Super funny book! Had me laughing all the way though even though I have seen James Veitch in many sketches and these were the same stories. I highly suggest watching James Veitch's comedy as his delivery is excellent and you just can't get that from a book.

I received an advanced digital copy of this book from the author, publisher and NetGalley.com. Thanks to all for the opportunity to read and review. The opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Dot Con is a laugh out loud read. Brilliantly funny. Excellent fun.

It takes a particular kind of person to enjoy writing back to spam email, and James Veitch is apparently that person. It's entertaining to watch the scammers get scammed, as Veitch imagines love affairs, business deals, and intrigues. A quick read that you can dip in and out of when you need a laugh.

James Veitch is absolutely delightful.

I don't remember if I found him on my own, or if someone sent his videos to me, due to my own personal propensity for constantly screwing with phone scammers. Once I found him, I watched every TED talk and video he'd made on Youtube, and fell utterly in love with his unique style for dealing with your every day Nigerian Prince in need of funds.

If you're familiar with James, some of these stories are already known to you, but there's even more to enjoy. Even the stories we know, he obviously edited out the boring bits for public speaking, so we get to see just how far he got in stringing them along before things invariably devolved into misspelled cursing.

I don't know if anything gets lost in the text telling of these, as it's impossible for me to read this without hearing his voice in my head. But for anyone who has EVER had to deal with these awful scammers, this is an absolutely delightful and cathartic read.

James Veitch is an English author and golf pro who you may have seen on late night tv or on Ted's Talk on the subject this book is wrote about. The author does what we all have wanted to do at some point concerning the scam or spam emails it seems we get everyday. You know the ones the ones for a Russian bride or help me cash this lottery ticket or send money I need help in a foreign land. James does this by stringing the email sender. This book is humorous at times but I found it monotonous at times and even though i know it is based on emails I did not like the pages laid out as such. I would rate this book average at best.

A hilarious compilation of Veitch's ability to "scam the scammers". Readers will laugh out loud at the hijinks as email con artists get a taste of their own medicine.

Well...
I loved his TED talks.
I loved the first half of this book. Or, I loved the second half of this book. But really, it's the same story over and over: his clever way of trying to string along on-line con artists until they finally figure out he's just playing them and the whole thread ends very abruptly, frequently with the con-artist just cussing him out.

I give him credit for knowing that the book couldn't be long, but it felt one or two stories too long as it was. Maybe because I'd seen the TED talks.

Still. Brilliant of him to engage and I'm super happy he shared with us. If you pick this book up to read over a long time where you read one section and put it down for a while, then read another, until it's taken you half a summer to read it, I'll bet you love it.

If you're like me, you delete spam emails with one swift click, afraid to interact further than that in fear of downloading some evil attachment. James Veitch, however, has no such fear. Not only does he respond and play the part of an innocent victim, but he is damn hilarious, cheeky, and awesome while doing it.

Most of these emails start out the same way: you've won/you've been left/we have found some outrageously large sum of money, but you have to wire a "processing fee" of up to a few thousand to get the millions. James always manages to throw the scammer for a loop. It's hard to explain. Veitch has done some TED talks where he goes through the emails - check these out if you want a sampling of what's in this book.

Look, I know it may be silly to give this book five stars, but frankly, it made me stay up until 2 am with a serious case of the giggles. I could not stop laughing with every new story, and I don't even remember the last time a book made me do that. It's a very fast read - I finished it in about a day. If you're looking for some lighthearted, fun reading, look no further. Go pick this up. Thank you to Hachette for the ARC!

On a disturbingly regular basis there comes a news story of people being swindled out of their savings by con artists who appear so legitimate that vulnerable people are susceptible to such antics. It leaves a bad taste in the mouth to see people sobbing on those news reports because they have been conned and are left with nothing. It causes such angry responses you feel like you want to reach right through the computer screen and wring the scammer's necks for the devastation they wreak on innocent lives. But James Veitch has given rise to a much better form of revenge – mess with the scammers. Take them on on their own games and try to cause misery for them that would cause misery on others. And from this standpoint, in which Veitch sagely reminds us, we are only engaging in talking with them and wasting their time, we are shown the fun and games that can be had when you enter into conversations with the scammers, and under the expert hands of Veitch, the results are hilarious.

In Dot Con Veitch shares with us twenty-one stories of when he has taken the scammers on and messed with them as badly as they mess with defenceless people. With boring monotony, the scam starts similarly with the scammers spinning a web of lies to try and induce a person to believe that someone is stranded overseas with no money for example, or that a rich person has died and left them a fortune, and in all situations, the scammer attempts to extort money out of the recipient of the email by encouraging people to send them money via Western Union or the like.
Part of the charm of the book is that it is written complete with email addresses and the conversations, making this an extremely fast book to read. The ability Veitch has to string a scammer along in a conversation that can last days is really quite amazing, one might even say he has a gift for such behaviour! He certainly gives a master class to any person who feels the urge to follow in his footsteps and copy his methods in dealing with the lowlifes that execute these scams, and more power to them I say.

If you want a wicked hour or so, then this is the book for you.

Funny email exchanges — gets a little repetitive, but definitely an enjoyable quick read — I don’t know how he manages to deal with the deluge of spam I’m sure he now must get!

Dot Con is seriously hilarious. I first heard of James Veith from his TED talk, but when I saw he was writing a book I was excited. There is nothing funnier than wasting scammers time and the various misadventures James goes on are at worst amusing and at best absolutely side splitting. I really makes me want to start replying to all of the e-mails in my spam folder. Cant wait for his next book!

Rather than a book or a memoir, this reminds me more of a social media page that collects Veitch's interactions with scammers. It's a very fast read, but it doesn't really seem like a book to me, but it is a social media page I would follow. If you're interested in some humor and seeing Veitch mess with scammers you'll enjoy this - just don't assume it's a traditional book.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC!

Dot Con is a collection of emails between comedian James Veitch and different spam senders. I've got to say, I'm a little disappointed. I'm a fan of stand up comedy and when I saw this book I immediately remembered who James was so I jumped at the chance to get my hands on this. There's nothing new here. If you've seen any of his shows, you aren't going to discover America for the first time or strike oil. Which isn't to say that the book is bad. It's dated. Is it still fun reading about how angry the spammers get when James goes off script and starts making them do things they don't want to? Yes. There's a lot of very similar emails in this short book that by the end, which you'll get to in under an hour for sure, it feels too redundant. The exchanges start lacking the finesse.

And I also always believe this guy to be the spider email guy. Then I'll remember that that's David Thorne.

If you are newer to comedy and have never heard of James Veitch, you would get a kick out of this. For someone like myself, it was like re-watching a comedy special where you knew all the jokes.

I received a copy through NetGalley a bit ago and let it sit due to life obligations.
Just a day ago, I pulled out the book and I cannot tell you how much I laughed when I read it.
James has a wonderfully quick wit and lovely demeanor that it's difficult not to enjoy the conversations he has with the spammers.
His discussions and commentaries had me laughing so hard, it hurt.
Sad I didn't get to the book sooner, but considering how chaotic the world is right now, I think I read it at the right time. So much fun!
I finished the book, hoping he's planning to publish more.
Thank you James!

This was hilarious! I'd seen a few of James Veitch's TED Talks before, and somehow he captured the same humor in written form. It was delightful to read and even more so knowing that he actually wrote such outrageous things to scammers.

The book details the correspondence between the British Veitch and the various spammers that flood his inbox. I saw Veitch’s TED Talks before I read this and I’m glad I did. It added extra humor to be able to hear his voice, in my head, reading the emails. His sarcastic wit makes it a bloody fun read. Maybe next he could tackle the catfishers on dating sites?

As funny as his sketches from telly. A light read and a nice bit of humor in a depressing time. Looking forward to being able to see him live if he ever performs at Just For Laughs in Montreal.

James Veitch is the king of the most creative and amusing ways to beat a dead horse. (Go to YouTube and search “Veitch Ducks”... I’ll wait...)
DOT CON is a collection of his email conversations with various scam artists. Amusing to no end, he says all the things we wish we did, wasting their time. Need a good moment reprieve and a few laughs, this is definitely the book for you.

Interesting. I like the format, similar to what is found in email programs; the styling of the correspondence. Makes it more interesting than the way just plain text would be. I love "graphic-like" setups of books like this.

I find the book interesting. It seems each chapter is devoted to one scammer each.

Love James Veitch's comedy style and this had me laughing non stop i was able to relax and enjoy this book and laugh it was nice to be able to do so !