I Didn't Have The Heart

[mn90403]

A couple of days ago I was at one of my local beaches after the rain and blow.  It had been a rather 'sudden' type of storm with waves only up for 24 hours or so.  My results showed it and near the end of my detecting I noticed something odd.

I looked up into the dry sand and I saw someone kneeling with a shovel.  I was 100 yards away or so and I saw some movement and thought it strange.  It reminded me of some type of ritual burial.  I wanted to go up and tell the guy if he was burying ashes or something of value he should reconsider as some other detectorist would dig it up.

A few minutes passed and it was time for me to go to my car.  I wanted to go by the place where the guy was digging.  When I got there it had been neatly filled and scattered over with some beach sticks.  I thought good for him but then I saw him closer to the wet sand.  He was digging another hole and I saw this motion again.  It reminded me of a drone this time.  A bit of black whirling around and then it hit me.

I propped up my 800/15 and walked in his direction.  He was a nice-looking young man and he greeted me as I approached.  He had dug an almost smoothly round hole with a short handled shovel about 18" deep.  I told him I had noticed what he was using and I just couldn't resist coming over to him.  He had a thick European accent.  He could see my detector which I had turned off about 50 yards away.

He began asking me if there was little pieces of gold in the sand.  He was rubbing his fingers together saying he was learning his instrument.  I asked him if it was made in Germany and he said yes.  It was then that I knew 'the gig' and I was careful not to venture to many comments.  He was quite enthusiastic about his instrument explaining that he had bought it from a guy (friend?) that said it didn't work but he was convinced he was going to make it work.

This was not the first one of these detectors I've seen but it was the first one that I've held.  It is relatively small and it will rotate around on its handle so quickly it is a kind of like using divining rods.  He showed me the little popup screen that I would have needed my glasses to read and it has several functions.  One was to create a line similar to a surveying instrument.  He explained that you needed to hold the contraption level and look off into the distance a couple of hundred feet.  Then you needed to walk the line and reverse the process and it would create an intersection.  That is where you needed to dig!

My eyes are rolling up in my head at this point remembering the threads that have been started here about these things.  I told him how I detected the beach with my Equinox and he just couldn't be bothered.  He had faith in his instrument.  He was in full blown pursuit of the truth.

When I explained to him that my coil sometimes ran over multiple targets in a swing and sometimes there were targets above and below each other it just didn't register to him.  The scale of delusion was massive.  I could have spent more time with him and gotten his phone number and gradually shattered his dreams but I just didn't have the heart.

I told him about the cost of the Equinox coming in around $1000 and it was then that he proudly said he paid $5500 for his gizmo.  It was then I realized it was time for me to leave.  I hope he has 'fun' with his experiments.  This type of impractical 'science' makes me concerned for the world.

I told him about Detector Prospector and actually hope he will make it here and find this thread.  I have some other thoughts about the experience but I'll just leave them for now and post the two pictures I took.

 

 

[phrunt]

Poor guy, this is exactly why I go out of my way to expose these things.  Even when he realizes it is a scam he likely will have trouble accepting it as he's paid so much for it.  I understand your position at the time, it's never easy telling someone they've been ripped off, especially when its a substantial amount of money.

😞

 

[PimentoUK]

I've tried to track down which model that is. It appears to be this one, but modified:
'Gold hunter smart':

https://uigdetectors.com/gold-and-metal-detectors/gold-hunter.php?la=en




Notice on this guys machine it has an additional 'homebuilt' box with three 'controls' and badly-fitted knobs, stuck onto the top of the case? Also, the cheesy 'radar dish' antenna has been removed.
They suggest 3000 US dollars retail price. I wonder if someone even more enterprising than GER is buying these devices, adding 5 dollars worth of extra 'electronics' and re-selling them at an even higher price, like 6000 dollars ?

[locator]

You should have adviced him a metal detector to "pinpoint" the target better as a beginner.

[GB_Amateur]

6 hours ago, mn90403 said:

It was then that I knew 'the gig' and I was careful not to venture to many comments.

You were in a no win situation if you wanted to help him, and your reaction and interaction were compassionate.  I don't see any way to break the news to him gracefully.  He'll figure it out on his own soon enough....

[Steve Herschbach]

How sad. I’ve observed over my career in selling gold mining and metal detecting equipment that it’s very easy to steal from people in this industry. The gold mining and treasure hunting industry is rife with scams, many very large and in plain sight. And apparently somehow legal - consumer protection laws are a joke and boil down to “buyer beware.”

A combination of greed and gullibility is deadly, and makes people easy prey for those who have no scruples. I’ve tried to talk countless people off ledges who were ready to jump - throw away money on equipment they did not need or which are complete scams. I saved many, but at times there is a remarkable level of delusion at work that borders on madness. They get locked into unassailable circular thinking on the subject.

The main problem for this guy now is he spent $5500 on something literally not worth $10. This requires him to basically admit he was a fool. That’s psychologically impossible for a lot of people therefore the device must work. Also, if one was to admit it does not work, how do you sell it in good conscience? I would not be able to. They have to keep believing the lie for various reasons. At the end of the day these are belief systems not unlike a cult of sorts, and once people are in it can be hard, if not impossible, to extricate them from these deep wells of self-deception. In fact, trying to dissuade them can actually help reinforce their false beliefs as they will work very hard to defend those beliefs. If you try too hard, they will often get angry, so you do have to be cautious.

There is a point where just walking away is the best solution. You did what you could Mitchel. Hopefully the seeds you planted will sprout in his mind as doubt and reality might set in some day.

Tips For Helping People Trapped In Cult Like Thinking

[Digalicious]

I know the feeling of having to tell someone that they were scammed. I'm a computer tech, and I have to do it about 3-5 times a week. Although no matter how clear and polite I tell them that they were scammed, a few refuse to believe it.

 

[mn90403]

You guys get the 'idea' of course.  He is part of the problem and it is not all of a technology sale but that is part of it.  His expectation of finding things on the beach that just simply were not there was disturbing also.

I did spend some time with him just talking about what I find on the beach and what gets lost on the beach to find.  He was imersed in the lines produced by the device.

The thought did occur to me that the $5500 is not a big deal to him.  He just wanted an expensive play toy.  I don't know his budget for such things but I know mine.  haha

There is a certain amount of 'opportunity lost' in the way I handled it.  I'll always wonder if I helped very much with our conversation and I didn't get a way to contact him.

I did offer my phone number to him but he didn't take it.  Maybe other detectorists have already talked to him and he just didn't want to go through his thoughts and choices again with me.

[Sirius]

you shoulda just broke it to him, that these were a scam. Its an expensive mistake, but one he has to learn.

[mn90403]

I don't think he was ready to hear it from a stranger.