STEP 6: BROTHERS FOR LIFE
“My good BROTHER, please listen to me.”
“Dearest SISTER, how are you today?”
“My LOVE you should make the payment today.”
When dealing with a scammer, you will soon notice that they get intimate very quickly. They start calling you with very strong words like “brother” or “sister”. They may confess loving you already in their second email. They will share personal family photos and stories. And they will expect the same from you.
The scammer is aiming to separate you from your real friends, so he himself has to come across as the best friend you have ever had in order to compensate. And if you as much as even slightly seem to buy it, it won’t ever end. You are the scammer’s best friend and by constantly emphasizing it he is trying to make you believe that he is your best friend as well. And as any teacher would tell you, constant and consistent repetition is a vital tool for learning. In this case it is used in order to make your mind “learn” things you would at first doubt. Even if you are dealing with the scammer only to get the money he promises, the constant doubting becomes strenuous in the long run. When the scammer seems simply like a friendly person, the temptation to slowly give in grows stronger.
But imagine something like this happening in a bar or on a street. A complete stranger comes to you, hugs you, starts calling you his best friend and brother and tells you how much he loves you. It would be creepy beyond belief and you would likely call the police, wouldn’t you? You wouldn’t believe the delusion. Yet for some reason we are not as vary in the internet as we are in real life. Some of us may be lonely and look for friends online. Wouldn’t it be tempting to have a friend who admires and loves you without any reservations or need to get to know each other? Some may forget their doubts because of the web’s anonymity: having a pen pal from across the world seems like a harmless and fun hobby. Some may think it’s cute. Many scammers are from West Africa which isn’t a widely known cultural area in most of the Western world where the majority of victims come from. Some may think this is just the way they do it in the African cultures, and there are plenty of stereotypes to reinforce this image. Therefore they play along, enjoying the exotic feeling they wouldn’t get from their boring everyday environment.
The scammers will utilize every mean they can find to make you believe they are your soul mates, best friends, brothers, lovers and whatever it takes to make you trust and admire them completely. This is crucial for their mind game’s step 7, the one where you are made to do what you wouldn’t ever imagine yourself doing when reading this article: pay them.