The Funniest Scammers I’ve Encountered

I have spoken about scammers in the past before, and I wanted to address the issue again, but this time in a much more humorous light. Bots and scammers are on social media sites like Facebook and Instagram in plague proportions. It can be a bit discouraging and draining to have to sift through all their falsified interactions and promises of buying all your stock – only to have bad intentions. But if you’re anything like me, sometimes it’s fun to lead them on for a bit.

Most of the time, I get a string of the same sorts of responses, especially since a large portion of scammers run on a specific script. However, amidst the sea of mediocracy and blandness, I have captured a handful of entertaining moments.

So, I invite you to join me in a rebellion of laughter against scammers, and enjoy some of the absurd conversations I have found myself having.

1. Caught in the Act. It was a regular day at the Blakes Crossing Market in 2024, and just after setting up and posting, I had received my first message of the day from a scammer. As usual, I thought I would string them along when I wasn’t speaking with customers. I think it’s only fair to get their hopes up when their only intentions are to scam others.

The image I sent to the scammer.

That was when I was approached by one of the Blakes Crossing Market organisers, the wonderful Jess from Dell Artistry. She mentioned that she had a scammer on the line after promoting one of the stalls at the market. And it turns out, we had the same one!

I took a picture of her phone screen and sent it through to the scammer on my end, suggesting that we could post what they were interested in with the shirt, considering that they were talking to another stall holder at the same time. It is safe to say, the conversation didn’t go much further after that.

2. A Crappy Request. This was a short and sweet conversation I had with a scammer. They were interested in our shawls, more specifically in buying them in bulk (a service we do NOT offer as a small business when each shawl is handmade and takes over 24 hours to create).

We do not sell shawls in bulk, and we do not ship our shit either!

Despite being rejected, they still tried to continue on with the scam, asking where exactly we were located. And then they asked a question we had never received before:

“Can you shit to US?”

It was most definitely autocorrect or a slip of the hand, but I couldn’t resist going along with it. I told them I wasn’t allowed to post fecal matter to the United States, and unsurprisingly, I didn’t hear anything more from them. But I still chuckle every time I think of this conversation.

3. Break a leg, scammer! Last but not least was a conversation that I had with Василка Андреева, translated from Russian as Vasilka Andreeva. They were interested in a crochet snake and we went through all of the traditional avenues discussing our locations and the shipping price.

They gave me an international address. When you type it into search engines, it takes you to “Randall Motors Inc.”, a Cadillac dealer in San Angelo, Texas. I palmed it off, saying that we couldn’t post internationally and they mentioned that they conveniently had a sister that could come and collect their purchase.

A consistent start to the scam, only for an interesting twist of dedication to come.

The conversation continued and we began discussing payment for the snake. They were insistent on using PayPal or Venmo, while I was keen on cash-only. We continued back and forth for a while, beyond what these screenshots show, until they sent me a picture that they must have thought would change my mind.

For some reason, they cannot come to pick it up because they have a broken leg (never mind that they are allegedly in Texas). Additionally, they cannot give their sister money, but they trust her to post it to them. Talk about things that don’t make sense.

It was safe to say that Vasilka didn’t get their crochet snake, but I do hope that they made a smooth recovery with their broken leg! Those are three of the funniest scammer interactions I have had so far, all of which end in disappointment for one party – and it certainly wasn’t Accessories by Antoinette. The internet is a sea of scammers, especially as a small business trying to make a living, but that doesn’t mean you can’t waste their time (while keeping yourself safe, of course).

Have you had any funny conversations with scammers? Or do you prefer to block and delete right away? I would love to hear your own experiences!

Kimberley (they/them)

Accessories by Antoinette