Person Tests Scammer’s Patience By Pretending To Be Not The Sharpest Tool In The Shed
Interview With Author
Scammers can be very imaginative in how they try to bamboozle people out of their hard-earned cash. But the people who fight back against scammers and give them the runaround have the patience of saints and are the true masters of creativity.
Take Imgur user Jicamarcababy’s story as a great example—when a scammer tried to swindle him out of his money by pretending to be his boss, he didn’t panic and he didn’t ignore the messages.
Instead, he took the swindler on a wild ride that involved Farming Simulator and pocket fries, wasted his time by pretending to be dumb and melodramatic, and posted the entire back-and-forth on the internet for us to enjoy. So scroll down, feast your eyes on how some people deal with brigands and cads, and read Bored Panda’s interview with Jicamarcababy, dear Pandas! And if you want some more stories about people trolling scammers, check out our posts right here, here and here.
Jicamarcababy shared the conversation between him and a scammer pretending to be his boss
The Imgurian clarified a few things before posting the rest of the conversation
According to the Imgurian, the whole message exchange with the scammer took 3 to 4 hours, but he used a burner phone number for the conversation and took screenshots of it which is why it looks like the conversation took only 11 minutes. He also pointed out that he didn’t actually do any of the things he told the scammer about: he simply sent them photos that he found on Google.
Jicamarcababy told Bored Panda that his first reaction when he got the scammer’s email asking for his phone number was a massive eye roll. “They were pretending to be my CEO but the sender’s name was completely wrong, so it was apparent from the start that it was baloney,” he said.
We were curious whether Jicamarcababy shared the story with the scammer with his colleagues. “I actually got laid off temporarily from this job due to the pandemic but was kept on file for potential contracts/freelance work, so I didn’t tell my coworkers, but the fact that I was laid off and the CEO wanted to talk to me was… suspicious.”
It’s not the first time that somebody tried to scam the Imgurian. “I actually got one of these emails a while back, and I actually went to the store. When I got there they explained that they wanted gift cards, and I knew it was a scam and felt immensely stupid for going to the store in the first place. This was sort of revenge for my past self as well as others who get these messages.”
The Imgurian’s conversation with the scammer got a lot of people’s attention. In less than 13 hours, more than 129.8k people saw the post and over 3.2k people upvoted the story.
Scammers will say just about anything to trick you out of your money
The Federal Trade Commission warns that gift cards are the “number one payment method” that imposters demand from their marks. Scammers can pretend to be anyone just to trick you: from family members who supposedly have an emergency on their hands to government officials or even public utility company representatives. Or they might even try to swindle you by saying that you won a contest.
If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Scammers will try to manipulate you by appealing to your hopes and fears, trying to make you act emotionally. Remember—they will say _anything_ to get your money.
The best thing to do would be to ignore scammers, block their numbers, and report them if you don’t feel like wasting their time for some laughs. But if you made a blunder and paid a scammer with a gift card, the first thing that you should do is call the card company and report that it was used in a scam.
This is how some people reacted to the Imgurian’s story
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So good! Scammers need to remember that the " English" and grammar they use- is not so good. I have been the target of a scammer and first red flag is their inability to speak coherent sentences!
The grammar is bad on purpose, it's social engineering, you want to scam only people who are not very bright, so the first thing that you do is to make the scam obvious and then spam it to thousands of people, with numbers that big you will surely find someone grandma that's easily manipulated, also obvious acams get rarely reported to the authorities. Once you get the perfect victim you just have to have patience and explain things easily, usually they are loony people that are not good with technology.
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Oh, imagination is so much more fun! I was thinking it was something to do with the scissors and Kristen.
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I got a scam caller from somebody pretending to be from Microsoft Windows support. I strung him along, pretending to be a few bats shy of a belfry. I didn't even get on my computer, ha ha. Eventually he got so frustrated that he hung up on me. The longer you can keep these creeps busy, the fewer people they can scam.
I wish I knew other languages besides English. I never get English spam calls. So I can’t really string them along. I did get a bunch of calls I believe were in Chinese for awhile it got so bad I ended up changing my voicemail to the this call can not be completed recording which actually worked like a charm. I am stay at home though so I wasn’t really expecting many calls lol.
Load More Replies... I get spam calls all the time. Especially the "IRS". I make it a game. Every time I'm someone different...a FBI agent tracking the phone call, southern bell with an IQ of a radish, Jane Austin, someone to help me fill out random forms, someone with dementia or Alzheimer's. (I'm in my early 30s)
Two Words: James Veitch. He's been doing stuff like this to scammers through email.
Love his videos! Check him out on Youtube. ;)
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I actually had this happen to me at work about 6-8 months ago. I got an email from one of our CEO's asking me pretty much the same thing. I'm the receptionist for tone of their warehouse locations and there is absolutely NO reason that one of our CEO's would email me asking that while 'he's sitting in a meeting to go purchase 10 $100 Apple cards' I knew immediately that it was a scam and I messed with the person for awhile. Just to have some fun. Like he kept telling me to use my company card to purchase them. I don't have access to a company credit card you idiot! I had fun for a bit, but my work was finally calling my attention more so than messing with that person.
Dammit... the worst part of this is missing out on the pocket fries.
It's the lint that gives them their special flavour.
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No wonder the guy is a scammer, he obviously never even passed basic maths with 5 x 100 = 1000...
Oh man. Awesome job! A couple of years ago, my dad got a call from an unknown number, it was someone claiming to have kidnapped me. They told him they would kill me me unless he sent them $1,000. They wouldn't let him get off the phone. My dad was pretty sure it was a scam, and kept them on the phone for a while, but they eventually wore him down, he was too scared to take the risk that I would get hurt and he wired them the money. I got a panicked call from him while I was at school and had to calm him down and let him know I was okay. When he went to the police, they told him the scammers had used a burner phone and there was nothing they could do. Anyway, dark story. Way to pull one over on your scammer!!
I got offered a "Government Grant" by a scammer pretending to be a FB friend. Got routed to an "agent" who told me (on messenger) that I had to FEDEX $4,000 cash to claim the grant (processing fees). I strung him along for two weeks with one excuse after the other until I tracked down his address and phone number and turned him in to the Macon, GA police. Phillip D. BaldWin Chat Conversation Start Using Messenger without Facebook Logged in using a phone number from Canada Phillip D. BaldWin Chat Conversation Start Using Messenger without Facebook Logged in using a phone number from Canada You pay $4000 and get $200,000,00. MOREOVER YOU WILL BE NEEDING CASH ($4,000 CASH) WITH AN ENVELOPE . Name : Larry Jackson....... Address:110 Shiloh CT, Macon GA 31206 I need you to take a clearly picture of the Cash and send it to me here as a file . * Name: Chi Chi* Address: 13208 Jefferson Cir N. Chamblee, GA 30341 FedEx Signature not required and Overnight
OMG - I got a call from "Sheila" at Social Security about my disability claim (which I haven't filed). She just wanted to verify some information. Sure! What can I help you with? She needed my street address. Well, you have the form I filled out, right? Why don't YOU tell ME my address. Oh, she couldn't do that. She had to verify I was ME. Uh-huh. She wanted my SS#. But you WORK for SS, don't you already have my number? She needed to verify I was ME. Okay (says I) give me the middle two digits and I'll verify the rest. Oh, you can't do that either? Well, how do I know this is even Sheila, you certainly don't SOUND like Sheila. Oh, you're a DIFFERENT Sheila? Okay. So what street do I live on?. Oh, you can't tell me that either? What city am I in? No? How about my zip code? Nada? Is that because you're full of s**t & think I'm some gullible old lady? All I heard was "click".
if you look at the comments at the top of each one it says hpurs ago.
They Arryn not that swift themselves! Had one on the phone that told me I had a desk top, and I do, but no way he knew that! He got so mad at me, he called me a f'iing b***h and hung up on me then called me back! When he did, I yelled out to my husband pretend cop, he's back, Frank! , ready to trace? Hahahaha!
I turn it on the scammer and ask them when they'll be over to wash the windows (or do the floors or whatever). I like to keep them busy as long as I can so they're not actually scamming someone. The math in this thread cracked me up. It sorta didn't work! LOL
I was visiting my mother when there was a call from Microsoft... She was around 85 and has never owned a computer. I spent maybe half a minute swearing at the guy until he hung up.
Aw, diddums. Should he have kept it to 25 words or less to avoid taxing your little brain?
Load More Replies... So good! Scammers need to remember that the " English" and grammar they use- is not so good. I have been the target of a scammer and first red flag is their inability to speak coherent sentences!
The grammar is bad on purpose, it's social engineering, you want to scam only people who are not very bright, so the first thing that you do is to make the scam obvious and then spam it to thousands of people, with numbers that big you will surely find someone grandma that's easily manipulated, also obvious acams get rarely reported to the authorities. Once you get the perfect victim you just have to have patience and explain things easily, usually they are loony people that are not good with technology.
Load More Replies... Oh, imagination is so much more fun! I was thinking it was something to do with the scissors and Kristen.
Load More Replies... I got a scam caller from somebody pretending to be from Microsoft Windows support. I strung him along, pretending to be a few bats shy of a belfry. I didn't even get on my computer, ha ha. Eventually he got so frustrated that he hung up on me. The longer you can keep these creeps busy, the fewer people they can scam.
I wish I knew other languages besides English. I never get English spam calls. So I can’t really string them along. I did get a bunch of calls I believe were in Chinese for awhile it got so bad I ended up changing my voicemail to the this call can not be completed recording which actually worked like a charm. I am stay at home though so I wasn’t really expecting many calls lol.
Load More Replies... I get spam calls all the time. Especially the "IRS". I make it a game. Every time I'm someone different...a FBI agent tracking the phone call, southern bell with an IQ of a radish, Jane Austin, someone to help me fill out random forms, someone with dementia or Alzheimer's. (I'm in my early 30s)
Two Words: James Veitch. He's been doing stuff like this to scammers through email.
Love his videos! Check him out on Youtube. ;)
Load More Replies... I actually had this happen to me at work about 6-8 months ago. I got an email from one of our CEO's asking me pretty much the same thing. I'm the receptionist for tone of their warehouse locations and there is absolutely NO reason that one of our CEO's would email me asking that while 'he's sitting in a meeting to go purchase 10 $100 Apple cards' I knew immediately that it was a scam and I messed with the person for awhile. Just to have some fun. Like he kept telling me to use my company card to purchase them. I don't have access to a company credit card you idiot! I had fun for a bit, but my work was finally calling my attention more so than messing with that person.
Dammit... the worst part of this is missing out on the pocket fries.
It's the lint that gives them their special flavour.
Load More Replies... No wonder the guy is a scammer, he obviously never even passed basic maths with 5 x 100 = 1000...
Oh man. Awesome job! A couple of years ago, my dad got a call from an unknown number, it was someone claiming to have kidnapped me. They told him they would kill me me unless he sent them $1,000. They wouldn't let him get off the phone. My dad was pretty sure it was a scam, and kept them on the phone for a while, but they eventually wore him down, he was too scared to take the risk that I would get hurt and he wired them the money. I got a panicked call from him while I was at school and had to calm him down and let him know I was okay. When he went to the police, they told him the scammers had used a burner phone and there was nothing they could do. Anyway, dark story. Way to pull one over on your scammer!!
I got offered a "Government Grant" by a scammer pretending to be a FB friend. Got routed to an "agent" who told me (on messenger) that I had to FEDEX $4,000 cash to claim the grant (processing fees). I strung him along for two weeks with one excuse after the other until I tracked down his address and phone number and turned him in to the Macon, GA police. Phillip D. BaldWin Chat Conversation Start Using Messenger without Facebook Logged in using a phone number from Canada Phillip D. BaldWin Chat Conversation Start Using Messenger without Facebook Logged in using a phone number from Canada You pay $4000 and get $200,000,00. MOREOVER YOU WILL BE NEEDING CASH ($4,000 CASH) WITH AN ENVELOPE . Name : Larry Jackson....... Address:110 Shiloh CT, Macon GA 31206 I need you to take a clearly picture of the Cash and send it to me here as a file . * Name: Chi Chi* Address: 13208 Jefferson Cir N. Chamblee, GA 30341 FedEx Signature not required and Overnight
OMG - I got a call from "Sheila" at Social Security about my disability claim (which I haven't filed). She just wanted to verify some information. Sure! What can I help you with? She needed my street address. Well, you have the form I filled out, right? Why don't YOU tell ME my address. Oh, she couldn't do that. She had to verify I was ME. Uh-huh. She wanted my SS#. But you WORK for SS, don't you already have my number? She needed to verify I was ME. Okay (says I) give me the middle two digits and I'll verify the rest. Oh, you can't do that either? Well, how do I know this is even Sheila, you certainly don't SOUND like Sheila. Oh, you're a DIFFERENT Sheila? Okay. So what street do I live on?. Oh, you can't tell me that either? What city am I in? No? How about my zip code? Nada? Is that because you're full of s**t & think I'm some gullible old lady? All I heard was "click".
if you look at the comments at the top of each one it says hpurs ago.
They Arryn not that swift themselves! Had one on the phone that told me I had a desk top, and I do, but no way he knew that! He got so mad at me, he called me a f'iing b***h and hung up on me then called me back! When he did, I yelled out to my husband pretend cop, he's back, Frank! , ready to trace? Hahahaha!
I turn it on the scammer and ask them when they'll be over to wash the windows (or do the floors or whatever). I like to keep them busy as long as I can so they're not actually scamming someone. The math in this thread cracked me up. It sorta didn't work! LOL
I was visiting my mother when there was a call from Microsoft... She was around 85 and has never owned a computer. I spent maybe half a minute swearing at the guy until he hung up.
Aw, diddums. Should he have kept it to 25 words or less to avoid taxing your little brain?
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