Scammer tried to scare woman into sending money — but he clearly was not ready for her counter offer

Online scams are becoming more sophisticated, but some fraudsters still use classic fear tactics to manipulate their targets. However, when a scammer recently tried to trick Becky Holmes, a well-known scam-buster on social media, they were in for an unexpected response. Holmes, who goes by @deathtospinach on Twitter, has built a reputation for exposing scammers. When she received a message from someone claiming her IP address had been leaked on the dark web, she knew exactly how to handle the situation.

Sharing the incident, she tweeted, "Yesterday was a rollercoaster of a day. 1) A scam expert informs me that my IP address has been leaked on the dark web. 2) She says she can help me. 3) She won’t accept my payment currency. LIFE WHY DO YOU THROW ME THESE DAMN CURVEBALLS?!!" Along with the tweet, she shared screenshots of the conversation she had with the scammer. The scammer, who introduced herself as Sandra Lindsay, claimed to be a CEO specializing in scam investigations, crypto recovery and hacked account protection. She sent Holmes an alarming message, stating, "Hello? I really don't know how you'll take this but someone is spying on you through the means of your device."

Holmes responded, "Gosh that's worrying." Lindsay then insisted, "Your IP address has been leaked on the dark web that's why those scammers can get to you from any part of the world." The scammer quickly offered a solution, promising to conduct a scan on Holmes’ device. The fraudster then attempted to set the trap, asking, "By the way have you been scammed before?" Holmes played along. "No I haven't, thank goodness," she replied. "You would need to do another scan and then also purchase a protection chip to keep you out of their reach," Lindsay advised.

Homes asked, "Protection chip?" "It's on the dark web and it costs $200 which you would send alongside your phone IMEI number," Lindsay instructed. Holmes leaned further into the act. "Oh ok. I can do that myself. I'm always on the dark web - I do most of my Googling at night and I rarely turn the lights on," she replied. The scammer ignored the joke and pushed back. "Going on there yourself is not you doing the job or what needed to be done so it's most safe to let me do my job. I make use of a device created by us to make hacking and recovery services easy and faster. If a hacking process does not work, I will tell you. I can not fool you or take your money okay," Lindsay said.

Holmes continued stringing the scammer along. "Ah, I didn't realize you were going to make use of a device created," she responded. Lindsay then tried to close the deal, asking, "What payment method do you have?" Holmes delivered the perfect punchline, "Do you accept artisan cheeses?" The scammer, taken aback responded, "Lol. Really Cheeses?" The conversation ended abruptly right after and Holmes received a notification stating, "You can no longer send Direct Messages to this person." 

Holmes' hands-down approach to tackling the scammer was praised by many. @SurvivalZippy said, "Brilliant She clearly needs cheese in her life." @ShaunMccran chimed in, "I mean, they are ARTISAN, not just basic off-the-shelf cheese. Missed out on a bargain there." @DagenKaren added, "I would do anything for cheese!" @RickShag quipped, "I'm so sorry for your troubles." @drbc007 joked, "Perhaps she’s lactose intolerant?"