About Me

My photo
Author of queer, wry sci fi/fantasy books. On Amazon.
Editor of all fiction genres.

Wednesday 12 June 2019

Totally True Stories: Sugar Scams, Part 13

Welcome back to another ridiculous installment in my deep dive series!

I've been focusing more on findom, but I haven't posted enough of my conversations with sugar daddies. More examples of their scamming techniques need to be exposed.

Today, I want to include some conversation screenshots from the more "invested" scammers who really tried to grind hard. Points for trying, I guess - but the way they really try to use relationship-building techniques is pretty insidious.

I've written about social engineering (the IT-dork's term for pretending that the "soft sciences" like psychology are totally just another kind of algorithm) and how sugar scammers try to build trust with their targets, but have a look at how it plays out in action.

In findom, a lot of the more experienced dommes would sneer at girls for falling for the sugar scam bait. "How could anyone be that stupid?" people often bluntly wonder. Setting aside the spurious and tricky debate about ableism in language and how much avoiding particular words can deal with an idea baked into English-speaking language and culture, it's not a matter of foolishness or bad judgement. It's because scammers use conversational techniques and tactics that are designed to build sympathy, empathy, guilt, and fear - as well as affection.

If it was just as simple as, "hey babe, I'll give you money," every scammer would be able to quit their grind. And certainly, a lot of them do just use those lines, but they also build in praise, affection, and a personal component.













You might notice some serious overlap in their storylines, just as I mentioned in previous posts. They tend to use concrete and familiar sources of "wealth" as their excuses - vague expertise in "business", gold-mining, and sometimes, cryptocurrency.









Disappointingly, this next scammer was not, in fact, a genetically modified monstrosity accompanied by tiny, demonic little girls engineered to suck the ADAM out of splice-happy undersea city residents. 

He started off talking about his business career and asking for a payroll arrangement - something less common among the scammers, but still used occasionally. It was new, so I was willing to give it a shot.












Some of them, of course, will try to make you feel bad about even asking them for some sort of verification. The reverse psychology of pretending you're the scammer who needs to prove themselves seems far more persuasive - and it's a technique that business people have been using to make sales since the eighties. Of course, when scammers use it, it's far more dangerous.











And finally, if anyone feels like actually gracing my account with a tip after reading this series, here is my real Paypal.me and my Ko-fi.

***
Michelle Browne is a sci fi/fantasy writer and editor. She lives in Lethbridge, AB with her partner-in-crime and Max the cat. Her days revolve around freelance editing, knitting, jewelry, and learning too much. She is currently working on other people's manuscripts, the next books in her series, and drinking as much tea as humanly possible.

Find her all over the internet: * 
OG Blog * Mailing list * Magpie Editing * 
Amazon * Medium * Twitter * Instagram * Facebook * Tumblr * Paypal.me * Ko-fi

No comments:

Post a Comment

As always, be excellent unto others, and don't be a dick.

Google+