The Tale of Sophia Lin

Since the advent of the Internet there have been a panoply (I intend to overuse this word until I have successfully made it part of the regular vernacular of the peasantry, much the way my daughter engineered the popularity of the word Cheugy) of Internet scammers.

With way too much time on my hands, I have made it a regular habit to scam the scammers. It's officially known as scambaiting and while some collect Tiki Mugs, rebuild old cars, or trim tiny little bonsai trees, scambaiting is a hobby of mine.

Who can forget Tuesdays with Mantu, My Adventures with a Nigerian Con Artist?

Or my many escapades with Illuminati -- Just pop Illuminati in the blog search button for all those entries?

And one of my prouder moments when I was tried to gain membership at the Doral Country Club and Golf Course, an esteemed Trump property in South Florida? Or is it esteamed?

Lately there's been a rash of postings on my Facebook page, maybe yours as well, to the effect of: " I really like what you post and want to know you better. Can you send me a friend request?" 

These are clear fraudsters and way to tempting to pass up, as they usually come from very attractive young women and are targeted to old men like myself. BTW, Deb never had a problem with my flirtatious correspondence and would often joke: 

"How many times do I have to tell you Rich, if you can find another woman on this Earth to put up with you, she's more than welcome :)."

So when Sophia Lin came knocking, I knocked back. I didn't send her a friend request. I didn't have to. She she sent me a private DM.

Plus, I'm a friendly guy. I like making new friends.

Sophia preferred to talk privately as some of my FB friends were making derogatory remarks about this obvious scammer.

How slick of me to pivot on people with evil internet intentions? I'm pretty wonderful aren't I?

Sensing she's got a live one on the hook, Sophia, unsolicited, begins to add chum to the water with miniskirt pictures. Who doesn't love miniskirt pictures?

Then for reasons unknown -- I suspect she has another victim on the line -- she starts speaking to me in Dutch. 

Then she tells me she's been divorced for a year. But her profile says "she's" been divorced since 2018. Gotta keep your story and your languages straight Sophia.

Time to start cranking up the fiction on my end.

Did I freely borrow from Seinfeld? Yes, yes I did.

I told you I was wonderful. Also the move to What's App is another scammer telltale. What's App is encrypted so there would be no trace of "her" fraudulent activity.

Sophia puts more bait out there, because why not?

What's App? Is that what it's called?

I let a day or two go by. I do have other things in life that need attending to. But Sophia is persistent and determined to get at some of my money.

I wasn't about to give her my cell phone number which is required on What'sFap...er, What'sApp. 

Then I come clean and turn the table on young "Sophia" by asking her for the exact same thing these scammers ask of their intended victim -- A Google Play Card.

The student has now become the teacher.

It took her a while but she did get to know me. 

And with that I had the very satisfying last word.

I know it's all very juvenile, but there's a 99% chance I was dealing with a Gamer teenage boy who pilfered some pictures from some young lady's instagram and thought he could score some easy Gaming credit. 

If there's one thing I've learned in all my years in advertising, you gotta speak the same language as your market.