My first (somehwat successful) bait.

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Hello I'm New here! Joined: 31 Jul 2019 Posts: 16

This is my very first bait that went on for longer than just a few emails. There's still a lot to improve on, so if you have any tips what I could have done differently to drag this on for even longer, please let me know. Because that's why I am here: To learn how to scambait better. Smile

Also, I think gmail is pretty unorganized for following email conversations. It didn't really help that I tried baiting from the same address that recieves all the scam mails. It gets spammed real quick and it doesn't really help me remember who I am dealing with. Lesson learned: I set up a second mail account to do the baiting. Only one lad at a time from a single account. Plus, I didn't take any notes which I really should have done! Throughout the bait I constantly forgot what I have said before (because I am also writing with other lads), so I couldn't really get a conversation going. Embarassed

Also, there may be a bunch of emails missing, since I accidentally deleted some of them (I thought I was clearing out spam [the "BUY VIAGARA FOR 2000% OFF!" kind of spam], but it turned out I was in the inbox of my mail account. Ooops.), and the lad had the habit of messaging me multiple times, responding to different emails. I try to reconstruct it from the time stamps, but it's not that easy.

Anyway, here's how it went:

The initial e-mail, from the lad, we'll call him CP:

Quote:

Compliments of the day to you.
My name is Eng. CP director for project and planning department of the federal ministry of works & housing authority. I am the head of Tenders Board Committee in charge of awarding contracts to both local and foreign contractors. In 2017, we executed contracts and deliberately over invoiced some this contracts to the tune of seventeen million, three Hundred Thousand United States dollars ($17,300,000.00). We as civil servants cannot keep this amount in our personal accounts here in our country because of government fund monitoring team on all public office holders accounts.
In view of this, my partners have mandated me to look for a foreign partner who will assist us to receive these fund into any account of your choice and we will compensate you with 30% ONLY of the total sum as your share. Please understand that this is a serious matter and we need full cooperation from you
Waiting to hear from you.
Cheers and God bless
Eng. CP

To which I responded:

Quote:

OK

Mr. CP sent the initial mail again, so I asked

Quote:

Why do you sent me the same email again?

CP replied, requesting some information from me. I replied using fake data and attached a pic that I blew up to 10MB. Plus, it's corrupted, so the lad can't open it anyway. Hopefully he still downloads it.

CP seems to be happy with the data (no mention of the broken image) and writes to me that I should contact a bank so we can set up the deal.

Quote:

I am going to draft a (MOU) that will guide us because a gentlemen
agreement is agreement. Although we have never meet before now and we
have build our trust in you.

Awww, thank you, CP! Anyway, I contact Mr. AF who works at a bank in the US (I don't know if it's the same lad or another person). Of course the bank wanted to see my passport, so I simply said

Quote:

Hi, Please find attached a copy of my passport. Looking forward to hear from you soon. Greetings,

without actually attatching anything. Mr AF responds:

Quote:

Attached copy of your ID was not included in your email of yesterday.Check to confirm and resend it.

What I learned from reading on this forum is that we should try to stall things as long as possible. So instead of immediatly resending an image, I asked:

Quote:

Hi, the passport is attached on my end. Maybe it got removed by your mail program? Do you want me to resend it?

After getting a confirmation that, yes, they want me to sent the passport, I sent another broken image, 5MB in size. And even if they managed to "unbreak" it, it would only show the cover of a passport, not an actual passport with name, address, and so on.

Of course, AF wasn't happy:

Quote:

See attached.
That is exactly what we received and it is not an ID of any sort.
You obviously will have to send it again and this endeavor to get it right.

Wait, is he blaming ME for getting things wrong? How dare he?

Quote:

It works fine for me. Maybe the problem is on YOUR end? Try opening it in a different browser.

Mr. AF isn't happy with me.

Quote:

Firefox, Chrome and Microsoft Egde. None of these browsers opened your attachment as an ID and there is no problem of any kind at this end. We send and receive attached documents daily without issues. There is surely something you are doing wrong. First, there was no attachment at all and now there is an image we cannot explain what it is.

At this point in the bait, I was away on a vacation. I didn't check into the mail account at all. This got CP really nervous, he sent multiple messages a day, asking of my whereabouts.

After two long weeks I resurface and sent another broken image:

Quote:

I did nothing wrong on my end, I can see and open the attatchements on my end just fine. I will try to send it to you a third time. Maybe I should deal with someone more competent?

At this point I thought they dropped me, because I didn't hear back from them. But CP isn't one lad to let go so easily. Sadly, this part of the bait got deleted by accident, so I try to reconstruct it from memory:

CP instructed me to contact a different bank, this time in Thailand (Mr. AF is never mentioned again). They didn't ask about a passport anymore, they just wanted to get money out of me. I agreed to pay via Western Union, then downloaded a PDF I found online on a scambaiting tools website (the PDF is called "WU_Form_419") and told the bank-lad that WU asked me to sent it to them to fill it out, and that it's an anti-fraud measurement.

Of course the lad wasn't happy and kept insisting that "it doesn't have anything to do with me". I kept insisting that I couldn't go back to WU if he doesn't fill out the form and that there where no other money transfers available in my town.

So, the bank-lad and Mr CP both sent me a link to the location of a Money Gram office in my fake home town (well, the town is real of course, but I do not live there, nor is the street address I gave them a real address in that town). How nice of them!

They asked me to scan in the receipt and sent it to them. So, of course I only sent the backside of a receipt, claiming that "the people at MG where really helpful with scanning it for me".

All in all, this whole back and forth took almost two months (I recieved the initial email in early August, now we are in the second week of October). Since I don't usually check the scambaiting account there where days where I simply forgot to respond back. All those delays didn't really sit well with CP. Whenever I didn't respond for a few hours he would always ask "Where are you" and "what's the status?". At first I still apologized, stating "it was a busy day", but I stopped doing that. It was just as well. Also, he kept asking me what amount I should sent to the bank, but I never responded to that, because I couldn't remember anymore and the mail got deleted. Embarassed

Anyway, since CP already has $ signs in his eyes and he can almost smell the money, he responds:

Quote:

The bank cannot find the money. there is noting written on the payment
receipt. [LIAR! There's plenty written on the backside I sent to you!] The bank cannot find the money. Please go back to Money gram
office and find out what is happening

The weekend was approaching, so of course there was nothing I could do:

Quote:

That is strange, I asked the people at Money Gram to scan the receipt for me and they where really helpful. So I don't think they made a mistake there. Today the Money Gram office is closed, but I will go back on Monday to sort this out. Thank you for your patience.

But CP isn't patient, he mails back to me after only 3 hours:

Quote:

I sent an email to the bank to confirm if they have received your payment slip.
The bank forwarded a blank payment slip without anything written on it to me. It was strange and confusing.
If you ask money gram to scan the payment slip and send it to the bank, When money gram is done with the scanning
Then the payment slip becomes your property and you will keep it for record purposes.

Please go back to money gram and complain and make sure the money is in tact.

I still don't know if CP and the bank guy "from Thailand" is just the same guy. I think so, but I'm not entirely sure.

Did I already mention that the lad is very impatient? On monday at 12:30pm (or is it am? I can never remember... it's around lunch time Wink

) he mails me again:

Quote:

Dear Sir,

What is the situation of things now?

Bro, I said I would get back to you, didn't I? Anyway, I let him wait for another 3 hours before getting back to him:

Quote:

I went to the Money Gram office again and explained the situation of the faulty scan. They where very apologetic and promised to scan it again (I can't do it myself, unfortunately), please find the receipt attached.

I attached a very small image of a MoneyGram receipt. Too small to read anything

CP responds:

Quote:

Thanks for your cooperation. Please send the Receipt payment to the bank of Thailand.
So that they can confirm your payment. The bank will get back to you one your payment is confirmed.

I will keep you in touch.

I never sent the receipt to the bank-lad, but it wasn't necessary since CP saw something was amiss:

Quote:

What is the problem with your bank?

> I don't know what you mean? Was there something wrong with the receipt I sent?

Dear Mr ...,

I do not believe you made this payment. This is not money gram payment receipt it is fake receipt you send to me

Your payment slip has no

1, Where is the Mtcn control number----------------------------?
2, Where is the sender's name and address------------------------------?
3, Where is receivers name--------------------------------?
4, Amount you paid-------------------------?
Also the amount should be in Thai baht---------------------------?
I don't understand if it is your bank in [my characters country] that is trying to play
jokes or you are the one cracking jokes? What a mess, and why did you
not send the receipt payment slip to the bank of Thailand?
You are to send the original payment slip to the bank of Thailand and
copy me as well.
Then go home with your own copy as the sender.
Men go to your bank and collect your money back. I did not see any money you sent and your payment slip was fake
ask them question's if really you made payment.

[a few hours later]
At first you sent me a plain receipt and nothing was written on it.
secondly you sent me another fake receipt and you as the sender your name and
Address was not written on it. We cannot access the receipt.
You did not send the receipt to the bank of Thailand.
Go back to your bank and collect your money because we did not receive it

>I sent you the receipt twice and now you say I didn't sent it? What is going on? I already said the first slip must have been a mistake by the people in the Money Gram office. I went back there and asked them again to scan it for me and sent it to my email. I then forwarded it to you. What more can I do?

Dear Mr ...,
You did not make any payment and Mr [me]. Please stop dececiving yourself.
At first you sent me a fake slip and nothing was writen on it. Now you
sent me the second payment slip that has No
1, What is the Mtcn control number----------------------------?
2, No sender's name and address------------------------------?
3, No receivers name on the slip--------------------------------?
4, How much did you pay-------------------------?
I don't understand if it is your bank in Norway that is trying to play
jokes or you are the one cracking jokes? What a mess, and why did you
not send the receipt payment slip to the bank of Thailand?
GO TO MONEY GRAM OFFICE AND TELL THEM TO GIVE YOU BACK YOUR MONEY
BECAUSE IT REMAINS UNCLAIMED. THE MUST BE THIEFS.
STOP THE JOKE.

> Ok, I went back to the Money Gram office, they showed me which number you need. I think I will just sent you this as apparently there's some problems with the scans I sent you. This is what is written on the slip:

[removed, just in case. It's a 9 digit number. Money Gram uses 8 digits, AFAIK and WU uses 10, or was it the other way round?]

Hope this helps to recieve the money. It's still waiting!

Please go get your money from money because i did not receive any money from your money gram

> Why did you not pick up the money? I sent you the the transaction number, didn't I?

A few days ago, I got this message:

Quote:

I have decided to stop doing business with you any more. Thank you for
wasting my time all these months. First you send me a payment receipt
that nothing was written on it.
Secondly you send me another fake receipt without senders name and
receivers name and amount you paid was not written on it. Thirdly you
send me ten fake digits numbers [can you not count? It was NINE numbers!] and nothing was found. You have been
fooling me and fooling yourself.
WHY?
Cheers and God bless
Bye.

Is that really the end of it? I mean, it's a nice message to recieve from a lad, but I'm not willing to let go of him now. So, I innocently asked:

Quote:

What are you talking about?

After all I have been nothing but helpful, haven't I? I went to the Money Gram office multiple times! I sent all the information he wanted to have! And now he says I was playing tricks on him?! I don't understand! Wink

Let's see if he responds.

Posted: Wed Oct 30, 2019 3:27 pm

Well done. It's always the lad's fault!

You got him off script and annoyed him. That's more than I can say I did on my first bait.

As for Gmail: I use labels extensively. Every bait has a seperate label (and might even have sublabels). It makes life so much easier. May it can work for you too.

Also, if you are having trouble with transferring the money, you could always try Sexy Pic . It makes life so much easier (but not for the lad)

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 31 Jul 2019 Posts: 16

Yes, I began labeling this particular scammer and his friends and sometimes gmail even picked up on it and started labeling mails from that person automatically. But I'm naturally lazy and didn't always keep up with it. Sad

Posted: Wed Oct 30, 2019 7:00 pm

Echoing Bertje's comment - I see nothing wrong with your side of the bait, and clearly this lad is an incompetent fool if he was unable to proceed based on the copious resources you sent him.

WELL DONE!!

I'm looking forward to your next bait! Cool

Posted: Wed Oct 30, 2019 7:11 pm

Congrats on the bear too!

Master of Master Baiters Joined: 05 Jan 2017 Posts: 790

I love the "scanned the back of the receipt" I often forget little nuggets like this when I am trying to annoy a lad.

Well done I will be using that line soon 👍

Posted: Wed Oct 30, 2019 8:13 pm

Not a bad start – sometimes you can annoy them even more by insisting they telephone you (Lenny), and repeatedly telling them it’s not your fault the daft old git down the hall gets to the phone first as your hearing is not all that good and you don’t always hear it ringing (which is why you don’t have one of those fancy mobile phone thingies)

FYI, they are perfectly capable of demonstrating a degree of arrogance over email, but are completely on the back foot over the telephone, so play on “why didn’t you tell Lenny to call me” – (it’s always the lads fault)

Next time, push for a bank account (and report it to a mod) as a viable alternative to WU etc – mobility problems etc – rinse and repeat. When they ask for a receipt, tell them your PC doesn’t give them out. Then they’ll ask for a screen shot – you reply “you could have told me that in the first place, it’s gone now, do you want me to send it again?”

It’s just a case or working out what will be the most annoying yet realistic behaviour, while constantly dangling that carrot in front of them. Ask the lad for help, tell him you’ve never done this before, so it’s not your fault if you mess it up. Have a row with the WU manager, then get mugged as you leave the shop. It’s his fault you had to go to the WU in the first place. If he suggests you go on-line for WU, tell him they want to get all your personal details and open an account with them – something you’re not prepared to do as this would compromise your banking details and the nurse has explained to this is a bad thing

But remember that all good baits come to an end, so if it’s done, it’s done. Learn from every bait, and take that learning with you for the next one …..

Elite Baiter Joined: 28 Mar 2015 Posts: 1916

Well done on your first bait!
clapping

Posted: Thu Oct 31, 2019 10:50 am

Good first one. Looking forward to the next

Posted: Thu Oct 31, 2019 1:23 pm

I'm looking forward to reading your next adventure!

Well done!

Posted: Thu Oct 31, 2019 1:26 pm

Well done. You will find most baits start and end about like that. The "gems" are few and far between.

It's still fun when they get annoyed though. Nice work.

Baiting Guru Joined: 07 Jul 2006 Posts: 5727

Well done for a first bait! As an fyi though, in the future do not put any text in green. Green is reserved for the mods to indicate their love of money and they get testy when you try and take that away from them. Very Happy

Posted: Thu Oct 31, 2019 3:41 pm

Jayhawk wrote:

Green is reserved for the mods

Does that go for all shades of green? This is olive. Personally I think it's a gross color for text, but I'm still curious. Laughing

Also: The backside of the receipt thing is brilliant! Laughing

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 31 Jul 2019 Posts: 16

^The text is olive, not green! Razz

But thanks for the hint, I will try to keep it in mind. Smile

Purple wrote:

Next time, push for a bank account (and report it to a mod) as a viable alternative to WU etc – mobility problems etc – rinse and repeat. When they ask for a receipt, tell them your PC doesn’t give them out. Then they’ll ask for a screen shot – you reply “you could have told me that in the first place, it’s gone now, do you want me to send it again?”

Oh, that's a good one. As well as the other advice. Should be fun to try it on the next lad. Smile

Baiting Guru Joined: 25 Jul 2017 Posts: 2107

Many of my characters are professions which are forbidden by law to send their i.d. to strangers such as doctors, security guards or my pharmacist. I tell them the medical ones are to combat narcotics and forged prescription fraud, and the security guard is because of terrorism. Having a logical explanation often stops them from asking for i.d.

Posted: Thu Oct 31, 2019 5:11 pm

All of my characters are in the USA, so the law prohibits any sending of ID.

https://www.dcmilitary.com/tester/news/local/reminder-photocopying-military-government-ids-illegal/article_9bb1237c-9070-57d8-9c4a-a2be6ed6dddb.html

If the lad doesn't believe this, we can always ask the neighbor - Bert, the Cop.

Posted: Thu Oct 31, 2019 5:31 pm

Nice start. Having the second email will definitely help you moving forward. The back of the receipt was a nice touch. Very Happy

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 31 Jul 2019 Posts: 16

CP replied. Very Happy

Quote:

Dear [...],
Let me apologies you if i have disappointed or insulted you.
I have writing to you and asking you questions which you never answered.
Now i am asking you again and again.

If you send money to the bank of Thailand, My questions are

1, What is the senders name ( The name you used to send the money)?
2, Senders address?
3, Receivers name?( The name you sent the money to)?
4, Receivers address?
5, How much did you pay.?
6, Where is the payment receipt?

At first you gave me a receipt that nothing was written on it.
Secondly you gave me another payment receipt without a senders and receivers name and no amount was written on it as the amount you paid.
Thirdly you gave me a number as MTCN and it was a fake number.

You have embarrassed me in three occasions at money grams office and the money was not found.

IF ANYONE HAS COLLECTED THE MONEY YOU PAID TO MONEY GRAM, MONEY GRAM WILL BE IN THE POSITION TO TELL YOU IF THAT MONEY HAS BEEN COLLECTED BY ME OR NOT. TELL MONEY TO GIVE YOU A RECEIPT WITH WHICH YOU USED TO MAKE THE PAYMENT OR THEY SHOULD RETURN YOUR MONEY TO YOU.

PLEASE ANSWER MY QUESTIONS

Best part in bold. I really hope he went to the MoneyGram office three times. Laughing

Now I need some advice, how should I respond to this? Simply ignore the questions? Just repeating I sent the money and send another fake transaction number? Or something different?

Posted: Mon Nov 04, 2019 10:13 am

Options:
- ask for a bank account (because he keeps fudging up MG) (and report the account when you receive it)
- fake MG slip..make him make a tool of himself a 4th time
- have him call the moneygram line
- Sexy pic

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 31 Jul 2019 Posts: 16

Sexy pic.

I think calling the MG line sounds the best, if he refuses I'll ask for a bank account.

Thanks!

Posted: Mon Nov 04, 2019 11:13 am

Just as an FYI : Sexy Pic is a trophy modality (actually called ), whose obfuscated name (to prevent lads googling it and finding eater) is Sexy Pic.

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 31 Jul 2019 Posts: 16

Oh, nice! I'm not really sure if CP is up for getting his pick taken, though.

Posted: Mon Nov 04, 2019 12:03 pm

^^^ maybe not but you never know. You are just as likely bound to receive a bunch of fakes that you can yell at him for. That can be just as fun.

Posted: Mon Nov 04, 2019 10:57 pm

You can sometimes get a lad back in the game by contacting him from another account, playing the part of rival lad.

Tell him you found his email after hacking his maga's (your own) mail box and thank him for doing the hard yards. Say you just had to swoop in and pick up the reward after he tuned the victim up.

If he bites, you can feed him some of your other high value magas by way of compensation.

Posted: Tue Nov 05, 2019 2:01 am

You can also set up a second baiting account and start at the very beginning, trying different things to see what works and what doesn't.

My first (somehwat successful) bait.	View next topic View previous topic