
Is Bruce Hay the Most Gullible Man in Cambridge? - howard941
https://www.thecut.com/2019/07/bruce-hay-paternity-trap-maria-pia-shuman-mischa-haider.html
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danso
> _This past fall, I met Doe, who told me Shuman appeared out of nowhere at an
> intersection where he was standing with two colleagues and started chatting
> him up in what he described as hushed tones. He recalled her saying, “Excuse
> me, but I couldn’t help but notice that you’re attractive. I’m in town from
> New York, visiting a friend, and I was hoping you’d be willing to show me
> around.” He gave her his cell number._

The obvious goofiness of the alleged scammer's pickup line makes me think of
the famous Microsoft Research paper, "Why Do Nigerian Scammers Say They are
From Nigeria?" [0], which hypothesized that foreign scammers continue to use
the Nigerian prince trope because it filters for the dumbest victims:

> _Since gullibility is unobservable, the best strategy is to get those who
> possess this quality to self-identify. An email with tales of fabulous
> amounts of money and West African corruption will strike all but the most
> gullible as bizarre. It will be recognized and ignored by anyone who has
> been using the Internet long enough to have seen it several times...Those
> who remain are the scammers ideal targets._

[0] [https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/publication/why-
do-...](https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/publication/why-do-nigerian-
scammers-say-they-are-from-nigeria/)

