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Hello I'm New here! Joined: 28 Aug 2013 Posts: 10

Hi, all.

Thought it might be fun to try some scam-baiting.

I set up a gmail account. I just want to know whether if I use gmail, it will not reveal my IP address to the scammer.

Posted: Wed Aug 28, 2013 4:36 am

Welcome to the Eater, PS.

Gmail is a favorite around here as it strips the IP address out of your email so your location is anonymous. And, you don't have to settle with one account. You can get as many accounts for as many characters as you wish. You can create an entire cast of characters depending on your bait of course. Just remember never to use any real life information; stay totally anonymous for your safety.

Have you signed up for a mentor yet? We have a mentor program here where the old crusty baiters sign up to mentor newbies that want mentoring. They will get you through your first baits and far beyond. You can sign up here:
http://forum.419eater.com/forum/cherrie_mentor_program.php

While you are waiting for your new mentor, there is an excellent thread with all kinds of hint and answers to the most common questions. You can see that here:
http://forum.419eater.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=118738

If you do not have any lads to bait yet, you can visit the SURPLUS 419 SCAM LETTERS section and answer any of the letters you care to try just as if the email was sent to you.

Read the stickies, too. There is a wealth of information contained in them.

Bait safe and have fun dealing out lad pain!

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 28 Aug 2013 Posts: 10

Thanks.

Having found the "real estate investor" in the surplus forum, I am thinking of sending him the solicitation below. What do you think?

Dear sir,

My name is Percival Sommers. A friend of mine, Marcus Cole, forwarded me an email stating that you have an investment group seeking real estate deals.

I am not into real estate but am seeking investors to join in on a lucrative software project for the oil and gas industry which will be a state-of-the-art seismic data analysis of subsurface structural revisions which result from post-fracking activities in the field.

This is high-end software, and we expect to license it for $137,575 per month. We are currently having discussions with the Vice President of Engineering for the Southwestern Regional Division of Amoco Field Services, Ltd. If we can land the Amoco account, the return on investment will be extremely promising. Once we have the Amoco account, it will enable us to procure additional accounts, and we fully expect that within the first 2 years of release, our revenues will exceed $1MM per month.

Our issue at the moment is that we are a small, start-up development team and have almost exhausted $220,000 over the last 18 months of development. I have one partner in the project. I am a systems designer, and my partner is a recent graduate in Engineering from Texas Tech. University. We are down to our last $30,000 and are in jeopardy of losing our potential contract with Amoco to a competitor if we cannot meet a release deadline of December 31, 2013. I have already mortgaged my home to fund this project, and my partner has no funds since he is a recent graduate with extensive student loan indebtedness. Since we do not have a proven track-record, we are unable to obtain funding through the traditional route. Therefore, we need the support of highly-motivated venture capitalists who are willing to take a risk in exchange for immense returns.

As you can see, the deadline is fast approaching.

We need immediate investment capital of $50,000, with a post-release guarantee of additional funds in the amount of $150,000 during the 6 month period following January 1, 2014. In exchange, we would be willing to give 40% ownership in our business to the qualified investor.

I realize that real estate is a good investment at this particular time, but I am confident that the return on investment on our software will be many multiples of the returns that can be earned on real estate.

If you have an interest in discussing this opportunity further, please reply at your earliest convenience. For your information, we are extending this offer to a small handful of other potential investors and are ready to move quickly.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 28 Aug 2013 Posts: 10

Being new to this, I am afraid the bait might be too sophistocated. My plan would be to make the scammer jump through some "legal hoops" once he shows interest. I am thinking of putting him in touch with my attorney, who will negotiate a Non-Compete and Non-Disclosure Agreement for starters, after he gives me adequate assurance he has proof of funds to show his ability as a qualified investor.

Then, my attorney could get his signature to the form, but disapprove because the scammer is not a corporation. We could make the scammer form a corporation and provide a list of officers and some kind of corporate seal.

But after I do the initial hard work of sending the Non-Compete agreement, I would make him do the rest. My attorney will plead ignorance of foreign laws and require the scammer to get his own attorney to be sure his documents are "official" and "legal." "All you will need to do is provide me with your attorney's qualified opinion letter verifying that you documents comply with your local laws."

If he bit, I could see him going through an intellectual nightmare trying to make stuff look legal.

Baiting Guru Joined: 28 Feb 2013 Posts: 3152

Hi and welcome to the Eater!

Mr Kruse has already given you some great advice, but from what you've just posted, for your first bait I'd suggest playing along with a simple "I'm interested please tell me more about what sort of real estate you're looking for" type email, especially at the start as some won't bother reading your first email and a long reply trying to get him onto your story straight away may result in you being dropped for being too difficult if he does. You can slowly introduce your script story over time as he gets involved and familiar with your character. Or follow his script but things keep going wrong for some reason.

Bear in mind that you may not get a response from him anyway, no matter what you send first off for whatever reason. Don't worry if that happens, there's plenty more out there that want to hear from you.

Also you can pretty much guarantee that this lad already has a 'lawyer' or 'barrister' ready to step in at some point and ask for 'legal fees' to progress your transaction.

Other than that have fun with him!

Posted: Wed Aug 28, 2013 8:56 am

PSommers: Your first reply is too long and contains too much information. At that point (your first reply), any lad you respond to will have no reason to sit for five-ten minutes going through your mail and working out what you say you're offering. Make it shorter, more concise, and less packed full of details. What you need to do is draw them in slowly, offering a tiny glimpse of money for little effort (both in doing the work to get it and also in just reading the email to understand what you're offering).

There's also a myth that lads will never reply to your first email. This is incorrect. A few small percentage won't, sure, but if you word it just right (and make sure it's not a large wall of text) then most will glance through it. If you have the right hook in that first reply, it will be noticed and read.

I've been baiting for 6.5 years---okay, with a year or two out here and there!---and have built up a mountain of evidence showing me able to get a lad's attention right from the first reply. It all comes down to knowing just how to word it. Start small, work up to the complicated things. Show you're willing to pay. Develop trust. When you have had him on the line for two to three months THEN you can drop the crazy and complicated on him.

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 28 Aug 2013 Posts: 10

Advice has been followed. I am already talking to Captain Lawrence about my 30% of $16.2 million! Very Happy

Posted: Wed Aug 28, 2013 9:36 am

^^^^
What everybody else says. The best idea generally is slow your bait down, you have to give the lad time to turn a nibble into a gulp. And no lawyer would dump all the info at once! If you feel you need a separate lawyer character, DCH Pllc is happy to help!-

Posted: Wed Aug 28, 2013 11:06 am

I would advise against using a baiter name that has any resemblance to your Eater name. Neither of them should have any resemblance to your real name.