Hi everyone,
New to the forum but I saw where I could help. Bounty hunters have a different comms dialogue than pirates. Pirates ALWAYS say something like, "What do you carry? I wonder?" Bounty hunters generally don't say anything until their scan is done. Then they ALWAYS say, "We're done here pilot. Move along." Honestly that is the best way to tell. If a pirate is scanning you and you don't have cargo, you're not going to have to worry about them shooting at you. He/she will say, "Bah, nothing," or "Another dream of riches lost," or something like that.
On bounty hunting in general: I think that Frontier realizes that trading is the credit powerhouse. I think that we may see some boosting to other professions in the game, in terms of rewards, in the long run. I've been around some forums and heard lots of people talk about how trading shouldn't be the focus of this game. Anyway, I just wouldn't be surprised if we start to see some reward balancing to make things like exploring/bounty hunting more profitable. Honestly, I agree that this game is not about spreadsheets. I play this to have fun. I don't need to make all the money required to reach endgame right this minute. There will be plenty of time for it along the way

-Turbo