My first Scambaiting Experience

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: Fri Oct 07, 2016 7:56 pm

Hi guys!

I discovered scambaiting through a man named James Veitch. If you don't already know, he is a Youtuber who makes some hysterical videos about his experiences scambaiting those pesky scammers. I promptly made a new email and got to work. Quickly I found this site after google searching the best way to get Nigerian scams.

My first email arrived just today and I was wondering if you experienced veterans had some fun ways to play with the scammers and you feel like sharing some ideas would definitely be appreciated. The scam I have been roped into is one where a man claims he got my contact online and hears I'm an investor (which is ridiculous) and would like to sell me some gold. Upon request I will add the emails in question to this feed.

Thanks!

*Update*

He sent this to me as his opening email: (His will be in red and mine in blue)

HELLO, I GOT YOUR CONTACT ONLINE FOR INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITY, I DEAL ON GOLD AND I THINK YOU CAN INVEST ON IT AS IT HAS HIGH PROFIT MARGIN AND VERY LUCRATIVE.
GOLD TRADE IS A VERY GOOD AND LUCRATIVE INVESTMENT FOR THOSE THAT KNOWS
THE METHODOLOGY OF HIGH INCOME IN GOLD TRADE.
WE SELL 0UR GOLD DORY BAR AT $26,000 PER KG WHICH IS ABOUT 15% MINUS
LMBA WORLD PRICE BECAUSE WE ARE LOCAL
MINERS MAKING US TO BE WHOLE SELLERS AND WE SELL TO RETAILERS
THAT RESELL TO THE END USERS. 1KG OF GOLD DORY BARS COST
$26,000 PER KG AND AFTER SHIPPING AND ASSAY IN WHICH THE 1KG
BECOMES $28,000 PER KG BECAUSE OF THE EXPENSE OF SHIPPING AND
ASSAY BEING $2,000 PER KG, SELLER SELLS 1KG AT THE INTERNATIONAL
PRICE OF $39,000 GIVING A PROFIT OF $11,000 PER
KG.
SO BUYER WILL HAVE TO COME DOWN TO GHANA OR SEND A
REPRESENTATIVE FOR THE SALES TRANSACTION. WE ONLY SOLICIT FOR
BUYER ON THE INTERNET BUT THE TRANSACTION ITSELF IS DONE IN THE
PRESENCE OF BUYER AND SELLER BECAUSE BUYER HAS TO UNDERSTAND WHAT HE OR SHE IS BUYING, ESTABLISH A LEGITIMATE BUSINESS PARTNERSHIP AND SEE THE COMPANY MINE AND STRUCTURE. MORESO, THE TRANSACTION
IS OF HIGH MONETARY VALUE SO
IT HAS TO BE DONE IN THE PRESENCE OF BUYER AND SELLER. IN ADDENDUM, BUYER AND SELLER
MUST BE PRESENT AT THE
TRANSACTION BECAUSE BUYER MUST FOLLOW THE SALES PROCESS
FROM
LOCAL SMELTING OF THE GOLD DUST TO GOLD BAR AND ASSAYING OF
THE GOLD BAR IN THE REFINERY TO DETERMINE THE PURITY OF THE GOLD
WHICH MUST BE 96% +, CARAT TO BE 22+ OR 24+ AND FOR THE ASSAY
REPORT TO BE ISSUED TO GET THE NECESSARY DOCUMENTS TO
ACCOMPANY THE GOLD TO BUYERS
DESTINATION. DOCUMENTS TO BE ISSUED INCLUDES :EXPORT LICENSE,
CERTIFICATE OF ORIGIN OF GOLD WHICH HAS THE COMMON WEALTH
ENDORSEMENT , TAX CLEARANCE AND INSURANCE. ALL THIS
DOCUMENTS WILL BE ARRANGED BY SELLER AFTER ASSAY
IF YOU ARE
INTERESTED IN THE TRADE REPLY ME THEN WE CONTINUE WITH THE LONG
TERM BUSINESS RELATIONSHIP.
ANTICIPATING YOUR RESPONSE.
REGARDS
JOHN.

John, I've been been waiting to hear from you.

I have been hearing much of the gold market recently. As of right now gold is $40,000 per kilogram. You claim your gold is $26,000 per kilogram. I'm no genius but %15 less than $40,000 is $36,000. It seems to me we need to be ramping things up. If you can explain why we are not selling it for more I may be someone you wish to keep on your radar.

Sincerely,
George Johnson

We sell our gold at that rate because we are local miners and we sell at wholesale prices to retailers. It is the retailers that sell at $40,000.

We don't sell to the end users as we are manufacturers. We have mines where we get our gold dust from and in the presence of the buyer we smelt the gold dust to bar before we proceed to the refinery for assay to determine the purity and the Carat.

So we sell to those that sell at the world market price and they make their profit there.

If we sell at the world market, nobody will buy from us as we are not direct to end users.

Regards,

John.

Ah thank you Johnny for clearing that up.You mentioned that the smelting is done in the presence of the buyer. Does this mean I will need to travel? You see I have a fear of planes. And while we are on the topic I'm scared of toasters as well.

George Johnsoon

After that he din't reply for 24 Hours so I prompted him.

John,
I am still interested. I'm sorry I brought up the toasters. It's just once I got electrocuted by one and ended up in the hospital. But enough of me, are you still interested in selling because I am still interested in buying. Is there anything you need me to do?

Sincerely,
George Johnson

If you are ready, come down to Ghana and buy.

Can you arrange my transport? Like I said I am afraid of flying. I only travel by boat.

I cannot arrange your transport, when you are in Ghana let me know.

Where in Ghana exactly should I go? What will you need me to do? How would you like payment for the gold? It seems to me this is all happening rather quickly. If you can specifically lay out the details to our arrangement I would be glad to come to Ghana.

Sincerely,
George Johnson

We are in Accra the capital of Ghana. The arrangement is when you come to Ghana, we take the gold to the refinary for testing and after the test result is out, we get the documents that will accompany the gold to your destination. Then you make payment for the gold thereafter shipment.

We take cash or bank transfer.

Now I am fairly new to the gold game. How do taxes apply? I am considering purchasing a decent sized quantity of your product.

We will take care of the tax. I told you that we will get the documents that will accompany the gold to your destination, so the tax will also be sorted by us as we arrange the documents because the tax clearance will be part of the documents.

So allow me to make sure I have understood your instructions correctly: I am to provide my own transport (by boat) to Ghana. Then I will go to some mines in the capital, give you roughly 300 grand in cash after inspecting the goods. I will then fill out some paperwork and be on my merry way. Is this correct?

Yes, just some corrections that you will inspect the mine, take the quantity of gold you are buying for assay in the refinary after after assay make payment, then proceed to your destination with the gold. What do you mean by grand? What quantity of gold are you buying, which country are you coming from? Send me your phone number now to call you for further discussion.

I may be rethinking how much gold I should buy. I'm afraid at the moment I can only afford 3 kg of gold. I would love to buy more but the circumstances aren't ideal. Due to a confliction with work I won't be able to begin my journey until Wednesday this following week. And like I said, I will be traveling by boat. Will I need a visa to be in Ghana? Do I need any shots to prevent diseases?

You don't need a visa to enter Ghana and no shots to prevent diseases.

I will only entertain further discussion on phone. Send your phone number now?

I'm afraid speaking on the phone is out of the question. In the toaster accident I spoke of earlier my hearing was damaged. I can't hear I can only read. If this is truly an issue I'm afraid the deal may be off. I truly am disappointed by this but if we are to continue communication it will be done by email. I apologize for the inconvienience but it is the way things must be.

Then when you get to Ghana let me know so that we can meet for the transaction.

Bye for now

I'm afraid I don't know the ways of Ghana. What hotels exist down there? Can you help me book one?

Again I got no helpful advice (I'm beginning to think he doesn't truly want my money) so I did some prodding.

Sir John,
I have been reading up on Ghana and it appears to me that Ghana is not the safest place to travel due to the violence in the region. I would very much like you to meet my in Rabat Morocco if at all possible. Bring the 3kg of gold to this place as well as the documentation I need to fill out and I will be extremely happy to make the purchase.

Best Regards,
George Johnson

If you can't come to Ghana no problem. You will send money for assay, Tax and documents for the gold thereafter i Will bring it to morrocco. You know it is in the payment for the gold you pay here that we make those payments. But as you are not coming, pay it then we bring the gold to morrocco.

I'm sorry but I am afraid I will not be shipping the money to you. $78,000 in cash is too much to send prior to physically seeing the merchandise. I will meet you in Morocco Wednesday, October 19th where I will inspect the product, fill out the documents, and pay you the money. Is this acceptable to you?

What i told you to send is the payment for tax, assay and documents. Which is 10% of the total merchandise value. After tax, assay and documents are gotten then we proceed to morrocco to deliver the merchandise to you after which you make balance payment.

You told me you would cover the tax. And besides, if I am to pay the tax I will pay it at the same time I am paying the rest of the sum. I see no reason to pay it in advance.

Hello,

I told you that we will arrange tax payment and that will be after the assay result when you have made payment because money for tax, assay and documents are all inclusive in the amount of the gold you are buying. So you make payment here before we do all that.

Now since you are not coming then how do we make the payments. Obviously we can't do that and also bringing our high valued product, travel expenses, time and energy.

I don't know where you got the information from that there is problem here in Ghana where different buyers and coming in and buying gold from different countries of the world.

Now if you know you can't come down here for the transaction and can't make payment for tax, assay and documents then don't bother to reply me back.

We want only serious and genuine buyers.

Bye for now.

Can't believe this bastard said I wasn't serious and then hit me with the "Bye for now." The nerve!

Johnny boy,
I am most certainly a serious buyer! I am insulted you believe I am not. I will definitely be purchasing your product. If you cannot come to morocco I whole heartedly understand. I am willing to compromise. I can meet you in Lome, the capital city of Toga on Wednesday October 19th. I can pay for your return travel fees if you would like me to. In fact as a sign of good faith I will bring a valuable gift. If you would agree to these terms please respond as soon as possible so I can make arrangements with my travel agency.

Best wishes,
George Johnson

And that is all I have so far. I will let you know if there is more with further updates. Any feedback is much appreciated.

Posted: Fri Oct 07, 2016 8:52 pm

Welcome to Eater. Before you begin baiting please read the stickies, these tell us what we do and what we don't do here.

If you want some advice on baiting, check out Eater U.

https://forum.419eater.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=261698

https://forum.419eater.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=174394

Veitch is a rank amateur compared to the people here.

Posted: Fri Oct 07, 2016 8:57 pm

First - bait safe!! use an entirely new e-mail account with no links to you. Use no real life information. Use an account (such as gmail) that does not reveal your location.

Second- the first few e-mails from you need to be short and straightforward - ask one or two questions with each e-mail to get him off script.

Examples of questions: ask about tax consequences of the transaction. Ask whether you can do this transaction in Euros rather than dollars. Haggle over exchange rates. Ask to see documentation of some factual assertion that he is making (Can your lawyer please send me a letter confirming this?)

Then, when it comes to the all important "send me money" phase, he will want money sent via Western Union. Alas, you have never used Western Union. Please explain how it works? Make him fill out an anti-terrorism clearance certificate. See www.scambaitingtools.com to get some fun-filled forms that your pet can spend time filling out.

Next, introduce a new character. Your wife/husband/lover/friend has found the e-mails on the computer and wants to take the transaction away from you and keep the money for himself/herself. The relationship was already on the rocks, so murder is a definite possibility.

Next, introduce another new character -the administrator of dead first character's estate. He is clueless about what is going on, so it all has to be explained to him from square one.

Each character needs to be a bit ditzy, or greedy or whatever. Give each of your characters his/her own unique agenda (and his/her unique set of psychological issues!) and use them against each other to cause confusion and mayhem.

Have fun!

Posted: Fri Oct 07, 2016 9:53 pm

Ahh yes ser davos I have already read all the documents and I am not naive. I am a quite cautious person. Whether or not veitch is an ameutur is yet to be decided. It depends on what we are ranking him on. The majority of you are likely trying to waste as much of their time as possible where as he does it for laughs. And yes I have already taken the liberty of creating a new email through gmail.

Posted: Fri Oct 07, 2016 10:49 pm

Fear not, we do it for laughs as well!

Posted: Sat Oct 08, 2016 1:26 am

If you enjoy funny baits, be sure to spend some time in the 'Greatest Hits' forum where many classic Eater baits can be found.

Here's just one hilarious example. There are lots more.

It definitely is possible to waste a scammer's time and resources while also generating hilarity. There are several active baits posted in the Main forum that are amazing.

Posted: Sat Oct 08, 2016 1:50 am

Welcome to the Eater, George.

Good that you got a Gmail account for your new character. That is the watchword around here; bait safe.

In addition to the stickies and EaterU, you can always request a mentor. It's like having an expert in your back pocket!

If you read the historical baits, don't hesitate to use the same tactics if you think they are cool, funny, etc. They are 100% recyclable.

Have fun and dish out some lad pain! Twisted Evil

Posted: Sat Oct 08, 2016 2:17 am

Welcome here.

Ser Davos wrote:

Veitch is a rank amateur compared to the people here.

I, respectfully, disagree. He is a professional, having added to his comedic repertoire by cleverly presenting some edited responses to his email interchanges with lads.

Is he as funny as the combined group here? Nah. I think if you look back or deeply enough, you'll see similar material previously presented. I also think this group is a bit more altruistic.

But, that's just me.

Posted: Sat Oct 08, 2016 5:05 am

^^ What Bware wrote

Veitch may be a professional comedian, but not realising just how dangerous playing with scammers can be.

And the annoying part of using real life details. Having your email account bombed, your FB page hacked.

Bait safe, no real life details, and have fun

Posted: Sat Oct 08, 2016 6:11 pm

Yes I am very much aware in the fact I should never give real personal information. And thank you guys for all your support so far.
I now come to you for specific advice. He has asked me to come to to Ghana to purchase the gold. I asked if he would arrange transport by boat because I have a fear of flying. I feel he will soon reach out to me again and I'm looking for an amazing response as to why I cannot come. Any suggestions?
Thanks!

Posted: Sat Oct 08, 2016 6:55 pm

First, tell him you can come. Build his expectations and hopes. We can worry about reasons why you did not make it later. Alas, your trip will be several weeks off - you are busy at the office until late October (make him wait and build up expectations).

Be sure mention that you are bringing him a gift to celebrate the financial success of his gold transaction. Hint that it is a Rolex or some similar high-end electronic item.

Can he book a hotel for you? Send you a reservation confirmation? Reserve or rent a car for you?

Ask what the legal limits are for bringing cash through customs in his country. That should get him salivating.

Ask him for a photo so that you can recognize him at the airport.

Do you need any shots to enter his country? Malaria? Measles? Lycanthropy? One cannot be too careful.

Don't you need a visa to enter Ghana? Can he help obtain the visa?

Good luck!

Posted: Sat Oct 08, 2016 6:58 pm

Ah thank you for the advice this is exactly what I needed.
This is great!

Posted: Sat Oct 08, 2016 9:36 pm

Hey just out of curiosity what is a good number of emails to squeeze out of the scammer if we are doing this to waste their time? So far he has sent me 9 and I've sent him 11.

Posted: Sat Oct 08, 2016 9:56 pm

For the most part you want to stick to one a day, and don't ask more than one question per email. Of course there are a few exceptions to the 24 hour rule. You want to set a pace that is opposite of the lad. If he is emailing several times a day then just respond once a day. If he is silent then send him several a day until he comes back.

If you are going for something more advanced like a safari or a church bait then you should email or phone as often as it takes to gain his trust.

Posted: Sat Oct 08, 2016 10:17 pm

Ok I thank you on the advice. I believe I may be losing him. He asked for my number so I gave him the typical excuse about having a hearing problem and he sort of bought it because I had sort of brought it up earlier. I told him all further contact would be done on my terms via email. After all I'm the one with the "money" he's trying to get (of course I didn't say that outright). I then asked him if he could set up a hotel reservation for me and he pretty much ignored me. I then asked for a recommendation and he hasn't replied in a while and his latest email ended with "Goodbye for now." I'm going to put all the emails so far in the original post. I feel a good way to learn is to do and then get feedback on what I did right, what I did wrong, and how to improve next time. If you could indulge me that would be great.
Thanks again!

Posted: Sat Oct 08, 2016 11:01 pm

Not a bad first attempt at all. You can't keep every bait going forever. All lads are different except for their deep seated greed.
Try him again from a different e mail addy. You already know what doesn't work on him.
Welcome to Eater. Very Happy

Posted: Sat Oct 08, 2016 11:11 pm

Sweet thanks!

Posted: Sun Oct 09, 2016 9:23 am

Several months ago, Eater user Todarobrontolon (who doesn't post here now) and I baited probably this same lad. The opening letter is exactly the same, at least, and the very abrupt replies are identical in nature, too. And he referred to himself as "John".

We got very bored with him because, as shown here, all he did was keep on insisting we come down to Ghana to meet him then we can do the deal to get the gold.

If it's the same lad (and I can't see anywhere that departs from what we experienced) then this was probably not the best one to begin with because he simply refuses to do anything until a meeting is arranged and, I guess, takes place. There was never any demand for up-front fees so we wondered where his scam lay. Perhaps stealing the cash we were sure to bring with us? We just gave up with him because nothing good was happening.

Pick up another lad from the Surplus forum and start again!

Posted: Fri Oct 14, 2016 3:48 pm

If you cannot field a phone call, there are people on this board who will be happy to help. Just post a thread with the subject line "phone help needed"

My first Scambaiting Experience	View next topic View previous topic