Annabel Baits in Spanish (a language which Annabel cannot speak)

[Annabel]

(Translations graciously provided by Microsoft Translator, with a little bit of help from Annabel.)

A lad contacted me in Spanish, and I thought, “Hey, that sounds fun!” So I started baiting him.

His first three emails consisted of images of text (see this Scamwarners thread). I used TypeIt to help me transcribe some of the text, then I gave it to Microsoft Translator. I only transcribed a bit, but it told me all I needed to know: I was being accused of child pornography, and if I did not comply, I would be sentenced to...something... by the NSA and Interpol!

My character immediately panicked.

LO CIENTO LO CIENTO por favor soy inocente
I’M SORRY I’M SORRY please I am innocent

The lad’s second image said something about child endangerment or something.

¿Qué? No puse en peligro a ningún menor. ¡Lo prometo! ¿Qué debo hacer?
What? I did not endanger any minors. I promise! What should I do?

In the final image, the lad offered two options: 1 be publicly prosecuted, potentially leading to imprisonment and fines, or 2, pay a comparitively small of money to make this go away quietly (what he called la SOLUCIÓN AMISTOSA, the FRIENDLY SOLUTION).

Like any good victim, I went with option 2. We’re all friends here, right?

The lad asked if I wanted to pay with Moneygram, Western Union, or Ria Money Transfer.

¡Muchas gracias!
Thank you very much!

The lad explained to me that I needed to choose an option.

Por banco por favor. Gracias.
Bank, please. Thank you.

It was at this point that I discovered, to my delight, that I was baiting an idiot.

Me refiero a su carta. Las tasas son para un alto nivel de la judicatura. Por lo tanto, solicitamos la suma de 1950 euros para mantener su expediente en total discreción.
Te envío los datos que debes ingresar para enviar los 1950 euros.
(cerdito)
Siguiendo mi sabio consejo, por favor transfiera los 1950 euros si es posible hoy.
Todavía estamos esperando las tasas.
Le saluda atentamente.

I am referring to your letter. The fees are for a high level of the judiciary. We therefore requested the sum of euros 1950 to keep your file in complete discretion. I send you the data that you must enter to send the 1950 euros.
(piggy)
Following my wise advice, please transfer the 1950 euros if possible today. We are still waiting for the rates. I greet you attentively.

After some stalling, I tried to tell the lad that the bank required the account holder’s address. Instead, I said this:

Fui al banco hoy. El empleado dijo que necesita la dirección de su banco. Gracias.
I went to the bank today. The employee said he needs your bank's address. Thank you.

Eh, close enough. He gave me his bank’s address without question. I thanked him, then took a break for a couple of days.

The lad got impatient on Wednesday.

Escucha, tenemos varios archivos a mano, así que ahórranos algo de tiempo.
Si no transfiere la multa según lo acordado y dentro de un plazo inicial su caso estará en manos del fiscal que pedirá su detención para que comparezca en el juzgado y sancione sus acciones inapropiadas e ilegales. Esta es mi última carta de advertencia. Recuerde que tenemos una cantidad máxima de información sobre usted que se divulgará públicamente y usted sabrá realmente la verdad de este asunto.
Tienes 24 horas a partir de hoy para hacer la transferencia.

Listen, we have several files handy, so save us some time. If you do not transfer the fine as agreed and within an initial period of time, your case will be in the hands of the prosecutor who will request your detention to appear in court and sanction your inappropriate and illegal actions. This is my last warning letter. Remember that we have a maximum amount of information about you that will be publicly disclosed and you will truly know the truth of this matter.
You have 24 hours from today to make the transfer.

Joke’s on him, though; today’s a public holiday.

No entiendo lo que está pasando. Ayer volví al banco. Les di la dirección. Pero dicen que la cuenta bancaria es sospechosa. Yo en el banco durante más de una hora. Les dije que ustedes son el gobierno. Les dije que debía pagarles. ¡Pero no escucharon!
Quería ir al banco hoy, pero hoy es el Día de la Raza, así que todos los bancos en México están cerrados.
Por favor, ayúdame. ¡No quiero ir a la cárcel!
¿Hay otra cuenta bancaria que pueda usar? ¿Qué debo hacer? ¡Por favor, responda!
Tengo mucho miedo.

I don't understand what's going on. Yesterday I went back to the bank. I gave them the address. But they say the bank account is suspicious. I was at the bank for over an hour. I told them that you are the government. I told them I had to pay them. But they didn't listen!
I wanted to go to the bank today, but today is El Día de la Raza, so all banks in Mexico are closed. Please help me. I don't want to go to jail!
Is there another bank account I can use? What should I do? Please respond!
I am very afraid.

The lad backed down.

Gracias por mantenerme informado. Le informo que le enviaré el relato de un supervisor en Perú. Le informo que le enviaré el relato de un supervisor en Perú. Creo que harás la transferencia. También puede optar por pagar a través de MoneyGram. Espero su respuesta.

Thank you for keeping me informed. I inform you that I will send you the story of a supervisor in Peru. I inform you that I will send you the story of a supervisor in Peru. I think you will make the transfer. You can also choose to pay through MoneyGram. I look forward to your reply.

Microsoft Translator translated “relato” as “story”, so I was a bit confused. I asked him what the “relato” was and hoped for the best.

¡Gracias por tu misericordia! ¿Qué es el relato?
¡Feliz Día de la Raza !
Thank you for your mercy! What is the story?
Happy Día de la Raza!

It turns out that “relato” means “piggy”!

(cerdito)
(piggy)

I decided to send the money on Friday so that I could use the weekend as an excuse for him not immediately getting the money.

Envié el dinero hoy. Su cuenta bancaria no está en México, por lo que puede tardar unos días en recibirla. Gracias por todo.
I sent the money today. Your bank account is not in Mexico, so it may take a few days to receive it. Thanks for everything.

Así que por favor envíenme el recibo. Gracias por su comprensión.
con cuidado.
So please send me the receipt. Thank you for your understanding. Be careful.

A few hours later:
Hemos estado esperando a que usted pague la cuota, sin embargo la cuota de 1950 euros usted acaba de informarnos que pudo hacer la transferencia por lo que después de hacer la transferencia necesariamente hay un recibo, le pedimos amablemente que nos envíe el recibo de la transferencia como prueba de su pago.
Le agradezco su comprensión y quedo a su disposición para cualquier ayuda.
Le saluda atentamente.

We have been waiting for you to pay the fee, however the fee of 1950 euros you just informed us that you were able to make the transfer so after making the transfer there is necessarily a receipt, we kindly ask you to send us the receipt of the transfer as proof of your payment. Thank you for your understanding and remain at your disposal for any help. I greet you sincerely.

The next day, I sent him a fake JPG image.

Creo que debe descargar el archivo y devolverlo porque el archivo que envió no se puede procesar. Así que me quedo de acuerdo con el recibo. Cordialmente.
I think you should download the file and return it because the file you sent cannot be processed. So I agree with the receipt. Cordially.

I gave him a fake PNG of about 25MB.

Quiero hacerle saber que todavía no podemos abrir el archivo. Gracias, sigo de acuerdo con usted con el recibo por última vez.
I want to let you know that we still can't open the file. Thank you, I still agree with you with the receipt for the last time.

Me sorprende que no puedas ver la imagen. Puedo verlo. ¿Lo descargaste?
I'm surprised you can't see the image. I can see it. Did you download it?

The lad sent three different replies, but I ignored them until Sunday evening.

Esto es muy extraño. Te envío la imagen por tercera vez. ¿Hay algún problema con su computadora?
Por favor haga clic aquí.
Recibo.jpeg
Envié el dinero el viernes. Creo que su banco lo recibirá antes del martes.

This is very strange. I’m sending you the image for the third time. Is there a problem with your computer?
Please click here.
Receipt.jpeg
I sent the money on Friday. I think your bank will receive it before Tuesday.

I think the lad started to panic.

POR FAVOR, ENVÍE LA FOTO DEL RECIBO A ESTE NÚMERO DE WHATSAPP: (corté) , LO ESPERAMOS EN WHATSAPP Y ENVÍENOS SU NÚMERO DE WHATSAPP PARA QUE PODAMOS ENVIARLE LA CARTA DE GARANTÍA Y LA CANCELACIÓN DE SU EXPEDIENTE
PLEASE SEND THE PHOTO OF THE RECEIPT TO THIS WHATSAPP NUMBER: (snip), WE ARE WAITING FOR YOU ON WHATSAPP AND SEND US YOUR WHATSAPP NUMBER SO THAT WE CAN SEND YOU THE LETTER OF GUARANTEE AND THE CANCELLATION OF YOUR FILE

Señor, he enviado la imagen tres veces, de tres maneras diferentes. Tiene dificultades técnicas. No puedo resolver los problemas de tu computadora. Te pedí que fueras paciente conmigo. Ahora debo ser paciente contigo. Envié el dinero a su banco el viernes pasado. Recibirás el dinero pronto.
Sir, I have sent the image three times, in three different ways. You are having technical difficulties. I can't solve your computer problems. I asked you to be patient with me. Now I must be patient with you. I sent the money to your bank last Friday. You will receive the money soon.

I think he took a deep, calming breath before replying:

Me gustaría pedirle que me escuche, las tres imágenes que nos ha enviado todavía no se pueden abrir. Soy consciente de que no vendrá a resolver mi problema informático. Así que le agradezco que sea paciente con nosotros. Por favor, sepa que ya he informado al banco, el banco está esperando la recepción de la transferencia y dio la confirmación de su transferencia.
Te pido una vez más que nos facilites las cosas, que aceptes enviarnos el archivo por WhatsApp. Este es el número de WhatsApp.
WhatsApp: (corté)
Espero su comprensión.

I would like to ask you to listen to me, the three images you have sent us cannot be opened yet. I am aware that you will not come to solve my computer problem. So I thank you for being patient with us. Please know that I have already informed the bank, the bank is waiting for the receipt of the transfer and gave confirmation of your transfer.
I ask you once again to facilitate things, to agree to send us the file by WhatsApp. This is the WhatsApp number.
WhatsApp: (snip)
I look forward to your understanding.

The next day (Monday):
¿Has ido al banco hoy? Se necesita mucho tiempo para transferir dinero de México a Inglaterra. Pero creo que recibirás el dinero hoy o mañana. Cuando lo recibas, sabrás que estoy diciendo la verdad.
Have you gone to the bank today? It takes a long time to transfer money from Mexico to England. But I think you'll get the money today or tomorrow. When you receive it, you will know that I am telling the truth.

Wait. England?

[Kitty La Gore]

¡Absolutamente maravilloso!

[bware419ers]

¡Mas por favor! Mucho mas.

If you keep implying the lad is having computer issues, you can really drive him crazy with this trick, but it takes a little work on your part:

After you get your Google Translation, paste it into a word processing document then use the "Find and Replace" feature to sub in some letters. Replace every "n" with "ñ" or each "e" with "ə." Mess up the gender by swapping the "a" and "o," which will impact many other words, as well. If the lad is using Google, and they likely are, it will be even more difficult for them. Start as a slow process with one letter, than increase it over weeks.

I've done this when baiting in broken Spanish (and it works well in English, too)!

[Thunderfire]

I like how he specifies

the three images you have sent us cannot be opened yet.

Makes me hopeful that he is going on some wild goose chase trying to open these files.
Maybe send him a big list of image editing softwares he can try to open them.

[Annabel]

Thank you for the feedback, everybody! Keep it coming!

The lad hasn’t noticed my little discrepancy.

Buenas noches
Acuso recibo de su carta.
Estamos esperando el recibo de la transferencia ya que esto probará que la transferencia fue realizada. Le pido que nos envíe el recibo en PDF para que yo pueda enviar el recibo al banco mañana.
Espero su respuesta lo antes posible.
Espero su respuesta lo antes posible.
ATT.
Good evening
I acknowledge receipt of your letter.
We are waiting for the receipt of the transfer as this will prove that the transfer was made.
I ask you to send us the receipt in PDF so that I can send the receipt to the bank tomorrow.
I look forward to your response as soon as possible.
I look forward to your response as soon as possible.
Att.

I went ahead and sent him a fake PDF (23.8 MB).
The lad sent it back to me (it somehow shrank to 11.5kB), along with a sweet message:

querido, el archivo que enviaste aquí es lo que parece, por favor no te burles de mí. Espero que sepas lo que estás haciendo el archivo se evita.
dear, the file you sent here is what it looks like, please don't make fun of me. I hope you know what you are doing the file is avoided.

He wrote to me again the next morning.

Hoy reviso No hay nada.
Today I review There is nothing.

Yo puedo ver la imagen. ¿Por qué no puedes?
I can see the picture. Why can't you?

Por favor, envíe el archivo por WhatsApp.
Please send the file via WhatsApp.

Te envío una captura del banco
I send you a screenshot of the bank

And indeed he did.

Gracias.
Thanks.

An hour later:

Su asistente me ha llamado. Dijo que ha recibido el dinero.
Your assistant has called me. He said he has received the money.

Necesitamos un recibo en WhatsApp
We need a receipt on WhatsApp

Bless his cold, shriveled little heart. I will try to lead him step-by-step.

Su colega dijo que tiene los 1.950 euros. Si tienes el dinero, entonces ya no necesitas el recibo.
Your colleague said he has the 1,950 euros. If you have the money, then you don't need the receipt anymore.

Quisiera pedirles que me escuchen y eviten cualquier inconveniente en este asunto. Las imágenes que nos enviaron no pudieron ser abiertas. Sepan que ya he informado al banco y mi banco en Perú ya les ha devuelto las capturas.
Vuelvo a pedirte que nos facilites las cosas, que aceptes enviarnos el archivo por WhatsApp.
Si estás seguro de haber enviado el dinero qué te impide enviar el recibo por WhatsApp.
I would like to ask you to listen to me and avoid any inconvenience in this matter. The images they sent us could not be opened. Know that I have already informed the bank and my bank in Peru has already returned the catches. I ask you again to make things easier for us, to agree to send us the file by WhatsApp. If you are sure you have sent the money what prevents you from sending the receipt by WhatsApp.

Yesterday:

Le di el dinero a su cuenta bancaria en Inglaterra. ¿Ya te lo ha dado tu asistente?
I gave the money to your bank account in England. Has your assistant already given it to you?

Today, after some silence, I decide to comply.

He enviado el recibo en WhatsApp.
I have sent the receipt on WhatsApp.

(I have not sent the receipt on WhatsApp.)

We'll see where it goes from here.

[Annabel]

Hmm. My lad has been quiet for a few days. I hope he hasn't bailed on me. I've only tried a dolla chop once before, and that lad dropped me instead of trying to get me back.

I'm open to ideas here. If he ignores me long enough, I might give up and write something like, "Do you want me to send the money again?" Surely only an idiot would turn down an offer like th—wait, I just remembered who I was baiting.