Does this make me a baiter, or a scammer?

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Posted: Sun Jul 16, 2017 4:54 pm

This is a weird one. Or maybe it isn't, but it's a new one to me.

My secretary character for my audio book company has been conversing with several scammers over the last few weeks, with some interesting results so far. She has a new email address, recently created.

I got a mail a couple of days ago from an address I'd never contacted, asking me about the company and what working for us would entail. I've been going along with it, explaining how it works etc, and they seem like they're ready to jump on board.

Thing is, I don't know what kind of scammer this person is, and it can only be a scammer because I've only talked to scammers with this email address; and they used some phrasing (things I have said in other emails, verbatim) that made me think that I must have spoken to them before, with them using a different alias.

They've told me they're from Lagos, which removes any doubt, but still I have a niggling feeling that maybe I shouldn't bait them because I'm unaware of their (attempted or otherwise) crimes...

Any advice on what I should do? Is the fact that it must be a scammer enough to proceed? Maybe I should mail them from a different address, with a different character, try to get a feel for their game that way...

Posted: Sun Jul 16, 2017 6:43 pm

If in doubt why not ask a moderator for their opinion on the matter.

Posted: Sun Jul 16, 2017 7:16 pm

I see three possibilities. First it's the lads themselves testing you from a new account for whatever reason. This happens. Second, it's new lads who have either been given your email address by lads you baited before or "found it" (ie gained access to a lads box, saw it on an open screen etc). Third, your email was passed from lads to non lads (members of their family, non scamming friends, etc.). So you can't really know it's lads emailing you now. Their being in Lagos means nothing more than that they likely know your lads (if that's where your lads are too). If it were me I'd probably just ignore them. You could also try asking them how they heard of you exactly. Lastly you could email them from a fresh box with a simple "I'm interested tell me more", but don't push it or email again if they don't respond with a 419 script.

Posted: Sun Jul 16, 2017 7:34 pm

Thanks for the input, Padme.

The very first thing I asked them was "how did you hear about us", to which he replied "I found you by googling". If he had really done that, he wouldn't have found anything about the company, because obviously it doesn't exist, so this really makes me think it's not an innocent, legitimately interested party.

I just searched now, even adding a "419" to the search term (in case my previous bait showed up), and got nothing, apart from links relating to an actual audio book which happens to be entitled "Lazy Eye" (first I've heard of it!).

I'm currently awaiting a response to an email I've sent them from another email account.

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