Mule idiocy and the lad confession

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: Sun Feb 26, 2017 1:08 pm

My favorite baits are the product lads because I can quickly get a bunch of pork and I have 90% of my responses in templates. They are set up to make the lads work however take me only a few minutes each day to respond to them.

Lads always want to buy my wine and have their shipper pick it up. As most know I have to transfer money after receiving credit card payment to their shipper to a bank account - presumably a mule.

In my latest bait after the "poor" lad had 4 of his credit cards declined one finally one went through and thus his wine was paid for.

He sent over the shippers bank details (a Bank on America account in Baltimore). After sitting on it for days and then asking him for customs forms, a 1099 to be filled out and my standard waivers for international wine delivery I finally "transferred" the funds to the BOA mule account. It was a three day transfer as I wanted to avoid the fees.

Long story long the bait got a little weird: Of course they start freaking out because the funds never arrived (standard). The kept asking for the slip (standard - I always say I have no idea what a slip is I transfer online). They then call my fake re-directed number and the first call is from a Nigerian number and I don't answer. Surprisingly the next call is FROM THE MULE (a 410 number I could trace to the mule's name). This has never happened. I'd guess from his voice (and google) that he's 18 and dumb. He says "I hear you owe me some money and it hasn't shown up". I'm in character and I start asking him about his shipping operation etc. The poor guy could barely complete a sentence and seemed to have no idea of the pick up arrangements discussed with his company etc. He was perplexed. I insisted the money had been transferred as agreed. He kept mumbling "I never got no money and you owe me money". He said "I have to call you back".

I then scold the shipping company email contact and the original lad who wants my wine. Tell him how much time is being wasted and the weather window for pickup is minimal. I go off on him about how much time I put into bottling his order etc etc. He only answers the email with "I am sorry sir. I will look into it."

Here's the kicker: He calls and confesses. He basically says he is a scammer and that he's new to it and he has spent $3000 to get cards and phones and scripts but he's only made $610 and he is a failure. HE says he's just not good at it. He is sorry for causing my business so much trouble. He has immense guilt. WTF?! Anyone else ever had that happen? This entire bait with the young idiot mule calling and the lad confessing was a first. Damn. I usually only spend a few minutes on these but the lad wanted to talk and talk. I was on the phone hearing his life story for 30 minutes. I stayed in character but there was a part of me that wanted to tell him to leave the scamming biz. Alas, I remained totally in character as someone who wired and lost money.

I assume I shouldn't tip off the poor dumb mule in Baltimore that he was being used? That's where I was a bit confused. I just kept quiet but this happened yesterday so it any of you pros have any other ideas let me know.

THX!

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

Il give him 24 hours before he starts begging for money and makes up a family emergency, .I'm looking forward to getting into the product lads because I'm sick to death of being offered loans

Posted: Sun Feb 26, 2017 3:10 pm

Mules are generally considered to be ITPs. Your mule sends to fit into that category. Young and not very bright. PM any of the Mods or Admins with his details and we will sort it out.

Posted: Sun Feb 26, 2017 4:51 pm

^Including the phone number. Any time you get a mule's info, report it to the mods. If you get a mule's bank account, report it twice: once on the web form for reporting bank accounts, and once to a mod.

Posted: Sun Feb 26, 2017 5:57 pm

I'm not a fan of calling mules "idiots" as they are often victims, themselves. There's a sticky in HH&T titled NEW USERS PLEASE READ: Forum FAQs, Rules, Ethics, etc.. From time to time, experienced baiters should revisit these as we do update them. Included there is a link to What's a Money Mule? This reinforces what music man says above.

As for the lad "confessing," that's another common technique they use. If they can't fool you, they play on your sympathy to get you to send money.

Baiting Guru Joined: 10 Oct 2010 Posts: 3876

^^^^

exactly

for example, a young family with a house and high debts, the bank is writing angry letters, and they both don't have a job, and the kid is 3 years old.

and out of the blue, there is a message, promising a job with a good salary, and just easy tasks to do. taking the job might not be the brightest idea, but at least it is a job that gets the bills paid.

they don't know that shortly after the first few transfers a police car will show up, arresting them. so, treating them as ITPs and warning them that they are scam victims is a good idea.

Posted: Sun Feb 26, 2017 9:52 pm

Surfowl wrote:

He calls and confesses. He basically says he is a scammer and that he's new to it and he has spent $3000 to get cards and phones and scripts but he's only made $610 and he is a failure. HE says he's just not good at it. He is sorry for causing my business so much trouble. He has immense guilt.

Always remember Rule 1

Lads lie

Posted: Mon Feb 27, 2017 12:14 am

If the lad actually repented, which is different from confessing to you, you'd probably never hear from him again. He would be busy tracking down victims who actually sent him money, so that he could pay it back to them. Since you haven't successfully sent him any money, he wouldn't be contacting you.

Even if his story about getting only $610 back for $3000 is true, he has no real guilt. All it is is disappointment at not getting back what he put into it.

Good on you for staying in character when he dropped his.

Posted: Mon Feb 27, 2017 9:47 pm

Thanks for the advice. Poor word choice using "idiot" for the mule. Probably has something to do with him screaming at me for his money. Smile

Posted: Tue Feb 28, 2017 6:38 pm

Good catch on the mule infors Padawan and nice baiting.

Mule idiocy and the lad confession	View next topic View previous topic