Gold-diggers manual

Talk about the art of gold-digging. Those scam farms have it down pat.

Reuters just published an interesting analysis on the anatomy of a love scam. And for those amongst us who pine for love, reading this summary (complete with snazzy graphics) might be a good precautionary tool, so we can avoid being sucked into a bad romance. Or, alternatively, this might be useful for hooking someone who hasn’t given you the time of day. That blue passport might just be within reach!

Manuals found in Alice Guo’s scam farms were reviewed by Reuters, and the experts say they employed “complex manipulation techniques.” Don’t we just love being manipulated. Those manuals outlined a step by step program to make someone fall in love with the scammer within seven days.

As we know, after the victim falls in love, the victim is “butchered”, and tricked into sending over cash. Previously, it was just mobile phone loads that scammers would try to capture. Now, the sophistication levels have reached crypto-highs.

These tricks include pretending to be a Taurus, because supposedly, that astrological sign is the most compatible with the other signs (newsflash, I’m an Aquarian, and we’re better). The scammer should have sports like swimming and climbing, and hobbies like cooking, reading and traveling (note to self, enroll in cooking school.) The scammer should have a house and a car (perhaps, to project stability).

After contact on the first day, there must quickly come a phone call to establish emotional connections. But that means analyzing the demographic of the target. And sorry to say, middle-aged women are hooked, according to the manual, by “chatting with them about the trivial matters in life.”

Why is that? Because these women are identified as having the highest burdens in life, with husbands who don’t listen, and children who might be too young to care. So what must the scammer do? Provide a listening ear, and be the understanding shoulder to lean on.

If the woman sounds like a cold-hearted babe, then the scammer must tease the woman. Those jokes will warm her up. The next psychological trick? “Undermine them slightly and then sweet-talk them afterward.” Ah, the classic tactic to crash defenses. Attack, and then charm.

Is the target conservative? Does she have traditional values? Ah, then the scammer must propose exciting paths forward. She must be shown a way to escape from the drudgeries of daily life. The romance must offer that escape, which escape depends on the victim’s background (another decision tree).

If the target seems to come from a spoiled background with rich parents, then perhaps, mimic the parents. Give only intermittent attention to the target, and the target will be the one to come seeking for more attention.

If the target came from a rougher background, who might then be insecure and lacking confidence, then of course, the scammer should come across as bringing forth clarity. There will be clear, structured directions, and this will make the target more malleable. There should be praise, and there should be encouragement, all those emotional connectors the target might not have had when she was growing up.

Of course, the victim must be assessed whether she has had plenty of romantic experience or not. If she hasn’t a lot of experience, then she must be thirsty. So the manual says there must be lots of fantasies about a future relationship dangled before the victim.

But if she has had her fair share of romantic entanglements, then the manual cautions the scammer to avoid being needy. Let the victim be the one to seek out the romance. But use lots of compliments and flirty language every day! There must be daily greetings to show care - and very important, give the targets “small tasks to do, so that they begin to take instructions.”

Aha! That is why I have been miserably failing to hook my targets. I don’t give them small tasks. I should make them fetch me from the airport, buy me flowers, and pick up my laundry. That way, they fall into the psychological trap of being happy to serve me.

Target, watch out!