Longest lotto straight-bait? Finished at 43 weeks

By joining our community you will have the ability to post topics and access other forums reserved for members. Registration is quick, simple and absolutely free. Join our community today by clicking here.

Posted: Mon Dec 31, 2007 12:26 am

To show that lotto lads aren't necessarily boring or hit-and-run artists who drop you at the first sign of trouble, here's a detailed transcript and analysis of a lotto bait I currently have running.

I know, there's a lot of reading, but I hope there's some useful hints and tips along the way for beginners to find inspiration from.

I wrote:

Date: Fri, 16 Nov 2007 00:35:03 +0000 (GMT)
From: "R1ch4rd xx Vxxxxx" <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: ***FINAL NOTIFICATION LETTER***
To: [email protected]

Dear Ke1vin M00re,

I received the email below.

Please let me know more details.

Thanks.
R1ch4rd xx Vxxxxx

====================== Original Message ======================

Message-Id: <[email protected]>
Date: Thu, 15 Nov 2007 18:26:08 +0100 (CET)

We are glad to inform you that you are a winner of the BETTER LIFE PROMOTION. Contact Mr. Ke1vin M00re on [email protected] Tel: +44-701-199-9999

Lads often read the first reply (despite what you might read elsewhere), but if it's too much, if you have unloaded way too much information on them right from the start, it'll scare them off. When they first send out their opening formats, they may receive dozens of replies. There just isn't enough time (= money) to read through a first reply clogged full of personal details, so don't bother. Keep it short, keep it simple, make it look like you're interested.

Scammer wrote:

Date: Fri, 16 Nov 2007 09:09:45 +0000 (GMT)
From: "Ke1vin M00re" <[email protected]>
Subject: BETTER LIFE CLAIMS PROCESSING FORM
To: "R1ch4rd xx Vxxxxx" <[email protected]>

BETTER HOUSE,
212,CROWN STREET,
BIRMINGHAM. B11 2AG
UNITED KINGDOM.

Attention: Winner,

I am Mr. Ke1vin M00re your claims officer, I wish to Congratulate on your success, you are a lucky person to have won the BETTER LIFE PROMOTION.

Your email address was randomly selected from a database of over 1,000000 email address drawm from the WORLD WIDE WEB. Your email address([email protected]) emerged as the star prize winner of '500,000.00 Great Britain Pounds Sterlings.

This correspondence officially confirms that we are in receipt of instructions relating to the payment of your lottery winnings. Please complete the form below with correct information and email back to us with a return email or via the fax number below. Looking forward to your swift response.

Yours Faithfully,
Mr. Ke1vin M00re
Phone Number +44-701-199-9999

THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION SHOULD BE SUPPLIED COMPRE HENSIVELY BY THE BENEFICIARY OF T HE STATED FUND,FOR VERIFICATION BEFORE TRANSFER.

1.FULL NAMES OF BENEFICIARY:
2.RESIDENTIAL ADDRESS:
3.DATE AND PLACE OF BIRTH:
4.PHONE/FAX NUMBERS:
5.NAME AND ADDRESS OF NEXT OF KIN:
6.SEX:
7.OCCUPATION:
8.MARITAL STATUS
9.MONTHLY INCOME:

10.NATIONALITY:

PAYMENT MODE:
CERTIFIED CHEQUE MADE OUT IN YOUR NAME COURIERED TO YOU VIA OUR AFFILIATE COURIER COMPANY AND WILL BE DELIVERED TO YOUR ADDRESS.

DECLARATION:

I .........................................................HEREBY DECLARE THAT THE ABOVE DATA ARE TRUE. IN CASE OF ANY UNFORSEEN CIRCUSTANCE,MY NEXT OF KIN HAS THE RIGHT TO CLAIM MY TOTAL WINNINGS.(SUPER STANDARD AGENT) SHALL ACT AS MY AGENT IN FACILITATING THE TRANSFER OF THE TOTAL FUND TO ME.
========================================================
This email and its attachments are confidential and intended for the exclusive use of the addressee(s).This email and its attachments may also be privileged or protected by legal rules. If you have received this by mistake please let us know by reply immediately and/or destroy the email and its attachments without reading, copying or forwarding the contents.

THE BETTER LIFE PROMOTION
COPYRIGHT '2007. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

This is a standard script. Most likely, he'll send this out no matter what you write as your first reply (unless you word it just right so that it catches his attention). Since this is starting off as a straight-bait, I will follow some of his requests to show how compliant I am. The information provided doesn't matter. The lad probably won't even look at it, or if he does, he won't bother checking it's accurate. As long as it passes a quick glance (e.g., no '22 F*CK YOU STREET' answers) then everything's fine, and the lad will mark you down as a compliant maga.

I wrote:

Date: Fri, 16 Nov 2007 19:13:39 +0000 (GMT)
From: "R1ch4rd xx Vxxxxx" <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: BETTER LIFE CLAIMS PROCESSING FORM
To: "Ke1vin M00re" <[email protected]>

Dear Ke1vin M00re,

Have I really won that much??? That's amazing! I didn't even know about such things existing.

Okay, here are my details you asked for:
1.FULL NAMES OF BENEFICIARY: R1ch4rd Eloysius xx Vxxxxx
2.RESIDENTIAL ADDRESS: 17 Lxxxx Mxxxxxxx Street, Pxxxxxx, Cxxxxxxx, PLxx xxE, England
3.DATE AND PLACE OF BIRTH: 9th August 1949
4.PHONE/FAX NUMBERS: 0871 999 9999
5.NAME AND ADDRESS OF NEXT OF KIN: Danielle xx Vxxxxx, same address as above (she's my daughter)
6.SEX: Yes
7.OCCUPATION: University lecturer
8.MARITAL STATUS: Married
9.MONTHLY INCOME: Not as much as you would think. About '3200 before tax.
10.NATIONALITY: British.

I hope this is real... I've heard about some kind of internet scams but I'm not sure what they were about.

Anyway, please reply back soonest.

regards,
R1ch4rd

The address I have given does not exist. Don't give out a real address---even though there's little chance the lad will do anything with that information, it's better not to involve any innocent third parties at all. I usually locate my characters in the UK because I am familiar with a fair number of towns here that are nowhere near my real address. This means I can pick an address I know does not exist but looks fairly acceptable on first glance. If you put your characters in a country outside of your own scope of familiarity, then maybe try to do a little bit of research about address formats for that country. Again, the lad will probably not do anything with the info, but there's always a small chance he is familiar with that general part of the world, so the little details help.

The telephone number I gave is real. Many UK companies offer personal and business redirects, which can be redirected to any number in almost any country. I use FleXtel a lot, as it seems to offer a lot more numbers, including the 0871 'business' numbers. (Some lads are wise to the UK 070 'personal' numbering scheme---again, little details just to add to the impression of being a genuine victim.)

Once again, keep it short and simple. At this point, the lad may still have a lot of replies to look through, and a large chunk of text telling him your character's life story may be the thing that persuades him to press the delete key on you and focus on someone else who takes up less of his (expensive) time.

I could have stalled slightly longer here and asked questions about his questions. Why ask for my monthly income, does it matter that I'm unemployed, and so on. I sometimes do this and it buys me a few extra days, but I decided not to this time.

Scammer wrote:

Date: Sat, 17 Nov 2007 14:54:01 +0000 (GMT)
From: "Ke1vin M00re" <[email protected]>
Subject: CLAIMS VERIFIED. CONTACT DELIVERY COMPANY FOR DELIVERY
To: "R1ch4rd xx Vxxxxx" <[email protected]>

BETTER HOUSE,
212,CROWN STREET,
BIRMINGHAM. B11 2AG
UNITED KINGDOM.

ATTENTION: R1ch4rd Eloysius xx Vxxxxx,

This is to inform you that we have reviewed and accepted your completed claims application, Your prize money shall be remitted to you by courier accordingly. Your winning cheque value of '500,000.00 Great Britain Pounds Sterlings bearing your full names shall be couriered to you by our affiliate courier agency who is solely responsible for the delivery of your winning cheque.

Find details of delivery company below
===================================
Handling agent: Mr. W41ter W00dgate
Globex International Courier Service
Rovex House, Hay Hall Rd.
Tyseley, Birmingham. B11 2AG.
London, England
Email: [email protected]

Tel: +44 70459 99999 CALL
===================================

Note that you are to call the courier company and keep all winning information personal to avoid abuse of the program. You are to keep me updated with your proceeding with the courier company.

Regards,
Ke1vin M00re
Claims manager
+447011999999
BETTER LIFE PROMOTION.

THE BETTER LIFE PROMOTION
COPYRIGHT '2007. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Another scripted reply, and this time he's passing me on to another email address. This is quite normal. It may be another lad working with the first one, or it may be the same one playing two roles. It is used to add to the authenticity of the scam, and if it's a team of lads working together, it can reinforce their hierarchy, with the person you are passed on to being the higher up, maybe more literate, more successful scammer.

I wrote:

Date: Tue, 20 Nov 2007 11:37:16 +0000 (GMT)
From: "R1ch4rd xx Vxxxxx" <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: CLAIMS VERIFIED. CONTACT DELIVERY COMPANY FOR DELIVERY
To: "W41ter W00dgate" <[email protected]>

Dear Mr W41ter W00dgate,

Below is a copy of an email I received from Ke1vin M00re. As you can see, he writes that I should contact you, so this is what I am doing.

I hope you know what this is in relation to.

thanks,
R1ch4rd xx Vxxxxx

Keep it short, keep it simple. To be a believable victim, you have to show that you are totally into the lad's story. In this case, I treat W41ter as a different person (even though he may be the same lad), and because it's the first email to him, I keep it short and sweet. Not many people would unload their whole lifestory onto someone they've only been told to contact in a professional context, so a simple introduction works fine here.

Scammer wrote:

Date: Thu, 22 Nov 2007 14:33:06 +0000 (GMT)
From: "W41ter W00dgate" <[email protected]>
Subject: WELCOME TO GLOBEX COURIER SERVICE (INSURANCE)
To: "R1ch4rd xx Vxxxxx" <[email protected]>

GLOBEX Courier world wide Inc.
237 Guenette
St-Laurent (LONDON)
H4R 2E9
Tel:+44-701-199-9999

ATTENTION: R1ch4rd xx Vxxxxx ,

This is to inform you that your parcel has been officially cleared for delivery by the Verifications Dept. at the headquarters of the GLOBEX COURIER SERVICE(GCS).

The winning number and original copy of your certificate and your winning cheque valued at '500,000.00 Great Britain Pounds Sterlings, together with a covering document from the BETTER LIFE PROMOTION will be sent to you and the bank stating that the parcel was obtained through their promotion.

This documents have been securely sealed and packaged which makes it impossible for any one to view its content.

Be informed that our delivery mode of operation is free to your destination.

But due to the diplomatic contents of your parcel,you have to insure it before delivery.

The insurance fees is '300 great britain pounds sterlings.This is what you have to pay for insurance,as it is in line with the FINANCE AND FISCAL AUTHOURITY that parcels leaving the UNITED KINGDOM, must be insured with the BRITISH INSURANCE MINISTRY. If this is not paid/done, it will be said to have violated the FEDERAL BRITISH DELIVERY RULE.

Do get back to us in order for us to provide you with necessary details of making payment readily available for the insurance fees necessary for the delivery of your parcel.

MONDAYS-SUNDAYS
(24 hours delivery service)

Many Thanks
Mr.W41ter W00dgate
Tel: +44 704-599-9999
(Dispatch Manager)

This is the meat of the scam. The details vary, but this is where the money lies. Sometimes, they will be asking for the delivery charges. In this case, he states the delivery is free (as it should be!) but he tells me that British Law states that the package must be insured. It's the insurance that he will be scamming me for in this format. As I said, the details may vary. Courier charges, insurance, customs/import duty, etc, etc. There will always be a fee to be paid.

A couple of points to note.
1. The address of the courier company. That's actually a Canadian address and post code, yet he's given me a +44 (UK) number and is claiming that the package falls under British jurisdiction.
2. The legal requirements and the terms he uses. "British Insurance Ministry"? "Federal British Delivery Rule"? Anyone even vaguely familiar with the UK should smell something suspicious there, even if they couldn't pinpoint the exact error.
In both instances, don't point out the mistakes. These are the things that a genuine victim might spot and spark the "getting a clue" process so that he/she realizes it's a complete scam. There's an instinct to correct glaringly obvious mistakes, especially when they relate to your own part of the world, but resist the urge and let them stand as clues for genuine victims.

Also note the UK 070 redirect number in the courier company's emails and the promotions company's emails. Although it requires a UK international dialling prefix (+44) the telephone that actually rings when the number is dialled could be anywhere in the world.

I wrote:

Date: Mon, 26 Nov 2007 17:41:23 +0000 (GMT)
From: "R1ch4rd xx Vxxxxx" <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: WELCOME TO GLOBEX COURIER SERVICE (INSURANCE)
To: "W41ter W00dgate" <[email protected]>

Dear Mr W41ter W00dgate,

I received an email from you stating that you had a package in your depot waiting for me to confirm my details.

Please let me know what details you need confirming and I will attend to the matter promptly.

regards,
R1ch4rd xx Vxxxxx

Short and simple. Only a few emails have been exchanged at this point, and if I were to get too complicated, the lad would lose barely anything by dropping me and concentrating on the less troublesome replies from genuine victims.

Scammer wrote:

Date: Tue, 27 Nov 2007 17:29:30 +0000 (GMT)
From: "W41ter W00dgate" <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: (INSURANCE Of YOUR PARCEL)
To: "R1ch4rd xx Vxxxxx" <[email protected]>

GLOBEX Courier world wide Inc.
237 Guenette
St-Laurent (LONDON)
H4R 2E9
Tel:+44-701-199-9999

ATTENTION: R1ch4rd Xx Vxxxxx,

This is in response to your mail as you already know in our last mail to you, for us to deliver your parcel to you we have to insure it with British Insurance Ministry because of its diplomatic content.

The insurance fees is '300 great britain pounds sterlings.This is what you have to pay for insurance,as it is in line with the FINANCE AND FISCAL AUTHOURITY that parcels with such diplomatic content( Winning Cheque of '500,000, Winning Certificate, Clear Source of Funds) which exceed '100,000 must be insured with the BRITISH INSURANCE MINISTRY. If this is not paid/done, it will be said to have violated the FEDERAL BRITISH DELIVERY RULE.

Do get back to us in order for us to provide you with necessary details of making payment readily available for the insurance fees necessary for the delivery of your parcel.

MONDAYS-SUNDAYS
(24 hours delivery service)

Many Thanks
Mr.W41ter W00dgate
Tel: +44 704-599-9999
(Dispatch Manager)

This lad is playing it slowly. He hasn't given me any payment modalities yet (Western Union, you can bet your life on it), so I won't address the payment just yet. Instead, let's delay a little . . .

I wrote:

Date: Tue, 27 Nov 2007 18:43:31 +0000 (GMT)
From: "R1ch4rd xx Vxxxxx" <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: (INSURANCE Of YOUR PARCEL)
To: "W41ter W00dgate" <[email protected]>

Dear W41ter,

Thank you for your last email stating the price of the insurance for my delivery.

May I ask who is underwriting this insurance? As you might have heard or even been involved in, the freight insurance industry is having a bit of a crisis at the moment, and I wouldn't want my insurance to be with one of the companies in the middle of that crisis. I hope you understand my worry here.

Please let me know how to pay the insurance charge, and let me know the company we are dealing with.

thanks,
R1ch4rd

My own opinion about what I asked for here is that it created a slight crisis-point in the bait. He might have decided that I was being awkward and asking for something he could not answer persuasively. He's not really in the courier business, so if he suspects I would see through a bluff because, let's say, I did have some experience in that business, then he might have decided I was not worth pursuing. It's at these points that many baits fail, the lads just bail out because they've been asked to do something they have almost zero chance of responding to in a believable manner and they know it.
Fortunately, this one bluffs it . . . (He also picks up eagerly on my request for the payment details, which probably helped to keep him with me.)

Scammer wrote:

Date: Wed, 28 Nov 2007 10:01:41 +0000 (GMT)
From: "W41ter W00dgate" <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: PAYMENT DETAILS FOR THE INSURANCE OF YOUR PARCEL
To: "R1ch4rd xx Vxxxxx" <[email protected]>

GLOBEX Courier world wide Inc.
237 Guenette
St-Laurent (LONDON)
H4R 2E9
Tel:+44-701-199-9999

ATTENTION: R1ch4rd Xx Vxxxxx

This is to acknowledge receipt of your mail with content noted. Be informed that in your parcel is a cheque value '500,000.00 Great Britain Pounds Sterlings, winning certificate, clear source of fund paper works and other relevant documents to facilitate speedy clearance of your cheque in your what ever location in the world.

To this regard, you are to send in full the required amount for insurance to our account officer by WESTERN UNION MONEY TRANSFER as directed below
Send to:

Name: David Roy
Address: 237 Guenette
St-Laurent (LONDON)
H4R 2E9, United Kingdom.
Amount: '300 Pounds.

This Amount should be sent through WESTERN UNION MONEY TRANSFER to our account officer as named above. You are to find a WESTERN UNION MONEY TRANSFER agent in your location and send the reqired amount. All relevant information of payment as it appears on your payment slip should be sent to us as stated below:

Sender's name:
Sender's address:
Amount sent:
Money Transfer Control Number (MTCN):
Country:

Upon receipt of the above from you, your parcel will be delivered within 48 hours.

Note: This is to inform you that we are aware of the crises rocking some insurance company and the goodnews is our insurance company is no amonged the named insurance company.

Regards,
MONDAYS-SUNDAYS
(24 hours delivery service)
Many Thanks
Mr.W41ter W00dgate
Tel: +44 704-599-9999
(Dispatch Manager)

Well done! You have to applaud the bravado of his bluff as he simply gives the information in my question back to me without actually answering anything.

I decide to contact the original character again. First, the lad's asking for a payment so it's time to start the delaying tactics proper, and second, I'm trying to be a real victim, so contacting the original character might be something a genuine victim might do.

I wrote:

Date: Wed, 28 Nov 2007 22:36:15 +0000 (GMT)
From: "R1ch4rd xx Vxxxxx" <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: CLAIMS VERIFIED. CONTACT DELIVERY COMPANY FOR DELIVERY
To: "Ke1vin M00re" <[email protected]>

Dear Ke1vin M00re,

Thank you for putting me in contact with W41ter W00dgate and the delivery company. Things are being sorted out there, thanks.

I would like to ask if you would be wanting me to appear in your promotional material? I know that often with other prize draws, the company likes to take a photograph or something similar of past winners to put in their advertising and promotional material that then goes out to other people. Would you be wanting to do that with me? I'm just curious, that's all, because I've never been famous before, and this could be my only chance! Haha!

Anyway, please get back to me about if you have any plans like this.

thanks,
R1ch4rd

Scammer wrote:

Date: Mon, 3 Dec 2007 10:04:13 +0000 (GMT)
From: "W41ter W00dgate" <[email protected]>
Subject: ATTENTION
To: "R1ch4rd xx Vxxxxx" <[email protected]>

GLOBEX Courier world wide Inc.
237 Guenette
St-Laurent (LONDON)
H4R 2E9
Tel:+44-701-199-9999

ATTENTION: R1ch4rd Xx Vxxxxx

How are you today? we hope this mail finds you well. This is to informed you that your prize still linger in our office pending your responce. You are hereby advise to act as directed in my previous mail to you to faciliate speedy delivery of your parcel.

Failure to do this within three days from today 3rd of Dec. 2007, your parcel will be returned to the BETTER LIFE PROMOTION OFFICE.

Regards,
MONDAYS-SUNDAYS
(24 hours delivery service)
Many Thanks
Mr.W41ter W00dgate
Tel: +44 704-599-9999
(Dispatch Manager)

He's getting itchy feet, he wants to be walking to the WU office and picking up my money! That deadline, however, is 100% negotiable. At my first warning, he's not likely to leave the deadline in place and drop me when there's a chance I could pay up. I've shown no sign of being awkward (yet) so the Dec 3rd date is just a convenient way to hurry me up.

I wrote:

Date: Mon, 3 Dec 2007 10:16:40 +0000 (GMT)
From: "R1ch4rd xx Vxxxxx" <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: ATTENTION
To: "W41ter W00dgate" <[email protected]>

Dear Mr W00dgate,

Thank you for your reminder.

I had written to Ke1vin M00re, the contact I had at the Better Life Promotions office and asked him some questions. I'm worried that if I accept the winnings, then I may be implicitly agreeing to some kind of contract where the Better Life people can use my name and image in their promotional material. I wanted to get this sorted out in definite words before proceeding. I hope you can understand this. I'm still waiting for Ke1vin M00re to reply.

Also, if there are any charges for storing the parcel in your depot until this is sorted out, please let me know and I will pay them.

thanks,
R1ch4rd xx Vxxxxx

A perfectly legitimate delay. I asked a question, it wasn't answered, so I daren't proceed any further until my mind is put at rest. The promise of extra money also never goes far wrong.

Scammer wrote:

Date: Mon, 3 Dec 2007 15:01:16 +0000 (GMT)
From: "Ke1vin M00re" <[email protected]>
Subject: RESPONCE
To: "R1ch4rd xx Vxxxxx" <[email protected]>

BETTER HOUSE,
212,CROWN STREET,
BIRMINGHAM. B11 2AG
UNITED KINGDOM.

Attention: R1ch4rd,

I am really very sorry for this late responce to your mail. I just got a call from Mr. W41ter W00dgate asking me to respond to your mail so you can go ahead to satisfy the insurance cost for your parcel.

In regards to the content of your mail, your appearing in our promotional materials will be arranged after you have statisfied the insurance of your parcel. To this regard, i urge you to get back to Mr. W41ter and act as you have been directed.

Best regards,
Ke1vin M00re
========================================================
This email and its attachments are confidential and intended for the exclusive use of the addressee(s).This email and its attachments may also be privileged or protected by legal rules. If you have received this by mistake please let us know by reply immediately and/or destroy the email and its attachments without reading, copying or forwarding the contents.

THE BETTER LIFE PROMOTION
COPYRIGHT '2007. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Ke1vin M00re wakes up! My last email must have made him either check his other account (if it is one lad working solo) or contact his partner and ask why the heck he hasn't responded to this maga's question as it's holding up the payday!

Scammer wrote:

Date: Mon, 3 Dec 2007 15:19:29 +0000 (GMT)
From: "W41ter W00dgate" <[email protected]>
Subject: HELLO
To: "R1ch4rd xx Vxxxxx" <[email protected]>

GLOBEX Courier world wide Inc.
237 Guenette
St-Laurent (LONDON)
H4R 2E9
Tel:+44-701-199-9999

ATTENTION: R1ch4rd Xx Vxxxxx,

Thanks for your prompt responce to my mail. I called Mr. Ke1vin M00re after i received your mail. I believe by now that you most have gotten a response from his office. You will not be required to pay extra cost of your parcel. This office gave you that notification to save you the risk of lossing your parcel.

Also be informed that you are to follow the payment instruction in my previous mails to you.

MONDAYS-SUNDAYS
(24 hours delivery service)
Many Thanks
Mr. W41ter W00dgate
Tel: +44 704-599-9999
(Dispatch Manager)

Notice the date of the email. Deadlines? Ha!
Curious that he doesn't take my offer of more money. Often, when a package is delayed at the courier company, the lad will add on charges for storage (referred to as "demurrage", "dummurage" or any reasonable variation of those letters).

Scammer wrote:

Date: Wed, 5 Dec 2007 08:23:16 +0000 (GMT)
From: "W41ter W00dgate" <[email protected]>
Subject: ATTENTION
To: "R1ch4rd xx Vxxxxx" <[email protected]>

GLOBEX Courier world wide Inc.
237 Guenette
St-Laurent (LONDON)
H4R 2E9
Tel:+44-701-199-9999

ATTENTION: R1ch4rd Xx Vxxxxx

How are you today? This is to inform you that we are still waiting for a responce from you. Be informed that this company will not be held responsible for any damage or lost of your parcel since it has not been insured. We strongly advise that you get back to us and act as directed.

Regards,
MONDAYS-SUNDAYS
(24 hours delivery service)
Many Thanks
Mr.W41ter W00dgate
Tel: +44 704-599-9999
(Dispatch Manager)

Not responding for a few days always gets them worked up, especially once you have gotten at least a few weeks into the bait.
A reply, after a few more days, airing a genuine concern . . .

I wrote:

Date: Fri, 7 Dec 2007 18:36:03 +0000 (GMT)
From: "R1ch4rd xx Vxxxxx" <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: ATTENTION
To: "W41ter W00dgate" <[email protected]>

Dear W41ter,

Thanks for your email. I also got a reply from Ke1vin M00re.

I've been hesitating over replying because a few days ago, I received a warning that I should be aware of email scams. The email listed a few different types, and one of the them was "Lottery scam". It made me stop and think, but I don't know... the Better Life Promotions lottery seems genuine to me and looks very professional. Would someone spend all that time and money on a scam? I just don't know, and can't work out what anyone might want to do that.
I still need some help, though, as I have a few doubts.
Can you offer me some reassurance that this is real? I'm not sure how you can do that... maybe a scan of the winning cheque/draft? I don't know what would be easy for you.

I hope you understand my doubts here and don't think I'm being silly.

regards,
R1ch4rd

Notice that I'm not asking for a custom photo or anything difficult. He should already have something like this in his Lad Starter Kit, anyway. I've also left it totally open for him to volunteer something of his own. The lazy option for him is to delve into his Starter Kit and pull out some half-hearted documents, but the door was open for him if he wanted to put more effort into it.

Scammer wrote:

Date: Sat, 8 Dec 2007 11:42:39 +0000 (GMT)
From: "W41ter W00dgate" <[email protected]>
Subject: ATTENTION
To: "R1ch4rd xx Vxxxxx" <[email protected]>

GLOBEX Courier world wide Inc.
237 Guenette
St-Laurent (LONDON)
H4R 2E9
Tel:+44-701-199-9999

ATTENTION: R1ch4rd Xx Vxxxxx,

Thanks for your response to my mail. This came rather late but you still do have the chance to claim your parcel from this office. The content of your mail was well understood. To that regard, I have asked for an approval to send you a scanned copy of your winning certificate and a letter of guarantee from our attorney. I'm afraid, we can not send you a scanned copy of your winning cheque. Sending you that will be illegal.

Please see attached scanned copy of your winning certificate and letter of guarantee.

Please be remained that time is running out. You are advised to act as soon as possible. Today was supposed to be the last day for you to pay the required insurance fee but we just extended that till Monday since we only got your response.

MONDAYS-SUNDAYS
(24 hours delivery service)

Many Thanks
Mr.W41ter W00dgate
Tel: +44 704-599-9999
(Dispatch Manager)

He attaches these:

No cheque, as "that will be illegal." It's possible he didn't have one, or just as likely that he's been victim to a baiter taking the scan and running a "I've cashed the cheque, thanks for the money!" modality. Who knows, but I bought some more time with the deadline extended to the 10th of December.

I wrote:

Date: Mon, 10 Dec 2007 14:27:37 +0000 (GMT)
From: "R1ch4rd xx Vxxxxx" <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: ATTENTION
To: "W41ter W00dgate" <[email protected]>

Dear W41ter W00dgate,

Thank you for sending the scans of the documents relating to my prize winning. I feel more confident now, and I think the people who were warning me about "scams" and "internet fraud stars" were, to put it plainly, talking out of their arse.

I have to make an apology and tell you that I only received your email message today, the day that you say the deadline runs out. This is most unfortunate. I was away for several days, and while we're quite sophisticated here, we haven't got internet coverage for every square yard of the country. Not yet, anyway.

I hope I can still claim this prize. Why was the deadline so tight? Did you know that the National Lottery here (the one run by the government) has a 180-day deadline? That's almost half a year! That's what you and the Better Life Promotions people should get together and sort out... a longer deadline to claim prizes, or else why offer such prizes with the winners whipped up into a frenzy just to claim their winnings? Life's stressful enough as it is without something good like this being made another source of stress. Wouldn't you agree? I hope so.

Well, let me know if my prize has expired, and I will slink away and sulk for not being connected to the internet 24/7.

regards,
R1ch4rd

I congratulate him on such wonderful certificates, and apply a mild slap for giving me such a tight deadline. The length of time that we've been corresponding combined with the reassurance that I believe his certificates means I can start to be a little more rebellious and awkward.

Scammer wrote:

Date: Mon, 10 Dec 2007 17:53:36 +0000 (GMT)
From: "W41ter W00dgate" <[email protected]>
Subject: HELLO
To: "R1ch4rd xx Vxxxxx" <[email protected]>

GLOBEX Courier world wide Inc.
237 Guenette
St-Laurent (LONDON)
H4R 2E9
Tel:+44-701-199-9999

ATTENTION: R1ch4rd Xx Vxxxxx,
Thanks for writing me again. please not that you can still claim your parcel for this office. We work with time. The year is coming to an end and we don't want this to last till next year so we are working hard to make sure we do all dispatch before the year runs out.

Your parcel is still pending insurance. Do inform us on when you will be sending the required payment so we can prepare for your delivery.

MONDAYS-SUNDAYS
(24 hours delivery service)
Many Thanks
Mr.W41ter W00dgate
Tel: +44 704-599-9999
(Dispatch Manager)

A gentle prod. He's being diplomatic and professional because he still believes I'm 100% genuine victim.

I wrote:

Date: Thu, 13 Dec 2007 00:37:43 +0000 (GMT)
From: "R1ch4rd xx Vxxxxx" <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: HELLO
To: "W41ter W00dgate" <[email protected]>

Dear W41ter W00dgate,

You wrote:
> Do inform us on when you will be sending the required payment so we can prepare for your delivery.

I honestly do not know when I will be sending the required payment. You haven't given me an address to send the payment cheque, so I can't do anything.

Please advise.

thanks,
R1ch4rd

Hey, I have a lot on my mind, and I forget that he told me to pay by WU already! Resending of the payment information is always a good thing. It makes them feel like progress is being made. Don't over-do it, though.

Scammer wrote:

Date: Thu, 13 Dec 2007 12:06:22 +0000 (GMT)
From: "W41ter W00dgate" <[email protected]>
Subject: PAYMENT DETAILS FOR THE INSURANCE OF YOUR PARCEL
To: "R1ch4rd xx Vxxxxx" <[email protected]>

GLOBEX Courier world wide Inc.
237 Guenette
St-Laurent (LONDON)
H4R 2E9
Tel:+44-701-199-9999

ATTENTION: R1ch4rd Xx Vxxxxx

You are to send in full the required amount for insurance to our account officer by WESTERN UNION MONEY TRANSFER as directed below
Send to:

Name: David Roy
Address: 237 Guenette
St-Laurent (LONDON)
H4R 2E9, United Kingdom.
Amount: '300 Pounds.

This Amount should be sent through WESTERN UNION MONEY TRANSFER to our account officer as named above. You are to find a WESTERN UNION MONEY TRANSFER agent in your location and send the reqired amount. All relevant information of payment as it appears on your payment slip should be sent to us as stated below:

Sender's name:
Sender's address:
Amount sent:
Money Transfer Control Number (MTCN):
Country:

Upon receipt of the above from you, your parcel will be insured and delivered within 48 hours.

MONDAYS-SUNDAYS
(24 hours delivery service)
Many Thanks
Mr.W41ter W00dgate
Tel: +44 704-599-9999
(Dispatch Manager)

Thanks! I'll make sure I don't forget that information.

Scammer wrote:

Date: Tue, 18 Dec 2007 09:15:09 +0000 (GMT)
From: "W41ter W00dgate" <[email protected]>
Subject: ATTENTION
To: "R1ch4rd xx Vxxxxx" <[email protected]>

GLOBEX Courier world wide Inc.
237 Guenette
St-Laurent (LONDON)
H4R 2E9
Tel:+44-701-199-9999

ATTENTION: R1ch4rd,

This is to inform you that we'll be returning your parcel to the BETTER HOUSE come 21st December following your non payment of your parcel insurance fee. We cannot continue to keep your pacel with us.

You are strongly advice to get back to this office with your payment before the above stated date or loss your parcel. You are to send payment as directed in my previous mail to you.
MONDAYS-SUNDAYS
(24 hours delivery service)

Many Thanks
Mr.W41ter W00dgate
Tel: +44 704-599-9999
(Dispatch Manager)

Okay, now he's starting to get a little impatient. The deadline has been moved to December 21st, and he's not happy but is still being nice and diplomatic because he suspects I might just pay. After all, I've given no real indications so far that I won't, but he's only got so much patience so it's ultimatum time.
Time to move this a notch further over to my side . . .

I wrote:

Date: Wed, 19 Dec 2007 14:03:12 +0000 (GMT)
From: "R1ch4rd xx Vxxxxx" <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: ATTENTION
To: "W41ter W00dgate" <[email protected]>

Dear Mr W00dgate,

Sorry for not replying sooner. Let me explain...

I was contacted by someone from the American FBI who told me that almost all lottery emails on the internet are fakes and are really cover operations for smuggling drugs into the country. He said that what happens is that we (the innocent victims) pay for a package to be shipped to us, thinking it's our winnings, but really it's drugs, and then we are blackmailed into passing the drugs onto the distributors in our country. He asked me if I had ever received one. I told him I had (yours) and he asked if I had already sent any money, which I hadn't but I was going to send the payment to you the next day. He told me to stop the payment immediately and to send him one of your emails. So I did. I mean, I can't argue with the American FBI, can I?

Anyway, he has now told me that he is investigating your delivery company and will come back to me and tell me if this is a drugs-smuggling operation.
But I'm not sure, I mean... it sounds really unbelievable, but why would the American FBI lie to me? I'm waiting for his email now, not sure what to do in the meantime.

What do you advise?

regards,
R1ch4rd

If he had dropped me at this point, I would have been okay with that. He is, after all, a lotto lad, and the bait had been going on for more than a month.
This turn of events was purely random, a sudden thought that came to me as I sat down to write a reply. I had no real plans beyond riling the lad up a bit and also seeing if he would play along.

Scammer wrote:

Date: Wed, 19 Dec 2007 14:39:48 +0000 (GMT)
From: "W41ter W00dgate" <[email protected]>
Subject: MY RESPONSE
To: "R1ch4rd xx Vxxxxx" <[email protected]>

GLOBEX Courier world wide Inc.
237 Guenette
St-Laurent (LONDON)
H4R 2E9
Tel:+44-701-199-9999

ATTENTION: R1ch4rd,

Thanks for writing me. The content of your email was noted. I'm really very surprise to hear this from you. I have gone extra length to make sure you receive your parcel and I just can't believe that you have yielded to such mail, telling you we are going to send you drugs as your prize. It's funny if you ask me.

I don't know how to advice you Mr. R1ch4rd. I'll just ask you to wait for the response from the FBI and stand a chance of loosing your parcel with us.

This office has sent you a scanned copy of your winning certificate and a letter of guarantee from our attorney. What more do you need to be sure that your parcel is lingering in our office? We'll not extend the dead line for your claims. If you fail to send payment before the stated date 21st December, you sure will loss your prize.

I'll want you to prove your so-called FBI wrong by receiving a parcel of your cheque and not drugs.

Thanks for your anticipated co-operations

MONDAYS-SUNDAYS
(24 hours delivery service)

Many Thanks
Mr.W41ter W00dgate
Tel: +44 704-599-9999
(Dispatch Manager)

You can almost feel the ambivalence in his email: should he call me on my BS or should he ride it out because I might still pay. . .
Fortunately for me, his greed and optimism wins out and I think there's still a good chance I can keep him going a little longer.

I wrote:

Date: Wed, 19 Dec 2007 14:57:22 +0000 (GMT)
From: "R1ch4rd xx Vxxxxx" <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: MY RESPONSE
To: "W41ter W00dgate" <[email protected]>

Dear Mr W00dgate,

I'm not sure I liked the tone of your last email. I was merely explaining the facts of what has happened over the past 4 days. I don't know what else to tell you except an account of what took place.

Also, your wrote "so-called FBI". Are you suggesting that this person might only be pretending to be from the FBI? I'm not sure what you're trying to say there and would appreciate some clarification.

Thanks,
R1ch4rd

A disguised slap. I tell him I don't like the tone of his email, and then quickly revert to the subservient and compliant victim mode so that the slap doesn't sting quite as much. A skill in interviewing (whether it be live TV/radio or for print) is to create space for the interviewee to fill, to make him/her feel that this space must be filled. I try to do this here by asking him to explain his last email as I don't understand what he's saying.

Scammer wrote:

Date: Wed, 19 Dec 2007 16:21:44 +0000 (GMT)
From: "W41ter W00dgate" <[email protected]>
Subject: ATTENTION
To: "R1ch4rd xx Vxxxxx" <[email protected]>

GLOBEX Courier world wide Inc.
237 Guenette
St-Laurent (LONDON)
H4R 2E9
Tel:+44-701-199-9999

ATTENTION: R1ch4rd,

Thanks for your prompt response to my mail. I'm sorry if my tone in my previous mail was bad to you. I just couldn't believe the content of your mail. Mr. R1ch4rd, It's my duty to make sure your parcel gets to you. That's what i'm paid for.

Yes, your American FBI could be pretending. He could just be someone around you. Maybe you have been sharing the good news of your furtune to too many people. What i want from you now is to proove him or them wrong. You still have that time to.

I have given you instructions on how to go about sending the payment. Our account's officer will wait to receive it on or before 21st December.

After you have received your parcel and have cashed your cheque in your bank, do send me a mail to say sorry for all the stress you have put me through.

MONDAYS-SUNDAYS
(24 hours delivery service)

Many Thanks
Mr.W41ter W00dgate
Tel: +44 704-599-9999
(Dispatch Manager)

And as if I were pulling his strings personally, he moves into the space I created and tries to explain himself. Notice how also apologizes at the start, and then asks me to apologize to him at the end? The arrogance!
It's at this point that the bait is tipping over towards my side. He's still asking for payment and still running the lotto scam, but he's having to respond to unexpected circumstances that he could not have predicted given a million years. This is the middleground grey area that I like to get most of my baits into. The lad is still hoping that his own script pays out big, but I have twisted it so that it no longer looks familiar to him. At this point, I have to assess if it's worth pushing him further into my own world or sticking at this level of 50/50 straight-baiting. Only experience mixed with a bit of being able to read people can really help decide which way to go now.

I wrote:

Date: Wed, 19 Dec 2007 17:36:59 +0000 (GMT)
From: "R1ch4rd xx Vxxxxx" <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: ATTENTION
To: "W41ter W00dgate" <[email protected]>

Dear Mr W00dgate,

I have told no one about this winning. I wanted to keep it a secret that I could reveal on, say, Christmas Day when all the family and friends are there and we can all celebrate. So..... no one here knows about it except me.

I understand completely that your job is to ensure that packages are sent out in a timely manner and reach their destination, but you have to see this from my point of view, too. I am contacted by someone claiming to be American FBI. His identity looks real, he talks like an American FBI agent, and I'm sure he also walks like one, too. So...... I had no reason (at that time) to doubt him. What would the world be like if we doubted everyone we met until they could prove themselves beyond all of our doubts? Not much would get done, I'm sure.

So, without having any reason to say to him "You are lying!", I read what he sent me and believed it to be true. There was nothing in it that could give me a clue to think otherwise.

And, just as I must respect that you are only doing your job, I also have to respect this man who looks 100% like he is only doing his job, too.

And that's the situation. I reported it to you and we have a conflict of opinions. If he is correct, then I might be faced with charges of smuggling illegal drugs into the country. If you are correct, then I am faced with the prospect that I am being conned by someone pretending to be the American FBI. It's not a good situation, whichever way it ends. I hope you can see why I am hesitating so much. You seem like a decent chap but so does the American FBI agent. One of you is lying, but from where I'm standing, you are both honest and decent citizens. It's a nightmare to be in, W41ter W00dgate, a total nightmare.

I may have to take some independent advice from someone else to help me decide, okay?

regards,
R1ch4rd

Notice how my emails are getting longer now. More dense, more plot and explanation. The lad has invested more than a month of his time on me, and the chances are that I may be only one of a few "victims" that he still has running in the hope of a pay-out, so he's more likely to read my longer emails and respond to the details I include.

Scammer wrote:

Date: Thu, 20 Dec 2007 10:07:38 +0000 (GMT)
From: "W41ter W00dgate" <[email protected]>
Subject: ATTENTION
To: "R1ch4rd xx Vxxxxx" <[email protected]>

GLOBEX Courier world wide Inc.
237 Guenette
St-Laurent (LONDON)
H4R 2E9
Tel:+44-701-199-9999

ATTENTION: R1ch4rd,

After reading your mail yesterday, I got a call from my doctor that my wife just gave birth to a baby girl. I had to live my office immediately to see my wife and baby. Thank God, they are both doing well. I'm really very happy. I have new reasons to thank God as the year comes to an end.

Talking about your mail Mr. R1ch4rd, as soon as I got to the office, I had a chat with some staff members of the company to relate this issue to them. We all felt the same way. It was our conclusion that you send us the contact email and phone number of the FBI agent so can help him find facts about our company.

Mr. R1ch4rd, I believe what the FBI agent is trying to prove is that the prize you will be getting from the affiliate delivery company (our company) is a parcel of contraband drugs after you make payment for your insurance.

Finally, we have taken steps to resolving this issue. We have chosen to send your parcel to you via DHL or UPS. We will no longer use our company delivery service. This is to make you believe that at least your parcel will go through screening before it can be delivered to you. If the content is drug, then we'll be in trouble at the DHL office. After we have sent it, a tracking number will be giving to you so you can monitor your parcel as it comes to your address.

Or if you would prefer that your funds be credited into your bank account, please let us know so that we can contact your PROMOTION MANAGER who will send details of how your funds can be transferred from the affiliate bank to your bank account. Note that you will be required to pay cost of transfer since you did not pay for insurance. This transfer will be done online by you, so your bank details will not be required at all.

We hope this has put an end to your fears. I have done my best for you. So, do the needful so we can proceed

MONDAYS-SUNDAYS
(24 hours delivery service)

Many Thanks
Mr.W41ter W00dgate
Tel: +44 704-599-9999
(Dispatch Manager)

That was unexpected! He introduces the "new-born baby" thing without any warning, but I think it's a good sign. It shows he's willing to bring in non-script details as a response to my bait. It's debatable what the "baby" thing is for---maybe he wants to show that he's a genuine family man with honesty and values and is someone I can trust. Who knows? But as I say, it's a good sign for me. First, as mentioned, he's responding more off-script, and second, it's given me something else to talk about and find another approach with.
Also note that he is trying to introduce a bank-to-bank transfer modality. This will, of course, involve more expenses, but as it's an attempt to regain some control on a scenario that's slowly slipping out of his grip, I can't be having that!

I wrote:

Date: Fri, 21 Dec 2007 10:19:45 +0000 (GMT)
From: "R1ch4rd xx Vxxxxx" <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: ATTENTION
To: "W41ter W00dgate" <[email protected]>

Dear Mr W00dgate,

First, I must congratulate you on the recent addition to your family. You sound very happy and over-joyed, as is expected with such good news. What will you be calling your new daughter? Do you have a photo? All new dads should have a photo of their new-born daughter. I still carry photos of both of my daughters a few hours after they were born even though they are now aged 13 and 24.

As for the matter of the package, and the "drugs" thing... I want to believe you totally, and I want to prove that I had nothing to worry about, so I would prefer to receive it by courier service, not a bank transfer.
The man who contacted me was from the CIA, actually, and currently working with the FBI (I rechecked his original mails to make sure I got it right). Those American agencies are all the same to me. I don't care much for the USA and its policies and government and culture, so they're all unfamiliar to me really. Anyway, the man's name is Jac0b McC1ewsky, and his email is [email protected] and his office number is +1 315 999 9999. I rarely managed to talk to him directly on his telephone number, usually just getting his answer machine. I guess he's out a lot.

Thank you for being patient with me in this matter. I understand your incredulity and even outrage at Agent McC1ewsky's allegations, but perhaps he has had strong evidence that such evil things have been taking place and wants to check out other courier companies?

Give my regards to your wife and your new daughter.

thanks,
R1ch4rd

So I ignore the bank-to-bank transfer thing totally and concentrate on the delivery of the package.
I also congratulate him on his new daughter, and waste some of his time talking about her. If a lad introduces something like that, it's a great gift that shouldn't be dismissed, and should be used to take him yet further from his original format. This diversion also gives me a chance to introduce my own family characters, putting them in the wings, so to speak, ready to enter if need be.

The email address and telephone number of the CIA agent are both mine. The email address is easy to sign up for from the website, and the telephone number is set to an answering service. Because it's only an answering service, and because I can't do an American accent worth anything, I also include a vague reference that the agent rarely answers his phone, so if the lad tries it, he won't get a reply and will be prepared for that.

And finally, some nice words of encouragement. I don't care much for the "The lad is always wrong" attitude. That's too much of a generalization, and if the situation calls for a nice word or two, then a nice word or two is what I give. It doesn't cost anything, and if it gains the lad's trust then it's worth the time.

Scammer wrote:

Date: Fri, 21 Dec 2007 10:57:54 +0000 (GMT)
From: "W41ter W00dgate" <[email protected]>
Subject: REGARDS
To: "R1ch4rd xx Vxxxxx" <[email protected]>

GLOBEX Courier world wide Inc.
237 Guenette
St-Laurent (LONDON)
H4R 2E9
Tel:+44-701-199-9999

ATTENTION: R1ch4rd,

Thanks for your response. The content of your email was noted. I have forwarded the details of the agent to the appropriate department. They will take care of that issue. As for my baby, I have a picture of her and my wife right in front of me.

Thanks for your confidence in our company and choosing to receive your parcel via delivery service. We fully guarantee quality service.

Below I have stated again how you can send the required payments to our office. Please you are to follow all instructions.

You are to send in full the required amount for insurance to our account officer by WESTERN UNION MONEY TRANSFER

Send to:

Name: David Roy
Address: 237 Guenette
St-Laurent (LONDON)
H4R 2E9, United Kingdom.
Amount: '300 Pounds.

You are to find a WESTERN UNION MONEY TRANSFER agent in your location and send the required amount. All relevant information of payment as it appears on your payment slip/receipt should be sent to us as stated below:

Sender's name:
Sender's address:
Amount sent:
Money Transfer Control Number (MTCN):
Country:

MONDAYS-SUNDAYS
(24 hours delivery service)

Many Thanks
Mr.W41ter W00dgate
Tel: +44 704-599-9999
(Dispatch Manager)

Oh, look! The payment details again! That's only the third time he's sent them.
Also note that the compliment I paid him in my last email did not miss its mark. He responded favourably and this has probably encouraged him to think I'm still genuine and trying my very best to get this business sorted out.

I wrote:

Date: Mon, 24 Dec 2007 14:09:22 +0000 (GMT)
From: "R1ch4rd xx Vxxxxx" <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: REGARDS
To: "W41ter W00dgate" <[email protected]>

Dear Mr W00dgate,

How are you and your new-born daughter? I hope everything is well. Have you decided what to call her? As I said before, I have two daughters, one is grown up now and the other has just turned 13 (a few days ago), but I remember when trying to decide what to call them. It's a very exciting time!

Has your company made any progress in investigating the CIA man Mr McC1ewsky? He hasn't contacted me at all for the past four days, and to be honest I'm glad. He was filling me head with lots of doubts and it wasn't nice. Anyway, I hope the team at your company are finding out the truth about him. It was very strange how he contacted me out of nowhere... how did he get my name and email address? How did he know about my win in the Better Life Promotions lottery? All very strange, and I hope there's a rational explanation.

Thank you for providing the payment instructions. I have never used Western Union before, mainly because there's no need to... we use cheques and credit cards most of the time. I'll have to ask around and see if I know anyone who's familiar with it and ask their advice. I won't tell them what it's for, though. Perhaps I can say I'm thinking about sending a donation to a charity in a far-away country? Will that work, do you think?

Because of the nearness of Christmas Day (that's tomorrow, btw), I will not be able to make the payment until probably.... Thursday? Is that okay? Let me know.

Do you celebrate Christmas? My family are all Pastafarians, so we celebrate Christmas in a way that's different from most others in this country. I have a big bowl of tuna pasta casserole to make after I've written this email, in preparation for the meal tomorrow. Danielle (that's my 13-year-old) loves the Christmas tuna pasta casserole meal, and I think she eats almost half of the entire bowl!
Well, I hope you have a good time in whatever way you celebrate the day (assuming you do, of course). If you don't, then just see it as another day off!

regards,
R1ch4rd

This is delaying for time, big style. Chit-chat about the family, nonsense about not knowing what WU is, etc, etc. I'm really waiting for him to contact the CIA agent, either leaving a phone message or sending an email. Neither of those things has happened, despite his reassurances that his "office" is looking into the matter. You would think the first thing they would do is try to speak to the agent!
I've also left it totally open that the agent is really another lad trying to chop some dollar here. Depending on how the real lad contacts the agent will decide on how I play that: genuine agent or lad trying to play a recovery scam on me?

Scammer wrote:

Date: Wed, 26 Dec 2007 16:58:01 +0000 (GMT)
From: "W41ter W00dgate" <[email protected]>
Subject: REGARDS
To: "R1ch4rd xx Vxxxxx" <[email protected]>

GLOBEX Courier world wide Inc.
237 Guenette
St-Laurent (LONDON)
H4R 2E9
Tel:+44-701-199-9999

ATTENTION: R1ch4rd,

Thanks Mr. R1ch4rd for your response. The name of my daughter is Esther. My wife and I choose to call her that because her good works in the Holy Bible. It was really exciting trying to find a name for her. We (my wife and I) argued over it for two days before we decided on that.

As for the CIA agent, no news has been gotten about him yet. Investigations are still on and soon we'll get our facts about him. We have contacted relevant authorities home and abroad and have been assured of results.

In regards to your payment, you can use any western union money transfer office. This is one of the safest and fastest ways to receive money. After you try this the first time, you may want to use it again. There's no need asking people about it, all you need to do is search for an agent location from the Internet. Logon to www.westernunion.com and search for an agent location in your jurisdiction. Send the payment as I have directed. That is just all you need to do.

This office will be open to receive your payment on Thursday. As soon as our account officer acknowledges and confirms your payment, your parcel will be insured and delivery to you within 48-72 hours.

MONDAYS-SUNDAYS
(24 hours delivery service)

Many Thanks
Mr.W41ter W00dgate
Tel: +44 704-599-9999
(Dispatch Manager)

Another deadline, this time the 27th of December. And also note the idle chit-chat about his new daughter. His control of his scam is slipping away and a lot of it is self-inflicted. He still hasn't contacted the agent by phone message or email.

I wrote:

Date: Sat, 29 Dec 2007 19:32:05 +0000 (GMT)
From: "R1ch4rd xx Vxxxxx" <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: REGARDS
To: "W41ter W00dgate" <[email protected]>

Dear Mr W00dgate,

Your daughter's name is lovely. I know what you mean about arguing with your wife for two days to decide a name. It's a good kind of argument, don't you agree? I hope little baby Esther is doing well and strong.

W41ter, I was contacted by Agent Jac0b McC1ewsky yesterday, and he told me to halt all payments to your courier company. I was going to make the payment yesterday afternoon, so that was very strange timing.
Anyway, I replied and told him that I think he was being way too cautious and even a little paranoid. I sent him the certificates and things that you sent to me, but he still insisted. We exchanged tons of emails yesterday, and his message was always "Stop any payment until the investigation is complete." I was near to tears of frustration, trying to get him to believe that you and Globex Courier are genuine and trustworthy. If it hadn't been for him and his interfering, my wife and my children might have been enjoying the winnings, but instead we're still nowhere nearer to seeing them.

In the end, I gave up and said that I would send the payment, I don't care what he was telling me. In reply to that, he threatened that he would inform the local police department here, and I should expect a visit from the local detectives. I didn't the CIA could do such a thing, but I didn't want to call his bluff. I DO NOT want to spend the New Year's celebrations in a police cell, answering questions about stuff I have no knowledge of.

What do you suggest, W41ter? All I want is this to be settled and without me being involved with the police, be they American, British, or whatever. I have a family to think about, and a career, and if I get a police record... no, I can't risk that.

I hope your company's investigations are being more productive than my attempts to persuade Agent McC1ewsky. Have they come up with anything? I understand that it's still the Christmas Week, but I'm hoping and praying that some progress has been made.

Please help me with this, W41ter. I never thought any of this mess would result from simply being lucky enough to win a lottery prize.

thanks,
R1ch4rd

It's time for me to lay down an ultimatum: Make a resolution soon or the local police will be informed.
Here, I'm really trying to force the lad to contact the CIA agent. My main character almost paid the insurance fees, hopefully the lad will start smelling the money, and then the agent steps in and prevents the payment going through. A dollar chop in everything but name! But still no contact from the real lad.

Scammer wrote:

Date: Sun, 30 Dec 2007 16:33:39 +0000 (GMT)
From: "W41ter W00dgate" <[email protected]>
Subject: ATTENTION
To: "R1ch4rd xx Vxxxxx" <[email protected]>

GLOBEX Courier world wide Inc.
237 Guenette
St-Laurent (LONDON)
H4R 2E9
Tel:+44-701-199-9999

ATTENTION: R1ch4rd,

Thanks Mr. R1ch4rd for writing me once again. My baby is doing well. This Sunday 30th December, My wife and I took her to church for the first time. It was really remarkable for my family.

Mr. R1ch4rd, I understand your fears but I want you to know something. I cannot go into crime or getting your involved in some kind of trouble for 300 pounds. That is far below what I earn. If the CIA agent wants to inform our local police, we will be very glad to welcome them to our office complex. I have gone so far to make you understand our legitimacy. Please note that the BETTER LIFE OFFICE has reissued a new cheque in your name because the old one has over stayed. Cheque of this nature do not last more than two weeks before they become invalid. Which means your parcel has been in our office for over a month now pending insurance from you.

I'll live you with a final option Mr. R1ch4rd. As soon as our deliverymen are close to your jurisdiction, they will call you to inform you of their arrival. That is the normal procedure. Before they come, have some witnesses around you. I will give them a warrant to allow you open your parcel before you sign for it. Open your parcel in front of them and your witnesses. If the content is any form of drug or related material and not a BETTER LIFE CERTIFIED cheque bearing your names and other valuable documents relating to your prize, please call the police and get them arrested.

If the above suggestion okay, do send the payment as I have directed but if you still have ill feelings please go for a bank-to-bank transfer. I know banks do not wire drugs so you will be rest assured that you will not receive one.

This is the best I can do for you. There are sometime in a man's life where one decision matters a lot. I don't know why I have become so concerned about you lately. People pray every day for chances like this. Here you have yours begging you.

Make up your mind and act as I have directed.

Thanks Mr. R1ch4rd for your understanding.

MONDAYS-SUNDAYS
(24 hours delivery service)

Many Thanks
Mr.W41ter W00dgate
Tel: +44 704-599-9999
(Dispatch Manager)

And that's where I stand right now. He's offering the bank-to-bank transfer option again, so I might see what that involves. There's no insurance costs, so it might be interesting to see what the payment will be for.

Posted: Mon Dec 31, 2007 12:46 am

A very nice tale of how to deal with my least enjoyable baits... the lotto lad... and a nice insight into the braintwisting thought of the bait!

Thanks!

Posted: Mon Dec 31, 2007 3:24 pm

Very informative. I read the whole thing.

There should be a tutorial section on the home site perhaps, showing how various scams (lotto, check, inheritance, et cetera) play out.

Very well handled! Keep us posed on this one!

Posted: Mon Dec 31, 2007 8:24 pm

Many thanks Otterfan, I'm into a lotto mail at the moment, this will help loads.
I've got to the point where I ask what an MCTN as well as an MTCN, but in his mail response he also put MTWN, so I've asked him a question about that too Laughing

Posted: Sat Jan 05, 2008 8:38 pm

After a little pause, I decide to go with the bank-to-bank modality . . .

I wrote:

Date: Sat, 5 Jan 2008 11:55:47 +0000 (GMT)
From: "R1ch4rd xx Vxxxxx" <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: ATTENTION
To: "W4lter W00dgate" <[email protected]>

Dear Mr W00dgate,

Thank you for your last email.

How is baby Esther? I hope everything is well there.

I have been thinking about your last email very hard and for a long time, which is why I have not replied for a while.
Could you please explain in more detail what the "bank to bank transfer" involves? I can make a good guess what it is, but it would still be a guess, and I may be wrong about what it actually is.

As you can probably guess, I'm a very cautious man, and I like to have all the information available before I make a decision, especially one such as this which might have big consequences.

Thank you for your patience.

regards,
R1ch4rd

Scammer wrote:

Date: Sat, 5 Jan 2008 18:55:45 +0000 (GMT)
From: "W4lter W00dgate" <[email protected]>
Subject: REGARDS (WISHING YOU THE BEST OF THE NEW YEAR 2008)
To: "R1ch4rd xx Vxxxxx" <[email protected]>

GLOBEX Courier world wide Inc.
237 Guenette
St-Laurent (LONDON)
H4R 2E9
Tel: +44 704-573-2783

ATTENTION: R1ch4rd,

Thanks for writing me. My baby is doing well. She is growing so fast. When she was born, people say she looks very much like me but now, I think she looks much of her mother. It's really good watching your kids grow.

In regards to your prize Mr. R1ch4rd, I want to reassure you that you have nothing to worry about. Here is how the bank to bank online wire transfer works.

First, you will need to activate an online account with the transfer bank; the activation fee will be paid by you. After that is done, an account will be created for you in your full names. Please note that the said account will be an online account,

The value of your cheque will be converted into cash and deposited in that account. You will be given details of that account and a web login to access your funds.

After you have received a login and password, you can transfer the funds from your computer to your preferred bank account. This process will take just few seconds.

The beauty of this is that you will not to provide any of your banking information. All that is needed is just your full names.

Please be informed that we are not in charge of this transfer. If you chose to receive your funds via transfer, please contact Mr. Ke1vin M00re on [email protected] for details on how you can contact the transfer bank.

MONDAYS-SUNDAYS
(24 hours delivery service)

Many Thanks
Mr.W4lter W00dgate
Tel: +44 704-573-2783
(Dispatch Manager)

This is where straight-baiting just for the heck of it (and wasting the scammer's time) intersects with causing the lads real damage. What will happen now is that, behind the scenes, "W4lter" will contact an accomplice to add my character's details to a fake website that purports to be a real bank. Once his accomplice has set up my details on the fake site and passed the login information to "W4lter", I will be emailed with those login details and told the address to log in to my account. At this point, the modality has several variations: I may find that I can't log in and I am expected to pay an "activation fee", or I might log in successfully, see that there is a huge sum waiting for me (not real, of course), and my belief in the lad's scam is reinforced and he can hit me with whatever fees he thinks I will be willing to pay.

No matter what the specific modality will be (activation fee, in this case), this is where straight-baiting can hit the lads hard. The fake bank website that W4lter points me to should now be reported in the Fake Banks forum in order to get it shut down. Getting the website closed down will inconvenience the lad playing W4lter (because his scam is delayed for the time being), may cost him some money (the website maintainers who add my character's details don't usually work for nothing), and may cost the owner of the website whatever money he paid for the domain name and hosting (although, a lot of them use free hosting services). Whatever takes place behind the scenes because of a website being shut down, I can be sure that it's an inconvenience to the scammers.

I wrote:

Date: Sat, 5 Jan 2008 20:15:19 +0000 (GMT)
From: "R1ch4rd xx Vxxxxx" <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: REGARDS (WISHING YOU THE BEST OF THE NEW YEAR 2008)
To: "W4lter W00dgate" <[email protected]>

Dear Mr W00dgate,

Thank you for your email. I'm glad that Esther is fine and it sounds like she will grow up very strong and healthy.

The online bank-to-bank transfer sounds very easy, and I think it will bypass the problems that the CIA agent is warning me about. As you said in your previous email, it's not possible to transfer drugs like this! I will inform Agent McClewsky of what we are now doing, and with any luck he will stop pestering me with emails every day. I know he is only doing his job, but it was becoming very annoying to read the same thing again and again from him.

I will contact Mr M00re at the Better Life Promotions company as soon as I finish this message.

Thank you for all the help you have given me, and I can only apologize for any stress I have indirectly caused you. If we do not correspond again, then I wish you the best of luck, and I hope your new daughter brings you lots of joy for years to come.

regards,
R1ch4rd

W4lter has shown a lot of patience for a lotto lad, so a little pat on the back for him to add support to the idea that I am a genuine victim.

I wrote:

Date: Sat, 5 Jan 2008 20:22:28 +0000 (GMT)
From: "R1ch4rd xx Vxxxxx" <[email protected]>
Subject: Bank-bank transfer method request
To: "Ke1vin M00re" <[email protected]>

Dear Mr M00re,

Happy new year to you and your family!

You may remember me from about a month and a half ago when you informed me that I had won a prize draw organized by your company.

I have been dealing with Mr W4lter W00dgate of Globex Courier Service, and we were getting things sorted quite well until we encountered a small difficulty. I won't bore you with the details, unless you want me to, as I suspect Mr W00dgate may have already informed you about the situation.

I would like to request that my prize winnings be transferred to me through the bank-to-bank transfer method that Mr W00dgate has recommended that we use.
I would be very grateful if you could initiate this payment method for me as soon as possible.

thanks,
R1ch4rd xx Vxxxxx

Notice that Ke1vin M00re's email address is now different from the first few exchanges between me and him. I try sending my reply to the original address, just out of curiosity, and I get an "Invalid address" return. Most probably, the original email address has been reported to Yahoo and has been closed down.

Again, I'm trying to show that I truly believe the whole story concocted by the lad, so I address Ke1vin in a very business-like manner as if I really had been passed from one person to another. Of course, behind the scenes, these two characters are the same lad, so I'm not going to waste too much time explaining what has gone on between W4lter and me. Instead, I mention that I hope there has been some communication between W4lter and Ke1vin about this matter, and leave it at that.

Edited to sort out some punctuation encoding problem turning quotation marks and apostrophes into question marks.

Posted: Mon Jan 07, 2008 2:00 pm

Scammer wrote:

Date: Mon, 7 Jan 2008 12:54:15 +0000 (GMT)
From: "W4lter W00dgate" <[email protected]>
Subject: REGARDS
To: "R1ch4rd xx Vxxxxx" <[email protected]>

GLOBEX Courier world wide Inc.
237 Guenette
St-Laurent (LONDON)
H4R 2E9
Tel: +44 704-573-2783

ATTENTION: R1ch4rd,

The content of your mail was noted. I called Mr. Ke1vin M00re today to inform him of your request. I told him why you choose to receive your payment via bank transfer. He told me he will get in touch with the bank to arrange a transfer for you.

I want to once again thank you for your trust in our company. Even if you have choosen to receive your funds via transfer, i'm still very glad that i helped you gain that. Maybe in future i made need your help too.

Wishing you the best of luck.

MONDAYS-SUNDAYS
(24 hours delivery service)

Many Thanks
Mr.W4lter W00dgate
Tel: +44 704-573-2783
(Dispatch Manager)

The lad's first paragraph contains the result of something that I sometimes refer to as "reverse cold-reading". Normal cold-reading is the skill that most carnival fortune-tellers and mediums (and, allegedly, all mediums) use to give the impression that they know things/are being feed things about their client from "the other side" or by ESP, when in fact they are using a combination of observation and linguistic tricks in which they feed you questions in such a way that you provide the answer but it appears that they have provided the answers themselves. It's too complex to get into here, but by "reverse cold-reading" I mean deliberately feeding the lad a few clues that he can pick up on and so give them back to you. He feels he has gained some useful information from you and is using it to add credibility to his scam, when what is actually happening is that you are feeding him the next bits of your script so he is guided subtly down that path.

In this case, I mentioned that I expect W4lter will have talked to Ke1vin and explained the current state of play. And what do you know? That's exactly what he has done! Which saves me the trouble of having to write out the story-so-far in a message to Ke1vin (in order to make it look like I'm a real victim who thinks he is dealing with two different people), and gives the lad the perfect excuse for not having Ke1vin waste time by demanding that I explain what's been going on at Globex Courier.

"Reverse cold-reading" doesn't have to be limited to this situation. It can be used anywhere that you want to add some plot from your script. Subtlety is the key here. If the lad thinks he has picked up some crucial/useful information about you by his own observational cunning then it will make him feel much more confident about your genuineness, rather than seeing a big info-dump of personal information in one of your emails.

As for the bank-to-bank transfer payment, you can be sure that the lad is now frantically calling or emailing one of his contacts to find out if they can set up an account on one of their own fake bank sites. If the lad is part of an organized gang, then one of the members might already have a site set up and ready to use, or if he's a solo lad or lacks a close associate with a fake site, there might be a delay as the price is negotiated.

Finally, the second paragraph is nice to read, as far as the straight-baiting is concerned. Reading between the lines, that paragraph is reassurance that the lad still believes I'm a genuine victim. He had some doubts (e.g., when I first mentioned the CIA agent) but he's now heading back to the comfort of his own script and he thinks I'm hooked. His payday at the WU can only be a few days away now, yes?

Edited to sort out punctuation encoding problem adding questions marks all over the place. Probably missed some...

Posted: Mon Jan 07, 2008 5:36 pm

Excellent writeup!
It really game me a lot of ideas, and I'll go back to it as soon as I hook a "lad"

Posted: Mon Jan 07, 2008 6:34 pm

Great great advice, Otterfan. Love your writing style too - very helpful. I'm interested to see your comments as this progresses. Hopefully we'll see how this can blossom into a full out "how do you get scammers to DO that" kind of bait!!

Kudos.

Posted: Thu Jan 10, 2008 1:56 pm

Scammer wrote:

From: "Ke1vin M00re" <[email protected]>
To: "R1ch4rd xx Vxxxxx" <[email protected]>
Subject: SEE DETAILS
Date: Mon, 7 Jan 2008 17:01:28 +0000

BETTER HOUSE,
212,CROWN STREET,
BIRMINGHAM. B11 2AG
UNITED KINGDOM.

ATTENTION: R1ch4rd xx Vxxxxx,

We are so glad to hear from you. Mr. W00dgate has told me all that happened so you need not to worry explaining in details.

I have farwarded your full details to the Pacific International Bank. They are in charge of the transfer. Please find details below:

officer in charge: Perry M0rgan
email: [email protected]

You are to send him your full names only and requesting for an online bank to bank transfer from the better life promotion.

Please do keep me updated with your proceeding with him.

Regards,
Ke1vin M00re
Claims manager
+447011999999
BETTER LIFE PROMOTION.

The reply comes quite quickly, but it doesn't contain a web address, so it might be that the setting up of my account is still taking place. There is, however, an email address that isn't the usual [email protected] or [email protected] type, which will provide a clue as to where the fake site might be. It should be noted, though, that some hosting services can provide email only, no web-hosting, and this might be the case here so the real address for the fake bank site could be something different from what this email address suggests. Time to hang back a bit and gather more information before attempting anything damaging . . .

Scammer wrote:

From: "Ke1vin M00re" <[email protected]>
To: "R1ch4rd xx Vxxxxx" <[email protected]>
Subject: HELLO
Date: Tue, 8 Jan 2008 19:21:09 +0000

BETTER HOUSE,
212,CROWN STREET,
BIRMINGHAM. B11 2AG
UNITED KINGDOM.

ATTENTION: R1ch4rd xx Vxxxxx,

Have you contacted the transfer office? please update me.

Regards,
Ke1vin M00re
Claims manager
+447011152597
BETTER LIFE PROMOTION.

THE BETTER LIFE PROMOTION
COPYRIGHT '2007. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

He's getting impatient, but it's only been a day! I'll leave it until tomorrow to reply with some suitable excuse for not writing immediately . . .

I wrote:

Date: Wed, 9 Jan 2008 19:57:35 +0000 (GMT)
From: "R1ch4rd xx Vxxxxx" <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: HELLO
To: "Ke1vin M00re" <[email protected]>

Dear Ke1vin M00re,

My apologies for not contacting the bank sooner. We had some heavy snowfall up here, and it caused a little bit of a problem. Things are sorted out now, thankfully.

I will write to the bank as soon as I finish this email.

regards,
R1ch4rd

Snow caused the delay. Why not? For something mundane like this, it sometimes helps to use something that can be supported from real life. Recently, there have been reports of very heavy snow falls, so if the lad gets rebellious and doesn't believe me, I can draw on real-life resources to back up my excuse. This particular case is very trivial, but the same approach can be used for more drastic and incredulous excuses.

Also note the time of my messages to Ke1vin and the bank. The chances are the lad will have stopped work for the day, so he won't get my emails until tomorrow. This is not guaranteed, as I have received replies at all times throughout the day, but the chances are in my favour here. In effect, this has added an extra two days to the bait.

I wrote:

Date: Wed, 9 Jan 2008 19:59:48 +0000 (GMT)
From: "R1ch4rd xx Vxxxxx" <[email protected]>
Subject: Better Life Promotion
To: "Perry M0rgan" <[email protected]>

Dear Mr M0rgan,

I am R1ch4rd Exxxxxxx xx Vxxxxx, and I believe that Mr Ke1vin M000e of Better Life Promotions has passed my details to you about my winning in their prize draw.

I would appreciate it if you could process Mr M00re's request to create an online account for me as soon as you can.

regards,
R1ch4rd xx Vxxxxx

No life story, just a short and simple introduction. This is meant to be a different character I'm writing to, so I treat him as such.

Scammer wrote:

From: "Perry M0rgan" <[email protected]>
To: [email protected]
Subject: From The Desk Of Mr. Perry M0rgan (ACCOUNT ACTIVATION)
Date: Wed, 10 Jan 2008 08:57:43 +0000

From The Desk Of Mr. Perry M0rgan
Pacific Transfer Manager.
PACIFIC INTERNATIONAL BANK PLC

Dear Valuable Customer: R1ch4rd xx Vxxxxx

Welcome to the PACIFIC INTERNATIONAL BANK PLC

PACIFIC INTERNATIONAL BANK PLC is a bank established to create a path in the world's financial institute. We take care of customer's funds without fear of fraudulent attack because we have worked out secured modalities to protect and preserve customer funds to their greatest expectation.

PACIFIC INTERNATIONAL BANK PLC provides you with the privilege to our in-house investment policies with regards to the creation of a better future for your investment. This bank has been instructed by the BETTER LIFE PROMOTION to create a transit account in your name in which your donation funds was deposited, to enhance further transfer to your designated account.

Your fund has been fully deposited in this bank by the BETTER LIFE OFFICE and we have been instructed to transfer your winnings to your nominated bank account, which is most suitable for you.

You will have to activate your online transit account with our bank in-order to facilitate a successful transfer.

To proceed with the transfer you are to deposit the activation fee, which is amounted to 650 Pounds Sterling's. After activation, you will be given your Account Number, User Id and Pin Code so you can access your account online.

You are to make the payment via Western Union to our accounts department via our accounts officer with the details below.

Name: Mr. Peter Anderson
Address: Winson Green Vicarage,
28 Hands worth New Road, B18 UK

You are to send down the following details of the Western Union transaction immediately after the payment has been made for confirmation of payment by our accounts department;

Sender's Name And Address:

Money Transfer Control Number:

Text Question And Answer:

Amount Sent:

You are to attach the receipt of payment if possible for confirmation and documentation purposes.

You are expected to comply with all instructions in this mail immediately as the time limit for you to claim this donation has elapsed and you have just been given another chance.

Have a wonderful day as we look forward to hearing from you.

Thanks,
Mr. Perry M0gan

It appears he's asking for money before I am directed to his website. This is slightly bad news because it means he probably won't reveal the address of the fake bank site until he has a payment from me, so stopping me submitting it to be killed.

I'll need some time to think about what to do from here . . .

EDIT TO ADD: Every email I received so far has been from IP 80.88.158.157 (Nigeria).

Further edit to sort out a punctuation encoding problem adding questions where they shouldn't really be. Might have missed some, so bear with me.

Posted: Fri Jan 11, 2008 9:33 pm

Just to add:
If anyone has any (serious) suggestions about which direction to take this, then I would love to read them.

Master Baiter Joined: 01 Oct 2006 Posts: 237

^^
First, this was hugely helpful to read. Thanks for taking the time to compile it with the inclusion of your process and "behind the scenes" thinking. Very helpful!

With that said, this is totally new to me and so with no experience with lotto lads, I may be off base and suggesting something that would cause him to twig, but I'll throw it out there (and understanding it may completely not work, would love to "get" the insight into why not since you've got all this super experience!)

But could you have the FBI guy "reply" to your alleged last correspondence with him and Mr FBI warn you again and basically tell you that if you've not seen that this bank exists (as in a site) how would you know that after you pay your 'fees' that you'll never hear from them again? Thereby forcing him to "ante up" ad show/reveal the site to you. Now that, it seems, ::could:: be enough to make him think you'll never follow through...but you'e so masterfully convinced him you ARE genuine despite the concerns, it seems you could get away with it.

OR could you now bring the wife into play and write your "friend" about her concerns and how you still don't know what to do? Confess that you finally told your family b/c your wife commented on your "heaviness of heart" lately and you admitted you were deliberating about what to do, that you were SO sure lad was real, he's told you about his family and he's a proud family man, etc. (patting him on the back but not too effusely) and almost go to him as a confidant, asking him if HE'S ever used this bank or some such nonsense and that you're trying to prove to your wife this is legit and you wanted to show her the website for the bank to alleviate your beloved but cautious wife's fears. Or even adding some sort of 'trauma' if he hedges by having happened in the family (daughter getting ill since you've set the stage with them existing) and now YOU having an urgency and so you really do need the money quickly but you've got to pacify wife.

Or finally, going to this guy and saying that FBI guy won't leave you alone, (perhaps still include a scenario involving family finding out or family crisis) and your only way you think you can get rid of him is by proving to the FBI man your "friend" and the lottery and the bank stuff is all real by FBI guy contacting lad instead and saying you took the liberty of giving your lad's contact info to FBI guy so he can see once and for all this is all real. Thereby circumventing the lad's apparent unwillingness to contact FBI guy himself and trying to still keep lad busy as now FBI guy will dialogue with him...AND have FBI guy slowly play tough ball and manage to weasel the bank site out of him.

I don't know...like I said, I may be way off base as this lotto thing is new to me and it seems harder to push it too much with them. But those were the best scenarios I could conjure up! I'd love to learn more of the thought process in terms of where these scenarios inevitably go wrong, as I'm sure they do at least on some levels, given your experience

Again, thanks for posting this. Can't wait to see what you do!

Posted: Mon Jan 14, 2008 11:53 am

Ooh, lots of good ideas there, onatrek, thanks!

I'm stalling him at the moment with a very easy-to-use tactic (which I'll describe when I post some more exchanges) but I'll try to work some of your ideas into the bait when he and I are back on track.

Posted: Mon Jan 14, 2008 6:52 pm

Scammer wrote:

From: "Ke1vin M00re" <[email protected]>
To: "R1ch4rd xx Vxxxxx" <[email protected]>
Subject: GREETINGS
Date: Sun, 13 Jan 2008 17:35:30 +0000

BETTER HOUSE,
212,CROWN STREET,
BIRMINGHAM. B11 2AG
UNITED KINGDOM.

ATTENTION: R1ch4rd xx Vxxxxx,

Greeting Mr R1ch4rd xx Vxxxxx, Thanks for the update. How far have you gone with them? have you gotten a response from the bank? Has an account be set up for you? Do keep me informed.

Regards,
Ke1vin M00re
Claims manager
+447011999999
BETTER LIFE PROMOTION.

I love this lad's diplomacy! Instead of firing off an angry email with the usual "I've been contacted by the bank and they say you haven't emailed them yet. Why not?" message, he frames it so politely.

But Sunday evening, 17:35??? He's got to be kidding! I'll definitely wait until the next day before even thinking about a reply.

To buy some more time (and to legitimize the days that have passed while I've been stalling), I use a very easy (and believable) stalling tactic . . .

I wrote:

Date: Mon, 14 Jan 2008 10:46:38 +0000 (GMT)
From: "R1ch4rd xx Vxxxxx" <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: GREETINGS
To: "Ke1vin M00re" <[email protected]>

Dear Mr M00re,

Thanks for your email.

I have looked through everything that arrived for me over the weekend, but could not find a message from the bank. Perhaps they need time to set up my account? I will wait another day or so before contacting them, okay?

thanks,
R1ch4rd

I report back to the character who passed me on to the bank (or the lawyer, barrister, candlestick maker) that I have not received an email from them, despite checking all my records. Throwing in a mention that maybe the bank/law-firm/whatever processes requests slowly shows that I am not overly concerned about the lack of emails and I am patiently waiting for them to do their job.

(Ironically, this has happened to me in real life only recently: I have been sending emails to a company over the past two weeks and getting no reply. Eventually I call them and ask if they have received my emails. "No, sorry, we haven't." My first thought was that I was being baited! I wasn't though; it was a genuine error in their email system.)

The most likely thing that will happen is that after reading my message, the lad will go to his "bank" email account and resend the original mail. However, if he doesn't do it quickly enough (laziness is so endemic in the scamming community), I can use that "another day or so" deadline to switch to Hell-Raising mode and give an almighty slap to the bank for the bank's tardiness.

Scammer wrote:

From: "Perry M0rgan" <[email protected]>
To: [email protected]
Subject: Dear Valuable Customer: R1ch4rd xx Vxxxxx
Date: Mon, 14 Jan 2008 17:48:11 +0000

From The Desk Of Mr. Perry M0rgan
Pacific Transfer Manager.
PACIFIC INTERNATIONAL BANK PLC

Dear Valuable Customer: R1ch4rd xx Vxxxxx

Welcome to the PACIFIC INTERNATIONAL BANK PLC. I have sent this email to you before but got a call from your promotion manager today that you did not get my mail.

PACIFIC INTERNATIONAL BANK PLC is a bank established to create a path in the world's financial institute. We take care of customer's funds without fear of fraudulent attack because we have worked out secured modalities to protect and preserve customer funds to their greatest expectation.

PACIFIC INTERNATIONAL BANK PLC provides you with the privilege to our in-house investment policies with regards to the creation of a better future for your investment. This bank has been instructed by the BETTER LIFE PROMOTION to create a transit account in your name in which your donation funds was deposited, to enhance further transfer to your designated account.

Your fund has been fully deposited in this bank by the BETTER LIFE OFFICE and we have been instructed to transfer your winnings to your nominated bank account, which is most suitable for you.

You will have to activate your online transit account with our bank in-order to facilitate a successful transfer.

To proceed with the transfer you are to deposit the activation fee, which is amounted to 650 Pounds Sterling's. After activation, you will be given your Account Number, User Id and Pin Code so you can access your account online.

You are to make the payment via Western Union to our accounts department via our accounts officer with the details below.

Name: Mr. Peter Anderson
Address: Winson Green Vicarage,
28 Hands worth New Road, B18 UK

You are to send down the following details of the Western Union transaction immediately after the payment has been made for confirmation of payment by our accounts department;

Sender's Name And Address:

Money Transfer Control Number:

Text Question And Answer:

Amount Sent:

You are to attach the receipt of payment if possible for confirmation and documentation purposes.

You are expected to comply with all instructions in this mail immediately as the time limit for you to claim this donation has elapsed and you have just been given another chance.

Have a wonderful day as we look forward to hearing from you.

Thanks,
Mr. Perry M0rgan

Hmm . . . now where have I seen that exact email before? I wonder!

And another day wasted. The lad will have run along to his local internet café, logged in expecting some payment details, only to see that he has spent his money on repeating work he did last week. It's a hard life for these lads!

This also offers me the chance for an interesting decision: I could continue with the bait and start working on the email from the bank, or I could take a little diversion down the "But the bank's emails are not showing up!" avenue. It's quite a scenic route and it offers some nice views, most appealing of which is that it can offer yet more time-wastage plus the bonus of applying that slap that I mentioned earlier. This option requires me to sit back for a few days, then fire off a message to Mr M00re asking if the bank is being serious, and replying angrily to the bank. If you try this tactic yourself, remember to reply to the last email that your character is supposed to have received---i.e., in this bait, the first one that Perry M0rgan wrote---and not the ones that supposedly went missing. Not only does it mean you don't accidentally forget to change the Subject field, it also means that if the lad uses a "threaded" view for his messages, then your reply will not appear in the wrong place. You could go the whole way, if you're heavily into your baiting world, and delete the allegedly missing emails just to make sure!

The reason for the bank's emails not showing up could be anything. Most productive, I've found, is to say that after a bit of research it appears that the bank's email address could be getting blocked by my email service, so perhaps the bank can try from a different address? All of this explanation, of course, goes to the referring character. Forget about any emails from the bank, they're not getting through!

This might lead the lad to setting up a new account for the bank and trying from there. Or he might try to wriggle out of setting up another account (he will have many to monitor for all the stages of his scam, so adding another means him spending more time/money at the café); it's impossible to tell at this point.

This whole process could waste a week or more of his time, and at the end of it he has not advanced anywhere in his script. All the while, I will try to be as helpful and compliant as possible but---damn it!---those bank emails are just not getting through!

I have until tomorrow to decide which route to take.

Edited to sort out spurious question mark problem.

Posted: Mon Jan 14, 2008 9:10 pm

I tried that tactic once but was forced to retreat when the lad insisted that the bank's email was 100% perfect and could not bounce back or have a delivery failure. Confused

Master Baiter Joined: 01 Oct 2006 Posts: 237

Otterfan wrote:

(Ironically, this has happened to me in real life only recently: I have been sending emails to a company over the past two weeks and getting no reply. Eventually I call them and ask if they have received my emails. �No, sorry, we haven�t.� My first thought was that I was being baited! I wasn�t though; it was a genuine error in their email system.)

THAT is funny! Laughing

Otterfan wrote:

This also offers me the chance for an interesting decision: I could continue with the bait and start working on the email from the bank, or I could take a little diversion down the �But the bank�s emails are not showing up!� avenue.

This might lead the lad to setting up a new account for the bank and trying from there. Or he might try to wriggle out of setting up another account (he will have many to monitor for all the stages of his scam, so adding another means him spending more time/money at the caf�); it�s impossible to tell at this point.

So is this where, if you were, for whatever reason, baiting him as two characters, or if you knew someone else were, where THIS could really be a good tactic (the "bank's emails are not getting through" route?)

Having two separate characters both apparently not getting emails seems like it could throw him into a tizy with another bank site and waste more time/$?

Or if a bank email actually included details, too, where two of you could say you weren't getting the emails and maybe even wind up with secondary bank account information to inflict even more pain?

Otter, I SO appreciate the way you are laying this out. This is incredibly helpful to "hear" the whole thinking on one type of baiting that I've never quite seen how you can make it really last longer and cause more hurt!

Posted: Wed Jan 16, 2008 12:01 am

Otterfan, may I link to this page from the "Eater University"-thread ?

It would quite fit what I classify as "highly educational" Smile

Posted: Wed Jan 16, 2008 12:08 am

Feel free to do so, FrumpyBB.
(I say, trying to appear quite modest when really I'm very flattered.)

Posted: Wed Jan 16, 2008 1:49 am

Done. And I am the one who has to say "thank you". Smile

Posted: Wed Jan 16, 2008 2:39 am

Excellent thread. Definetively food for though here.

About tha WU demand:
I would suggest that it would be easier to pay the account set-up fee directly into one of the bank's accounts.

I mean, what selfrespecting bank prefer WU payments, that doesn't sound as if they're very professional, does it?

Posted: Wed Jan 16, 2008 10:28 am

@ Otter

You have the patience and skill of a saint. Keep up the excellent work.

Posted: Thu Jan 17, 2008 6:13 pm

The lad sends the same email again from Perry M0rgan, date-stamped "Tue, 15 Jan 2008 18:22:35 +0000".

It's been almost a week since the bank originally contacted me, and since I'm going to go with the "bank emails not being received" modality, I think it's time to write a letter of concern to the nice Mr M00re . . .

I wrote:

Date: Wed, 16 Jan 2008 00:13:26 +0000 (GMT)
From: "R1ch4rd xx Vxxxxx" <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: GREETINGS
To: "Ke1vin M00re" <[email protected]>

Dear Mr Ke1vin M00re,

How are you today, sir? I hope all is well.

I am writing because it has been a week since I wrote to the bank requesting that they set up an account for me, as you suggested I do. I have had no reply at all from them and I'm wondering if there is a problem. I hope not.

You only gave me the email address of the bank representative, Mr Perry M0rgan, so I cannot telephone him myself to find out if there is a problem. I would appreciate it if you could contact him yourself and find out what might be causing the delay. If you let me know if I need to provide anything to the bank, such as a proof of ID or something, then I will get that sorted out quickly for them.

thanks,
R1ch4rd

I'm nothing if not polite! I provide room here for some "reverse cold-reading", feeding some excuses to the lad for him to use if he so wishes it. Although I have no intention of sending him some ID, if he takes me up on the offer then I have the opportunity to waste more time trying to send him . . . well . . . something!

I'm also giving him the impression that I am all ready and waiting to spring into action to get this transaction completed. I add the little bit at the end about "sorting it out quickly" to show him that I really want to be moving on this thing but can't proceed until I get his or the bank's say-so. It's all about making it look like I am eager to fulfil the instructions and that the delay is coming from an external (maybe unidentified) source.

I wrote:

Date: Wed, 16 Jan 2008 18:55:14 +0000 (GMT)
From: R1ch4rd xx Vxxxxx" <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: GREETINGS
To: "Ke1vin M00re" <[email protected]>

Dear Mr M00re,

I wish I didn't have to write this email, but the situation demands that I do.

I wrote to you yesterday to find out why I have heard nothing from the bank. It is now a day later and I have nothing from either the bank OR YOU, MR M00RE.

What is going on here? Are you playing games with me? I am waiting for this bank account to be set up but it seems I'm experiencing nothing but delays and silence from you and the bank you are dealing with. I am not pleased with this recent decline in your standards of professionalism. Mr Wa1ter W00dgate, at Globex Couriers at least kept me informed of everything and treated me like a valued customer. I hoped you would show me the same level of service, but apparently not.

I would like a reply, or at least some acknowledgement of my messages, within the next 24 hours, or I will be forced to come to the conclusion that you are joking with me in this matter.

yours,
R1ch4rd xx Vxxxxx

Time to get firm. There's a chance that the lad has dropped me, thinking that I have delayed too much, but if he's simply being lazy then I need to keep up the pretence of believing his story.

I don't agree with "It's always the lad's fault", but it's a useful approach to keep in reserve to use when necessary. My email here is starting to edge towards that position . . . it's not my fault at all, and I am placing the blame firmly on the two current characters while praising the previous character (Wa1ter) for his professionalism. This reinforces the appearance of my belief in the whole scam, and I hope it will shame the lad into acting more compliantly to maintain the level of service that so impressed me previously. If the lad's good at cold-reading people, he will see that professionalism and prompt responses bring out favourable reactions in my character, and the opposite displeases me. If he picks up on that, he should know how to play me. If . . .

Finally, I signpost the larger slap that will be applied tomorrow if I don�t receive any response by then.

Because this is a lotto lad, and they are notorious for not taking much nonsense, I'll give him until tomorrow, slap him once more (more forcefully) and then if I get no reply I'll have to admit that this one has run its course. But, at 61 days---two months---it's not bad for a lotto bait.

Scammer wrote:

From: "Ke1vin M00re" <[email protected]>
To: "R1ch4rd xx Vxxxxx" <[email protected]>
Subject: ATTENTION
Date: Thu, 17 Jan 2008 17:31:55 +0000

Sorry for this late response to your message. I forwarded your mails to Mr. Perry M0rgan and got a call from him telling me that he has sent you three mails without a response from you. He told me he sent you a mail from the company's mail service and his own personal email account but got no response till date. To proove that he sent me copies of the mails he sent to your mail account "[email protected]".

I just can't understand why you did not get them. I have asked him to use an alternative email service to send you a mail. My appologies for the delay.

I do hope this time you receive the massage from Pacific Bank.

Our appologies once again.

Mr. Ke1vin M00re.

I was all ready to write this one off, but then a reply comes in! He hasn't dropped me for being too awkward. Not yet, anyway. Look at the lies in his message, though. Three times he's tried and once from his personal email address? I don't think so, Mr M00re!

But he's remaining polite and non-abusive, so it's looking good. I can't see any hint that he is starting to see that I'm playing with him.

I wrote:

Date: Thu, 17 Jan 2008 17:43:08 +0000 (GMT)
From: "R1ch4rd xx Vxxxxx" <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: ATTENTION
To: "Ke1vin M00re" <[email protected]>

Dear Mr M00re,

Thank you for letting me know what has been happening. I was starting to get very worried.

I also appreciate the effort that you have put into sorting this out. It is strange that none of Mr M0rgan's emails have reached me. I hope that when/if he tries a different email service that they will come through okay. I will let you know.

regards,
R1ch4rd

Okay; violent slap averted, and time to . . . well, maybe not build bridges as none have collapsed yet, but certainly reinforce them somewhat to keep this bait propped up for a little longer. This small diversion has wasted a week of his time so far with very little effort on my part, so it has definitely been worth it.

I'll sit back and wait for Mr M0rgan's email. I have a strange feeling that if this one is not sent from parcificon1inebank.cbank.co.uk it will get through to me somehow.

. . .

A while later, I get three copies of Mr M0rgan's email, one from <[email protected]> and two from <[email protected]>. I won't repeat them here as we've already seen them many times before. I'll wait until tomorrow to confirm to Mr M00re that the yahoo.co.uk emails came through, at least.

Edited for silly question-mark-proliferation problem.

Posted: Thu Jan 17, 2008 8:04 pm

Some amazingly good english from your mugu
Very interesting read mate

Posted: Fri Jan 18, 2008 1:32 pm

^^^ That's because there is no one standard personality or intelligence for scammers. I've had baits where I can barely make out what the lad is trying to tell me, and then there are those as above (and check the English in the recent thread started by Professor So And So titled "HELP!") that show very good English skills.
Never underestimate the intelligence of a scammer... some of them are making more money from their scams than a lot of us ever see, so they've got something going on that's working right for them.

Posted: Fri Jan 18, 2008 11:08 pm

I wrote:

Date: Fri, 18 Jan 2008 17:47:45 +0000 (GMT)
From: "R1ch4rd xx Vxxxxx" <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: ATTENTION
To: "Kelvin Moore" <[email protected]>

Dear Ke1vin M00re,

I have received two emails today from Mr Perry M0rgan at the Pacific On1ine Bank. They were both the same (I guess he was making doubly sure) and they were from what looks like his private Yahoo email address.

If he has been sending his previous emails from his work account, then perhaps there is some issue with that domain name and my email provider? It's just an idea.

Anyway, this is just to let you know that I have received some communication from Mr M0rgan, so I should be able to set up my online bank account now.

Thank you for your help.

regards,
R1ch4rd

I wait until the next day to confirm that the Yahoo messages came through okay.

Again, I'm trying to put the blame on something else at every opportunity and at the same time show how willing I am to progress now that every problem has been sorted out.

And the politeness continues! My character seems to be well-mannered so I'll stay consistently polite, giving the lad the impression that this a real person. This might not apply to everyone, but I've found that if I keep the same character, same background, same life-story for each character, then I can easily inhabit that character and reply as him/her. But if I have two or more baits running from the same email address and there are big differences between the characters who are writing from that address, that's when I start to forget or confuse who said what, who works where, who's married, who has 17 children, etc. In short, I find that I can run many baits from one email address and keep all the facts perfectly straight only as long as I keep the same personalities and facts for each character writing from that account. Your own mileage could very well differ, but it's worth trying if confusion tends to set in too many times.

Scammer wrote:

From: "Ke1vin M00re" <[email protected]>
To: "R1ch4rd xx Vxxxxx" <[email protected]>
Subject: GOOD DAY
Date: Fri, 18 Jan 2008 17:48:37 +0000

BETTER HOUSE,
212,CROWN STREET,
BIRMINGHAM. B11 2AG
UNITED KINGDOM.

Thanks for your understanding. I got a call from Mr. Perry today. He told me he has sent you details of your account activation. Please if you do not get it this time, do let me know so that i can notify him.

Once again, thanks for your understanding.

Regards,
Ke1vin M00re
Claims manager
+447011999999
BETTER LIFE PROMOTION.

He also sends another two copies of the bank email, one from a Hotmail address and the other from the Yahoo address he used before. It looks like he sent these before reading my last email, or else why send the duplicate from the Hotmail account and why the wording about "if you do not get it this time" when I've already confirmed I got the Yahoo version?
Anyway, nice to see that he's set up two new addresses just for me!

His wording is not showing much sign of impatience, and I feel quite confident that he believes this is a genuine and unavoidable (but still time-consuming) delay that neither of us could have predicted. Again, as with the FBI agent plot above, he thinks he's playing his own script, but it is always in response to things that I am throwing in his path. This is control!

I'll wait a little while to see if he replies to my last email about receiving the message from the Yahoo address.

Scammer wrote:

From: "Ke1vin M00re" <[email protected]>
To: "R1ch4rd xx Vxxxxx" <[email protected]>
Subject: Regards
Date: Fri, 18 Jan 2008 18:08:17 +0000

BETTER HOUSE,
212,CROWN STREET,
BIRMINGHAM. B11 2AG
UNITED KINGDOM.

Thanks for your prompt response. I'm happy to know that you have finally received his message.
We wish you the best as you transfer your funds.

Regards,
Ke1vin M00re
Claims manager
+447011999999
BETTER LIFE PROMOTION.

That answers my question! He had sent out the last few emails before seeing my acknowledgement. Thanks for that, Ke1vin, but I'm still going to wait until tomorrow before replying to the bank.

Perry M0rgan sent his first reply to me on the 10th of January, it's now the 18th of January. 8 days gone and we haven't moved forward even one inch. I might have risked pushing it a little further if this weren't a lotto bait, but I'm happy with the result. When this modality works, it works wonderfully!

I wrote:

Date: Fri, 18 Jan 2008 22:51:12 +0000 (GMT)
From: "R1ch4rd xx Vxxxxx" <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: Dear Valuable Customer: R1ch4rd xx Vxxxxx
To: "Perry M0rgan" <[email protected]>

Dear Mr Perry M0rgan,

It is very pleasing to receive an email from you after all this time. Mr M00re at Better Life Promotions said that you had sent me several emails already, but for some reason I received none of them. I was beginning to get very concerned, especially with the deadline for claiming my prize being so near.

Anyway, that's all sorted out, and I just want to write and let you know that I am very relieved to read your email.

It is 11pm here, so there is little chance that any Western Union station will be open for business. I will locate one in my area tomorrow and sort out the activation fee for my account.

regards,
R1ch4rd

I know, I broke one of my guidelines about replying slowly and sparingly! But I have a plan. Well, okay, I'm going to use one of the suggestions that onatrek suggested further upthread. I want to give the impression that I'm just about to pay the activation fee, that I'm all ready and willing and waiting to give him the money, so writing at 11pm and telling him I'll do it first thing tomorrow should (I hope) convey this perfectly.

Note that instead of arguing and fighting against the idea of a deadline for making my claim, I'm actually agreeing with it and acknowledging that it's there. This is one more prop to reinforce the idea that I am 100% compliant and trying my very best to get this done. The underlying thinking here is that my character should never be seen as being the source of the delays, and is actually working with the lad.

Edited to sort out punctuation problem.

Posted: Wed Jan 23, 2008 1:18 pm

I wrote:

Date: Sat, 19 Jan 2008 09:26:53 +0000 (GMT)
From: "R1ch4rd xx Vxxxxx" <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: Dear Valuable Customer: R1ch4rd xx Vxxxxx
To: "Perry M0rgan" <[email protected]>

Dear Mr Perry M0rgan,

Good morning, sir! I hope you fine today.

I have the money ready to pay the activation fee for my account and I have the informations needed to use at the Western Union station.

However, I have one small issue that needs clearing up.

I am not sure how much Kelvin M00re told you about what had happened previously (and why we are using your services to transfer my winnings), so I will tell you briefly that a CIA man has been emailing me constantly, trying to tell me that the Better Life Promotions prize draw is really a cover for drug smuggling. I mean... seriously, he really has! I could hardly believe a word he said, to be honest, but he's from the CIA so I didn't want to tell him outright that he's a liar. I mean, would the US government waste funds on stuff they knew wasn't true?!?!?
Anyway, ever since we switched to using a bank-to-bank transfer, he (Agent McClewsky) has been emailing me and asking me about the progress, who has been contacting me, etc, etc. It has become very annoying, I have to tell you.
I've been giving him very brief replies, letting him know the basics, just to keep him happy.

I sent an email to him last night with another progress report... basically telling him that I will be paying the activation fees this morning, but I wake up today to find he's sent me an email DEMANDING that I see the website for the online bank. He's threatened me before with getting the local police involved, and he's doing it again. I hate the way he is manipulating me like this, it's almost like he doesn't want me to claim my winnings.

Anyway... would it be possible to view the website where my account will be set up? I hate doing this, because it probably looks like yet more delays, but seriously... I'm so angry at Agent McClewsky now, I just want him to shut him up and get him out of my life. If I show him the bank's website, that should shut his stupid whining for a while.

I hope you don't think I'm being awkward here, Mr Morgan. I have pressure coming from all sides, and I'm trying to balance everything so I can still survive the day and not collapse under it all. If you let me have the website address, then I can throw it in McClewsky's stupid face and show him that he's being an idiot. Well, I won't tell him that directly, ha! But it'll show him that he's wasting his time here and should be out catching REAL criminals.

thanks for your understanding,
R1ch4rd

At this point, I seriously start to think that he will drop me totally. My suspicion is that the last request (to show me the website because the CIA man is demanding it) will be too much and he will finally realize I am too much work for too little reward.

But that doesn't mean I give up! There is still a chance that he thinks I'll pay, so in this reply I blatantly dangle the carrot and try my best to be as compliant and willing as possible.

I try to make sure that the CIA agent is the shared 'enemy' whom we should both be fighting against, and who is the one stopping this transaction at this point. Setting up an external authority figure is a very useful tactic, as it allows you to blame all the delays on them while leaving your main character looking like an innocent victim who is desperately trying to comply with the lad's requests. It also puts a buffer between the lad and the source of the delays; if it were your main character causing the delays, then the lad could argue directly with him/her, but this way the cause of the delays is one step removed from the lad and so he can't argue or reason directly but has to go through your main character.

I wrote:

Date: Tue, 22 Jan 2008 21:07:57 +0000 (GMT)
From: "R1ch4rd xx Vxxxxx" <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: Regards
To: "Ke1vin M00re" <[email protected]>

Dear Ke1vin M00re,

Once again I am having to write to you because I am receiving no replies from Mr Perry M0rgan. I wish I knew why his messages are not coming through to me.

I have the money here that he requested I pay to his bank, but I am waiting for a small request from him to be completed before I dare send it. I hope he hasn't given up on me, as this would be most unfortunate because this delay is not my fault at all. I feel I am being picked on simply because some technical issues are preventing me from jumping to Mr Morgan's incredibly tight deadlines. He is asking the impossible, I feel, sometimes, and I am really trying my best to do what he asks of me. I think he should reconsider his very unfair demands and relax them a little, especially as this "prize draw" is meant to be increasing goodwill and welfare, not increasing stress and pressure on people.

Please have a word with him and explain that I am still having trouble receiving his replies.

regards,
R1ch4rd

The 'not receiving emails from Mr M0rgan' ploy works again . . . because I'm playing a genuine victim, I will not be expecting the lad to have abandoned me, so the absence of replies could be blamed on that email problem again. If the lad is in two minds about continuing with me and has been deliberately not replying, then giving him this excuse provides a way of him to return and keep his story believable: 'Yes, Mr M0rgan's emails are not getting through.' even though he knows he hasn't sent any. In effect, we're both using this very convenient lie for our own purposes!

This email is a desperate attempt to get him back, and I'm fully prepared at this point to accept that he has dropped me in favour of someone who's more willing and compliant. The rant about the tight deadlines is partially me letting off steam at how ridiculous the conditions of his scam are (I know, it could be seen as 'educating the lads'), partially a way of insulting him, and finally a bit of play-acting to try to show the lad that I'm trying my absolute best to pay him money but time is against me at every step of the way.

Scammer wrote:

From: "Ke1vin M00re" <[email protected]>
To: "R1ch4rd xx Vxxxxx" <[email protected]>
Subject: Attention
Date: Wed, 23 Jan 2008 09:30:19 +0000

BETTER HOUSE,
212,CROWN STREET,
BIRMINGHAM. B11 2AG
UNITED KINGDOM.

Thanks for your update. I have spoken to Mr. Perry today, he told me he has sent a reply to your request and will resend the mail to you again. Mr. R1ch4rd, i'll suggest you open an alternative email account. Maybe yahoo or hotmail email account for better communication between you and Mr. Perry.

Please open a new email account with one of the above domains and send Mr. Perry a mail with it to inform him of your new email address. I believe thats will put an end to the problem.

Regards,
Ke1vin M00re
Claims manager
+447011999999
BETTER LIFE PROMOTION.

And he comes back!

He's demanding that I open a new address for communicating with Mr M0rgan. Normally, I would make up some excuse or argue with a lad about such a demand, just to be awkward and also because I've got way too many email accounts to be checking as it is, but I'll make an exception in this case. Mainly because this is a lotto bait that is not showing any signs (yet) of reaching breaking point, so a little thing like creating a new email account is nothing if it will stretch this bait further.

I think this is a very difficult reply to read more information from. Sometimes, you can detect how near to reaching the limit of their patience you currently are, but this email, and at this point in the bait, is a tricky one to glean anything from. A little bit of 'hurry up, your fund will be cancelled in three days' would have been some sort of sign, but this reply is so nondescript and bland (as far as clues go) it's hard. In the absence of any other clues, though, I'll assume that he still believes very heavily that I'm on the verge of paying.

EDIT: Forgot to add in a reply I sent.

Longest lotto straight-bait? Finished at 43 weeks	View next topic View previous topic