Taking advantage of people who want something for nothing can seem like “two wrongs making a right”. Despite constant warnings that “if it looks too good to be true, it probably is” and “people generally don’t give away something for nothing”, the recent Twitter exploit resulted in a good amount of Bitcoin (BTC) sent to the exploiter’s BTC address … and much more that would have gone if COINBASE hadn’t stopped it. We know people continue to send BTC in hopes of receiving more back, because many of us continue to see Youtube recommendations for videos offering the same promise – send us X BTC and we will return 2X, or something like that.
There’s another common exploit that has been around a while, but seems to be taking advantage of a group that is both in need of protection while wanting something for nothing – the Sugar Daddy fraud scheme, aka Sugar Scammers.
On a regular basis, Reddit and other social media have victims posting requests for help that go something like this:
“I found a sugar daddy. He promised to send me money.
Path 1: He had me set up an online account, but the account required that I put in some money. He shows me screen shots that show everything about to work. I keep adding more and more money, but I still don’t get the money he sent me. Should I keep trying to fund it?”
Path 1a: Sugar Daddy will pay me $3,000, but I have to send him $50 first as a test, because other Sugar Babies before me take the money and disappear, and this will prove I am trustworthy.”
Path 2: He send me money; I am supposed to keep part of it, but then use part of it to buy BTC or gift cards that he needs, but can’t get because he is currently in XYZ country without access to his BTC account.”
Path 3: He gives me credit card information or checking accounting information and tells me to pay myself and then send the rest to him/a third party via gift cards or BTC.”
Path 4: He teaches me how to set up Electrum, and asks for all of the recovery words and login information so he can keep it up to date for me (and I know I can trust him). I try to use the BTC, but I only can view it, I can’t do anything with it.”
Sugar dating is like regular dating with the expectation that the Sugar Daddy (or Momma) will be providing an allowance or ongoing payment for the ongoing relationship. I am not sure why I was a bit shocked that the Sugar Daddy/Sugar Baby thing is as widespread as it seems to be. Young people look for monetary/material support from people online to make ends meet. Instead of a GoFundMe, Sugar Babies go on the prowl for a Sugar Daddy. One website for Sugar Babies claims 1.4 million of them.
But it seems like a lot of the “gold diggers” are getting the gold dug instead. Instead of a “Sugar Daddy”, they get a “Salt Daddy” and wind up financially getting taken advantage of. Trying to get that sweet money, these sugar scammers exploit the Sugar Baby’s lack of understanding of how crypto wallets work, how online financial systems work, and build sympathy, empathy, guilt, and fear, as well as misplaced affection and trust.
With promises that the Sugar Daddy is successful in cryptocurrency in some way, money starts to flow, trust gets tested, and soon new accounts are being set up and the Sugar Baby is either drained or made an unwitting accomplice to theft or money laundering.
Advance fee scams. Triangulation scams. Fake check scams. Fraudulent credit card scams.
