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Scamming The Scammers (A 419 revenge story)

 
  

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Cloned Christ on a HoverDonkey
23:37 / 14.07.04
Nigerian 419 scams. Nobody falls for those nowadays, do they? Yes, they fookin' well do!!

In response to these hapless grifters a new web-based sport has evolved. Lez'n'gemmen please allow me to introduce 'Scambaiting', wherein the receiver of such emails answers them as though they are genuinely interested in the deal, the idea being that you string along the scammer (Or mugu, according to the colloquial phraseology) for as long as is feasibly possible, whilst making them jump through as many hoops as you can devise, thus turning the tables on said mugu.

The whole rationale behind this is that whilst they're wasting their time on you, they're not genuinely scamming some poor sap who thinks he's just won the lottery, which can surely only be a 'good thing'.

Last week I decided (inspired by this site, which is great - check it out) to bait may own scammer. It's turning out to be just about the most fun thing I've done on the net in a long time.

I have exchanged a few emails so far with my mugu and the pace is hotting up as we speak. If there's any interest I'll post the dialogue here, for your delight & delectaion - here follows the initial interchange:

Scammer:

Subject : GOD IS BEAUTIFUL

From:Mrs. XXXX XXXXX


Compliments of the day!!
this is my late husband email.

I am Mrs. XXXX XXXX a former staff of the Federal
Ministry of Aviation undergoing medical Treatment. I
am married to Dr.XXXX XXXX who worked with National Petroleum
Corporationfor nineteen years before he died in the year 2003.
We were married for eleven years without a child. He
died after a brief illness that lasted for only four
days.Before his death we were both born again
Christians.Since his death I decided not to re-marry
or get a child outside my matrimonial home, which the
Bible is against. When my late husband was alive he
deposited a huge sum of money with one
finance/security company in Europe. Presently, this
money is still with the Security Company.This money
was accumalated from an onshore engineering award my
husband wonduring the last military regime.

Recently, my Doctor told me that my condition with the
special grace of God would soon be okay.Though what
disturbs me most is that am diagonised to be having
spinal abnormalty. Having known my condition I decided
to donate this fund to a church or better still a God
fearing individual that will utilize this money the
way I am going to instruct here in. I want a church or
individual that will use this to fund orphanages,
widows etc propagating the word of God and to ensure that the house of
Godis maintained.
The Bible made us to understand that blessed is the hand that giveth.

I took this decision because I don't have any child
that will inherit this money and my husbands
relatives are not Christians and has being maltreating
me with the only motive to take away the funds from
me becuase of my faith and trust in God
since his death hence I don't want my husband's hard
earned money to bemisused by this
unbelievers. I don't want a situation where this money
will be used in an ungodly manner, hence the reason
for taking this bold decision.

I am not afraid of death hence I know where I am
going. I know that I am going to be in the bosom of
the lord one day. If you will be of assistance, I will
surely appreciate and thank you for your kindness in
giving me this help.



Thank you

Mrs. XXXX XXXX


And here follows my initial response:

Dear Mr.s Chu.ba,

Thank you for your email and please allow me to offer my deepest
condolences regarding your husband's death - times like that are a
strain on even the most Godly amongst us. May his soul rest in peace.

Whilst I must admit I am little shocked at getting this email from you,
your motives are laudable - the world needs more people like yourself
who know that money is best put to use helping the needy. I'm not
entirely sure why you would deem me worthy to carry out such a task,
but your offer sounds very interesting as I am a regular churchgoer and
know the good uses that money can be put to in places of deprivation.

Please let me know how I can be of assistance to you.

Yours faithfully,

XXXXX XXXXX


My baiting seems to be progressing well - more to follow...
 
 
Cloned Christ on a HoverDonkey
23:48 / 14.07.04
The next interchange:

Dear XXXXX,

I thank you for your resolve to assist me in this venture and assure you that it is God that will reward you.It is not easy to believe a venture like this is true but I will like you to give me a chance to prove that I really meant well for the society.

Im very glad to hear from a GOD fearing christian like you, for is not every Christian that would understand this programme. If you
are a Christian as you sound; you have an opportunity
to be a blessing to the body of Christ. I know about
the local government before sending this mail to you.
For this project is not public one. But for what
ever GOD led in your heart to help to actualize this;
I know that I can not do this alone because of my
present condition, I need a GOD sent person who can
help out before it becomes too late for me. If this
were the only thing that I can achieve before I die, I
will be satisfied.

All I need from you is to be truthful to your self and
to GOD and things will work out very well, I have
already made up my mind to do this to the body of
Christ or any other charitable work. I would like you
to corporate with me to actualize this project, for
GOD will still use you to do mighty things. This is
just the beginning of things to happen in your life.
What you will do for me is to give your personal data,
that's your full name and postal address, phone numbers, the church
youre worshiping with, where you come from and your
marital status as well as how long you have a good
Christian. These will enable me trust you the more,
because a lot of people are out there claiming to be
born again Christian, but by their fruit we shall know
them. Do not mind if ask for all these, if your are in
my shoes you would do the same, as much as there are
good people, there are bad people.You should also indicate your willingness to claim the funds on my behalf.

Thanks for your understanding as I wait for your positive response which will tell me if you are the one I have been asking GOD
ffor. Upon this I will tell you the next step to
follow. God can use you as well, to help others.
My lovely regards to your entire family.



Gods blessing,


Mrs XXXX


And my response:

Dear Mrs XXXX (may I call you XXXX?)



Thanks for your timely reply.



In response to your request for my details, they are enclosed as follows:



Miss XXXXX XXXXX

Shady Cottage

Fleece Street

Twatt

Orkney Islands

United Kingdom



My fax number is : 044 70XXXXXXX



I worship at the Church Of The Blessed Womb, my local Methodist church and have been a devout member of the congregation there since my birth in 1970. I am honoured to be the person trusted to govern the Church’s charitable donations fund, which provides help and sustenance to the less privileged Twatts in my area, as well as many projects overseas, such as Wales.



Sadly, I cannot use a standard telephone due to my profound deafness – any telephone messages can be left at my automated voicemail number (00X1 20XXXXXXXX), which converts the messages to text so that I can read it. As you can see from my address details I am unmarried but, God willing, I will one day meet the man of my dreams, a man who is willing to move in to my beautiful Twatt.



I hope this is all the information you need. If you have any more questions please don’t hesitate to contact me using any of the above methods.



All that remains for me to say is that I look forward to working with you and I hope that one day we’ll get the chance to meet so that I can better follow your wishes with the funds.



God bless your soul.



XXXXX.


Amazingly, this actually got a positive response, which will be posted just as soon as I can be arsed...
 
 
Jack Denfeld
00:22 / 15.07.04
God willing, I will one day meet the man of my dreams, a man who is willing to move in to my beautiful Twatt.
That made me giggle.
 
 
STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK
00:24 / 15.07.04
Nice work, CC- keep it up! And keep us informed!
Good link too, by the way- I love the (very long) exchange in which the scammee manages to blag $80 of the 419er AND get him to paint his nipple red!
 
 
Spatula Clarke
01:02 / 15.07.04
The P-P-P-Powerbook reverse scam is probably the best yet. It's quite a convoluted story, but one worth reading.
 
 
Cloned Christ on a HoverDonkey
01:24 / 15.07.04
I might as well bring my bait dialogue up to date, so's I can post it here as and when it develops.

This is Mrs XXXX's response:



Dear XXXXX,

I thank you for your mail and the information contained and has equally prayed over the successful completion of the transaction without any hinderance.

I have explained how my husband made the funds in the previous mail and when He was on the begining of making contacts for someone whom he can trust the funds into for the assistance of the poor and the needy through an orhpanage before he died.I decided to continue this approach as it is our plans and we will never relent even in his death I must see that his aims are acheived.

However,I will like to know your availability to travel to Madrid,Spain to claim he funds from the firm where my late husband lodged the funds as my health conditions can not allow me to travel out of the country at this time.This is very necessary becuase you will have to see everything with your eyes and be sure that I really meant what I said.I will give you the authorisation required so as to enable you make the claims.

God bless as I wait to hear from you.

XXXX




Right, I need to stall for a bit of time here - a quick response to allow me time to formulate a reason why I can't travel to Madrid immediately...



Dear XXXX,

Thank you for your quick response.

Before I commit myself to travelling abroad, and I hope you don’t think me disenfremantulating here, but I have a few questions to ask.

Could you tell me exactly how much the funds amount to, and in which way you would prefer them spent? Please don’t think me impertinent, but as a God fearing Christian and a leading member of my local community, I have to be absolutely sure that I’m dealing with someone who would help perpetuate my Church’s ideals. My Church’s charitable funds already amount to several hundred thousand Pounds Sterling and, as manager of those funds I feel the moral need to be absolutely sure that they are disseminated in as Holy a fashion as possible.

Your prompt response would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you in advance.

God bless you, sister.

XXXXX.




And my pet's reply:



Dear sister XXXXX,

I thank you for your mail and will like you to know that the amount involved is us$9.900 000.00(nine million nine hundred thousand united states dollars).This funds will be invested in your church in a project where the poor children that do not know there parents and old people without children will have shelter and food.

I will be waiting to know when you will be ready for the trip.

God bless.

XXXXX




My scammer is obviously quite anxious for me to commit to a date, so I follow up with...




Dearest sister XXXX,

Your project sounds extremely worthy of my attention and is definitely something I would like to help you actualise. Whilst the Orkney Islands (my home) are quite remote and have a small population, our charitable work spans the world – recently we donated £35,000 to a homeless person in Accrington, in Greece, to allow him to buy a car so he could drive his long-lost mother to the bingo, and a lead for his dog, who had previously only had a length of string. This is just one example of the many charitable projects we are currently undertaking.

I am very much looking forward to going to Madrid (I have never ventured outside my beloved, wind-swept Twatt before), but there is only one flight per week from Orkney and, as we are currently not yet a part of the European Union, I will need to obtain a visa to travel to Madrid. Unfortunately the administrators at the Orkney Embassy are currently on strike, as the management there have decided to revoke their parking passes. There is an ongoing dispute between the Embassy staff and its management regarding this issue, so I cannot obtain my visa until this matter is cleared, which looks like being in the next few days (God willing), judging by the press reports.

I hope this email finds you in good spirits – you have my greatest respect and admiration for continuing your husband’s mission after his tragic death. It must provide a great relief for you, knowing that his wishes are still being fulfilled whilst he is in the arms of Our Lord.

In the meantime, if there’s anything I can do to help the project along, please feel free to let me know.

May God smile frumptiously upon you and provide you with relief from your debilitating spinal mutations, sister Nneka – we at the Church Of The Blessed Womb (Orkney Branch) are in the process of organising a prayer vigil in your and your late husband’s honour.

You are forever in my thoughts and prayers.

Praise be,

XXXXX.




This is how it currently stands - I am awaiting a response to this ridiculous email, which should fall flat on its face before it leaves the stalls, but your standard scammer seems to be even more gullible than the victims they predate. Vive la diffrence (sp?) !!
 
 
Whale... Whale... Fish!
11:39 / 15.07.04
This is the funniest thing I've read in a while...
 
 
Cloned Christ on a HoverDonkey
18:08 / 15.07.04
Still waiting for a reply from my scammer - beginning to think I may have overdone it a little with my last email.

That'll teach me to formulate my responses after 8 cans of Kronenbourg.....
 
 
Char Aina
19:02 / 15.07.04
good work, regardless.
its a beautiful kinda justice, innit?
 
 
Jack Denfeld
22:25 / 15.07.04
Wait, what happens when you go to Madrid? Is the scammer supposed to kill you and take your money or something? How does their scam work?
 
 
Ganesh
22:32 / 15.07.04
Is the scammer Mordant or Lurid?
 
 
Ganesh
22:41 / 15.07.04
*thinks 'hang on, they're in Barcelona... oh well, it works anyway'*
 
 
Mr Tricks
23:41 / 15.07.04
a buddy of mine directed me to the 419 eater site some time ago but I promptly forgot the web address. That stuff is tragicly hilarious...
 
 
Cloned Christ on a HoverDonkey
01:15 / 16.07.04
If I don't hear from my cheeky little scamster by tomorrow I think I'll send an aggreived email, asking if the deal is still going to happen. Short and to the point this time, though, I think. If I still don't get any joy, I've just set up a new email address, from which to bait another scammer.

I'm looking forward to getting my first ridiculous photo in my mailbox but can't decide yet on a suitable phrase for the scammer to be photographed with. Any suggestions are most welcome...
 
 
Less searchable M0rd4nt
06:21 / 16.07.04
*Hastily closes bulging suitcase and kicks bloodstained hacksaw under sofa*

'Sright. Barcelona. Not Madrid. Miiiiiles away from Madrid, me. Yup. Definately Barcelona.
 
 
STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK
06:43 / 16.07.04
Come on, Mordant... don't let CC down. He wants photos of yourself and Lurid holding up signs saying "WE FEAR PIE".
 
 
Jub
06:50 / 16.07.04
How about "I spent my husband's money on Twatt"?
 
 
Char Aina
07:21 / 16.07.04
How does their scam work?

different ways, but usually they ask you for money. they need the small amount of 15,000 to access the larger 6.7million in most cases... fees charged by holding corporations/banks when making huge transfers of money.

you send your bank details, they send theirs, you send money, they laugh.

i wonder what going abroad with one entails. maybe its just to make it all seem more kosher? maybe if it all goes tits up they're thining they can still get your kidneys.
 
 
STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK
07:24 / 16.07.04
I'm pretty sure they do just kill you sometimes, take your cash and cards (and possibly kidneys and anything else alliterative)... it'd be kind of fun to turn up to meet 'em with a big posse of tooled-up mates, but very difficult to organise what with airport security an' all... Probably best just to wind 'em up as far as they go, then shop the fuckers.

Although I'm coming to the conclusion Cloned Christ is out to destroy my social life... first he recommends Far Cry, then GCII, now he's pointed me in the direction of the 419 Eaters, which I've been reading compulsively for the last couple of days.

Go on, CC... send 'em a follow-up... see if they're still biting!
 
 
Char Aina
07:57 / 16.07.04
wanna tag team one?
 
 
Cloned Christ on a HoverDonkey
09:01 / 16.07.04
Right - this is getting a little more interesting than it was before, if you know what I mean.

I'm going to include full stops in the middle of names, to make then non-googleable, if you get my drift, and I'd appreciate it if anyone who's going to mention these names would do the same, to protect the doings of the inncoent.

My name on the above emails is J.enni Jo.nes and I'm writing to Mrs Nnek.a Chu.ba, who I now address as Sister N.neka..

Here follows my aggreived response to her silence:

Dearest Sister Nne.ka,

I write to you as I am a little concerned that you haven’t responded to my email. Am I to understand that our arrangement is off?

Please get back to me, as I am anxious to begin proceedings on this matter, especially considering your present state of health.

Yours Forever With The Grace Of God,

Je.nni.


I await her response........

In the meantime, I have set up a new email acoount, under the name of J.ack Tw.att (am I coming across as a little Twat.t orientated at the moment? Sorry, but the word amuses me), and have decide to bait this scam:

AH.MED IDR.IS
TEL :27-8X-8XX-34X5
FAX :X7-X2-XX6-XX03


ATTN:

TRANSFER OF US$37.5 MILLION (THIRTY SEVEN MILLION FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND
UNITED STATES DOLLARS)

No doubt I know you will be surprised to receive this proposal. I got your
contact through your country’s Trade Journal here in South Africa when I was
making an inquiry for my investment in your country although I did not
disclose my business intentions to them, rather I decided to contact you
directly. First I must introduce myself. I am DR. AHM.ED ID.RIS from the
diamond Rich District of Sierra Leone.

During the war between our forces led by the Ex-head of State, Major Jo.hnny
Kor.oma and the West African Allied Forces (ECOMOG), my country relied
heavily on the foreign earning generated from Diamond Trade. This money was
personally kept by the then President, Major Jo.hnny Korom.a,since our banking
system had collapsed during the war.

However, as the war progressed, it became apparent that we were going to
lose the war to the superior and better armed West African Allied Forces
(ECOMOG). At this point, the key officers of the administration started
making frantic efforts on how to leave Sierra Leone safely, thereby
sharing the proceeds / money from the Diamond Trade. My father was one of
the key officers who succeeded in getting the sum of US$37.5 MILLION (THIRTY
SEVEN MILLION FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND UNITED STATES DOLLARS)

We made arrangements and transferred the money through diplomatic means to
South Africa where I am presently living on asylum. Unfortunately, my father
died of heart attack after a few months of exile in South Africa and
automatically, I came in possession of the said amount as the only surviving
son. Upon our arrival in South Africa, we deposited the money with a
Security and Finance Company pending when we will see a trustworthy person
that will assist us to transfer this money to his account outside South
Africa, as the strict monetary laws here do not allow asylum seekers certain
financial rights.

I shall be grateful if you assist me to accomplish this transaction and
hoping too that you remain trustworthy. For your efforts and assistance, I
am prepared to give you 15% of the total sum while 5%
will be set aside for all the expenses incurred during the course of this
transaction. The rest 80% will be for my family investment in your country.

Please note that this transaction is 100% risk free as such the only thing I
ask from you is total assistance to transfer this money, complete trust and
assurance that my own part of the money will be safe when transferred to
your account. If you are interested in assisting me, please indicate on the
above fax and telephone numbers.

Best regards

AHME.D I.DRIS



Sounds like a good deal to me, so I follow up with the brief response...


Dear Ah.med,

Your proposal is an interesting one. Am I to understand that I stand to receive $5.625M (FIVE MILLION SIX HUNDRED AND TWENTY FIVE THOUSAND UNITED STATES DOLLARS) from this transaction?

This offer sounds almost too good to be true, so I must insist that before we commence any form of business that I am assured of your identity. As a fellow businessman, I hope you can understand that one can never be too sure when it comes to business transactions of this level. I would be obliged if you could furnish me with some definite proof of your identity before we proceed. Once I have received this, then I will know that I can trust you and will be only too happy to accommodate your requirements.

Awaiting your prompt reply,

Dr Jac.k T.watt O.B.E.


Posted I will keep you, yes?
 
 
STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK
09:03 / 16.07.04
Oh yes.
 
 
Cloned Christ on a HoverDonkey
09:06 / 16.07.04
Oh, and toksik - if you wanna tag-team a mugu, feel free. We've got three options here, as I see it -

* We could be associates on the same bait, but forever trying to get one over on the other

* We could both simultaeously bait the same scammer, which could at some point meet, thus involving each other

* We could both simultaneously bait the same scammer and at all times make sure we keep our dealings separate

Interested? Any other suggestions vis a vis gameplan?

I await your suggested modalities...
 
 
Char Aina
09:31 / 16.07.04
i thought a few of us might trawl the same places for scammers, thus ensuring we catch the same fish.

if there were three or four of us on one scammer, it would make it much easier to manipulate them and make them dance the puppet hokey-kokey.

personally i like the idea of working seperately with them, collaborating in private on the details if need be.
perhaps this could evolve into getting introduced to each other by the scammer?
 
 
STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK
09:38 / 16.07.04
I'd think your last option was the best, seeing as how the scammers tend to trawl for YOU, rather than the other way round.

Although, once scammed, I notice "Shiver Metimbers"' technique on 419 Eaters is to adopt multiple identities partway through the reverse-scam... all this "***** has vanished, after taking $18,000 from church funds... do you know what could have happened to him" kind of stuff... which would probably be a LOT more fun if a couple of people were playing the different identities.

I've only ever got ONE of these 419ers. I rarely even get porn or Viagra spam. All these cybercunts want to do is sell me printer cartridges. I feel all left out and lonely.
 
 
Cloned Christ on a HoverDonkey
09:44 / 16.07.04
I have never had a 419er contact me through one of my genuine email adresses. As suggested by the 419eater site, I set up a new email address, did a Google for "guestbook mugu", then left loads of messages on the resultant guestbooks.

Hey presto! Within an hour or two, I start receiving 419 scams (and absolutely nothing else) through this baiting email address. All that remains is for you to choose a scam from those on offer. Maybe someone could bait one of my scams, thus ensuring the mugu is pretty much tied up jumping through our extravagant hoops?

Let the games commence...
 
 
pointless and uncalled for
09:44 / 16.07.04
You could always try and see if you can get a reverse scam on a printer cartridge company.
 
 
STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK
09:47 / 16.07.04
As suggested by the 419eater site, I set up a new email address, did a Google for "guestbook mugu", then left loads of messages on the resultant guestbooks.

Aha! I hadn't seen that bit of the site, and therefore trawling hadn't occurred!

Hmm... it has now... this also makes more of toksik's suggestions make sense (apologies toksik! )

Maybe mass mugu-scamming could be the new MMORPGing?
 
 
Cloned Christ on a HoverDonkey
10:05 / 16.07.04
Right - bed time for me (on nights).

I'll get back with any responses (though Sister Nne.ka looksunlikely now - in my tired, semi-drunk state I sent my last email to her using my personal email address, rather than my baiting address, then quickly followed it up with quite a lame explanaition) as soon as I get them...

Happy baiting....
 
 
Jack Denfeld
12:56 / 16.07.04
Oh man, I wanna try one where I act like I'm really desperate for the cash and eventually let him know that I'm going to try to poison my ailing wife who I take care of to try to get the full deposit amount.
 
 
Char Aina
13:17 / 16.07.04
do it.
i'll be your brother and business partner,
and i'll feign ignorance of your murder plot.

give him an ethical dilemma as well as a wild goose chase.
 
 
Jack Denfeld
13:20 / 16.07.04
Better yet, what if you're my brother-in-law?
 
 
HCE
19:52 / 16.07.04
You guys are going to feel like SHIT if this poor woman turns out to be legit. Shame on you all.
 
 
Less searchable M0rd4nt
12:54 / 17.07.04
Legit? Well, possibly, I suppose. And maybe the two dozen or so virtually identical emails I've had from "sister" this and "brother" that over the last year or so were also legit. And if I stare really hard at this roll of Sellotape, it might turn into gold.
 
 
Cloned Christ on a HoverDonkey
16:46 / 17.07.04
Well - Sis.ter Nnek.a got back to me today, saying that my previous email (sent from my personal email account, followed up with hasty excuse) has confused her and, in order for her to trust me, she wants me to email her some photographic ID, such as a passport.

Now I've gotta look for a decent passport/driving license template and try to develop some Photoshop-fu before the deal is off. Can anyone give me any pointers? Or Photoshop me a passable passport scan?

I'll be able to pay, as an African Prince has just offered me 125kg of 24 carat alluvial gold dust...
 
  

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