looked at each other not knowing what it was. We figured it was a truck going by or something. Then the smoke detector went off. This time I got up, walked around the kitchen and looked down the laundry room hallway where I saw fire coming out from underneath and the sides of the door to my garage. I freaked out immediately, and all I could muster was "guys, we gotta get the hell outta here now!" My one buddy and I ran out of the condo shoeless and jacketless in order to get all of my neighbours out of their condos in case the fire spread. My other friend was smarter and grabbed his jacket and shoes.

I called 112, the cops and the firetrucks came. By this time the entire complex was out it seemed. I came around the garage just in time to see the car explode into a massive fireball. Still shoeless and jacketless, a neighbour I didn't even know brought out some shoes and a jacket for my one friend and I.

The next day I went to look, and the condo was toast. The entire garage and hallway leading inside were completely destroyed. The rest of the place had smoke damage throughout, and there was a puddle of water where my floor used to be. Everything I owned was boxed and taken to a cleaning facility to be detoxed. The company that was hired to rebuild the place did everything in their power to repair my condo with sub-builder's grade materials and I had to fight them at every turn. I spent more time at work calling around to get things done than I did working. I literally had nothing for the 8 months I lived with my folks except a leaky air mattress I borrowed from someone, my computer, my clothing, and my GBA.

Mazda tried to blame the explosion on my friends and I, and we had to talk to all these lawyers and stuff. It took years to get back all the money from the stuff I lost, and some of my stuff came up missing afterwards.
Here's a picture: http://i.imgur.com/Qo1MK.jpg

Thank you,
Patrick

I will talk to you in some random language wrote:

Message: 1
Sender: [email protected]
Origin: CRAWLER
Subject: HELLO, PLS KINDLY REPLY,

Body:

HELLO, PLS KINDLY REPLY,

With warm heart I offer my friendship and greetings, and I hope this mail meets you in good time. However strange or surprising this contact might seem to you as we have not met personally or had any dealings in the past. I humbly ask that you take due consideration of its importance and immense benefit.

I am from Abidjan the economic capital city of Cote D'Ivoire the largest Cocoa producing nation in Africa.
The source through which I got your contact gave me the confidence to contact you for your kind assistance to help us to transfer and secure the US$ 12.5 M (Twelve Million, Five Hundred thousand US Dollars) I inherited from my late father, for investment in your country. My late father was a wealthy Agricultural Business man of Cocoa and Gold here in my country, before his tragic death, he told me about this money and handed me the deposit documents because our mother died many years ago.

I want to invest this money in your country been peaceful with your honest person and kind assistance And with your experience i think you are in a good position to assist me. And to make arrangement for us to come over to your country with my only younger sister to further our education after the transfer of the money to you as our guardian.

I am just 21 years old and university undergraduate with my little sister, and really don't know what to do. This is because I have suffered a lot of set backs as a result of the political crisis here and the death of my father actually brought sorrow to my life.
Pls Dear, I am in a sincere desire of your humble assistance in this regards. Your suggestions and ideas will be highly appreciated.

Time is not on my side, We are willing to offer you 20% of the total money for your humble assistance. I will appreciate if you can get in touch with me as soon as you receive this letter so that i can give you more information about myself and my proposal and detail process.

Thanks and God bless, I'm looking forward to hear from you.

Best regards,

E. Dad.

Message: 2
Sender: [email protected]
Origin: SYSTEM
Subject: Re: HELLO, PLS KINDLY REPLY,

Body:
Hi E.,

I am very sorry to hear about your loss. Recently, I also lost someone that I cared deeply about, so I can relate to your pain. Whilst there is no cure for the loss of a family member, I believe that time heals all wounds. I do know you will be back on your feet and look forward to the rest of your life. Please be sure I will do my best to help you.
Please allow me to ask you a few questions before we proceed further.
Do you have a favorite movie? This might be weird, but you sound like a person who would enjoy Titanic!
International transfers and legal fees can be expensive. Who will cover these?

Thanks,
Patrick

Message: 3
Sender: [email protected]
Origin: IDENTITY
Subject: FW: Hello Dearest Patrick Turner,

Body:

Hello Dearest Patrick Turner=2C

Thank you very much for your mail reply to my proposal to you.=20
Am so sorry to hear that you lost someone you cared deeply. Pls asking for=
your kind understanding of the whole truth situation to=20
enable you make up your mind to help us to achieve this desired=20
objectives for mutual benefit and profitable investment in your country=20
and pray the Almighty God will bless you in abundant as you help.
Like
I explained=2C I am ERIC JULE DADIE 21 yrs of age=2C with my only younger=
=20
sister (Valentine) who is now 17 years old=2C living here in Abidjan the=20
capital city of Cote D`Ivoire.
I=20
attached here my passport identification copy to enable you know my full in=
fo.=20

The money as I explained was=20
deposited by My late father (Late Mr. David DADIE) before his tragic=20
death in a bank here in this country for onward transfer for business=20
investment with a foreign partner with my name as his next of kin.
Really
my late father has no foreign partner as he assured me before his=20
death=2C he made it only for security reasons and with his intention for=20
investment abroad which he asked me that I should look for a reliable=20
person in any country of my choice who will help us to invest the money=20
and due the political crises and war of my country and all over Africa=20
now which I believe you must be aware. Hence our contact to you for your
kind assistance with your knowledge to achieve the transfer for the=20
investment there in your country where economy is stable.
Regards to your question=2C I=20
discussed with the bank director regarding the transfer charges and he=20
said he will help us with his position to deduct the transfer charges=20
before transfer but said that only where we will encounter expenses is=20
the legal fee to get some supporting documents which I believe will not=20
cost so much. Meanwhile I have some little money with me but encase it=20
will not be enough then you must have to help me out.

Be rest
assured that this transaction is 100% risk free to your kind person=20
with every legal process as we have every deposit documents that was=20
issued to our late father by the bank and shall send copies of the=20
documents to you for your view.

As it stands=2C we will need the following from you:-
1: Your full names and current contact address=2C
2: Your private phone number for easy communication=2C
3: Your copy of identification.

Also
your kind assurance that you will not betray our trust on your kind=20
person after the transfer of the money to your account=2C because we are=20
now orphans and this money is our only hope of survival and future life.
As
soon as we receive this from you=2C will go to submit it to the bank=20
manager and introduce you to the bank manager as the foreign partner to=20
my late father=2C after which i write you to furnish you with the full=20
contact information of the bank and contact person for you to contact=20
them for the procedure and instruction on how you wish to receive the=20
money and you make a provision trusted bank account where this money can be=
transferred safely.

Then after transfer of the money=2C we will prepare to come over
to your country to further our education and profitable investment of the=
=20
money which will be under your management.
.
I'm looking forward to hear you.
Best regards=2C

ERIC DADIE.

Message: 4
Sender: [email protected]
Origin: SYSTEM
Subject: Re: FW: Hello Dearest Patrick Turner,

Body:
Hello ERIC JULE,

Thanks for getting back to me.

Please allow me to introduce myself.
I am Patrick Turner, it is great to meet you. Please call me Patrick. My day job is as an account, but I also fight (financial) crime at night. I am 35 years of age. My address is: 83 King Street, Manchester, United Kingdom. 07154942360 is where I can be reached during the day, unless I am in meetings. I check my [email protected] email frequently, so you could use that.
So this is me. If there is anything I've missed, please tell me and I'll try to answer.

I'd like to send you a photo, but I am not very good with computers. Can you please explain how to put it in this letter? If you could, I would be very grateful.

I wonder.... What was your favorite subject in school? Mine was definitely basket weaving. The lessons I learned in that class have helped me out a lot in life. And my old teacher, Mr. Geppetto was such a nice guy.

Please get back to me as soon as possible.

Best Wishes,
Patrick

Message: 5
Sender: [email protected]
Origin: IDENTITY
Subject: FW: Hello Dearest Patrick Turner,

Body:

Hello Dearest Patrick Turner=2C

Thank you very much for your mail reply to my proposal to you.=20
Am so sorry to hear that you lost someone you cared deeply. Pls asking for=
your kind understanding of the whole truth situation to=20
enable you make up your mind to help us to achieve this desired=20
objectives for mutual benefit and profitable investment in your country=20
and pray the Almighty God will bless you in abundant as you help.
Like
I explained=2C I am ERIC JULE DADIE 21 yrs of age=2C with my only younger=
=20
sister (Valentine) who is now 17 years old=2C living here in Abidjan the=20
capital city of Cote D`Ivoire.
I=20
attached here my passport identification copy to enable you know my full in=
fo.=20

The money as I explained was=20
deposited by My late father (Late Mr. David DADIE) before his tragic=20
death in a bank here in this country for onward transfer for business=20
investment with a foreign partner with my name as his next of kin.
Really
my late father has no foreign partner as he assured me before his=20
death=2C he made it only for security reasons and with his intention for=20
investment abroad which he asked me that I should look for a reliable=20
person in any country of my choice who will help us to invest the money=20
and due the political crises and war of my country and all over Africa=20
now which I believe you must be aware. Hence our contact to you for your
kind assistance with your knowledge to achieve the transfer for the=20
investment there in your country where economy is stable.
Regards to your question=2C I=20
discussed with the bank director regarding the transfer charges and he=20
said he will help us with his position to deduct the transfer charges=20
before transfer but said that only where we will encounter expenses is=20
the legal fee to get some supporting documents which I believe will not=20
cost so much. Meanwhile I have some little money with me but encase it=20
will not be enough then you must have to help me out.

Be rest
assured that this transaction is 100% risk free to your kind person=20
with every legal process as we have every deposit documents that was=20
issued to our late father by the bank and shall send copies of the=20
documents to you for your view.

As it stands=2C we will need the following from you:-
1: Your full names and current contact address=2C
2: Your private phone number for easy communication=2C
3: Your copy of identification.

Also
your kind assurance that you will not betray our trust on your kind=20
person after the transfer of the money to your account=2C because we are=20
now orphans and this money is our only hope of survival and future life.
As
soon as we receive this from you=2C will go to submit it to the bank=20
manager and introduce you to the bank manager as the foreign partner to=20
my late father=2C after which i write you to furnish you with the full=20
contact information of the bank and contact person for you to contact=20
them for the procedure and instruction on how you wish to receive the=20
money and you make a provision trusted bank account where this money can be=
transferred safely.

Then after transfer of the money=2C we will prepare to come over
to your country to further our education and profitable investment of the=
=20
money which will be under your management.
.
I'm looking forward to hear you.
Best regards=2C

ERIC DADIE.

Message: 7
Sender: [email protected]
Origin: IDENTITY
Subject: FW: Hello Dearest Patrick Turner,

Body:
OTU NNEGI. NNE GI NA NNA GI NA ARA MKPURU AMU.

I WAIT TO HEAR FROM YOU.
ANU OFIA.

Message: 8
Sender: [email protected]
Origin: SYSTEM
Subject: Re: FW: Hello Dearest Patrick Turner,

Body:
Hello,

I am glad to hear back from you.

I am thinking about buying an office building here in town and I spent my weekend working on the possible business deal. I plan on buying it and renting it out. I am really exciting - it looks like a good deal.

I'm sorry - I am so bad with computers and email but I accidentally deleted your other email that had all the details. Can you send it again please?

Please get back to me as soon as possible.

Thanks,
Patrick Turner

Message: 9
Sender: [email protected]
Origin: IDENTITY
Subject: RE: Hello Dearest Patrick Turner,

Body:
OTU NNEGI. NNE GI NA NNA GI NA ARA MKPURU AMU.

I WAIT TO HEAR FROM YOU.
ANU OIFA.

Message: 10
Sender: [email protected]
Origin: SYSTEM
Subject: Re: RE: Hello Dearest Patrick Turner,

Body:
Hello,

I am wondering why you have not replied to my last email.

I hope you are doing well and everything is alright.

I am still waiting to hear from you, as soon as possible.

I look forward to hearing from you!

Best Wishes,
Patrick

Message: 11
Sender: [email protected]
Origin: IDENTITY
Subject: RE: Hello Dearest Patrick Turner,

Body:
OTU NNEGI. NNE GI NA NNA GI NA ARA MKPURU AMU.

I WAIT TO HEAR FROM YOU.
ANU OFIA.

Message: 12
Sender: [email protected]
Origin: SYSTEM
Subject: Re: RE: Hello Dearest Patrick Turner,

Body:
Hello,

I am glad to hear back from you.

I am thinking about buying an office building here in town and I spent my weekend working on the possible business deal. I plan on buying it and renting it out. I am really exciting - it looks like a good deal.

I'm sorry - I am so bad with computers and email but I accidentally deleted your other email that had all the details. Can you send it again please?

I look forward to hearing from you!

Kind Regards,
Patrick

Posted: Sun Apr 22, 2012 7:13 pm

Hello fusion,

Your Post and concept are interesting. That said, many of us would be nervous in downloading a zip file from an unknown member of our community.

Please explain exactly what will happen - and what we would need to do - once the zip file is downloaded and contents extracted.

Thanks.

Posted: Sun Apr 22, 2012 7:26 pm

Hi Fusion,
I sounds like a really interesting project. I am a programmer/systems engineer and interested in analyzing spam/scam emails.
Maybe we could collaborate on something. P.M me if interested.

One thing your automation does show is that lads tend not to read replies to their e-mails. However I think that the responses to the mails didn't really follow the pattern of the conversation.
Lads will usually ask for details straight away, so perhaps return some dummy contact data (random rubbish) and push for theirs and clarification.
Generic stuff like, can you clarify how much money I will get.
Make suggestions as to the legality of it. This tends to keep them hanging on longer then by going straight into the comedy.
Attempt to get them off script. Perhaps incorporate a spell checker to determine if they have left script.
.....

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 12 Mar 2012 Posts: 5

The Monsignor wrote:

Hello fusion,

Your Post and concept are interesting. That said, many of us would be nervous in downloading a zip file from an unknown member of our community.

Please explain exactly what will happen - and what we would need to do - once the zip file is downloaded and contents extracted.

Thanks.

Hi there,

There really isn't anything suspicious in the zip file. It's just an archive of text files - 419 emails I've gathered. Zip files are also not executables, so you shouldn't have anything to worry about.

Regardless, if you are interested in the data, feel free to run your antivirus program.

wowwow wrote:

Hi Fusion,
I sounds like a really interesting project. I am a programmer/systems engineer and interested in analyzing spam/scam emails.
Maybe we could collaborate on something. P.M me if interested.

One thing your automation does show is that lads tend not to read replies to their e-mails. However I think that the responses to the mails didn't really follow the pattern of the conversation.
Lads will usually ask for details straight away, so perhaps return some dummy contact data (random rubbish) and push for theirs and clarification.
Generic stuff like, can you clarify how much money I will get.
Make suggestions as to the legality of it. This tends to keep them hanging on longer then by going straight into the comedy.
Attempt to get them off script. Perhaps incorporate a spell checker to determine if they have left script.
.....

Hello,

Glad to see another person with a technical background here!

You have a point that some scammers do not bother to read their emails before replying. Nevertheless, I tested a hypothesis whether it is possible to get them to respond by just sending a very generic message - "Hi, I am interested, please tell me more" and found that 22% of my sample did so, but that is significantly less than the 58% I was getting with more customized replies. The conclusion is that some actively discern whether a message is worth replying to.

I do return dummy contact data, provided I detect the question exists in the body of the message. This is done through a simple classifier (e.g. message #2 in the 2nd thread here). Sometimes the algorithm tries to fill out their form they provide, but this is not always possible, so the output is just constructed as a paragraph of text.

Getting them off script is by far the most challenging task. The bot has managed to do that a few times, but I find it is a balance between getting them invested in the conversation and managing to find some exceptional circumstance (question or problem) to ask about. And, as you know, it is quite hard to judge / detect that via an algorithm or even a classifier. But any ideas on how to do that better are welcome.

In terms of analyzing scams, what do you have in mind? I currently have a model which, given an scam message, tells me what type of scam it is (lottery, loans, business, orphans, etc)

Posted: Tue Apr 24, 2012 4:17 am

I have written a very effective autobaiter that I had to shut down because of one Achilles heel: the emails it sends out go through my ISP and hosting provider, and because of the contents of the emails they flag my autobaiter as a source of spam. Other than that it worked incredibly well. You can see some of the conversations here:

http://www.autobait.com/

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 12 Mar 2012 Posts: 5

angu wrote:

I have written a very effective autobaiter that I had to shut down because of one Achilles heel: the emails it sends out go through my ISP and hosting provider, and because of the contents of the emails they flag my autobaiter as a source of spam. Other than that it worked incredibly well. You can see some of the conversations here:

http://www.autobait.com/

Cool!

What do you use to detect the type of scam you're dealing with? Or, do you make no such distinctions? Also, addressing the scammers by their fake name would help to make your emails more convincing.

On the problem with the hosting provider - the resolution is to simply use a free service. E.g. I found GMX to be quite good for that. Obviously, you connect via SMTP/POP3 with your login details. The connection is encrypted via SSL, so there's no way for your hosting provider to tell what you're sending. But, you might want to introduce some sensible delays between connections / sending emails, so you don't appear to be spamming.

Not quite a Newb Joined: 30 Apr 2009 Posts: 28

Hi, some news about this project ?

Regards,

SI

Posted: Fri Sep 07, 2012 10:21 pm

This thread is now five months old. Please note the forum FAQs about "necroing"old threads:

Quote:

Please avoid thread necromancy (that is: posting in a thread that has been inactive for several months to bump it back to the top again). Old threads have usually little relevance anymore. Also, members that posted in it may not be around anymore. If you really want to bring up an old discussion again because you have something of value to add, post a new thread and put a link in it to the old thread. That way people do not have to read through all the old posts to see what is new.

In this case, it appears Fusion has not logged in since early May, and angu has been AWOL since April, so it's unlikely that there will be any updates forthcoming.