Introduction to a Scammer

An Introduction

Now that I have a general idea of the questions I’d like to ask a scammer I’ve got to come up with a good way to get one to talk to me. The first thing I have to decide is how to approach them. Once I’ve done that, the actual introduction should write itself. It’s likely I may actually want to have a few different approaches based on the type of scammer I’m going to contact.

The Approach

There are two main ideas I have in regards to approaching a scammer to interview. I call them “The Hard Approach” and “The Soft Approach.” Pretty original, eh? Basically, the difference boils down to how much I call the person out.

Obviously they’re scammers, right? So why should it matter? Well, I’m pretty sure a person will be more likely to open up if you’re being nice. So I guess I should lay some ground rules about each approach, or at least categorize what is one versus the other.

The Hard Approach

The biggest element of the hard approach is using terms like “scam” or “fraud.” It would be the most direct method to express what I want to know but I feel that it might not elicit the other party to engage. It is possible that for some of the more shady but less direct scams I would get them to open up to refute the accusations.

The Soft Approach

The main point of the soft approach is to keep the scammer’s guard down. Likely I’d use language to indicate empathy. I wouldn’t call out what they do as illegal or bad. I feel like this may actually be the harder of the two to write.

The Introduction

One issue with writing out introductions is the method I found the scammer. Did they email me? Did I stumble on them somehow? So instead of writing the full thing out, I’m going to lay out the basic idea with a bit to fill in based on their approach.

The Hard Approach

Hello sir/madam,
I’ve recently been interested to learn more about how online scams work. Having <received your email> in regards to <the 419 scam> I thought I’d take this opportunity to see if you’d be willing to take some time to answer a few questions I have.
Please email me back at <email address> if you’re available to talk. Thank you.

The Soft Approach

Hello sir/madam,
I’ve recently been interested to learn more about how online businesses work. Having <found your online shop> I had a few questions and was hoping you’d be willing to help.
Please email me back at <email address> if you’re available to talk. Thank you.

Parting Thoughts

As you can see, the proposed introductions are fairly similar. I’d likely decide on which to send based on how I came across the scammer. I always have the option to try both approaches on the same person. Nothing says I can’t use two different email accounts and send out each introduction at different times. It’s possible that over time I will also come up with new ways to approach scammers depending on the scam they’re trying to run.

Keep in mind, all of this is just in regards to trying to get a scammer to open up. It’s possible either approach will work in differing scenarios. These are real people I’m talking about; different people respond differently. One person may relish in his behavior while another might have no other option to survive.

As always, comments and suggestions are welcome. Please feel free to add anything you’d like in the comments below.