Home Career & Education

Messing with Job Scammers (the thread formerly known as "Question for anybody over at Riot Games")

polycounter lvl 13
Offline / Send Message
GarageBay9 polycounter lvl 13
EDIT: This thread is now a chronology of me messing with people who try to run these job scams.

I normally wouldn't shotgun this out on a forum like this except there's a time element.  Short version: I got an unexpected (didn't send an app) interview offer sent from riotremotejobs@gmail.com (not complaining, mind you!), which pointed me to follow up via a Telegram conversation, which got me hustled into a scheduled interview-by-text tomorrow.  There's a couple things that seem a little out of place about the whole thing so far (I can provide details privately), but I can't figure out what they'd be getting from me if it was some sort of scam, so I figured I should double check that 2020 hasn't just broken my skepto-meter.

Feel free to PM me if you're more comfortable.

Replies

  • Brian "Panda" Choi
    Offline / Send Message
    Brian "Panda" Choi high dynamic range
    This isn't real, it's a scam.

    If you want to double check, reach out to a Riot Recruiter on LinkedIn.
  • GarageBay9
    Offline / Send Message
    GarageBay9 polycounter lvl 13
    Pretty much what I was suspecting, but figured I'd make sure.  I think I'll still see what kind of scam they're trying at... they certainly went to a lot of work.
  • Zi0
    Offline / Send Message
    Zi0 polycounter
    "interview-by-text" is this even a thing?
  • PixelMasher
    Offline / Send Message
    PixelMasher veteran polycounter
    if the email address isnt a company email address its a scam. every single studio out there aside from the smallest indies will have HR and leads reaching out via their company email, not gmail
  • Meloncov
    Offline / Send Message
    Meloncov greentooth
    if the email address isnt a company email address its a scam. every single studio out there aside from the smallest indies will have HR and leads reaching out via their company email, not gmail
    I'd add that it's possible that the first contact will be through a third party recruiter. But if you're not quckly put in touch with someone at the company (with the email to match), that's a huge red flag.
  • Ashervisalis
    Offline / Send Message
    Ashervisalis grand marshal polycounter
    Yeah, this is a scam going out. Got this email from 'segaremotejobs@gmail.com'. You don't need to pay too much attention to be able to figure out how dumb it sounds. $70 per hour, part time, proficient with pencil and paper. The whole thing was just ridiculous. I feel people new in the industry are easy targets, because getting an email from Sega, or Blizzard, or Riot would make any new game artist excited.

    ______________________________________________________________________

    Job Title: 3D/2D Environment Artist
    Location: 100% remote

    Sega is seeking a 3D/2D Environment Artist who can achieve a very high level of performance to take our game worlds to the next level. You’ll work closely with our concept, environment and design teams to create levels that are visually stunning. This position is available for full-time and freelance candidates, 20-40 hours a week.

    Duties may include:

    * Creating environmental background in gaming consoles.
    * Clearly communicates updates and properly escalate concerns to the appropriate team.
    * Conceptual designs, develop pipelines, technical parameters, and production goals.
    * Improvizing the existing environment with designing, characters, etc., for improving the game style.
    * Create environments that work aesthetically and represent concept work and artistic vision.
    * Determine the objects and layout compositions required and adjust the work according to the story and the gameplay.

    Experience/Skills:

    * Familiarity with video game product development.
    * A passion for making games.
    * Self-motivated, good communicator and a great team-player.
    * Strong understanding of how to create environments that support and enhance gameplay.
    * Proficient with pencil and paper, as well as digital pads with Photoshop and similar 2D software. Experience with Zbrush and other 3D programs is a plus.

    Benefits:

    * $70 per hour.
    * Generous time off.
    * Bonus pay.
    * Dental insurance.
    * Insurance benefits.
    * Flexible work schedule.

    Learn About The Company:

    Sega Corporation is a Japanese multinational video game developer and publisher headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. Its international branches, Sega of America and Sega Europe, are respectively headquartered in Irvine, California, and London.

    Sega of America, Inc. was established in 1986, primarily as a means to front the Sega Master System project after the success of Nintendo's Nintendo Entertainment System. 


    TO APPLY:
    Must be in USA or Canada.

    To be considered for this position, we viewed a copy of your portfolio on Artstation and we would like to have a brief chat with you through our HR Telegram page for the job interview, you can download Telegram app on your computer or smartphone from the app store, and message Martin Humpert the HR People's Manager on Telegram through his username (@seganorthamericajobs) to get started.
  • GarageBay9
    Offline / Send Message
    GarageBay9 polycounter lvl 13
    So I showed up anyway to see what kind of scam it was.  Answer: a very dumb one.

    Oh man, they got out past the end of their skis reaaaal quick, and I was mostly BSing since I haven't done any character rigging since art school...

    "PLEASE WE HAVE TO STOP THE INTERVIEW", lolz.  They didn't even get to a part where they tried to ask me for money or personal info before they had to ninja smoke pellet their way out.  Buncha shmucks.

    Should I show up tomorrow and see if they want to keep going? :D


  • sacboi
    Offline / Send Message
    sacboi high dynamic range
  • Spag_Eddy
  • GarageBay9
    Offline / Send Message
    GarageBay9 polycounter lvl 13
    Oh damn, they hit me up again, they're back for more!  Update incoming.
  • lluc21
    Offline / Send Message
    lluc21 polycounter lvl 5
    I still don't get what the scam is about lol. What are they trying to get from you?
  • PixelMasher
    Offline / Send Message
    PixelMasher veteran polycounter
    the whole having to go because of max applicants thing is probably to try and induce a feeling of scarcity to you, so today they will most likely come back with something like, due to the amount of applicants we need a deposit to secure your spot or some way of trying to extract money from you. maybe even saying something like congrats you are hired and we need a payment from you to process your hiring etc. 

    cant wait to see how this plays out haha. 
  • Taylor Brown
    Offline / Send Message
    Taylor Brown ngon master
    @PixelMasher i do agree that an odd, non company related email is a major red flag but it is also pretty simple to spoof email addresses from whatever sender you want.
  • GarageBay9
    Offline / Send Message
    GarageBay9 polycounter lvl 13
    the whole having to go because of max applicants thing is probably to try and induce a feeling of scarcity to you, so today they will most likely come back with something like, due to the amount of applicants we need a deposit to secure your spot or some way of trying to extract money from you. maybe even saying something like congrats you are hired and we need a payment from you to process your hiring etc. 

    cant wait to see how this plays out haha. 

    Today I strung them along the whole day "missing them" by just 20-30 minutes every time they asked if I was ready to continue, mostly because they pinged me at 5am my time and I went "oh helllllll no".  They're STILL trying to engage me, though.

    If I had to guess, they're not actually scamming about the job - they're going to try and charge for "exclusive training" or something.  That's when I'll fire the low orbit ion cannon.
  • Spag_Eddy
    Offline / Send Message
    Spag_Eddy greentooth
    So many twists and turns, my body can't handle this. 
  • Eric Chadwick
    I totally want to see what the end game is!
  • sacboi
    Offline / Send Message
    sacboi high dynamic range
    lol...this is totally precious, better than watching my favorite soap :D
  • Ashervisalis
    Offline / Send Message
    Ashervisalis grand marshal polycounter
    Imagine going for an in person interview and your interviewer cutting you off half way through and saying, 'can we continue tomorrow? I actually have like... so many applicants I gotta get through today.'

    At the end of the interview, you should just link them to this thread hahaha
  • GarageBay9
    Offline / Send Message
    GarageBay9 polycounter lvl 13
    Between the time when the oceans drank Atlantis, and the rise of the Games made with Decima, there was an age undreamed of.  And unto this, DERRICK STEVENS, destined to try and conduct a fake job interview and get posted all over the internet.  It is I alone, his chronicler, who can tell thee of his big oof.  Let me tell you of the days of high trolling! 

    <CUE MUSIC>




    Look, I'm not getting up at 5am to mess with a scammer.  8am, sure.  Not 5am.  This isn't 'Nam.  There are rules.  But, I finally reeled him back in:



    When in doubt, pretend you took Latin in high school.  Ignore the fact that this question is wildly out of place for a 3D artist interview.  But mostly pretend you took Latin.  Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum videtur.

    Now... we crank it up.



    No, my dad never fought in the jungle.  I have had dreams of flying, it comes with shipping multiple flight sims.  I have never touched the Quake editor.  Does any of this matter?  No it does not.  The show must go on.  Facts are irrelevant.  Especially to Derrick, who find this all perfectly believable and acceptable.



    Facts?  Where we're going, we don't need facts. 
    This is still 2001 and kinetix still makes 3dstudio, Paint Shop Pro is as good as Photoshop, Poser3D is useful for more than desperate patreon spongers churning out 3D pr0n, and Foxpro isn't a programming language that nobody cares about.  Why is there a radiotelescope array mentioned in that conversation?  Because I can, that's why.  ONWARD.

    My listening skills are so good.  Let me tell you about my listening skills.  At one point I listened in four languages.  One of them was Tolkienien Elvish.  I listened so hard that the game shipped with a perfect score (a zero, by the way, but hey, he didn't ask, did he?).  I listened so perfectly and flawlessly, when I mentioned it again, Derrick didn't even bat an eye.  In fact, Derrick, firstborn of Shmuck, bearer of the word "wut", could only reply with this:


    Damn right it does.

    This next part gets fun. -



    Did I work on an actual VR project of MCU Park?  Yes I did.  I did get access to some CAD data from the architect that worked on it, and it did help.  I paid... $0.00.  They were cool and sent me STP files, half of which crashed my workstation.  Turned out okay, even though we couldn't use alpha blends or decals anywhere because of overdraw issues and perf budget for our VR target specs.  Has it ever been torn down?  No.  Do I care?  Also no.  Does Derrick care?  I'm not sure Derrick cares about anything.


    ...honestly, the only part of this that is fictional is that my wife didn't speak Greek backwards.  The rest is actually 100% what happened during that VR project.  Sometimes the truth is the weirdest part.  Kind of the story of my life, actually.


    Yes, Derrick, I can do the job you asked me to interview for.  I already read this in the email you sent me from a gmail account instead of a Riot Games account.  Okay, I lied about Wilatuk causing power outages.  Not really it's style.


    Ahhhhh, here we go.  Here's the scam!  He's after bank account info.  Do I have a bank account?  I mean... maybe.  Trying to steal from it is going to be a pretty depressing surprise of wasted time right now.  If you have something but there's nothing there, do you still have it?  Perhaps we've gone too metaphysical for this conversation.  Regardless, Derrick ain't gettin' s*** from me.  Now, I have a good excuse to deny this - we really are locked down like a crab's butt right now - but I think as soon as that wasn't going to pan out at his speed, he threw the hook and gave up.


    ...and I never heard from him again.

    So we come to the end of our story, wherein I received a fake interview offer and wasted a week of the scammer's time, and lo! I did regale him with BS and half truths, and he did not notice nor care, and he got nothing for it.  And Greentooth spake, "that was dumb".

    Yes.  Yes he was.  Derrick, firstborn of Shmuck, bearer of the word "wut", waster of time and battle champion of terrible ideas, is an idiot.

    fin
  • neilberard
    Offline / Send Message
    neilberard polycounter lvl 17
    I was entertained by reading this thread, so he has that going for him.
  • Maned_Wolf
    Offline / Send Message
    Maned_Wolf polycounter lvl 3
    It was a good read. Kinda wish though that you explicitly told him by the end that you knew all along it was a scam and how bad of a job he did.
  • Ashervisalis
    Offline / Send Message
    Ashervisalis grand marshal polycounter
    I'm glad your father returned from the jungle wars.
  • Spag_Eddy
    Offline / Send Message
    Spag_Eddy greentooth
    Those god damn avalanches and wilatuks, though. 
  • GarageBay9
    Offline / Send Message
    GarageBay9 polycounter lvl 13
    It was a good read. Kinda wish though that you explicitly told him by the end that you knew all along it was a scam and how bad of a job he did.

    That was the original plan, but he pulled the eject handle real quick when I didn't have a bank account ready to give him that instant.

    I thought about giving him an old, closed one I have somewhere, but on the off chance he actually managed to do something problematic with it, I didn't want the hassle of untangling that mess.  And, the people at my credit union don't deserve that.  I know them, they're nice folks, it's a small community.  So he really needs to improve his scam banking practices and get with the blockchain.
  • Popol
    Offline / Send Message
    Popol interpolator
    That was hilarious, thanks for sharing!
  • GarageBay9
    Offline / Send Message
    GarageBay9 polycounter lvl 13
    Y'all want to go for another round?


  • GarageBay9
    Offline / Send Message
    GarageBay9 polycounter lvl 13
    Aw man, this is a short one.  They must have nuked their account or gotten banned before we got to have much fun with this one.  But... it wasn't for naught.  Jess Peterson, your flame was short lived, but we had so much fun together.  Let's all remember Jess and our brief time together.  Tonight, we are all a little bit Jess.  As in, we're all a little dumber because Jess is stealing our air.


    I swear to the Flying Spaghetti Monster my name isn't nearly that pretentious but it is absolutely that Irish.

    And we do absolutely have 3 feet of snow where I live right now, 45 minutes from Seattle in an area that is more known for rain than skiing, because if there's one rule in wasting scammer's time, it's that truth is always weirder than anything I can make up.  Okay?

    Yeah.


    That piece of concept art had it coming.  I regret nothing.

    Also, can we get a premium subscription feature here to fire rockets at us to enhance productivity?  I feel like that would really up my game while I'm using 30 year old command line renderers in my texturing workflow.  I did in fact stay up for 60 hours straight once with copious chemical augmentation (coffee for daaaays), there's a thread here about it from 12-13 years back or so.  The results sucked.  Don't do that.  I never did it again and my wife still reminds me it was a dumb idea.

    Long story short, I got greedy here and wanted to string Jess along a bit.  Then the snowbank in my backyard shifted and this became an actual thing:


    I signed off and never saw Jess again; when I got back online, the inXile scam account was gone.  Did Jess ever exist?  They were gone too soon to answer that question.  Maybe we all dreamed it.  Maybe somebody as dumb as Jess the job scammer can only exist in a collective online fever dream of overworked artists.  Maybe I have too much time on my hands.

    But all is not lost, because when I searched for the fake account, something else popped up instead, and the story continues...


  • GarageBay9
    Offline / Send Message
    GarageBay9 polycounter lvl 13
    Gather round, friends, this is a long one.

    It was the best of times.  It was the strangest of times.  It was the scammiest of times.  It was the time when I started wasting a scammer's time when I had never even gotten a scam attempt from them yet.  These were days of glory and confusion.  Mostly confusion.

    We shall start at the beginning.

    When I so tragically lost contact with our previous contestant, Jess Peterson, I spent all of 5 heart-wrrenching seconds searching for them on Telegram when I instead happened upon another scammer: Ellen Smith, who was most definitely not from Electronic Arts.  And so it began, this sordid affair...


    A simple opening.  Like a pawn making the first move on a chessboard.  What side had the advantage now?  Hell if I know, I was playing backgammon.


    Besides creating a sense of desperation on my end to make the scammer drool and drop their guard a bit, once again - like Sean Connery doing a bad Russian accent - we play our dangerous game.  And, again, the greatest tool in my arsenal is the truth.  I can wield it when the scammer least expects it, and they are NEVER ready for it.


    We did in fact have so much snow my wife got her dog sled out, and both our Siberian huskies ran themselves gleefully stupid.

    But back to Ellen.

    Yeah, the cost of living out here is nuts.  What she doesn't know is that Bigfoot and I have never been seen in the same place at the same time.  Shhh... it's a tax dodge.

    Oh hey, there's that too.  I suppose I need to sound credible.


    I have never "robbed" a bank in a former Soviet republic.  I have been sent a worthless check from one, though!  Shipping Russian flight sims is a... interesting experience.  Also my apologies to my animation team friends, I love you all, you're awesome people.  Please check the world files back into Perforce so I can get to them now, thanks.

    After that, I got a hearty:

    (sigh) Really, Ellen?  I'm giving this my all and I just feel like you're not contributing as much.  C'mon, WORK WITH ME HERE ELLEN.


    At this point, anybody else that remembers the era in the Seattle area during mid 90s when Airhead candy was basically a form of fiat currency for kids, can probably pin down how old I am, maybe what school I went to, and even my blood sugar levels.  I still hate Airheads to this day.

    Also, no, I won't work on smut.  Not for that little, anyway.  Please.  We're talking 10x normal rate at least.



    The normal maps expand consciousness.  The normal maps are vital to space travel.

    I had a classmate that actually experimented with hand-painting texture maps (literally gouache on printed UV maps) in art school.  It was hideously time consuming but it sure looked cool for the small chunk they got done before they abandoned the idea.

    I'm glad you approve, Ellen.  It makes me almost feel a little twinge of sympathy.   ...it's gone now.


    I had to jump off unexpectedly because I have a 5-year-old and 5-year-old things happened, so Ellen pushed the issue the next day and I got back to her when I damn well felt like it.
    We got hail and lightning but the roof was already in bad shape.  As far as Ellen knows, though, I am constantly beset by natural disasters, weather, and the past-trauma from hostile classmates.  She's not wrong... she's just an idiot.

    Here's where I tried something new, for variety's sake.  Let's see what we get...



    Oh crap, I think I spooked her.

    Soccer is boring.  Was FIFA 2015 even any good or was it just another roster update?  I've never played it.  I also won't play it anytime soon.

    Don't you skate on me yet, Ellen...  We're crafting a masterpiece, you and I.  And we are not done yet.  I'm not done yet, anyway.


    Note: this would make me approximately 2200 years old, since the Punic Wars were in approximately 180 BC (240ish to 160ish, they lasted a while).  While I never quite got to play the card, my plan was to lock her up by demanding she add "sergeant" the next time she said "yes", just to see how much I could yank her chain.  Because I seriously doubt she is actually she, or has human feelings.  This is a scammer we're dealing with, after all.  I'm pretty sure they divide asexually and consume radiation from old nuclear test sites.

    But no dice.  She just barreled ahead as if I wasn't there.  I'm feeling very ignored here, Ellen.  I want to talk to HR.

    Part of me wants to bust out that line in an actual job interview just to see their reaction.  Here was Ellen's: nothing.  She's a machine.  In fact I'm starting to wonder if they might actually be using some kind of chatbot system with a human supervising.  Nobody could have read half of this and been this stupid.  Except Ellen, the scammer.  Ellen has been this stupid.  So I stand corrected: one person has read this and is still this stupid.

    I've never even set foot in Umpqua, sorry Umpqua.  I only thought of it because I drive by one of their branches on the way home.

    Ah, here's the heart of the scam, and now I legitimately have to be careful - the fake check scam can blow things up pretty thoroughly even if you don't bite, if you aren't careful.  So it's time for me to either set the hook and fillet her, or pull the ejection handle.  The burning question: ...why not both?

    I'm acting committal here without actually agreeing to anything just to cover my ass.  And now the fish or cut bait moment: she has to agree to something I'm demanding.  Will her stupidity and greed override the obvious right in front of her?  Will the scammer take the bait?  WILL IT ALL CATCH FIRE AND END?  IS EVERYTHING RUINED FOREVER?!

    ...and just as quickly as it started, it was over.  She was gone.  I was alone, and nobody had called me sergeant.  I never got to tell her to send her check to an address that was actually the county sheriff's fraud division.  I never got to tell her how I really felt.

    Ellen [whose name is almost surely not actually Ellen], you're an idiot and I feel like I have indigestion after talking to you.  There, that's better.

    It ends.  Not with a bang, or a whimper, but a WTF.  Fitting, in a way.  It was brief, but... honestly, just brief.  It's probably for the best.

    Fare the well, probably-not-Ellen.  We will all remember you... just not the way you hoped.
  • rollin
    Offline / Send Message
    rollin polycounter
    It is so beautiful!
  • GarageBay9
    Offline / Send Message
    GarageBay9 polycounter lvl 13
    ALL THIS HAS HAPPENED BEFORE
    AND WILL HAPPEN AGAIN


  • rollin
    Offline / Send Message
    rollin polycounter
    You're a damn magnet dude
  • GarageBay9
    Offline / Send Message
    GarageBay9 polycounter lvl 13
    I bear this burden so that others may be free.
  • GarageBay9
    Offline / Send Message
    GarageBay9 polycounter lvl 13
    I'm trying something a little different for this one...
  • GarageBay9
    Offline / Send Message
    GarageBay9 polycounter lvl 13
    Oh, this one was good.

    Let's start at the beginning of the game.


    "OP comes out swinging on the first pitch with panic, violence, and only semi-plausable circumstances, Bob.  That's going to be hard to recover from."
    "No, I think I see what he's doing here, John, he's establishing a sense of extreme urgency and putting the attacker on their back foot by trying to pressure them more than they're pressuring him."
    "Well, as they say in that gif on the internet, 'a bold move, Cotton, let's see how it works out for him.' "


    "Oh wow, that almost went sideways right off the bat!  OP makes a desperate save to dial down the heat a bit and keep the scammer on the hook."
    "You're right, John, I don't think he'll try to hit them that hard with a reverse pressure power move right at the start again, that nearly blew up in his face.  His opponent probably didn't even see the totally legitimate part about remembering 16bpp color depth games.  Does anybody even do that anymore?"
    "It's all handled in drivers, Bob.  Everything's in drivers."
    "Ah, the days."
    "Put down the copy of Unreal Gold, Bob."


    "...oh, he's turning it back up, trying to gain the upper hand!  The implications of violence and tragedy might just be too much for this scammer if he doesn't let off the throttle a bit!"
    "I agree John, the risks he's taking are just stupid.  Who actually responds to anything like this, even on the internet?"
    "OP, obviously, Bob."
    "That may be so, be he's also crazy."
    "We'll leave that to the viewers at home to decide."
    "No, I just took a straw poll here in the booth, we're pretty sure he's crazy."


    "How much do you believe that story about him hitting people with a broomhandle, John?"
    "With this OP, Bob, it's impossible to say.  He's already shown that he lives a bizarre, sometimes surreal, almost incomprehensible day to day existence.  I mean, my God, in the last one of these he busted out a picture of a dog sled on his own front porch!  But actual physical violence?  I don't know - I'm gonna have to go with 'probably false', but I'm not putting any money down on it."
    "...and, yep, we're getting notice from the refs down in the thread that it was, indeed, totally BS.  He has never deliberately injured somebody in his life."
    "Well, let's see if he has this scammer fooled..."


    "OH MY GOD, DID YOU SEE THAT?!"
    "HE JUST WENT FOR THE KILLSHOT, JOHN!  HE LINKED THE SCAMMER DIRECTLY TO THIS THREAD!"
    "I can't believe it, that's NUTS this early in the duel!  What is he thinking?  Obviously this is it, the scammer's going to bail right here."


    "ARE.  YOU. KIDDING.  ME!?!?!"
    "He... must not have felt it!  He didn't click the link, maybe?"
    "That has to be, John, it's the only explanation that makes sense!  Wait, it looks like OP is winding up again for another coup de grace!"


    "Okay, folks at home, we were sure we were about to see OP blow the whole skit right out the window but it looks like he's toying with the scammer just a little bit longer.  We're not sure what his plan is here, but -"



    "THERE IT IS, BOB!  STRAIGHT TO THE SCAMMER PLEXUS!"
    "Oh no, is that blood down there, Bob?!"

    [...so Scammer here actually wiped the chat log before I could grab the last few responses.  But here's the real zinger: he doubled down.]

    Scammer: Well this isn't Riot.  This is real and legit

    "ARE YOU KIDDING ME!  HE'S STILL TRYING TO STAY UP AFTER THAT!  HIS HEAD IS GONE!"
    "Oh god, John, we can't broadcast this.  Folks at home, look away until the medics get onto the field."



    "HE'S DOWN."
    "That's it, Bob.  That's the end.  They're taking the body away and cleaning up the message log.  I hope we never see this again."
    "To hell with that John, we'll be here next week with another matchup on MONDAY NIGHT SCAMMER STOMP!  Until next time, everybody, good night!"
  • SDimitrius
    Offline / Send Message
    SDimitrius polycounter lvl 14
    Just got the same email from "Manticore Game" -_-
  • GarageBay9
    Offline / Send Message
    GarageBay9 polycounter lvl 13
    Just got the same email from "Manticore Game" -_-

    Duuuude you gotta try and beat my high score now. :grin:
  • Ashervisalis
    Offline / Send Message
    Ashervisalis grand marshal polycounter
    If I ever get the chance to interview you, dude, it better be this entertaining, or I'll be let down.
  • rollin
    Offline / Send Message
    rollin polycounter
    This is so good, if I could I would give you +2
  • GarageBay9
    Offline / Send Message
    GarageBay9 polycounter lvl 13

    “Beware that, when fighting monsters, you yourself do not become a monster...

    ...for when you gaze long into the abyss, the abyss gazes also into you.”




    (This one is probably going to be short and sweet; we had a death in the family recently and I don't have the time to really string this shmuck along like the others, but it's good stress relief so he's getting dunked and dumped).
  • GarageBay9
    Offline / Send Message
    GarageBay9 polycounter lvl 13
    Okay - for this one, I'm just gonna point out the highlights because man, this shmuck was uninspired and just would not bite.


    Originally my plan was to try and sell THEM something, but I never quite give them enough credit - these are seasoned con artists; they stick to their script and it's reaaaalll hard to push them out of their target zone.  Unless you're willing to get very weird.

    I'm willing to get very weird.  But more on that later.



    Anybody else who gets the "pixelante" reference from the Jack Thompson days... well, we can be friends.


    Remember wielding the truth as my greatest weapon?



    Technically he was a recon pilot; his plane had cameras, not guns.  But literally every other word of that was true.  Yes, all of it.  Green beans suck.


    I dunno if Chidi posts here, but he tells the story of how that went down with the Forza 5 Sebring prototype way better than I do.  14k tris to 3k tris, I spent a whole day manually reducing it to a shadow of its former self, and he turns around and goes "man, I feel terrible for you.  I'm worried we're going to come in here tomorrow morning, and you're still gonna be here, crying, optimizing that thing, and all that will be left...  one triangle".  He wasn't too far off,  but at least it made it into the game.


    Also true!  It really is well and truly easier to make the truth sound bizarre than to make fabrications sound real.


    Nothing I type to these scammers is an accident. 

    Nothing

    ...wait for it.


    I'm really just BSing him to death here, I'm an environment artist.  I've never touched the character pipeline in my life in a production environment.


    What is it with these guys and Macbooks?

    They really gotta find a new song and dance routine.  The banks are putting countermeasures in place to keep this from working and I suspect pretty soon they will get cut off at the knees with this scam.  But anyway.

    Remember how nothing I type to them is on accident......?


    I've wanted to try that one for a while and I finally got a chance. :D  Will they care?  Will they freak out?  Will we even be able to tell?



    THEY DID!  Apparently implying you've murdered people and hidden bodies is what it takes to get them to break script.

    ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED:  Made a scammer wonder if you're actually more dangerous than they are.

    Aaaaand then they wiped the chat log, but only after I got in a "bwahaha gotcha scammer" or two.

    And so the sun goes down on another lowlife preying on jobseekers.  I add another notch to my keyboard.  You all wonder what I actually do with my life.  Balance is restored to the Force for about five minutes.  Go forth and art, my friends.
Sign In or Register to comment.