What's the point in Scam Baiting? What do we get out of it?

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Posted: Thu Dec 04, 2008 1:37 pm

I have a 90+ year old grandmother whose mind is starting to go. So far she has been sucked into assorted "clubs" that continue to charge her credit card or bank account into infinity as she doesn't know how to cancel them (and if she gets a phone number, the scum on the other end of the line just talks circles around her and she ends up so confused she doesn't firmly cancel). Family members have to monitor her bank accounts and credit cards to kill these things as she gets signed up for them. Luckily, she doesn't have anything to do with internet, but I know that if she had email, she would fall for a lottery scam in about 2.2 seconds. Ditto for some charity scams. I still worry about telephone scams, but we can't cut her off from the outside world, all we can do is monitor as closely as possible.

Every scammer hour wasted, every roadblock thrown up, every bit of scammer de-education and potential victim education helps reduce the odds that these people will find another person like my grandmother.

Posted: Thu Dec 04, 2008 2:50 pm

I haven't seen this reason mentioned in my skimming, so I'll bring this up.

I bait partially to learn how scammers operate and to keep up with new variations on old scams. Why? Because I also spend a lot of time volunteering at a scam prevention/informational site. In a busier day, I may answer a dozen forum posts and as many contact form inquiries.

I kind of like knowing what I'm talking about when I assure a scam target that I can just about guarantee that in the next email, the scammer will bring up this little "transfer fee" or that the phony lawyer will require paying for "his services", or that the next email you're going to get about that "lottery win" will insist you need to pay a "claim fee".

I also do it to better understand where the (potential) victim is coming from. Yes, you can learn some of this via Google and simply reading the forums here, but there's nothing quite like actually sitting in the "victim" seat and seeing just how ruthless and manipulative a scammer can truly be. And how tempting it might be to believe.

Published baits educate people. Baiting also educates me.

Oh, and I don't knit, but I make delicious baked goods. Just ask the coworkers who received their Christmas cookies today...

Posted: Thu Dec 04, 2008 3:13 pm

I know one scammer that I ruined his payments of about $25,000. Others have done far more than that. So, on the grand scale, we will never stop them. But, we can make several of them COMPLETELY miserable in the process. I love the mind torture that these guys go through.

Posted: Thu Dec 04, 2008 3:48 pm

Quote:

Nemesis, or retributive justice - seeing the scammer grovel like they want the victims groveling.

This reminded me of one of my favorite movie quotes and I think it's pretty appropriate here...

'Do you know what nemesis means? [pause] A righteous infliction of retribution, manifested by an appropriate agent. Personified in this case by a 'orrible c*** [pause] Me.'

-Bricktop in 'Snatch'

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 03 Dec 2008 Posts: 3

Hey Everyone! Thanks for the replies so far, I'm starting to get it. Keep them coming! I've done a lot of reading since I've signed up yesterday and I am gaining a greater understanding of scambaiting. I am starting to understand the "fun" aspect of all of this. And I totally agree with gaining good Karma

Does anyone have links to stories about ruining the lives of scammers?

I loved the star wars link that was sent and the halo one too!

Posted: Thu Dec 04, 2008 4:33 pm

If you have 2 weeks to devote to reading the Abeche/Evil Safari threads, that's a great start. I'd also recommend the "My lad wants to be a porn star" thread. His life is pretty much ruined unless he decides to move out of town.

Posted: Thu Dec 04, 2008 5:06 pm

@ grooble I love it when the jehova guys comes knocking! Im a quite dedicated atheist and Ill just keep questioning them about the "flawed" parts of the whole god-thing. Like "if Adam and Eve had kids and they in turn have kids amongst them selves, we would look prety funny now a days". The whole dinosaur thing kinda puts them in a pickle aswell. Once talked to two of em for 30-45 min before they said they had to go to the next house (for the 3 time or so).

Posted: Thu Dec 04, 2008 7:36 pm

Phantom6969 wrote:

Does anyone have links to stories about ruining the lives of scammers?

Try Raymond James "Very annoyed cheque lad!!" thread.

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