When I gave some stuff away on Facebook Marketplace, I got a lot of the “I going to send you a code to verify your identity.” scams. Every time I asked how the code would verify, I got ghosted.
I have some bad news for all of you who purchased Trump Bucks online. It turns out Bank of America, Wells Fargo and Home Depot will not accept them as cash.
Invest in a TRB membership card “issued by Donald Trump,” the ads from Patriots Dynasty, Patriots Future and USA Patriots claim, and the purchaser who spent, say, $99.99 on a “$10,000 Diamond Trump Bucks” bill will be able to cash it in for $10,000 at major banks and retailers like Walmart, Costco and Home Depot.
“TRB system membership cards are official cards issued by Donald Trump to allow Trump Bucks holders to use Trump Bucks as legal tender and deposit them in banks such as JP Morgan Chase, the Bank of America and Wells Fargo,” a narrator identified only as “John” that appears to be a computer-generated voice says in one YouTube ad just moments after cautioning viewers that “Trump Bucks are not legal tender.”
AFAICT it’s an affiliate scam: one company sells Trump memorabilia, then sends funds to video creators who send marks customers their way. If the video creators spew nonsense, well the memorabilia company doesn’t know about that. That’s my speculation.
Also:
Repeated attempts to reach a spokesperson for Trump and his re-election campaign by email have gone unanswered. No evidence suggests the alleged scammers are connected to Trump or his re-election campaign.
Blogger Noah Christopher, who is the moderator of the “WeLoveTrump” Telegram group with 26,000 subscribers, has urged his followers more than 30 times this year alone to “not get conned.”
“The faked videos have been posted relentlessly by fake social media accounts on Facebook, TikTok, and in Telegram groups catering to devoted Trump supporters,” Noah wrote last month. “Unreal how pervasive and aggressive this scam is.”
I would not describe it as ‘unreal’, but ‘predictable’ given how successful it seems to be.
I got a phone call a couple of weeks ago and I won the Publishers Clearinghouse sweepstakes. [Forrest Gump voice] Again. This time I won $5,500,000, plus $5,000 a week for life, plus $10,000 per month for life, plus a 2023 Mercedes Benz G-class AMG 63. (If anyone could tell me an easy way to post a PDF file in my gmail inbox to this board I think you all would find the description of the Mercedes entertaining). The phone call was from a Mr. Todd Sloane. I found out later that there is a real Todd Sloane that actually works at Publishers Clearinghouse. After many, many telephone conversations and several emails, I finally convinced Mr. Sloane that I was a wholesale marijuana producer about 25 miles from San Pendejo, Colorado. He once even asked how much a truckload of marijuana would cost him but I told him it varied depending on the strain, weight, time of year, etc. Also, that is proprietary information and he would have to fill out an application first. Because I am a marijuana farmer, I no longer have a bank account but I have plenty of money. I even sent him an IRS form 8300 with my information filled in because that it is required for cash transactions over $10,000 and the taxes and fees I must pay before receiving the prize exceed this amount. He was calling quite a bit so I began answering the telephone with a combination of air traffic control, distorted radio static, and a broken microwave oven. This was the same day that AT&T was having trouble nationwide so he did not question it. Since then I communicated only by text messages. Here are those text messages:
B*UDREAUX
Mr. Sloan:
I tried calling you yesterday and today but I think AT&T is still having problems and they just won’t admit it. Maybe this text will get through.
Don’t worry about the Colorado state income tax. My estimated quarterly payment wasn’t due until April 15th but I sent it to the Colorado Department of Revenue early yesterday with my form DR1040EP. I included an extra $242,000 for the prize money ($5,500,000.000 xx 4.4% = $242,000). Although only ¼ was due by April 15th, I sent the full amount. My courier service got to Denver late yesterday afternoon by the payment hasn’t posted on their Revenue Online website yet. Sometimes it takes a while for cash payments to get posted.
Let me know right away what I need to do next. I’ve about given up on voice calls with AT&T. I can’t hardly get a voice call through to anybody lately. Text seems to work pretty good. Or you can email me at CJB*udreaux420@gmail.com. Looks like. I’ll be busy all week dealing with the Colorado Department of Natural Resources. My annual water conservation grant depends on everything being just perfect.
SLOANE
Ok sir
SLOANE
I notice you have a lot of phone problems which is inconvenient for our company to get a hold of you. What you need to understand M. Charles when ever you win a lottery from a sweepstakes company the tax strategy is different from your regular income that you receive. What ever the government require does not determine by your state.
These are require payments that has to be done before the prize can be release in addition to that their will be a reimbursement of any fee payment on the day of your presentation.
B*UDREAUX
I’m sure the feds and maybe New York will want some money too. Gotta go, I see the Natural Resources guy’s driving up to the gate.
SLOANE
I am not sure what this message means
B*UDREAUX
You sent an email saying some taxes would have to be paid.
SLOANE
Yes sir
SLOANE
Will call you soon
SLOANE
Let me know when to call
B*UDREAUX
I haven’t been able to use voice at all the last couple of days. Try texting. It seems to be working OK. Or email.
B*UDREAUX
I’m ready to get this done.
SLOANE
How you plan to make the payment?
SLOANE
through cash?
B*UDREAUX
I have an arrangement with the IRS for federal stuff but I am not allowed to discuss it. The state of Colorado has contracted with four commercial banks for state stuff.
SLOANE
We need to talk because you are having a total miss understanding with what’s going on
SLOANE
Please to call me
SLOANE
Sir your phone keep calling me
B*UDREAUX
I’ve tried calling several times but you just keep hanging up!
SLOANE
I can’t hear anything whe you are calling sir
SLOANE
You need to get a new phone sir
SLOANE
Try and purchase a new phone boss
SLOANE
Sir your phone is not working
B*UDREAUX
I think the problem may be with your phone and not mine. I have called you a bunch of times in the last few days but you just keep hanging up. My phone works just fine when I call the hardware store in town or my Aunt Josephine. I am beginning to wonder if you are deliberately trying to avoid paying me my sweepstakes winnings. I called the Publishers Clearinghouse office in Jericho, New York. My phone worked just fine. I was put in touch with a Mr. Martin Bormann, assistant to Dave Sayer. As I understand it, Mr. Sayer is your boss as well. Mr. Bormann was appalled that some much time has passed without my prize being awarded and apologized profusely. He also said that since there has been so much of a delay and my farm is in a very remote area that the company could fly me to New York and award the prize there. I asked if I could send my aunt and my daughter instead since they have never been to New York and my aunt has never even rode on an airplane. He said that would be fine but I would need to fill out a couple of power of attorney forms so they could accept the prize on my behalf. He said you could take care of that. My daughter’s name is Victoria Princípe B*udreaux and my aunt’s name is Josephine (no middle name) Tuputamadre.
SLOANE
Sir we gave you that information?
B*UDREAUX
Mr. Martin Bormann did.
SLOANE
Does not work with our company
SLOANE
Calling from a next numbr
SLOANE
Do you have another number sir?
B*UDREAUX
No. Why do you keep hanging up on me?
SLOANE
I am not able to hear you sir.
SLOANE
I even call on different numbers.
SLOANE
Please contact me from another number
B*UDREAUX
Nobody else is having a problem today. Must be your phone.
B*UDREAUX
Maybe I should just call Mr. Bormann back. OK?
SLOANE
Who is Mr. Bormann?
SLOANE
We don’t have someone at our company by that name
B*UDREAUX
He is Mr. Sayer’s assistant.
SLOANE
No sir
SLOANE
That’s totally incorrect
B*UDREAUX
Is Mr. Sayer your boss?
SLOANE
That’s a impersonated phone call
SLOANE
I don’t have a boss
SLOANE
I am at the head of the table
SLOANE
You need to get in touch with me sir
SLOANE
Use a worker phone and contact me please
B*UDREAUX
I called 500-566-4724
SLOANE
Ok
SLOANE
How can you call me?
B*UDREAUX
I’ve tried calling you a bunch of times
SLOANE
Ok
SLOANE
No other number
I could give you my security guy’s number but I think he is still in Haiti.
SLOANE
Ok
SLOANE
So no body else num?
SLOANE
are you able to purchase a cheap phone
B*UDREAUX
The number in Haiti is 509 37 35 2546. Ask for Mr. Keitel.
SLOANE
Ok
SLOANE
I won’t be able to speak to him because he is not the winner.
SLOANE
How can you pay the necessary miscellaneous charges?
SLOANE
Cause I need to come and make your presentation to you
B*UDREAUX
What are the charges and who do I pay them to?
SLOANE
The certified public accountant
SLOANE
It will be calculated
SLOANE
But sir please to purchase a cheap phone please
B*UDREAUX
Then calculate it. How much and where do I send it?
B*UDREAUX
They took the pay phone out of the general store a long time ago. I don’t think the hardware store sells them. There’s a new Family Dollar store way down yonder in Naturita. I don’t know if they sell them or not.
SLOANE
Ok sir will do with the accountant
SLOANE
Please to to in town and get a cheap phone sir.
SLOANE
You can go to any of the phone store in town
SLOANE
Your payment would be done by cash?
B*UDREAUX
I’ve got gold if that would be easier
SLOANE
No sir
SLOANE
are you going to buy the phone?
B*UDREAUX
Why should I get a new phone. Mine works just fine.
SLOANE
Not hearing
SLOANE
The payment was calculated
SLOANE
The total is 56,500.00
SLOANE
Covers FDIC and state fee
B*UDREAUX
If you are coming out to the farm I will have it ready for you.
SLOANE
I know you are joking with company policy
B*UDREAUX
Which policy is that?
B*UDREAUX
I talked to Mr. Bormann again and he could send you out to the farm a couple of days before the presentation. My daughter Victoria really wants to fly to New York.
SLOANE
Sir I really don’t understand what you are doing
SLOANE
You are basically telling me how to run our company
B*UDREAUX
Well, that’s what Mr. Bormann told me.
SLOANE
Sir you even speaking to other agents which is strictly prohibited
SLOANE
Get a phone and call me
B*UDREAUX
Good news. Mr. Martin Bormann is going to take care of everything. He said you were too busy giving out prizes for this week’s winners. He will be flying out to San Pendejo next week to collect the taxes and fees and give Victoria and Aunt Josephine their airplane tickets to go to New York and collect the prize. He will have to charter a private plane because the only paved runway at the Nucla Hopkins airport is only 5210 feet long. I was worried that Victoria might have trouble getting on a plane because the only ID she has is her birth certificate. Mr. Bormann said not to worry because he is going to charter a private flight for them. Victoria is really excited about going to New York City.
Thanks for all your help with this and have a great day.
C. J. B*UDREAUX
p.s. I still think you need to get a new phone.
SLOANE
Sir are you crazy?
SLOANE
You playing games
B*UDREAUX
I played the Publishers Clearinghouse and won over 5 million!
SLOANE
Ok
SLOANE
My phone is ok
SLOANE
You are the one playing games
No way am I going to read that whole post.
You have way too much free time…
This is a nice hook.
Disagree. Scam baiting is a legitimate hobby. I trust Ynnad knows about 419eater and other forums.
“No way am I going to read that whole post.”
Heh:
I’m curious about a good way to bait pig butchers. Organized crime typically recruits them from foreign countries (eg India) on false pretenses, takes their papers, then sets them up in a compound in eg Cambodia. The frontline workers have training, motivation to earn enough money to pay off their debts to organized crime, and I presume some resentment towards their bosses. And of course I trust some workers are recruited more directly.The John Oliver vid was entertaining, but this Trend Micro report provides greater detail: it’s a multiple step process.
They make heavy use of group chat, which both increases credibility and allows the perps to cast a wider net. They prefer targeting longstanding numbers, avoiding burner phone numbers. That’s understandable as one baiter could potentially reach out to vics with a separate phone number. Vics will sometimes buy crypto at a legitimate crypto brokerage (if you want to call it that) then at some point transfer cryptocurrencies to wallets controlled by the scammers. Pressure of various sorts (eg “friendly reminder”) is applied by a secretary character, an assistant to a character encountered in group chat.
The harm profile has evolved:
BEC is business email compromise. Tech support is high, but Investment is highest. Advanced fee and ransomware are lower than I thought. Lotteries are close to advanced fee. All numbers are underestimates, but the relative values are interesting.
Demographics. The group with the highest losses is 60+, but the other groups combined are substantially larger. In terms of numbers of reported vics, the 30-39 group is highest, but isn’t that different from other middle aged and the elderly group.
The 2 charts link to my Mastodon account, but they are from this 2022 FBI report:
I love stuff like this.
Not only do I have the free time, I took notes.
The “Oh, you’re gonna get the money! You’re so close, don’t give up” message was just strong enough for the scammer to put up with the endless annoyance. Perfect formula. Well done.
Doubly satisfying is that you’re turning the scammer’s method on them and they don’t realize it.
Yes! Exactly…
< Musical Interlude >
Article about Cambodian slave compounds, using foreign workers enticed with fake job offers to run betting and investment scams:
Other countries include Myanmar, Laos, and Indonesia. Thailand is a trafficking hub, where the job offers often originate.
“many of the victims are well-educated, sometimes coming from professional jobs or with graduate or even postgraduate degrees, computer-literate and multi-lingual” and are being recruited by traffickers “under the pretence of offering them real jobs.”
Many come from other Southeast Asian countries, but there are also many victims from China, South Asia, East Africa and the Middle East, it says. They often arrive in one country, such as Thailand, expecting to work there, but are then surreptitiously ferried into a second country, such as Myanmar or Cambodia, where their passports are taken.
There, the U.N. says, they are kept under the watch of armed guards and forced to work in industrial-scale online scam operations, using elaborate scripts – and posing as romantic flames or investors – to trick people in wealthy countries to send money back to their captors via trusted cryptocurrency platforms like Binance or Coinbase.
John Oliver just did a segment on this:
https://youtu.be/pLPpl2ISKTg
I read the whole post and enjoyed it. But then, I’m retired, I have time.
I thought Mr. Todd Sloan from Publishers Clearinghouse had given up on me but he called me again today from a different number. I told him Mr. Martin Bormann would be coming by the farm this week to pick up the $56,500 for the fees and taxes. He said Mr. Bormann doesn’t work for Publishers Clearinghouse and wanted to know how I contacted him. I said I called Publishers Clearinghouse and gave him the actual Publishers Clearinghouse toll-free number. Mr. Sloan said that is a scam number and I cannot believe anything I see on the Internet. (I think he may be right about not believing anything I see on the Internet.)
Anyway, he is going to call me tomorrow morning with instructions on how to mail the cash to him. Any suggestions on what I should do tommorow?
You are a marijuana grower. Growing marijuana is legal in your state, but is still against federal laws. It might be pretty risky for a “drug” dealer to mail money through the USPS. It is possible that the money might be confiscated under RICO laws if you take that chance. That’s why Mr. Bormann is willing to pick the money up personally.
I already told Mr. Sloan that I don’t like sending cash in the mail. He said not to worry; it would be insured. I told him there’s no way the Post Office would insure anything like that. I offered him the services of my private courier service but he didn’t bite.
Darn. I’ll keep thinking 
Maybe you will send him the money, but OH NOES!!! It got lost in the mail?