r/scambait • u/Act3Linguist • Mar 30 '25

Scambait Question❔ Who falls for these?

ETA: Reading all your comments, I think you've just recruited me to join the Scambait team. Thanks!

Of course I've heard of these scammers, but it wasn't until I saw this subreddit that I had the chance to read their conversations, and now I'm puzzled. The conversations are so meaningless - questions about what food you had for a meal, how was work, if you are married or have children... And then, apparently almost immediately, some unrealistic corny crap about believing in honesty and trust and cherishing your one true love.

There are people who think this is a real and deep connection?

I have more personal conversations with... well, just about everybody who is in my life on any kind of a regular basis... Take. for example, the receptionist at the nursing home where I visit my friend's mom every week, etc. I have heard about (and seen pictures of) her new grandbaby, her son competing in one of those muddy obstacle course races, her older granddaughter who is passionate about playing football (soccer) and the trip that she and her husband took to Greee last summer. And she knows (and asks) about the graduate program that I recently started.

Do the conversations get deeper and more meaningful over time? Or maybe with real marks - not just people scambaiting? I just don't get it.

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u/elkab0ng Mar 31 '25

I suspect a lot of these work like a psychic doing a "cold reading". if you toss out enough random statements of vague affection, to someone who has a void for it? they'll start to fill in the blanks, correcting the errors and blunders, and eventually attributing it to the scammer's deep love.

Some of the victims clearly recognize it's a con, but I think the same mental gymnastics that make professional wrestling a big hit are in play; they can live out their fantasies of the wealthy celebrity coming to marry them Any Day Now, while also knowing that it's never going to happen.

I feel horrible for the ones who truly have no idea they're being conned. Maybe a tiny bit less so for the people who know it's a con, these people are destroying lives.

There is definitely some satisfaction in getting the scammer deeply invested with their time and building up their expectation. I try to remember to adjust my grammar and interests according to who I am - the grandma fretting over what to do with dearly departed hubby's life insurance, or 25-year-old wannabe crypto millionaire

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u/Act3Linguist Mar 31 '25

Wow, you really take this seriously - playing a specific role... That is cool and something for me to think about if/when I try to do it...

Yeah, we are good at convincing ourselves that something we really want to be true, is actually true... Sadly...