That's SO Unfair! Scammers Often Become Whiny Complainers When You Turn the Tables on Them...
There's no doubt that the world is full of less-than-scrupulous people who'll do whatever they can to take advantage of others... or to exploit situations for personal gain in such a way others come out on the short end of the stick.
Dishing it Out... but Not Taking it Back...
My experience-- going all the way back to dealing with bullies in school-- is that people who engage in dodgy behavior and practices live in a strange one-way reality. I have watched it unfold in so many places; I've even seen a few shenanigans here on Steemit.
White Wagtail, complaining
Often these characters seem like quite pleasant and charming people; sometimes they are even quite supportive of the very communities or groups they are trying to scam... building up a layer of trust.
In the beginning, they just do "little things" that exploit people... and their actions can almost always be turned around to point back at the victims: "Well, if only he had paid attention, nothing would have gone wrong!" When that fails slightly more "aggressive" rationalizations might ensue-- essentially a variation of "blaming the victim."
"Typo Squatters" are a good example. They create web sites or user names that "look like" those of very popular sites/venues/users... designed to catch the people who accidentally miss a character or don't know how to spell something.
Of course, the typo squatter will insist they are "doing nothing wrong" because they aren't actively misdirecting, nor trying to actively defraud anyone.
But if you "aren't trying to defraud," why choose a name that's "almost like" something well known?
And then the Whining Begins!
However, if you call them on their misdeeds, they immediately start whining endlessly about how they are "good people" they are being "misunderstood."
Big Sur, California
"So you created a web site that is one letter off from this other really famous web site and there's nothing illicit about that? You could have had thousands of other less misleading names!"
"I'm not doing anything wrong. I'm not competing with them!"
"But you installed an automatic spyware download when anyone lands on your site!"
"It's a web surfing toolbar. It's USEful!"
"But it traps people and they have to look at an endless cycle of ads!"
"You're being really unfair, I'm just trying to make a LIVING, like everyone else!"
And so it goes.
Where I End up with Questions
Exotic hydrangea in bloom
What I often find quite strange-- on a more personal level-- is that a lot of "shady" people are willing to put a lot of work into creating a scheme to cheat and defraud... sometimes more work than they would need to put in to get the same results from an honest profession.
It's baffling, because at that point we no longer have an "effort issue" (as in "taking the easy way out by cheating") we have an "ethics issue" in which some individuals evidently find it more attractive/appealing to "take advantage of others" than to simply "earn income."
I have only had a few in-depth conversations on the deeper motivations of such behavior... but it almost seems similar to the philosophy of some mountain climbers... the "fraud" happens not for rewards, but as a challenge... "because they can." That has been especially true for a couple of hackers I have known, somewhat well.
And the challenge to "just do something" seems to supercede all concern for any human "collateral damage" that may result from their actions... in fact, a common thread seems to be a lack of empathy... people are just "tools" or "meat."
What do YOU think? Have you known any "petty scamsters" who turned whiny when called on their shenanigans? How do you feel about such conduct? Do you think "deceptive" practices are ever harmless? Leave a comment-- share your experiences and feedback-- be part of the conversation!
(As usual, all text and images by the author, unless otherwise credited. This is original content, created expressly for Steemit)
Published 20170716 15:06 PDT
I lost around $300 to a high profile scammer just last month. The scammer built up my trust by offering "free" weekly webinars which were really just confidence building sessions designed to help us "lose our fear" and put money into some crazy programs like Gladiacoin, BetRobot, JetCoin and several other "Coin" scams. The guy doing this is a millionaire who does a good job of building up your trust, taking your money, and then blaming you for not following his instructions to the letter. I learned the hard way with that guy. No more!
There was a very high profile "Hollywood type" scam operation-- BIG money-- that tried to set up shop on Steemit a couple of months ago... complete with lots of "shill accounts" to support their hype. I'm pleased to say that the community turned on them "en-masse" and flagged all of them into oblivion.
Of course, their departing words were what we always hear... "Clearly Steemit is too small and closed-minded to recognize the greatness of what we have to offer! You have NO idea what a great opportunity you're missing out on!"
Edited to add: Sorry you got taken in by such a low life!
Live and learn. The cost of continuing education in life as far as I can see. :-)
Nice positive approach! Not sure I'd be that charitable... but well done!
I just don't want to make a habit out of it. Getting scammed that is!
I've seen some once in a while still. They like to show up in trading blogs. I do best I can to report them and then the community comes out and nails them into the ground! I'm at least glade there are a few willing to go after scammers that just cant earn a honest living.
It does seem that wherever an opportunity presents itself, there are always those who crawl out of the woodwork to find ways to use illicit activity to exploit that opportunity.
Looks like a possible pump and dump at least the "pumping part. what you think ofjaskskull's comment?
https://steemit.com/steem/@melowd/i-need-advice-from-my-fellow-steemians-help#@jaskskull/re-mikenice-re-jaskskull-re-melowd-i-need-advice-from-my-fellow-steemians-help-20170714t150958494z
You got be really careful of the “pump and dumps” boiler rooms. I’ve reported a few I have found here on Steemit. Its also can be illegal depending on what country you are in.
I noticed a group on Discord and was surprised to see such a group operating within the various halls of Steemit. Quite the scam attracting greedy people to make money through market manipulation. And I understand that only the organizers make profit on this illegal activity while their underlings get screwed. Sad what some people will do for money without even thinking of what it does to their reputation and the harm it does to the wider Crypto community.
@denmarkguy
Is this what you got scammed by? Looks like another pump and dump.
https://steemit.com/steem/@melowd/i-need-advice-from-my-fellow-steemians-help#@jaskskull/re-mikenice-re-jaskskull-re-melowd-i-need-advice-from-my-fellow-steemians-help-20170714t150958494z
No, nothing like that @enjar... although that also looks like pretty scammy activity. I've gotten to be extremely cynical about "amazing offers." Usually, they are all hot air.
SO you don't want cheap swamp land in Florida! ah darn!!!!! :)
I'm sure I've known a few, but what sticks out in the article for me is probably the only kind of people I'm not a fan of- those with a victim mentality that are constantly pointing their fingers.
The sad thing about it, is if they started taking personal responsibility for their own actions, circumstances, etc. they would feel so much better about themselves and life in general.
Really enjoying your posts!
Thank you @dreemit!
I do find it ironic... and slightly disgusting when victimizers portray themselves as "victims" when people call them on their BS.
Alas, that's where the wheels fall off the (usually) Libertarian and Anarchist Freedom Cart. It would all work beautifully if the ideologies were just applied to the "top 10%" educated, intellectual, accountable, moral, ethical slice of the population. But-- alas-- that's not what makes up the broader population.
I think this plays into what I love about this platform so much. And maybe it's just who I attract, but I've never been around as many intellectual, accountable, enlightened people in my life :)
And that pretty much also sums up why I have abandoned Farcebook... about 90%.
lol, yeah how many times has that been used to justify doing something...
Some think all is fair in the process of making money. If it's not against the legal system, then it's allowed. If other people are doing something to make money, then they will do it too.
I remember many years ago I found myself talking to a former IRS tax collections agent. He made the interesting point that the IRS invites taxpayers to use any and all rules-- and combination of rules-- in the Internal Revenue code to avoid paying taxes. Tax avoidance is legal; tax evasion is not.
It was an interesting-- and quite unexpected-- insight into the greater "game theory" nature of money.
Some people "rape" the Steemit rewards pool because there's nothing in the "Steemit Code" that disallows them from doing so.
We can discuss ethics, morals, values and "right action" till we're blue in the face... but it ultimately only amounts to so much intellectual masturbation. People will "do what they do" unless there are controls in place that renders such "doing" unviable... be they through hard coding, or a pressure from a form of majority "mob rule."
If it's simply "people will do what they do", why don't I do it as well? The real -- yet hardest -- solution is for education: to learn how to think and learn so that one can know right from wrong and not have to be told or controlled to prevent from doing wrong. Not all behavior can be coded for specifically on the blockchain. It's not like a normal site database. I think removing the ability to self-vote completely would help or only allowing on posts.
And why don't I do it, as well. Along with a bunch of other people who place morals and ethics ahead of personal gain.
We've touched on this before... many ideologies are beautiful and would make for an amazing world IF there was a majority who believed in "right action" and basic "do no harm" and so on... but such large numbers just want "the easy out."
I have no profound solutions or suggestions... all we can do is set an example and not back down from what we believe to be right speech and right action.
Indeed. I wasn't always like this, is my point I guess. I became better. Information was put out that I took in. If more and more people do that, more and more exposure is applied to certain topics that people should think and learn about. Then that progresses to changing minds :)
@denmarkguy looks like the latest term to describe these kind of people is "antisocial personality disorder".
Source
And you're right, a rational person simply doesn't get why someone would go to such lengths. But, if you don't understand it, that's probably a good sign of your not being one.
Indeed... there are a lot of emotionally and psychologically damaged people in the world. And quite often we find ourselves having to deal with and interact with them on a daily basis...
Oddly, I think the ratio here is much lower for some reason. I've had mostly good interactions.
On the whole I'd agree... Steemit also seems quite a bit above average (broadly speaking) in terms of education and world awareness.
Interesting article, friend.
It reminds me of a favorite read when I was a kid...
The general story line was that Danny and friends programmed a computer to do their homework for them... Of course, it turned out that was far more work than simply doing the homework themselves! ;)
😄😇😄
![@creatr](https://steemitimages.com/DQmWvzuqZ51DoiSjXXf8bukb7JeeVV1eAJJhGBkDiYc8ajj/creatr_ap.gif)
During my years in IT, I would run into that mindset quite often among developers who also fancied themselves hackers. They'd spend hours and hours developing a hack to bypass some system... that they could just have worked through in 1/4 of the time.
The answer-- when I would point this out to them-- was inevitably "You're missing the POINT!"
Well, what IS the point?
To create a shortcut so you don't have to follow the system rules.
But why would I want to spend 4x more time doing that?
::: eyeroll :::
Sometimes the exercise and the joy is just in the fun of developing a workaround, no matter how difficult! I guess we are all quite rebellious at some level. ;)
Deception is a form of lying.
Indeed @susieisms-- and especially true of "deception by omission" and basically providing incomplete information about something.
the best way to lie, is to tell the truth, just not all of it.
Yes they can do it and they can earn from it, but at the end of the day on bed time they know that they are nothing without lies and there are no money that can bring you away from it!
I'd like to think you are right @rapdenny, but often it seems more like they are busy congratulating themselves on how "clever" they are.
Doing money in an honest way is always hard and even frustrating if you look at those kind of subjects but you know you're doing it in the right way and trust me they know they're do it gambling!
Obviously they don't go in jail then they continue, but at the end is a personal choice.
Lie or not.
Be real or fake.
Well, at least I know that I "came by mine" according to a set of personal life rules that includes "do no harm to others."
I noticed this pattern especially on Steemit :D
I remember there was an incident that someone tries to send 900 steem to bittrex but he typed the wrong username. He typed bitrex instead of bittrex. He contacted the account owner but, the owner said that account belongs his friend so he could not give back that steem. I feel so sad because he come from an africa country, and he said 900 steem equal 9 months salary. :)
I remember several incidents like that... and the owner of the account started "crying and complaining" when asked WHY he would start an account so close to the real bittrex.
Yes... and we do have a few "name squatters" here, as well a people who run very low level "deceptions" in the guise of providing "services" to members.
Yeah you can't be more right man I can't vividly remember any experience about it but I'm sure I bumped to like thousands of them
Well, if you call them on their trickery, they generally turn into a pile of excuses and rationalizations.