Thread by @JoeDaHater1

Little thread on the scammer archetype and how they react, as someone who ran scams long ago and has always been fascinated by the subject. The way these scammers/bad actors respond to the @zachxbt @0xShual expose's has always intrigued me. 1/14

https://twitter.com/Helloimmorgan/status/1493722151265845249

I think the subject of scammers/swindlers is important not just for anyone interested in investing/finance/crypto, but one of the most critical sighting mechanisms in life.
Once you can recognize a blatant swindler and how they behave, you will recognize these rhetorical tics

everywhere, at work, school, politicians, etc, and it will give you insight into the true nature of power in relationships, and subsequently, how little "truth" actually matters(to most people)...and performativeness reigns supreme.

To borrow from the great film Thank You For Smoking, "I'm not after you...I'm after them!"
In any case, I digress, the subject of today is action-reaction, how the Scammer archetype responds to exposes/the truth:

I don't think I have ever in all my years seen a scammer truly apologize/atone. I'd like to go over the main rhetorical strategies scammers will employ in response to being exposed, in the hopes that you'll be able to recognize them and see how prevalent they are

They often happen in order(The Narcissists Prayer). So we'll work in a roughly chronological fashion.
1. Simply ignore it. This is the most strategically sound initial response as it gives no further surface area to attack. This works best in the beginning stages

wherein usually some guy starts to ask questions/show data. As Mcgregor would say "WHO DA FOOK IS THAT GUY?" Just ignore them, if anyone asks, they're not important, just some guy, and YOU'RE important, you can't be expected to respond to every guy trying to get your attention!

2. Deny it, but keep it short as possible. Be dismissive, not defensive. It's a gradient here.
3. Ok ok, so it's gotten big enough you can't ignore it. Some guy named @zachxbt or maybe even one of the last surviving investigative journalist outlets blew it up. Enter "Ok but"

3. You admit to what happened(this is not an apology), but it wasn't a big deal, this is being blown way out of proportion.
4. Ok now the media attention has grown too much, and even some of your dumb lemming followers are starting to realize you did something wrong.

4. I'm sorry BUT(here's where the fun begins and scammers get to show a little personality!) It was an accident, I never meant for it to happen. You keep the actual apology part short, maybe one or two sentences. Then you immediately fly into the deflections portion

"You Coulda Just Asked Pal!": Despite utilizing the "Ignore" phase, the exposed scammer will claim that if they had simply come to them first(so they could frontrun the expose) it wouldn't be this bad, casting the investigator as having ulterior/sinister/hostile motives.

Deflection rhetoric
-The Martyr: "I apologize and I take the blame, but leave my kids/wife/friends out of this!!" Usually no one is attacking their family/friends, but it's a great sleazy way to shield yourself, flip yourself as a hero, and sprinkle in some righteous indignation.

Next
Gods Plan/The Hero's Journey: "I apologize, but this is just an opportunity for growth. Actually, this shows our strength/resilience, what an epic journey we are all on here! We will overcome even greater obstacles than this and come out the other side stronger than ever!"

Cancel Culture/The Haters: "I messed up, but CANCEL CULTURE is OUT OF CONTROL! Mob cancel culture 1974 orwellian SJWS!"
This is easily one of the most popular nowadays.
It's an excellent pivot too because you can flip your relatively simple moral failure into culture war politics

Psychotic optimism/the HR Lady: "I'm sorry, we had a little hiccup, but this is distracting from all the good we've done! Do you want to be a positive person or a negative nancy?? Live laugh love!"
Portray people bring up the lack of amends as insistent on being negative.

The Victim: Believe it or not, despite swindling people, turns out the scammer is the real victim here, they've been thinking and are really hurt by what happened! It's been tough on their MENTAL HEALTH, perhaps this is even a racist/sexist thing, so give them a break asshole!

True Colors: The subtle or not so subtle threat of violence/legal action is usually the final stand. "Hey I said I was sorry, but now you're pissing me off. We're trying to appease you but you're making this difficult, I have an army of lawyers, you really want to do this?"

Examples of each:
You Coulda Just Asked Pal: @0xSifu
The Martyr: @Helloimmorgan, @JonnyBones, dani
Gods Plan/The Hero's Journey: @danielesesta
Psychotic optimism/The HR Lady: @tailopez
The Victim: @moon_guurl, @ozy and almost every scammer ever
True Colors: @NFTmachine

Those are the broad archetypes I wanted to go over. Next time you see a scam/expose/scandal in the news(you wont have to wait long in crypto!), have some fun with it, pull out this bingo card and see which ones you can check off!

The point is that a scammer will never truly apologize or atone unless forced to, so don't waste your time waiting around! Scamming is about power, so speak the lingua franca. END

P.S. For those who found this interesting and would like some further reading/watching, some recommendations
An Honest Liar(pay attention to the arc with Peter Popoff)
The Look of Silence
Swindled Podcast
The Demon Haunted World