For pretty much as long as the internet has existed, there have been people out there who use it to try to scam unsuspecting individuals. From the classic email swindlers who tell targets that they need their bank account details to send them money, to the catfishers who pretend to be someone they're not in order to extort funds from hopeless romantics, to the more elaborate schemesters who somehow manage to hack accounts in order to steal data - the world wide web is awash with tricksters.
Fortunately, there is a way to deal with them: give them a taste of their own medicine.
So, when Tom Sheerin, a nursing assistant from the UK, realised he was being targeted by a scammer who claimed to be working with "the CEO of Facebook", he did exactly that.
It all started when Sheerin received a messaged from a stranger on Facebook messenger who, at first, seemed normal enough.
Immediately, the stranger replied saying that he didn't know Sheerin, but had been "authorized to contact [him] by the CEO of Facebook" in order to pass on some "vital information" about his Facebook account. Riiight. It then quickly became even more suspect when the stranger asked Sheerin if he'd been informed about his "winnings".
Thankfully, Sheerin was ready.
Not missing a beat, he probed the scammer for more information.
Ok, ok - back up for a second. This guy is saying that Sheerin - who is based in the UK - has won a huge prize... from the State Federal Government? I get that this is a dumb scammer talking here, but couldn't they have come up with a more convincing backstory?
Nevertheless, Sheerin played dumb and went along with the game.
The scammer then sent a *totally legitimate* letter which claimed that the winnings were *100% real* and definitely *not* a scam.
Suuuuure.
Strangely enough, though, the conversation only gets weirder from there - but it's all thanks to Sheerin.
What then follows is probably the best fake address ever, along with some more witty banter from Sheerin, and then - finally - the kicker: he needs to send the *totally legit friend of the CEO* some money.
And then it gets a little complicated. The scammer says that Sheerin must pay a "private FedEx agent", which he eventually agrees to after some confusion from the (obviously not particularly literate) trickster.
The two then continue this nonsensical back-and-forth for some time, with Sheerin making several Back to The Future references along the way. He also makes several excuses about not being able to pay the money in UK pounds (instead opting for Vietnamese dong), then goes off on a tangent about his loanshark friend named Phil Myass, and finally sends the scammer a drawing of a horse.
You can see the whole saga unfold in Sheerin's Facebook post:
All in all, Sheerin was talking to the scammer for two whole hours but - you have to hand it to him - it was time well spent.
