Scam vs Scam (Chapter 35)
Scammers are everywhere on the apps. Or they’re nowhere.
Just like the threat of child kidnapping, the threat is nowhere near as great as some make it out to be. But it is still very real. If you’ve been on the apps for any small amount of time, you’ve likely come across at least one.
They’re very friendly at first and very interested in you. Not sure from which academy scammers are graduating, but most are pretty good at writing poetically. But, like any other scam, they do have tells. Things they all have in common.
The stereotype is that a scammer will quickly try to get you to buy crypto. I’ve never seen that. But I have noticed that every scammer will ultimately try to get you on WhatsApp. And it’s kind of funny because they ask if you can text on WhatsApp… on a phone… that has text capability. And they never get it when you point out the redundancy.
Usually, if you refuse to get on WhatsApp, they tend to disappear. But sometimes, they don’t ask that right away. Sometimes, they give you a number and ask you to text them. That’s always attractive to me, and attractive to most people, because people on apps instinctively want to get off the apps.
But another thing all scammers have in common is that the text will always be green. Scammers don’t use iPhones. They use burner phones. And those are nearly always Android phones. That doesn’t mean everyone on an Android is a scammer. But mostly all scammers are on Android. So when I get a green text from anyone, it puts me on alert.
Good scammers can get you really lubed up and ready to meet them. But if you ask to call or meet them, there’s always a reason to put that off. Their goal is to string you along until you’re ready to be asked for whatever it is they’re after.
Some scammers can keep conversations alive for a long time. Days… weeks…
Which made me curious… I wonder how often scammers match with other scammers. And if or when they do, how long do you think those conversations can go on? Who breaks first? Who figures it out first? And how? And if one scammer figures out they’re talking to another scammer, do they just let the other in on the joke? You know, like honor among thieves. Do they just say, “You’ll never guess what… are you, by chance, trying to scam me? Because I’m totally trying to scam you, and I think we’re trying to scam each other.”
Kind of like the sheep dog and wolf cartoon where they walk to the time clock together as friends, and as soon as they punch in, they’re enemies. Then, after eight hours, they clock out and get a drink together.
I’d love to have a front-row seat when a scammer tries to scam another scammer.