# Amish Sex Scam **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 13, 2006, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amish-sex-scam/352594 "2006-04-13T23:07:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2006, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amish-sex-scam/352594/1 "2006-04-13T23:07:01Z")
Was just browsing CNN site when this headline grabbed my attention: [Amish Sex Scam Ends in 4 Year Sentence](http://www.cnn.com/2006/LAW/04/13/amish.sexscam.ap/index.html) Now, that headline is odd enough, but here’s what really got me scratching my head: > [@](#): > > Prosecutors said Byler handed over the money because the scammers convinced him photos of him and the prostitute would appear on the Internet. Why is an Amish guy worried that his family and neighbors will see pictures of him on the Internet? Is the Internet now Amish Approved? Maybe **Scylla** would know something about this? ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2006, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amish-sex-scam/352594/2 "2006-04-13T23:11:48Z")
I could sit for a long, long time dreaming up get-rich-quick schemes before coming up with “let’s put the pinch on some septagenarian Mennonite.” Who thinks this shit up? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2006, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amish-sex-scam/352594/3 "2006-04-13T23:39:34Z")
> [@ShibbOleth](#): > > Why is an Amish guy worried that his family and neighbors will see pictures of him on the Internet? Is the Internet now Amish Approved? I’d guess that to an elderly Amish man, “posted on the Internet” more or less means, “plastered all over town.” “Plastered all over the world,” for that matter. His family and neighbors wouldn’t have to be on the Internet for this to scare the hell out of him. > [@OneCentStamp](#): > > ``` > I could sit for a long, long time dreaming up get-rich-quick schemes before coming up with "let's put the pinch on some septagenarian Mennonite." Who thinks this shit up? > > ``` I don’t know much about Amish, but naive, elderly Menonites aren’t necessarily poor. He could have owned a profitable farm his whole life and never spent a penny of the profits. Easy target for scams. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2006, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amish-sex-scam/352594/4 "2006-04-13T23:50:05Z")
> [@ShibbOleth](#): > > Maybe **Scylla** would know something about this? **Scylla** is _Amish_!!! ---
**Author:** ![Danalan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/76d3ee/32.png) [@Danalan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Danalan)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2006, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amish-sex-scam/352594/5 "2006-04-13T23:59:53Z")
> [@Qadgop the Mercotan](#): > > **Scylla** is _Amish_!!! Sure. We’re all Amish. That’s why we use comput… Never mind. ---
**Author:** ![MLS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MLS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MLS)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2006, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amish-sex-scam/352594/6 "2006-04-14T00:29:39Z")
I have been told that while the Amish do not have electricity and such in their homes, they have no objection to the use of it in other places. An internet cafe, for example, or a public PC in the library, could easily be used. Just as, for example, there might be no telephone in the home and no car in the driveway, there would be no objection to using a public phone or having a ride in someone else’s car. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2006, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amish-sex-scam/352594/7 "2006-04-14T00:36:54Z")
> [@MLS](#): > > I have been told that while the Amish do not have electricity and such in their homes, they have no objection to the use of it in other places. An internet cafe, for example, or a public PC in the library, could easily be used. Just as, for example, there might be no telephone in the home and no car in the driveway, there would be no objection to using a public phone or having a ride in someone else’s car. I’ve actually read that the prohibition is against having wires carrying electricity or other stuff into the home. I heard an article on NPR about how the amish use cell phones since they run on batteries, then recharge the batteries outside their homes. I suppose they could do the same thing with laptops? And run wi-fi into their homes? I was also told it was okay for the amish to use roller blades. And that many of them do, to get around. Now I have the image of Amish men all dressed in black, with their beards, roller-blading and talking on their cell phones. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2006, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amish-sex-scam/352594/8 "2006-04-14T00:44:59Z")
> [@Qadgop the Mercotan](#): > > Now I have the image of Amish men all dressed in black, with their beards, roller-blading and talking on their cell phones. This one cracked me up. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2006, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amish-sex-scam/352594/9 "2006-04-14T02:03:16Z")
> [@OneCentStamp](#): > > I could sit for a long, long time dreaming up get-rich-quick schemes before coming up with “let’s put the pinch on some septagenarian Mennonite.” Who thinks this shit up? > > 😃 Like my brother once said to me: “This is why we never hit the big score, J – we always give up as soon as we feel the scheme sounds stupid.” _L’audace, toujours l’audace_. ---
**Author:** ![Spatial\_Rift\_47](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a8b319/32.png) [@Spatial\_Rift\_47](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spatial_Rift_47)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2006, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amish-sex-scam/352594/10 "2006-04-14T02:22:39Z")
All buffoonery aside, the Amish aren’t Luddites. They’re techno-savvy community minded folk who know how to properly evaluate new technologies and then fit them into their existing moral code. That said … PAHAHAHAHAHH!!! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2006, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amish-sex-scam/352594/11 "2006-04-14T03:26:21Z")
As I understand it, they’re trying to keep technology from interfering with their family life. So a phone outside (or probably a cell phone turned off at home) for business is good, but installing a phone inside the home wouldn’t be, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2006, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amish-sex-scam/352594/12 "2006-04-14T03:36:17Z")
Why am I reminded of [this?](http://www.greatguy.com/cowphone.gif) ---
**Author:** ![Annie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/858c86/32.png) [@Annie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2006, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amish-sex-scam/352594/13 "2006-04-14T03:44:02Z")
> [@Ferret Herder](#): > > So a phone outside (or probably a cell phone turned off at home) for business is good, but installing a phone inside the home wouldn’t be, etc. And engaging a hooker would be??? I’m pretty sure there’s a commandment that says “No whores”. Loosely translated, of course. ;j 'course, being atheist, I think of the list more like the “Ten Recommendations” ---
**Author:** ![Zabali\_Clawbane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/ecd19e/32.png) [@Zabali\_Clawbane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zabali_Clawbane)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2006, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amish-sex-scam/352594/14 "2006-04-14T03:45:19Z")
You are focusing on the wrong word in that quote, you should focus on the phrase “soliciting a prostitute” from the quote instead. It isn’t that he doesn’t want his picture seen, it is the activity the picture depicts that he didn’t want revealed. That should answer your question. ---
**Author:** ![metj](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6a8cbe/32.png) [@metj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/metj)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2006, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amish-sex-scam/352594/15 "2006-04-14T03:49:48Z")
> [@Ferret Herder](#): > > As I understand it, they’re trying to keep technology from interfering with their family life. So a phone outside (or probably a cell phone turned off at home) for business is good, but installing a phone inside the home wouldn’t be, etc. The Amish in my family (MIL is ex-Amish) use the payphone down the road. It’s a bit strange seeing a pay phone in the middle of the country though. A lot of Amish are incredibly well off. Many have very profitalbe farms or carpentry businesses, but have nothing high ticket to spend it on. The guy in the news story probably was mostly afraid of family and church finding out. If that happened he would be cut off completely from everyone and everything he’s ever known. He’d pretty much have to move into mainstream society or become a hermit because I doubt any other Amish order would recieve him. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2006, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amish-sex-scam/352594/16 "2006-04-14T03:57:16Z")
Besides, what’s to stop someone who lives nearby who knows him, and isn’t Amish to go blabbing about it? ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2006, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amish-sex-scam/352594/17 "2006-04-14T05:13:56Z")
This thread brings to mind the Letterman Top Ten list titled something like “Top Ten Amish Spring Break Activities”: wet bonnet contest, sleep in till 6 am, etc. (Probably easily Googled.) ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2006, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amish-sex-scam/352594/18 "2006-04-14T15:37:05Z")
> [@Scarlett67](#): > > This thread brings to mind the Letterman Top Ten list titled something like “Top Ten Amish Spring Break Activities”: wet bonnet contest, sleep in till 6 am, etc. (Probably easily Googled.) Here they are: 1. Drink molasses till you heave. 2. Attend a Wet Bonnet contest. 3. Tear a page out of the room directory and totally trash it. 4. Throw a “Keg of Buttermilk” party. 5. Blow past the Dairy Queen on a really hot Clydesdale. 6. Get a tattoo that says: “Born to Raise Barns.” 7. Dare to wear a see-through smock to bed. 8. Sleep in until 6:00am. 9. Cop a glance, behind a checkout counter, of the front cover of a Playboy Magazine. 10. Churn butter naked. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![UncleBeer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/977dab/32.png) [@UncleBeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBeer)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2006, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amish-sex-scam/352594/19 "2006-04-14T16:45:35Z")
> [@Qadgop the Mercotan](#): > > Now I have the image of Amish men all dressed in black, with their beards, roller-blading and talking on their cell phones. _Fletch_. Except I guess that was before cell phones, eh? ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2006, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amish-sex-scam/352594/20 "2006-04-14T16:56:01Z")
There is plenty of Amish/Yankee crossover in that community. While most of the Amish do keep to themselves, they all know some number of Yankees. Had he appeared on the internet, it would have definitely gotten back to his family. (Of course, now he is on the internet, but at least he’s getting back some of his money.) (Given that his son has power of attorney, I would guess that he is also not fully competent, meaning that the scammers could have presented the matter in a way that would be really scary.) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amish-sex-scam/352594.md?page=2)