Building a Scam: Crafting Deception in Crypto (Part 2)

Scams often evolve organically, expanding to fill any space that might offer rewards for the scammers. Camouflaged by authentic versions, these fraudulent propositions borrow legitimacy simply by dressing like whatever they wish to emulate.

For investors or gamblers in the crypto space, opportunities definitely exist, and while caution is commonplace, true risk necessarily comes before big profits (or losses).

So con artists design con games to push people into a familiar corner that forces them to make a decision based on false information.

In part one of ‘Building A Scam,’ we assessed our opportunities and found legitimate token releases to pattern our own and shape a scam that would bear the hallmarks of previous opportunities that potential investors might recognize.

Our goal is to:

• Create the illusion of a future release bearing the same apparent features and potential value as those that already exist.
• Profile potential victims to decide how to adapt or shape our story to attract and persuade that target audience.

Allow me to reiterate that we are talking in very broad strokes, theorizing from thirty thousand feet rather than diving into the dirt to make a real, functioning con game.

The actual details of a scam get complicated, especially in our world, since there are a million pathways through the crypto labyrinth. So please accept that we are discussing principles and not specific methods. 

Also – and this is important – notice that many of these steps can be found in entirely authentic deals where no deception is or was intended, and that’s one of the most frustrating aspects of trying to defend against scammers – they’re experts at emulating reality.

Now that we have our bogus product (patterned on the real McCoy) and have identified a pool of potential victims, we are going to employ the most powerful weapon in the con artist’s arsenal: 

The Story

Every scam is a story; from the biggest con games in history to a guy walking up to you in the street, the quality, timing, and delivery of that story will determine whether or not we hand over our cash.

Many years ago, a guy asked me for a few pounds because his bike had been stolen. It was late at night in central London, and here was this poor guy in skintight bicycle gear carrying a helmet, obviously in need of help.

So I handed him a few coins and forgot about it until two nights later when the same guy came up to me with the same story!

In my own defense, that story seemed perfectly believable since bicycle thefts were rampant in London, and his timing, his acting, and his costume all served to sucker me in.

When I challenged him on the second occasion, the scammer simply smiled, showing no fear or remorse, and simply approached another group, unconcerned that I might tell them he was a fake. 

So let’s make something up:

What does this story say?

• It says we are releasing a new token, which is far from unique but a potentially profitable investment under the right circumstances, and our story frames this opportunity as being similar to established, successful releases in the past. Most importantly, we know there is a market for this kind of investment from ‘airdrop hunters’ or inexperienced buyers new to investing or perhaps investors who recently lost out on an opportunity and may be more eager to take a chance if a deal looks ‘right’.
• It gives the proposal a distinct spin by connecting it to crypto gambling, which is an emerging and exciting space for players and investors, so it may bring multiple types of potential victims into our scam. In doing so, it also offers the promise of potential value by connecting our SCAM COIN to the online casino industry, allowing us to be secretive, claiming we can’t reveal which casinos are involved for ‘legal reasons’ while giving potential marks fertile ground to imagine the value of a cross-platform monetary device.
• It suggests we are connected to proven entities who have released genuine tokens in the past and afford us a certain amount of legitimacy, which we can nurture as we draw people deeper into our non-existent, phantom Scam Coin release.

Experienced players and investors might recognize some red flags, but by targeting the right marks or by calibrating our pitch, these elements most important building blocks going forward. And if used well, can convince almost anyone who fits our victim profile to either buy the token on day one or, if our scheme is a pure scam, identify and attract money even without a drop.*

Remember, in step one, we saw the potential in emulating a particular type of opportunity, and in step two, we identified the types of crypto investors we should target. Then we crafted the basic elements of a story to appeal to those particular marks, and with these foundations, we can build in any direction.

Often, scammers will tailor their story to fit each mark but only within certain boundaries that are essential to success, and the key to this is flexibility.

As you will see, the lack of firm details in our core story is essential to adapting that story to each potential mark.

To Sum Up

For now, understand how the story is at the heart of everything we do as players, investors, collectors, business partners, buyers, and producers – all built on some story or other that we tell ourselves or to others towards any desired outcome.

Con artists are expert storytellers, but to succeed, they need to pick the right genre, identify the best audience, and tell that story with skill and experience.

We’ll discuss how to play the con in part three. 

*This series is about creating a pure scam, but many new tokens begin with the best intentions – in a future article, we’ll discuss how we effectively get scammed without intent thanks to several aspects of human nature.