Does anyone know what goes through the mind of a scammer?

I have long been interested in scammers and busting them after inadvertently talking to one back in 2012. I was using a dating site and got messaged by a young beautiful girl who claimed to be from where I live but currently "working as a nurse on an aid mission in Nigeria".

I had had absolutely ZERO prior experience with scams before then so i did not recognise the red flags but then she asked to add me on facebook and I did - then the moment I added her she started messaging me IMMEDIATELY about how she is starving, there is no food where she is, she is scared she is gonna starve and she needs $350 real quick, could I send it to her?

I am not stupid, alarm bells immediately went off! I did not believe for one second that literally the ONLY PERSON in the world she could turn to for money was a complete stranger she had exchanged 3 emails with! I googled some of her messages and they all came up on scam busting sites, I realised what she was and immediately blocked her.

this got me wondering though - scammers often do more than just con people out of money, they may break their hearts as well! a lonely person may finally think they have met someone who likes them romantically and get all excited thinking they finally have a relationship - and then not only do they get conned out of money they get their heart broken as well once they realise this person NEVER LIKED THEM, WAS NEVER INTERESTED IN THEM ROMANTICALLY and that they were NOTHING but a source of money to them.

I think this is evil! even the non-romance scams are evil as well! does anyone here know much about what goes on inside the mind of a scammer? do they realise how bad and wrong their behaviour is? or have they been brainwashed into believing that everyone from western countries is rich/evil/greedy/etc so they are actually doing a GOOD thing by ripping them off?

do any of them have a conscience AT ALL? I was reading one story posted by someone scambaiting a scammer and they said they wanted to test whether the scammer had a conscience at all - they were pretending to fall for the romance scam and the scammer needed money for an emergency, and the baiter said something like "I only have some money meant for my two year old daughters life saving surgery. if I send it to you do you promise to return it cos otherwise my daughter will die" and the scammer still wanted the money. obviously they were being baited, but it just shows they have no conscience at all!

so does anyone know how their minds work? do they realise how evil they are? do they care about ruining the lives of their victims? tell me!

[AlanJones]

Greed!

Pretty much, they don't care about anyone and have no conscience. They will happily persuade victims to send them their last $ (and borrow money) so they have the cash for thier drugs, prostitutes or whatever else they waste the money on.

The example you give of the "victim" with the dying daughter is a common one - I have played a dying person looking to borrow money for an urgent life saving kidney transplant and all the loan scammers I approached were more than happy to tell me that the money I needed would be in my account in 24 hours if I paid the fee to them.

Also, the "getting revenge on the western coutries" line is a load of crap as well. THey will happily scam people from third world countries (and even their own country) who are possibly poorer than them

They are thieves that have absolutely no care for anyone other than themselves, period.

They don't care who the person is, where they are from, the color of their eyes, skin, or hair, or even what gender the person is. a person = a money mark to them. They scam their own Nationals, they scam their own families, unless the families are more street wise than they are.

Somehow, they even think that when they go to religious services and ask for forgiveness, they are completely absolved of all wrongdoings they have ever done. Then they can start stealing tomorrow and so long as they ask for forgiveness again, they will have a clean record.


Thats my 2 cents

I don't personally understand them, nor will I act like I do. I have seen more times than not they act more like 2 or 3 year olds than adults ( which goes back to the "they only care about themselves" statement). I don't know how they can look at themselves in the mirror at all. I surely could not commit such crimes, and have a smile on my face, and in my heart.

A scammer has the mindset of someone who has been convinced to commit genocide. They justify their crimes by convincing themselves that their victims are sub-human and not worthy of being treated with the worth and respect of a human being. Once the scammer has got themselves into this frame of mind they become dangerous as they can cause a lot of misery. The popular and completely bogus justification among African scammers is that this is payback for slavery and they are just taking back money owed to them.

http://www.antifraudnews.com/low-will-scammers-go/

Do Scammers have any Morals or Scruples?

The Scammer listened intently to his phone as Mr Smith spoke. His hoarse voice betrayed his advancing years and poor health. “Once I’ve sent your fee, you will send me my millions, won’t you? I can’t afford to lose this money, you know. It’s all I have”. The Scammer smirked. Why should he care if he was stealing a stupid old American man’s life savings? This cash would go a long way in Nigeria. That another life would be ruined was beyond the extent of his human compassion. He didn’t give a damn.

With Mr Smith’s Money Transfer Control Number written on the back of his hand, the Scammer hurried off to the Western Union outlet. As he did, he delightedly recalled some of his other recent Victims.

There had been the woman in Europe, desperate to get a loan to finance her husband’s surgery. Without a liver transplant he would surely die, and so what?

In addition, the couple in Australia, who needed to raise thousands of dollars to buy mobility aids for their severely disabled child. The Scammer had promised them an inheritance from an unknown relative, who had died in Africa. They just needed to pay him the Barrister’s fee…

He frowned at the memory of the 8 year old girl who had read his ‘get a loan’ e.mail on a website and asked him if he would send her dying Daddy some money so that he could “get well again”. The Scammer had persuaded her to take money from Daddy’s wallet and send it to him by MoneyGram. After all, it would help make her Daddy strong again. As the days went on, she called him…and called him…and called him… He had eventually blocked her number, since even he couldn’t stand hearing a kid crying down the phone at him.

He hated all of these white people. A century or so ago, their ancestors had sold his brethren into slavery. Their ancestors had kidnapped his forefathers and transported them across the seas and sold those still alive at public auctions.

Now, he was getting his own back. If he left them bankrupt, destitute, sick, dying, or whatever, he couldn’t care less. He…just…wanted…their…money.

Footnote: What separates Scammers from most of us is their almost psychopathic aim to extract your cash, regardless of the cost or effects. They are completely indifferent to your feelings or of those around you. They will go to any lengths to persuade you to send them your cash.

Often, in order to self-justify their Scams, they will quote Colonialism or the slave trade, as if their latter day Western victims were in some way responsible for the actions of their ancestors, decades or a century ago, simply because they shared the same race or skin colour.

One way to regard Internet Scammers is to liken them to crocodiles. Both silently patrol, using stealth and patience to identify likely prey. Once they strike, each is utterly merciless.

Always be on your guard online. Stay safe from Internet Scammers.

http://www.ultrascan-agi.com/public_htm ... 419er.html

We do not want you to become a criminal, do not try this at home,
it is only an example of how it is done if you do try this you will end up in jail!

======================= Quote from the 419 boss ==================

na your initiation into guy be this.
the game na game of luck, talent and greed.the three factors must work together for the money to come out.the greed naim dey push the mugu to come pay money, believing say im gho carry the millions wey dem promise am at the end of the day.the same greed naim be your driving force as a guyman.na only greed gho fit make you cross your mind dey chop people money even if you know say na the last cash wey dem get.some mugu dey go selll their house,while some sef dey take loan wey dem gho later go jail for.some dey commit suicide after dem don pay so much money and dem no know the way to get their life back.you get to put all this in mind when you dey do the work.the money no be free money.no be dash the mugu dey dash you the money.im dey give you the money based on the organised lie wey you don tell am.so if you later hear say the man don die, im no suppose shake you because you don already cross your mind.one Indian boy wey dey go school for Yankee wey we chop.the idiot go take im college fund and borrow money from the college take pay tire.finally when im no fit pay back dem drive from the school and Immigration come deport the guy back to India.one pregnant small girl from Madagascar pay me with money wey she save for her labour and the first month after she born.na only God know wetin happen to am and her new born baby now.another old woman use the money wey im save for her handicapped son take pay me.after she loose the money them admit am for hospital for shock and i no believe say the handicapped son survive.the Indonasian manager wey i chop wey you take enter jand,write me say im gho get to commit suicide to save im face.i no hear form am again.i hope say im no kill himself.some stories dey worse and i prefer not to remember dem.Make God help and forgive all of us.AMEN.

See viewtopic.php?f=2&t=86790. They don't care if extorting money from victims causes the victims to die.

Here's a bit of complete illogic from a scammer:

No no, you will have to send the money to them via money gram only,
cause the shipper still have some other item to be picking up for me,
that is why okay?

The same scammer, after not getting any money to ship the nonexistent make of laptop, burst out as follows:

YOU HAVE REVEALED ENOUGH INFORMATION FOR ME TO GIVE TO THE LAW
ENFORCEMENT AUTHORITIES HERE IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA!! I HAVE
YOUR EMAILS,AS WELL AS YOUR EMAIL ADDRESSES AND THE MAILING ADDRESS.
YOU HAVE NOT PROVEN YOURSELF TO BE LEGITIMATE!! YOU CAN'T EVEN KEEP
YOUR BULLSHIT SCAM STORIES STRAIGHT!! YOU AREN'T EVEN A SMART
CRIMINAL!! YOU ARE GOING TO PRISON!! YOU HAD YOUR CHANCES AND YOU BLEW
IT, SO NOW YOU ARE CAUGHT AND YOU ARE GOING TO SUFFER THE CONSEQUENCES
OF YOUR CRIMES!! GOOD DAY TO YOU!

[AlanJones]

viewtopic.php?p=212593#p212593 another example of a scammer who is quite happy to guarantee a victim (fake on this occasion, but he doesn't know that) a non-existent loan to pay for life-saving medical treatment.