Okay so if I want to report a scammer what do I do?

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Posted: Mon Mar 23, 2009 8:31 pm

My wife received a typical 419 scam in her personal inbox. (Yes contrary to what most people believe I'm actually male).

Since I'm not too keen / undecided on baiting myself and since this arrived in her "genuine" inbox I'm certainly not going to be responding directly. Is there any use in handing this information over to anyone and what are the risks? The name of the deceased in the email (who's inheritance she has been promised) share's our (real) surname so I'm really not keen on this.

What do I do?

Posted: Mon Mar 23, 2009 8:32 pm

Hey MP,

You can always toss it in the surplus forum here. Very Happy

http://forum.419eater.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=18

Baiting Guru Joined: 19 Apr 2007 Posts: 3123

OK, ignore it. I thought you didn't want to bait anyway?

If you really want to give (that's what liberals do), post it in surplus, making sure you XXX out your details.

Contrary to your wishes, reporting this to anyone won't do anything.

Posted: Mon Mar 23, 2009 8:36 pm

Even if you had the scammer's real life name, address, phone number etc.... there is really nothing that you can do. You could give the info to law enforcement but they will not do anything with it. Law enforcement has bigger fish to fry than some tough-to-catch scammer hiding in an Internet cafe somewhere.

Given your outlook on scambaiting, do what most people do when they receive scam emails.... delete it.

Master of Master Baiters Joined: 02 Dec 2008 Posts: 518

Although the scammer claims to know who you are, he really doesn't, and he will not have the motivation or the resources to pursuit you should to reply to him or ignore him. There emails are sent out by the hundreds so it is no use reporting it to anyone, and this also means that he does not have a clue of who or where you are.

Posted: Mon Mar 23, 2009 8:37 pm

I recieved over 75 similar emails in my catcher account just last week.

It's just one of millions of similar emails sent out in bulk every single day. Ignore it, or if you feel compelled, post in the Surplus forum.

Editing to add:

MESSAGE TO CRAIG007 - see? He's a DUDE! I knew it! Laughing

Posted: Mon Mar 23, 2009 8:38 pm

YW you surly old coot. Very Happy

I think when he said "handing this over to anyone" he was referring to giving it to one of us to bait.

Baiting Guru Joined: 19 Apr 2007 Posts: 3123

Stop it. It's clear what he meant.

Posted: Mon Mar 23, 2009 8:47 pm

Craig007 wrote:

Stop it. It's clear what he meant.

Maybe it was code for "tell that craig guy that he sounds like a 12yr old on the phone!"

Laughing

Baiting Guru Joined: 19 Apr 2007 Posts: 3123

That was morphed dammit!

Posted: Mon Mar 23, 2009 8:49 pm

Craig007 wrote:

That was morphed dammit!

Yeah, that's your story and you're sticking to it, right?

Laughing

Posted: Mon Mar 23, 2009 8:55 pm

1) Set up two Gmail accounts.
2) Bait him from one, and try to reform him from the other.
3) Realise which is the more successful method of dealing with scammers.

Posted: Mon Mar 23, 2009 8:58 pm

^^^

Posted: Mon Mar 23, 2009 9:08 pm

Craig007 wrote:

That was morphed dammit!

I'm sure it was....

Mods, have we id'd craig yet?

Very Happy

Posted: Mon Mar 23, 2009 9:12 pm

If you want to report him, you DO place the letter in the surplus forum, editing out personal details. Actually.. only his e-mail and the type of scam will be enough I guess.

Also mention in you post that you want this guy reformed instead of simply having his time wasted. Someone might just get him to do a nosejob, that would be reforming right? If tattoos also count as reforming I'm quite sure somebody will be willing to take it up...

Posted: Mon Mar 23, 2009 9:21 pm

modernPrimitive, your question is one that millions of people have asked. What do I do with this scam email I get. There are options and the one most people should do it delete it.

We bait those because there is no "internet police" to report it to. The dead people are probably real, but they have nothing to do with the scam. Some scammers look for real stories to add credibility to their scam.

You can call your local police department and they will tell you to delete the message.

I do like the suggestion to open two different gmail accounts. One for reform and one for baiting. Spend your time checking your theories regarding dealing with criminals/scammers.

I would be honored to mentor you in your endevours.

To do something, we bait those people so that they are not getting money from unsuspecting victims. People who believe that their ship has finally come in if they just send some money, then some more, then some more.

If you don't want to bait, post the email in surplus and maybe we could get a mass bait up and let you see the progress, and you can add in your advice. Wink

Yes indeed, I stand behind a cape and taunt the criminal so that he will leave my grandmother or my children, or your grand mother or your children alone.

I am serious about mentoring you if you want to bait.

PM me. Smile

Posted: Mon Mar 23, 2009 9:23 pm

So in other words the risk is minimal - it's highly unlikely that my wife's account is the only one he mailed with this particular scam. I assume then that these guys run scripts that populate and send mails from a list.

Posted: Mon Mar 23, 2009 9:25 pm

Yes, you are correct. They collect email addresses (harvest) and send out thousands of those scripts per day. They don't track who they sent them to, they just track their victims.

Posted: Mon Mar 23, 2009 9:37 pm

That's true, sorry about my somewhat sarcastic previous post by the way...

It's even possible that that is where the 'real' last name comes from. If your wife has her e-mail somewhere on the internet in combination with her real name, a somewhat cleverly written program could just add the surname into the mail...<techtalk>That would be a simple case of using clever regex's and a nice mail-template and a well-tuned harvester and you could very easily create some very personal-looking e-mails</techtalk> Another possibility is an inexperienced lad who's looking up names 'by hand' and actually 'writes' his mails... But even then he would only be keeping track of the people that respond, and not of those he mailed out to....
It might also be you have a very common surname.. Wink

I also like ParaNoid's suggestions... If there were a mass-bait to be set up, I'll gladly participate in it and follow any directions you give in it, so you may see how it works out. I'm betting now that the baiters who do not want to reform the lad will seem way easier victims so that I will then be dropped in favor of them...But I AM willing to try, let me know when it gets that far...

Posted: Mon Mar 23, 2009 9:53 pm

modernPrimitive wrote:

So in other words the risk is minimal - it's highly unlikely that my wife's account is the only one he mailed with this particular scam. I assume then that these guys run scripts that populate and send mails from a list.

Change "highly unlikely" to "absolutely positively not at all possible".

Scammers can only make money through volume. They might get a 0.00001% rate of return on their first formats, so they have to mail them out in enormous bulk.

If they took time to individually target specific people, they'd never make a penny. There was no "social engineering" involved in that email that your wife received. She was one of 10,000 that the lad emailed that day.

Posted: Mon Mar 23, 2009 9:53 pm

Master of Puppets wrote:

That's true, sorry about my somewhat sarcastic previous post by the way...

It's even possible that that is where the 'real' last name comes from. If your wife has her e-mail somewhere on the internet in combination with her real name, a somewhat cleverly written program could just add the surname into the mail...<techtalk>That would be a simple case of using clever regex's and a nice mail-template and a well-tuned harvester and you could very easily create some very personal-looking e-mails</techtalk> Another possibility is an inexperienced lad who's looking up names 'by hand' and actually 'writes' his mails... But even then he would only be keeping track of the people that respond, and not of those he mailed out to....
It might also be you have a very common surname.. Wink

I also like ParaNoid's suggestions... If there were a mass-bait to be set up, I'll gladly participate in it and follow any directions you give in it, so you may see how it works out. I'm betting now that the baiters who do not want to reform the lad will seem way easier victims so that I will then be dropped in favor of them...But I AM willing to try, let me know when it gets that far...

My surname is not common at all so it's probably some kind of script.

Okay I posted it in surplus. Not going to bait on my own (though I appreciate the mentorship offer - will keep it in mind) so I'll leave it for someone else. I'd like to follow it though if it comes to a mass-bait. Bear in mind that my approach would not be "direct" so to speak.

Master of Master Baiters Joined: 02 Dec 2008 Posts: 518

^^

Just to tell you, it is perfectly possible to bait the guy without conflicting with your views. It's called straight-baiting and does not rely on trophies (but may bring forth opportunities to collect them).

Posted: Mon Mar 23, 2009 9:59 pm

modernPrimitive wrote:

Okay I posted it in surplus. Not going to bait on my own (though I appreciate the mentorship offer - will keep it in mind) so I'll leave it for someone else. I'd like to follow it though if it comes to a mass-bait. Bear in mind that my approach would not be "direct" so to speak.

Just FYI - once it's in Surplus, it's open season on the lad. He may get baited to smithereens. We might even get him to go on a safari, or send us a trophy, or get a tatoo. There's no telling what manner of horrific suffering might be inflicted on him.

So if you have any qualms about this, I suggest you not put it in surplus. If, on the other hand, it pisses you off just a little bit that this lad had the audacity to target your wife, even if she was just one faceless nameless email addy on a list of 10,000, then leave it in there and somebody will have some fun with him.

Posted: Mon Mar 23, 2009 10:13 pm

That's a little late Cachuma Wink

I already sent the lad a (real polite) e-mail...
I'll stay nice for a while and if a mass-baiting topic pops up I'll join in the fun...

If anything interesting pops up I'll post about it, so stick around MP...

Posted: Mon Mar 23, 2009 10:19 pm

Cachuma wrote:

modernPrimitive wrote:

Okay I posted it in surplus. Not going to bait on my own (though I appreciate the mentorship offer - will keep it in mind) so I'll leave it for someone else. I'd like to follow it though if it comes to a mass-bait. Bear in mind that my approach would not be "direct" so to speak.

Just FYI - once it's in Surplus, it's open season on the lad. He may get baited to smithereens. We might even get him to go on a safari, or send us a trophy, or get a tatoo. There's no telling what manner of horrific suffering might be inflicted on him.

So if you have any qualms about this, I suggest you not put it in surplus. If, on the other hand, it pisses you off just a little bit that this lad had the audacity to target your wife, even if she was just one faceless nameless email addy on a list of 10,000, then leave it in there and somebody will have some fun with him.

Please that's not my issue. Alot of you have taken my posts from an either / or perspective. That's not my intention. Idealistically I've explained where I'm coming from - no need to elaborate. I agree that a direct approach will not work but that doesn't mean that these ideals cannot be included as an underlying theme for various antics. Suffering, if used wisely can become and instrument for hope. If you're going to use suffering then at least attempt to use it wisely as a tool for transformation.
Sure, easier said than done.

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