Zombie Rescue Squad (Romance Scam)
Plot: A zombie apocalypse interrupts my online romance with a sexy blond named "Suzan". She needs my financial assistance to auction off the Malaysian textile factory she inherited from her late father. Unfortunately, just before I could send her the money, the zombies attacked! Such is life.
Commentary: My best bait so far! I was actually able to fool multiple scammers into believing that I was trapped for 131 days on an island being ravaged by a zombie apocalypse! (Yes, ladies and gentlemen, Nigerian email scammers are really THAT stupid.) This bait also shows
how
unscrupulous
Nigerian scammers are; they had no problem exploiting helpless people and endangering innocent lives to make a profit.
Highlights: I've taken the liberty of writing a time-line for this unusually complex bait on the index page.
Best Scammer Quote: Sept 1, 2009 (page 6)
Jerry Collins (Nigerian mercenary) "
Dear Kathy, Yes i have been briefed about your sitiuation and i know you are in danger for now,he told me you are in ANTIGUA ISLAND where zombie is killing poeple and you stay in abandoned bank with Iggy and you are Kathy King... ...Cloacked Nigerian jet is like normal jet but is strong for fighting war or rescued someone in deadly island... ...Yes am still intrested using my impressive to fight the zombies... ...Am not going to charge you much cos you did not know me and i know we are going to know each other very soon.my charges is $10,000... ...i dont charge much for rescuing people ok... ....i have rescue alot of people from this kind of sitiuation ok"
Note: This bait is actually a spin off... the original scammer, posing as the sexy blond named "Suzan", is the same scammer who was posing as the British banker in the
Mikel Bolton
bait.
Parts: This bait has been separated into five parts as follows...
Raymond Miller & Kathy King = This is the original bait where I pose as "Raymond" who is communicating with a romance scammer named "Suzan" when suddenly a zombie outbreak occurs! At one point, poor Raymond becomes a zombie himself - forcing Kathy (the bank teller) to take over the email correspondence with Suzan. Later, Kathy discovers the only other human to have servived the outbreak - a small boy named Iggy. The scammers attempt (unsuccessfully) to exploit both Kathy and Iggy's misfortune at every chance. (Index, Page 1, Page 2, Page 3, Page 4, Page 5, Page 6, Page 7)
Zackory Sukmioph = I pose as Iggy's biological father who is living in the United States. The Nigerian scammers call me and offer to fly to the zombie-infested island in a "Cloaked Nigerian Jet" and rescue Iggy and Kathy with a "Zombie Rescue Squad" for the bargain price of just $5,000 i
n advance. (Page 8, Page 9, Page 10)
Fake Ray = I pose as a scammer in an effort to antagonize the real scammers. (page 11)
Donna King = I pose as Kathy's mother who only speaks French. (page 12)
Joseph Venuti = I pose as an old man who agrees to help Suzan transfer money. At one point Suzan has money from the abandoned bank on the zombie-infested island sent to my (Joseph's) private bank account. But I, of course, stubbornly refuse to give it to Suzan. (page 13)
Anderson Tubman (Rich Philanthropist Scam)
Plot: A dying millionaire asked me to help him donate $45 million to the poor people of the world.
Commentary: My longest bait to date! At one point I attempted to get the police to take action against these scammers. I talked to the Dublin police, the FBI, my local chief of police, the federal attorney's office and my state's attorney's office. They were all polite - but basically they told me that it was either not there job or that they did not care. The sad truth is that 419 crimes are not seriously investigated by police and authorities do almost nothing to curtail the crime. I tricked one of the scammers to meet me at the airport - but the Dublin police could not even be bothered to just show up, much less do anything about it.
Highlights: Check out the April 8th recording (in the "Blue" section) of a tranny (a male scammer pretending to be a female). The tranny introduces himself as "Gloria Bell" and attempts (poorly) to make himself sound like a woman. He does this many other times - improving his performance only slightly each time. Also check out the April 10th recording (in the "Red" section) were I tell "Dean Hargreave" that his mother is a whore.
Note: Many 419 Nigerian scams are perpetrated by criminal gangs rather then individuals. The members of these gangs, like most criminals, are unscrupulous and untrustworthy - even with each other. Therefore, it is not surprising that petty disputes, theft, "back-stabbing" and even real violence occurs when ever such people attempt to cooperate with each other. In the case of the 419 gang perpetrating the "Anderson Tubman" scam - they lost solidarity completely. Part way through the scam - various fractions broke away from the original 419 gang in and attempted to steal "Calvin Huckle" away from the other members. One of those fractions then broke up into two smaller groups. By the time it was over - their were 4 distinctive groups of scammers. Each group claimed to be the "real" representative of Anderson Tubman and insisted the others were fakes. In order to keep track of them - I have given each group there own name:
Anderson Tubman (original) = The "original" Anderson Tubman gang.
(Page 1, Page 2,)
Anderson Tubman (red) = Broke away from the "original" gang and attempted to steal Calvin away from the other scammers! (Page 1, Page 2, Page 3,)
Anderson Tubman (blue) = Broke away from the "red" gang and insisted that everyone else were impostors.
(Page 1, Page 2, Page 3, Page 4, Page 5,)
Anderson Tubman (green) = Don't know where this scammer came from, but he knew enough about the scam to attempt his own angle.
(Page 1,)
John Donald (Check Cashing Scam)
Plot: A foreign textile company offered me a job cashing checks for them. As payment I would be allowed to keep 10% from each check.
Commentary: Most 419 scammers have poor verbal skills that make them difficult to understand - but the 419er calling himself "John Donald" was so bad that most of the time he sounded like he was high on drugs.
Highlights: Check out the June 6th recording were "John" apparently forgets his own last name.
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Most of us have received those bogus "419" emails promising millions of dollars. They are such obvious scams that it is hard to imagine that anyone would fall for them. Yet 419 scammers steal billions from victims every year! They also clog our email accounts with spam every day.
So what can someone do to fight these criminals? That is where the sport/art of "Scam Baiting" comes in...
Scam Baiting
(SKAM bay.ting) pp. Harassing an email scammer, particularly one running a 419 advance fee fraud scheme, by feigning interest in the scam and then tricking the scammer into performing
costly, silly or time-wasting tasks. Synonyms: scam-baiting, scambaiting, b8ing, baiting. Sited Reference: http://www.419hell.com/
- scam baiter n.
Simply answering those bogus emails (while using a fake name) and feigning interest in their ridiculous scams not only prevents scammers from hurting real victims - it is also tons of fun!!!
Here are some of my favorite baits...
Micheal Willson (Check Cashing Scam)
Plot: A foreign-based brokerage company offered me a job cashing checks for them. I was to be paid a 10% commission on each check I cashed.
Commentary: Because long distance calls cost money -Nigerian scammers prefer to use email to scam people rather then the phone. The 419 scammer who calls himself "Micheal Willson" is unique in that he called me more then he emailed me.
Highlights: Check out the April 18th recording were I inform "Micheal Willson" that his mother is a whore. (Well... she is.)
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Ashley Roland (Consolation Gift Scam)
Plot: A woman, whom I have never meet before, claimed that she and I once had a "multi-million-dollar business proposal" which we never concluded. She wanted to compensate me for my efforts by sending me the sum of $900,000!
Commentary: The vast majority of 419ers are men. So this Nigerian scam was unique in that the person whom I spoke on the phone with the most was a woman. "Diplomat Chong" was also uncharacteristically articulate for a 419er.
Highlights: Check out the May 20th recording where "grandpa" asks Diplomat Chong some very personal questions. Also the June 7th recording were I tell her that she is a "stupid bitch".
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Richard Fisher (Recovery Scam)
Plot: I received an email from a finance company representative who was working with the government of Nigeria to compensate past victims of Nigerian scams. He only required that I send him a few thousand dollars to pay for the transfer of $15.8 Million!
Commentary: On April 25th I was able to warn one of Richard Fisher's real victim's that he was being exploited. Thus robbing the scammer of a reliable "Money Mule".
Highlights:
Check out the Aug 28th recording where I told "Raymond Wellings" that his mother is a whore.
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Mohammad Mommoh (Gold Scam)
Plot: The son of a retired general offered to sell me gold dust for far less then the market price.
Commentary: This Nigerian scam is creepier then most... The way things were set up - the only way that the scammer was going to be able to make money would be if he was planning to rob or kidnap me. Yikes!
Highlights: Check out the Jan 6th (Part "B") recording where the scammer has the balls to request that I buy him a fucking gift! 419ers are such scum-bags!
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Justin Daniel (Embezzlement Scam)
Plot: A British banker (with a Nigerian accent) asked me to help him steal $15.6 million from a dead man's abandoned bank account.
Commentary: I attempted to get the police to take action against this scammer. I talked to the British cops, my local chief of police, the FBI, etc... Everyone I talked to was polite - but they each told me that they either did not care or that it was not there job to do anything about it. Needless to say - when the Nigerian scammer tried to meet me at the airport in London - the police did not bother to even confront him.
Highlights: Check out the June 12th recordings where "Paul Brown" explains that he is indeed a fat white man from Britain (As seen on his ID) and not a skinny black Nigerian (made evident by the sound of his voice). Later that day he offers to introduce me to Prince Charles!
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John Marshall (Next of Kin Scam)
Plot: The lawyer of a man who died in a plane crash asked me to stand in as the dead man's next of kin so that we could share $4.8 million in abandoned funds.
Commentary: This is one of those scam baits that starts off with me posing as a reporter who is politely asking the 419er to please fill out a questionnaire for a story I'm writing about 419 scams. The scammer's initial reaction to the request is typical of most 419ers - he asked for money (in advance) and acted like a prick. Shockingly (68 days later) I was able to trick the scammer into filling out the questionnaire anyway. On May 28th he emailed his answers to me.
Highlights: Check out Jhon's April 28th email where he has a full-blown hissy-fit in response to my treatment of him.
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Sankoh Brown (Rich Person in Need Scam)
Plot: The son of an assassinated chairman needs my help to retrieve two trunk boxes containing $28 million in gold dust from a security company in Gambia.
Commentary: As a general rule, scammers are very polite when talking to victims on the phone. "Sankoh Brown" is an exception to that rule - he was rude and obnoxious even before I started to abuse him. Some scammers, because of their location, must pay as much as $5.00 per minute to call the United States. Sankoh Brown, I suspect, is one such scammer - which might account for his impatience and rude behavior over the phone.
Highlights: Check out the part where the scammer travels to the airport (Jan 7th) to meet with me - but no one shows up. Also check out the least convincing ID that I have ever been sent.
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Anna Kouakou (Rich Person in Need Scam)
Plot: An orphaned medical student needs my help to retrieve a box containing $4.5 million from a security company in West Africa.
Commentary: This is a very short bait, but it is made interesting by the heroic intervention of "Jillian Gerard" and the people at http://www.scamorama.com/
Highlights: Check out the January 5th email.
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Ebuka Lolo (Rich Investor Scam)
Plot: A millionaire requested my help transferring and investing $12 million of his money.
Commentary: The trick to good scam baiting is to appear open minded to the scammer's scheme, but skeptical. And to ask lots of stupid, but relevant, questions.
Highlights: Check out the April 22 phone call where I trash talk the scammer's mother. (I love doing that!)
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Kwame Adogboba (Rich Philanthropist Scam)
Plot: Ghana's Ministry of Health requested my help transferring millions of dollars to the United States.
Commentary: Early in this bait (April 22nd) the scammer insulted me by calling me "boy". For some reason that angered me a lot more then it should have and I was inspired to do an extra thorough job screwing this particular 419 email scam artist. This resulted in what is perhaps my most complex bait so far.
Highlights: At one point I tricked the scammer into believing that he had a virus on his computer when really there was none. Doing so resulted in the following: A) The scammer destroyed all his email addresses and had to create all new ones. B) The scammer deleted all his files. C) The scammer reformatted his computer. D) The scammer bought "Kaspersky Anti-virus cleaner" in an effort to remove the virus. E) The scammer eventually bought a new computer out of frustration.
Part #1, Part #2, Part #3, Part #4, Part #5, Part #6,
Bille Garang (Rich Investor Scam)
Plot: I got an email from the son of the former vice president of Sudan. His father died in a plane crash and bla, bla, bla...
Commentary: Some 419 scammers pay very little when they phone victims. But it appears that Bille Garang is one of those scammers who pays full price (perhaps as much as $5 per minute) when he calls long distance. So I am proud that I was able to trick him into calling as often, and for as long, as I did. This scammer had the bad habit of forgetting what his name was. Some times it was "Bille Garang". Other times it was "Bille Joe", "Joseph Billson Garang", "Joe Bille Garang" and even "Joe Brick".
Highlights: Check out the May 9th recording where a very loud rooster keeps crowing while Bille is talking to me.
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David Mark (Miscellaneous Scam*)
Plot: A Nigerian senator has randomly selected me to receive a $30 million "over due entitlement fund" from the Nigerian government!
Commentary: *It is hard to believe that someone could be so naive as to fall for most Nigerian scams. But this scam (which does not clearly fall under any established category of 419 scam) is particularly hard to swallow! Who could be so foolish as to believe that the Nigerian government is in the habit of randomly selecting people, by email, to give away $30 million for no particular reason?!?!?
Highlights: Check out the 2nd least convincing fake ID that I have ever been sent.
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Howard Coxx (Lottery Scam)
Plot: HOLLY SHIT! I won the UK national lottery!!! I could not recall entering such a lottery, but the coordinator (who spoke with a Nigerian accent) assured me that I had!
Commentary: In the first part of this bait I posed as a reporter. I told him that I was doing research on 419 Nigerian scams and was asking scammers to fill out a questionnaire. I've tried this on many other scammers, but 99% of the time they were too lazy to answer the questions or they demand that I pay them something in advance. "Howard Coxx" was one of the few scammers who actually bothered to answer the questions.
Highlights: Check out the completed survey he sent me on March 24th.
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Charles Soludo (ATM Card Scam)
Plot: I received an email from a Nigerian banker informing me that two mysterious men had attempted to collect funds from my bank account! I was then introduced to several other people including a member of homeland security from Texas who spoke with a thick Nigerian accent. LOL!
Commentary: I noticed that most of these Nigerian scammers have particular trouble pronouncing my name "Calvin". For some reason they keep saying "Kevin". What's up with that?
Highlights: Check out the Feb 15 phone recording where I ask Diplomat Alberto to explain abnormalities in the homeland security ID that he sent me.
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"It's good to be a jerk - to those who deserve it."
Verden Richard (Next of Kin Scam)
Plot: A lawyer has asked me to pose as the next of kin to his dead client so that we could share millions in unclaimed funds.
Commentary: This was another one of those scam baits where I ask the 419 scammer to answer a questionnaire. This time I was posing as a high school student who was doing a report about Nigerian email scams for a computer class. The 419er would only provide the answers if I promised to pay him $50. "Verden" answered the questions - but I ran into several obstacles in my attempts to pay his fee.
Highlights: Check out the June 3rd email were I laugh right into Verden's fat little 419ing face (figuratively).
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Mikel Bolton (Loan Scam)
Plot: A British banker (with a Nigerian accent) was willing to loan me between $10,000 and $150,000,000!!!!
Commentary: By far this is my favorite bait. In none of my other scam baits have I been able to so thoroughly screw over a Nigerian scammer as with this one. At one point I was able to trick the scammer into providing me with the contact information of his intended victims. I was then able to warn them not to fall for the Nigerian scams. (See our "Victim Warnings" page for details and to hear the phone recordings.) Doing so sabotaged months of the scammers hard "work".
Highlights: Check out the Wad Oga Bait where I fool the scammer into thinking I am a 419er from Nigeria with the help of an online tool.
Note: This bait has been separated into five parts as follows...
Calvin Huckle Bait = This is the original bait were I pretend to be a naive victim. (Page 1, Page 2, Page 3)
Wad Oga Bait = This is the bait where I fool the scammer into thinking that I am also a 419 scammer (from Nigeria) who is willing to provide his victims with fake checks in exchange for a commission. (Page 4, Page 5)
Abby Shaftfut Bait = Another persona from which I pretend to be a naive Nigerian scam victim. (Page 6)
Kimberly Bait = I took over the identity of a real victim that the scammer was about to exploit. I then used that identity to manipulate and annoy the scammer. (Page 7)
Victim Warnings = After the 419 scammer sent me the contact information for about 20 of his intended victims - I then took on the task of calling each of them to warn them not to fall for the Nigerian scams. (Victim Warnings Page)
First Church (Charity Scam)
Plot: Pastor Isaac and the Church of the First Born sent an email to let me know about all the good works they have been doing in Nigeria. They also hinted that they might be in need of financial help.
Commentary: In this scam bait I pretended to be a member of the "Holy Orc Church". (Do you know what "Orcs" are?) The Nigerian scammer asked to become a pastor of our Orc church and for us to help him build a new church for him in Nigeria. Read the bait to see how that worked out for him...
Highlights: Check out the group photos sent to us by the scammer.
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Mr 101 (Rich Person in Need Scam)
Plot: A 25 year old woman residing in a refuge camp in Kenya needed a "trust worthy foreign personality" to help transfer her vast inheritance to the U.S.
Commentary: I contacted this scammer posing as a reporter who was writing a news story about Nigerian email scams. It was like pulling teeth, but I was finally able to convince him to answer all 39 questions in exchange for my promises that I would pay him $150 for his trouble afterwards. He did the work, but unfortunately I ran into some technical difficulties and I was unable to pay him.
Highlights: Check out the Mar 23 email (on page 2) where I analyze and critique the 419 scammer's answers to my 39 questions.
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John Uwalaka (Next of Kin Scam)
Plot: The personal secretary of a rich Nigerian man who died asked me to pose as the dead man's next of kin so that we could share $10.5 million in unclaimed funds.
Commentary: I could probably make the following comment about any of these Nigerian scams... but how can anyone be so fucking stupid as to fall for these ridiculous stories! For crying out loud! If you are smart enough to know how to use a computer and read email - surely you are smart enough to be able to recognize these scams for what they really are! Right?
Highlights: Check out my masterful performance from July 9th (Part B) where I played the parts of both "Breadman Furguson" AND "Son of Breadman" at the same time.
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David Kuffi (Rich Person in Need Scam)
Plot: The son of a dead wealthy cocoa merchant needed my help retrieving a locked box containing $18.7 million from a Nigerian security company.
Commentary: I'm particularly proud of this scam bait. It is an example of a "safari bait" - a bait where the scammer was tricked into traveling hundreds of miles for a meeting that never occurs. I was also able to use a public web-cam to record the scammer's attempt to meet with me. I called the local police in Canada, hoping they would at least meet with the scammer and let him know he is not welcome in their city, but the police did not care enough to even show up.
Highlights: Check out the April 1st (on Page 2) video recording of the scammer waiting for me to meet him in Canada.
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Kevin Danne (Rich Person in Need Scam)
Plot: An Ivory Coast student is requesting my help retrieving $18 million from his dead father's secured bank account.
Commentary: This bait was not particularly successful compared to the others. For example I was unable to trick the Nigerian scammer into making any lengthy long-distance phone calls or to pay for postage. Yet I have included this bait in my "best of" collection due to the revealing dialogue that took place between the scammer and myself. Basically we exchange insults in what can best be described as a 263 day long pissing contest that I hope many of you will find amusing.
Highlights: Check out our July 30th conversation where we talk, briefly, about Barack Obama.
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Rosemary Mamokowa
(Rich Person in Need Scam)
Plot: The daughter of a wealthy African cocoa merchant requested that I serve as her guardian so that she can retrieve $17.5 million that was deposited in a "suspense account" by her father before he died.
Commentary: The vast majority of 419 scammers are male. However this is one of the few Nigerian scams that I have baited where one of the scammer's is a real woman.
Highlights: Check out the emails on December 29th when I tricked the scammers into meeting me at the airport. Also later when I trick them into meeting me at a hotel.
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Sweet Candy (Romance Scam)
Plot: A young attractive Nigerian girl saw my profile on a dating website and instantly feel in love with me! (Who can blame her?)
Commentary: I've talked with "Candy" several times by phone - but I'm still not sure if she was a Ladette (a female scammer) or a Tranny (a male scammer who is pretending to be female). You can listen to the recordings and judge for yourself.
Highlights: Check out the recordings from September 11 and 12 where Candy and I have phone sex!
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Marian Kalabi (Rich Person in Need Scam)
Plot: Marian and her brother are millionaire orphans who are trapped in a Ghanan refugee camp and need help transferring their vast family fortune to the U.S.
Commentary: In this scam bait I pretended to be a good samaritan who is a member of the "Holy Orc Church". (Do you know what "Orcs" are?)
Highlights: Check out the Jan 27th email were I restart the scam bait by posing as a 10 year old boy - surely they would not attempt to scam an innocent child, right?!? Also check out the Feb 16th phone recordings where I successfully fool the scammers into believing that I really am a 10 year old with a lisp! (419 scammers
are not the brightest people in the world.)
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Victim Warnings Page
Scam baiting is mostly about annoying, frustrating and insulting nigerian scammers. But occasionally a scammer will provided a baiter with information about a REAL victim. It is then that the baiter can be more then just a thorn in the criminal's side and can actually do some real good by directly warning the person the scammer plans to victimize. During my career as a baiter I have had the pleasure of warning over 670 people that they were about to become victims of Nigerian scams. Please read our Press Release for details.
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