What's the deal with lads and horrible photoshops?

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Hello I'm New here! Joined: 23 Oct 2013 Posts: 17

This isn't a question about why lads suck donkey balls at any image editing program, that's KINDA understandable (though one may wonder why they won't take one hour of their time looking up a basic photoshop tutorial, given how helpful it would be in their "profession"). The question is how on earth they can actually believe anyone would look at something like this and think "yeah ok that looks legit":

And you all know this is but two of countless examples of ridiculous image editing by lads.

This is genuinely something that I can't wrap my head around. How can they believe this will work? Can someone enlighten me?

Posted: Tue May 02, 2017 7:16 pm

Because it does work for some people. Confused

I like the example of the guy sitting in a chair. So casual looking.

Posted: Tue May 02, 2017 7:28 pm

Umaru wrote:

The question is how on earth they can actually believe anyone would look at something like this and think "yeah ok that looks legit"

That's the exact question they ask and the one they want answered, too.

Here's a nice white paper from 2012 that explains a bit of it. You need to click the "Download PDF" to view the entire paper.

TLDR?

MS wrote:

Far-fetched tales of West African riches strike most as comical. Our analysis suggests that is an advantage to the attacker, not a disadvantage. Since his attack has a low density of victims the Nigerian scammer has an over-riding need to reduce false positives. By sending an email that repels all but the most gullible the scammer gets the most promising marks to self-select, and tilts the true to false positive ratio in his favor.

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 23 Oct 2013 Posts: 17

Removed unnecessary quote of previous post. Think of this as a conversation. - bware419ers

Seems like a plausible theory. However the pics in the example was from a lad I had baited for over a month before he sent them. Then it makes no sense as far as I can see it.

Some trivia:
This is my lads explanation to the "errors" in the pictures https://my.mixtape.moe/xdmseg.mp3 It's well worth a listen Smile

He is my favorite lad of all time. Oh how I miss him...

Posted: Tue May 02, 2017 7:48 pm

We don't educate scammers here. Quite the opposite, in fact. We want them sending photoshopped pictures like that. If they are sending them to us, they will use them on potential victims, and as the paper suggests, it will drive away more than it will suck into sending money.

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 23 Oct 2013 Posts: 17

Deleted full quote of the previous post. We see it right up there. ^^^bware419ers

That was quite some time ago, I think I was 17. Sure we shouldn't educate them but right then it sure was worth it to hear his lesson in photography Wink

Posted: Tue May 02, 2017 10:52 pm

The photo looks Ok to me. Did he used to star in Thunderbirds ?

Wannabe Baiter Joined: 27 Jul 2016 Posts: 93 Location: USA

I have concluded that the lads believe the victims are dumb and they can tell them anything as long as they sound confident and sure. It reminds me of what a federal manager told me. You can be dead wrong but if you show confidence you can play it off. Laughing

Posted: Tue May 02, 2017 11:28 pm

Bware is correct. The lads make their scripts as ludicrous and obviously fake as possible, so that only the most gullible victims will respond. This lessens the chance that they waste their time on people who will get wise to the scam before paying.

Of course, our mission here is exactly the opposite: we want to drive up their false positive rate and waste their time and resources by pretending we don't recognize the scam.

Posted: Tue May 02, 2017 11:42 pm

Umaru wrote:

but right then it sure was worth it to hear his lesson in photography

Worth costing a victim...oh, anything?

Posted: Wed May 03, 2017 12:35 am

What tipped me off is that nobody is going to have a leather club chair outside on their patio.

Baiting Guru Joined: 31 Jan 2007 Posts: 12237

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 23 Oct 2013 Posts: 17

bware419ers wrote:

Umaru wrote:

but right then it sure was worth it to hear his lesson in photography

Worth costing a victim...oh, anything?

I will neither be sorry nor defend myself over something I did as a teen more than 5 years ago. If I had to do that my life would be hard! Had I done it today though I would probably have gone with the guy in the photo being unable to represent the company because he had obviously taken some heavy drugs.

After that phonecall I received an image of a slightly more representable looking person:

Posted: Wed May 03, 2017 12:50 pm

Seventeen year old Umaru didn't write "it...was worth it." That's the point you're not getting.

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 23 Oct 2013 Posts: 17

Removed unnecessary quote or previous post. AGAIN. Some people just never learn - bware419ers

I'm not gonna argue the point that it's better to not educate a lad because I agree. What I'm saying is that all the trouble I put this lad through more than compensates for teaching him which way fingers go on the hand.

Posted: Wed May 03, 2017 3:42 pm

And yet, you say the trouble is worth it or compensates for it. Just stop. You say you get it, but then continually contradict yourself. One minute of education to a lad can lead to windfalls of cash. Mistakes happen. We all make them. But you are so dead insistent that this was fine and your immediate gratification or one day's worth of wasted time, that was completely negated, sets the scales to balanced. It doesn't work like that.

ETA: And quit quoting the previous post. All our Guidelines are here: https://forum.419eater.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=176248

Baiting Guru Joined: 10 Oct 2010 Posts: 3876

the problem which I see is:

the photoshop is horribly crappy, and yet it is sufficient for lads to trick some victims into paying.

and they have a certain situation: to imprive photoshop-skills, a lad would need to train days if not weeks, watch tutorials etc. that's time, he would not be earning cash.

so, the time is better spent with scamming, not with training.

and the job they are doing is close to perfect, it can't be further improved by deeducation. the only thing a baiter can do, if he receives an image like this is: tell the lad, that this is a great picture. convince him that this is totally plausible. they don't need to question their own skills.

EDIT: as an idea: a week later, a similar pic is required, and suddenly, the lad is forced to butcher a similar picture together, where the same person is visible.

Posted: Thu May 04, 2017 11:49 am

Indeed. Compliment him for such a professional looking picture. How fantastic his lawn is with this gorgeous looking chair. And so on and so on. Actually, I've come to the conclusions that lads are perfectly aware that this wouldn't fool a five year old so if you call it out on them, they won't feel any belittled. Actually, they may decide you're not worth their time since you call on their mistakes and thus could recognise the scam at some point or another. It hurts to do so, I know but refrain your impulses of slapping. I know it feels good, but if you need to pound out your frustrations, get a punching bag and go bait with a fresh mind. If he believes you believe him, then there you have it. Good luck at it.

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 23 Oct 2013 Posts: 17

bware419ers

Jeez you woke up on the wrong side today didn't you? In most forums you should quote the post you reply to so that the person you quote will get a notification.

The only thing I contradict is when I said I wouldn't defend myself on this. I changed my mind when you went all condescending. Even teen Umaru is worth standing up for from time to time. Wink

Yes, months of baiting, bank account reporting and so on definitely compensates for slapping him on a bad photoshop even though not slapping/learning him would have been even better. If you still think I am the lads best friend then let's just agree to disagree.

Tururut

That one is true though. I've learned it's never a good idea to play the "I think this is a scam" card if you wanna keep their company.

Baiting Guru Joined: 10 Oct 2010 Posts: 3876

^^^

well, here the rule is simple

you can quote everyone, it's just seen as pointless to quote the person directly above you. this forum-software is so old, that there are no notification of quotes.

thus, "^^^^" to refer to the last posting in the thread is absolutely sufficient and improves reading-quality Wink

Posted: Thu May 04, 2017 7:15 pm

Umaru wrote:

Jeez you woke up on the wrong side today didn't you?

I believe the phrase I hear most is I "...don't suffer fools or shitfuckery."

Quote:

In most forums you should quote the post you reply to so that the person you quote will get a notification.

In all forums, you should read any rules or guidelines before posting. Ours are still right here.

Quote:

Yes, months of baiting, bank account reporting and so on definitely compensates for slapping him on a bad photoshop even though not slapping/learning him would have been even better.

It will never compensate a victim that may have suffered because you educated the lad. Never. Which may just be when you understand that.

Posted: Thu May 04, 2017 7:38 pm

@Umaru

Posted: Thu May 04, 2017 10:20 pm

Umaru wrote:

bware419ers

Yes, months of baiting, bank account reporting and so on definitely compensates for slapping him on a bad photoshop even though not slapping/learning him would have been even better.

Would you still be saying that if someone close to you lost a few grand because the lad improved his photoshopping thanks to a baiter educating him?

Baiting Guru Joined: 31 Jan 2007 Posts: 12237

I'm going to play the voice of reason here. The OP's question has been answered and this is headed to a place that would be better suited for PM. Click.

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