A question about a certain "scam"

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saito
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A question about a certain "scam"

Post by saito » Sun Jan 03, 2021 4:26 pm

Moved here as it's not AFF related - B8er

Hello!

I am, as you can see, a new member to this forum- yet I dare to ask about a certain scam I received a few weeks ago.

Initially, I looked for it because it was a job offer, and I had my doubts since the beginning, but I tried my luck anyway. I did use my real e-mail but I do not think it was any bad or something, because of reasons I will yet explain.

So, I hit up the person and asked about the job offer, he replied almost in the same second with a wall of text explaining what the job is about, basically, you'd get paid by sending e-mails and writing offers. Ok, sounded too good to be true but I went on.

There was a small FAQ but the curious thing is that you have to pay for the "work material" which he said was some sort of workbook that would teach you how to start on the job plus you'd get a lot of courses as a bonus, including marketing, English courses and so on.

Alright, at that point I had figured what this was; so I think this was my first "scam bait" ever. I sent him questions, asking if I could get the workbook and pay after, with my first earnings, the answer was no.

And I pushed, saying I'd pay double the price, heck, even triple it. But the answer was still no. I said a thing or two that I had no money to pay virtually but I could meet up with him and buy in person- since the guy is from around, and he said that he's not in town atm.

Here's what happened then, he said he could borrow me his workbook so I could start working, but mentioned he would need it back; I refused because I started thinking, what if he is a victim?

What if he fell for the trick of someone else who promised he could make money writing emails and offers, bought the workbook and is just trying to do what he was told? I felt bad and just started ignoring him them.

This was, essentially, my first scambait- and I have to say, perhaps it wasn't the best and maybe not even worthy of mentioning, but the question has to be asked.

What would you do? Was he a victim or just a scammer? I thought about accepting his offer of borrowing me the workbook, but honestly, I don't know if he's a bad person- maybe he's just fell for the trick. This sounded like a pyramid scheme for me.

Anyway, if you read everything, I thank you for your attention and I wish you a great night!

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Re: A question about a certain "scam"

Post by B8er » Sun Jan 03, 2021 6:49 pm

Looks like a get rich quick scheme to me rather than the type of scam that we deal with here.

The person you are in contact with is very likely a victim and answered a similar email/advert to the one that you did. The product that he is selling is the "workbook", which will most likely just instruct you to place adverts/email people offering them a wonderful "job" and the job involves selling the workbook to other people.

He's not a scammer, so best to stop communicating with him.
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saito
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Re: A question about a certain "scam"

Post by saito » Sun Jan 03, 2021 7:02 pm

[No need to quote the above text - think of this as a continuing conversation ;) - Kitty]

My thoughts exactly. Though I took sometime to figure that out, and when it hit me I stopped talking with them on the spot. I just wondered if he was indeed just as a victim as I am, so I thought on sharing this here (even though it's not the usual scam I see around).

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Re: A question about a certain "scam"

Post by Kitty La Gore » Mon Jan 04, 2021 3:13 am

Sometimes they are hard to suss out, and we often have to determine if someone is a beggar or a scammer. I have one guy still emailing me 4 years later - he was initially a beggar using a dating site but with his actual ID, and then he claimed to get cancer. However, unlike scammers, he announced he had full insurance through his country, and his family was helping him out, and he then started sending me & others updates in mass mails but never asking for donations. He finally finished chemo a year ago & got a job. I'm happy for him, and glad he didn't turn out to be a scammer! You're right to drop him. I haven't replied to my chemo survivor except for once to tell him I was happy for him. 8-)
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Abiola-Tim: Lagos to Dakkar to Rosso (wDSW) 9 yrs (anniversary May 2023) | 5 yrs ~ Paul K
Am just tired and confused and the cards didn't work. ~Jeff

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Re: A question about a certain "scam"

Post by saito » Mon Jan 04, 2021 11:46 am

Removed this full quote of the previous post to make reading easier. - bware419ers

That's actually pretty wholesome to hear. I'm glad it turned out okay one way or another.

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