*** 419 EATER FORUM RULES AND F.A.Q. PLEASE READ ***

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Posted: Sat Mar 27, 2004 1:08 pm

UPDATED: 17JUL2008

419eater forum rules and FAQ
Read this before you post anything on this board.

Contents [<a href="viewtopic.php?p=48679#contents" id="contents" name="contents">link</a>]

<a href="#general">General posting guidelines</a>
<a href="#disallow">What is definately NOT allowed</a>
<a href="#penalties">What happens when you get out of line</a>
<a href="#desc">Forum descriptions</a>
<a href="#submit">Submitting completed scambaits</a>
<a href="#trophy">The Trophy Room</a>
<a href="#419faq">FAQ: What is 419?</a>
- <a href="#419faq">What is 419?</a>
- <a href="#proposal">What are the most common types of 419 proposals?</a>
- <a href="#scamhow">How does the scam work?</a>
- <a href="#name">How did they get my name?</a>
- <a href="#popular">Why is this scam so popular?</a>
<a href="#baitingfaq">FAQ: What is scambaiting?</a>
- <a href="#baitingfaq">What is scambaiting?</a>
- <a href="#startbait">How can I get started?</a>
- <a href="#phone">What do I do when my scammer wants my phone number?</a>
- <a href="#bank">What do I do when my scammer wants my bank details?</a>
- <a href="#passport">What do I do when my scammer wants my passport?</a>
- <a href="#headers">Can't the scammer find out who I am from my email headers?</a>
- <a href="#mugu">What is a "Mugu" and a "Guyman"?</a>
- <a href="#bad">What is a BADger?</a>
- <a href="#whybad">Why would a BADger do that?</a>
- <a href="#avoid">How do I avoid a BADger?</a>
- <a href="#israel">My scammer seems to be in ISRAEL, what's that all about?</a>

General posting guidelines [<a href="viewtopic.php?p=48679#general" id="general" name="general">link</a>]

Some bad language is acceptable (to a point) but please try to keep it to a minimum. It's not big and it's not clever! Plainly abusive images and posts will be deleted without notification.
Private messages are just that, private. If you receive a private message, do not repeat it in the open forums without the permission of the person who sent it to you.
If you have a personal vendetta against someone, first of all, why? But if you must continue this blood feud, please try to confine your arguments via email or the Board’s private messaging system. Personal attacks on other members on the Board will not be tolerated, no matter who is right and who is wrong.
Please respect your fellow poster. If they ask a question or make a post you consider to be a 'newbie' post, don't flame them for it. Rather, offer assistance and take the opportunity to show off how smart you are. Remember, you were a newbie once too.
Please do not post individual scam letters in the Main forums unless they are really something extraordinary. Most members have set up special 'catcher accounts' and receive literally hundreds of scam letters per day. If you have surplus scam letters that you cannot handle, but really should not go to waste, please post them in the 'Surplus Scam Letters' forum.
Moderators (those happy people with the dark green names) have the privilege of locking threads, deleting posts and threads, giving members the status of “WARNED”, and suspending members. Moderators also serve to keep the Board content consistent and uncluttered. Moderators have been assigned their specific forum but they have these privileges in all the forums on this Board. Please do not start threads about closed or deleted threads. If you have a problem with any of the Moderators' decisions, send a PM to the moderator in question or the Moderator of the forum in which it happened. If you absolutely cannot resolve your issue with the moderating team, PM the Co-Administrators (Leccy, Lotta, or Shiver -- they have the bright red names) or the principal Administrator (Rover - he's red too -- some say even redder!).
Don't post just to post. Postcount has absolutely zero relevance on this board. Only the quality, and not the quantity, of your posts can make you or break you in this community. Some of our most valuable members post the least. Posts in ‘General Chat’ and ‘Surplus Letters’ do not count toward your postcount.
Do not post someone's personal address, phone number or other personal information without his or her consent. This applies to both members’ information and victims’ information. Of course this does not apply to any information you have on the scammers. If you do come across victim information, consider forwarding it to a Moderator or Admin, and/or visit our sister site: ScamWarners and ask for assistance.
Please do not post things that are easily abused by the scammers. This is a public board and scammers can and do visit occasionally. So: no passport templates, no guides to document forgery, etc. Use common sense here. Try to keep your valuables in PM.
If you post something or link to something that is not safe for viewing at work (or near children, etc.), please indicate so in your thread title or above your link.
Don't feed the troll. Either ignore it, give it some household tips or alert a Moderator.
Please avoid thread necromancy (that is: posting in a thread that has been inactive for several weeks to bump it back to the top of a forum again). Old threads have usually little relevance anymore. Also, members that posted in it may not be around anymore. If you really want to bring up an old discussion again because you have something of value to add, post a new thread and put a link in it to the old thread. That way people do not have to read through all the old posts to see what is new.
Here at Eater, signatures are used to show off and inform, but only in the spirit of baiting. Lad insults and threats, icons and links to helpful tools, threads and information are welcome. If you’re thinking about putting something in your signature that doesn’t deal with baiting, please reconsider. As with posts, Moderators and Admins retain the right to edit your signature without notice (although we try to give you the benefit of the doubt).
If you see something offensive posted on any of the forums, click the 'report this post to a moderator' link at the bottom right of the post. Please don't abuse this feature and use it to drag the moderator into any personal dispute you may have. If you must fight, and again, we wish you wouldn’t, keep those hidden away in PMs or e-mails.
If you have any comments or questions, feel free to PM the Moderator of the specific forum, or any other Moderator if the Moderator you seek is not available. Try to avoid sending general enquiry PM's directly to Rover as he is already a very busy man.
The Moderators can create additional rules and guidelines for their specific forum. These apply in addition to all these rules and guidelines so keep an eye on stickies and announcements in the various forums.
Please do not abuse the 'quote' function when replying to posts unless it is necessary to clarify the point being made. When answering a post that is directly above your post, there is generally no reason to quote the previous post unless it is to include a specific clip. Where a 'quote' is required to accentuate or clarify something regarding your response, please edit out all that is not required. This will keep the thread clean to read and save on disk space. Avoid ‘double-posting’ as well – that is making a post in a thread, and then making another post right beneath your prior post. Just use that fancy ‘edit’ button and add in your next idea. Go ahead, try it!
Do not post email addresses or phone numbers without sourcing them to a scam mail or fake site. The potential for abuse of non-scammers is too great. We're not saying that you would point other baiters towards an ex-significant whatever, cheating spouse, or that neighbor who never returned your power tools. We are saying that in the past, others have. Moderators reserve the right to remove un-sourced phone numbers or email addresses, or just delete that particular post entirely (they're like your credit card company, lots of reserved rights).

What is absolutely not allowed [<a href="viewtopic.php?p=48679#disallow" id="disallow" name="disallow">link</a>]

Duplicate accounts are not allowed. If you want to post something that you don't want to post with your main posting name on it, don't post it at all. Duplicate accounts will be banned without notice upon discovery and the main account will be given a warning.
We do not permit advertising of other websites or business interests, nor recruiting for other internet forums, whether baiter-related or not. Exceptions are made in rare circumstances. Please contact a Moderator or Admin for further information.
Hardcore Pornographic images are ABSOLUTELY not allowed. The odd breast or full frontal picture IF NECESSARY to the post is fine, but images of a very sexual nature will be removed immediately when found. Hardcore pornography is illegal in the UK (where this site is located) so please do not give someone an excuse to have this Board shut down.
Other shocking material, such as pictures of mutilation, death or other offensive non-sexual images are completely forbidden. Again, if your posts features anything way over the top, it will be deleted. There are other forums for that kind of thing – feel free to visit if you must (please wash before returning, however).
Racist, homophobic and other narrow-minded remarks or links to such sites or material are expressly forbidden. We will delete any remarks we consider offensive, and we make absolutely no apologies for doing so. This board is located and run from the UK where racism is (quite rightly) illegal, and it is our duty to make sure this Board is clear of such stuff. The people running this Board could possibly face prosecution for allowing it. Even if your remark/link is legal, we still don't allow it. Eater will not tolerate discrimination of ANY kind.
Do not post links to warez or piracy. Like many of the above items, they are illegal. We would like this Board to stay open for the enjoyment of all our members.
We do not support the sending of viruses and “trojans” to the scammers, nor attempts to hack, phish or hijack their email accounts and/or computers. Viruses and “trojans” will be unknowingly spread to the computers of innocent people and we are only trying to make it difficult for the scammers. On top of that, the spreading of viruses and hacking attempts is an illegal activity in the UK, where this Board is located, as well as many other jurisdictions. Please do not start topics on such subjects. Such threads can and will be deleted on sight.

What happens when you get out of line? [<a href="viewtopic.php?p=48679#penalties" id="penalties" name="penalties">link</a>]

It depends on the kind of violation you have committed. If it's the odd abusive post then we will edit or delete it (remember those reserved rights?). When one of your posts is deleted you generally will be informed of it, unless it's something small like a double post or if it's a very obvious violation of the forum rules. Persistent or grave offenders can be given the tag of 'WARNED' by the admin or any of the moderators. This tag, when given to you, serves as a final warning. Either improve your posting behaviour or face the consequences. The consequence can be to ban you from this Board or to suspend your account. WE DO NOT WANT TO HAVE TO DO THIS.

When you are given such a tag, the Moderator who tagged you will leave a message in the thread or send you a Private Message explaining why you were tagged. Do not start new threads demanding explanations or removal of the tag. The tag will be removed after showing improved posting behaviour for some time. How long that time is depends on your posting behaviour and on the severity of the offence for which you were given the tag. If you feel your tag is undeserved, PM the Moderator in question, who will consider your request, however, Moderators may exercise their discretion as they see fit.

We can also opt to suspend your account. When you are suspended you can still access the Board as usual but your posting privileges are revoked. You can still send PM's though to work things out with a Moderator.

If you continue to break the rules, even after having received a final warning, we will have little choice but to ban you. If you posted anything highly illegal, we may even opt to report you to your ISP. Of course, if you are banned you may go for the option of re-registering under a different name and start your antics again, but then we will end up going around in a vicious circle of deleting and banning. Save yourself the trouble by being a good citizen and contributor to Eater.

Forum descriptions [<a href="viewtopic.php?p=48679#desc" id="desc" name="desc">link</a>]

Main Scambaiting Forum: This is the general forum for all things related to scambaiting.
General Chat: For all things non-related to scams and scambaiting.
Publish Your Work Here: Got a great scambait? Post it here so the other members can enjoy it and learn from it.
Scambaiting Help, Hints & Tips: Stuck in a bait? Afraid of reverse-baiters? Or do you need some technical advice from our more tech-savvy members? This is the right place to ask.
Pictures & Video: Post all your baiting related pictures and/or video here. Both the marvelous (or awful) trophies you get as the wonderful pics that you send to your favourite pet lad. We also keep a repository of passport and other stock images that scammers use.
Audio Files: The place for all scammer trophies that you scored by phone.
Fake Banks and Websites: If you come across a fake bank, see if it's listed here. If not then you can post it here so we can try to shut it down and score another one for the good guys.
Surplus Scam Letters: This is the place to exchange surplus scam letters you receive. Please do not post all of your letters here, just the ones that really should not go to waste.
Technical Related Questions, Problems & Requests for 419Eater Forum: If you are experiencing technical problems with the Board, or have a question on how to get about the forums, post your question here (or you can always PM a Mod or Admin).

Submitting your completed scambaits [<a href="viewtopic.php?p=48679#submit" id="submit" name="submit">link</a>]

Older members may remember that we used to accept scambait submissions to be displayed in the letters page of this site. Unfortunately the site got far too big and busy to spend enough time formatting the received baits to HTML and then publish them so we had to close down. However we have now opened up the site LETTERS ARCHIVE section again for people to submit their own ** completed ** scambaits, but they must be submitted in completed HTML format.

Here are a few guidelines:

You need to submit your letters in a completed HTML page format formatted the way you would like it to appear online. We are afraid that we don't have any time to convert your letters to HTML format myself as we don't really have enough spare time to format your letters. How you submit them to us is how they will appear online
Just supply your letters in one complete HTML file. You can of course include any pictures you sent/received during your scambait, but please make sure the appropriate links for the images are included with your HTML file. We can host the images on this site, so include any images with your HTML file.
Windows comes supplied with its own HTML editor FrontPage, but if you are using another system that does not come with a HTML editor included there are plenty of free ones available to download from the Internet.
With each scammer reply, please try to include their email address, email subject and date of email. This helps readers to keep track of the time frames etc.
Please send your work in one zipped-up file.
If your file size exceeds one megabyte, please contact an Admin first before submitting it. This is to prevent our mailboxes jamming up with megabytes of emails!
Your real name will not be shown UNLESS you specifically ask us to display it. If you prefer, we can you your scam baiting pseudonym (e.g. Shiver Metimbers).
Once your HTML file is received, we will upload it onto my site and add it to the letters page.

Of course, if you have your own webspace, please feel free to send a link to your scambait and we will add a direct link to it. If you require any help with regards to any of the information above, please let us know.

The Trophy Room [<a href="viewtopic.php?p=48679#trophy" id="trophy" name="trophy">link</a>]

If you have received a great (non-forged!) trophy from your scammer, you can upload your picture yourself. Just go to the Trophy Room and follow the easy instructions. Nothing to it! Then watch with glee (or the reverse of glee [I don't have my thesaurus handy]) as members vote on your trophy.

FAQ: What is 419? [<a href="viewtopic.php?p=48679#419faq" id="419faq" name="419faq">link</a>]

Question: What is 419? [<a href="viewtopic.php?p=48679#419faq">link</a>]

Answer: Information quoted from the US Secret Service Web Site.

Quote:

4-1-9 Schemes frequently use the following tactics:

An individual or company receives a letter or fax from an alleged "official" representing a foreign government or agency.
An offer is made to transfer millions of dollars in "over invoiced contract" funds into your personal bank account.
You are encouraged to travel overseas to complete the transaction.
You are requested to provide blank company letterhead forms, banking account information, telephone/fax numbers.
You receive numerous documents with official looking stamps, seals and logo testifying to the authenticity of the proposal.
Eventually you must provide up-front or advance fees for various taxes, attorney fees, transaction fees or bribes.

Other forms of 4-1-9 schemes include: C.O.D. of goods or services, real estate ventures, purchases of crude oil at reduced prices, beneficiary of a will, recipient of an award and paper currency conversion.

Nigerian Advance Fee Fraud Overview

The perpetrators of Advance Fee Fraud (AFF), known internationally as "4-1-9" fraud after the section of the Nigerian penal code which addresses fraud schemes, are often very creative and innovative.

Unfortunately, there is a perception that no one is prone to enter into such an obviously suspicious relationship. However, a large number of victims are enticed into believing they have been singled out from the masses to share in multi-million dollar windfall profits for doing absolutely nothing. It is also a misconception that the victim's bank account is requested so the culprit can plunder it -- this is not the primary reason for the account request -- merely a signal they have hooked another victim.

In almost every case there is a sense of urgency.
The victim is enticed to travel to Nigeria or a border country.
There are many forged official looking documents.
Most of the correspondence is handled by fax or through the mail.
Blank letterheads and invoices are requested from the victim along with the banking particulars.
Any number of Nigerian fees are requested for processing the transaction with each fee purported to be the last required.
The confidential nature of the transaction is emphasized.
There are usually claims of strong ties to Nigerian officials.
A Nigerian residing in the U.S., London or other foreign venue may claim to be a clearing house bank for the Central Bank of Nigeria.
Offices in legitimate government buildings appear to have been used by impostors posing as the real occupants or officials.

Question: What are the most common types of 419 proposals? [<a href="viewtopic.php?p=48679#proposal" id="proposal" name="proposal">link</a>]

Answer: The most common forms of these fraudulent business proposals fall into the following main categories:

Disbursement of money from wills;
Contract fraud (C.O.D. of goods or services);
Purchase of real estate;
Charitable donations;
Conversion of hard currency;
Transfer of funds found by soldier in war zone (e.g. Iraq, Afghanistan, etc.);
Transfer of funds from over invoiced contracts; and
Sale of crude oil at below market prices.

The most prevalent and successful cases of Advance Fee Fraud is the fund transfer scam. In this scheme, a company or individual will typically receive an unsolicited letter by mail from a Nigerian claiming to be a senior civil servant. In the letter, the Nigerian will inform the recipient that he is seeking a reputable foreign company or individual into whose account he can deposit funds ranging in the tens of millions of dollars/pounds/euros that the Nigerian government overpaid on some procurement contract.

Question: How does the scam work? [<a href="viewtopic.php?p=48679#scamhow" id="scamhow" name="scamhow">link</a>]

Answer: Initially, the intended victim is instructed to provide company letterheads and pro forma invoicing that will be used to show completion of the contract. One of the reasons is to use the victim's letterhead to forge letters of recommendation to other victim companies and to seek out a travel visa from the American Embassy in Lagos. The victim is told that the completed contracts will be submitted for approval to the Central Bank of Nigeria. Upon approval, the funds will be remitted to an account supplied by the intended victim.

The goal of the criminal is to delude the target into thinking that he is being drawn into a very lucrative, albeit questionable, arrangement. The intended victim must be reassured and confident of the potential success of the deal. He will become the primary supporter of the scheme and willingly contribute a large amount of money when the deal is threatened. The term "when" is used because the con-within-the-con is the scheme will be threatened in order to persuade the victim to provide a large sum of money to save the venture.

The letter, while appearing transparent and even ridiculous to most, unfortunately is growing in its effectiveness. It sets the stage and is the opening round of a two-layered scheme or scheme within a scheme. The fraudster will eventually reach someone who, while sceptical, desperately wants the deal to be genuine.

Victims are almost always requested to travel to Nigeria or a border country to complete a transaction. Individuals are often told that a visa will not be necessary to enter the country. The Nigerian con artists may then bribe airport officials to pass the victims through Immigration and Customs. Because it is a serious offence in Nigeria to enter without a valid visa, the victim's illegal entry may be used by the fraudsters as leverage to coerce the victims into releasing funds. Violence and threats of physical harm may be employed to further pressure victims. In June of 1995, an American was murdered in Lagos, Nigeria, while pursuing a 4-1-9 scam, and numerous other foreign nationals have been reported as missing.

Victims are often convinced of the authenticity of Advance Fee Fraud schemes by the forged or false documents bearing apparently official Nigerian government letterhead, seals, as well as false letters of credit, payment schedules and bank drafts. The fraudster may establish the credibility of his contacts, and thereby his influence, by arranging a meeting between the victim and "government officials" in real or fake government offices.

In the next stage some alleged problem concerning the "inside man" will suddenly arise. An official will demand an up-front bribe or an unforeseen tax or fee to the Nigerian government will have to be paid before the money can be transferred. These can include licensing fees, registration fees, and various forms of taxes and attorney fees. Normally each fee paid is described as the very last fee required. Invariably, oversights and errors in the deal are discovered by the Nigerians, necessitating additional payments and allowing the scheme to be stretched out over many months.

Question: How do they get my name? [<a href="viewtopic.php?p=48679#name" id="name" name="name">link</a>]

Answer: The criminals obtain the names of potential victims from a variety of sources including trade journals, professional directories, newspapers, and commercial libraries. Also, scammers often purchase giant lists of email addresses. They do not target a single company, but rather send out mailings en masse. The sender declares that he is a senior civil servant in one of the Nigerian Ministries, often the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), or in many cases, the officer of a Nigerian bank.

Question: Why is this scam so popular? [<a href="viewtopic.php?p=48679#popular" id="popular" name="popular">link</a>]

Answer: Several reasons have been submitted why Nigerian Advance Fee Fraud has undergone a dramatic increase in recent years. The explanations are as diverse as the types of schemes. The Nigerian Government blames the growing problem on mass unemployment, extended family systems, a get rich quick syndrome, and, especially, the greed of foreigners.
Indications are that Advance Fee Fraud grosses hundreds of millions of dollars annually and the losses are continuing to escalate. In all likelihood, there are victims who do not report their losses to authorities due to either fear or embarrassment.

FAQ: What is Scambaiting? [<a href="viewtopic.php?p=48679#baitingfaq" id="baitingfaq" name="baitingfaq">link</a>]

Question: What is Scambaiting? [<a href="viewtopic.php?p=48679#baitingfaq">link</a>]

Answer: Scambaiting is an attempt to slow the effectiveness of 419 scammers. Scambaiters will engage the scammer in a game of their own and try to draw the scammer into it for as long as possible, therefore wasting his time and efforts on someone who will never fall for his scheme. The more of the scammer's time, energy and resources we can waste, the less he will have to scam someone for real. Importantly, scambaiting is not a form of vigilantism. We do not “take the law into our own hands”. To the contrary, wherever possible, we try to involve law enforcement in the process. However, as you might imagine, law enforcement is not always keen to pursue these scam artists whether due to geographical distance, the relatively modest amount of money at stake, or sheer inertia. That said, several of our members have obtained documented proof of arrests due to their efforts and cooperation with law enforcement. Last, we stay within the law to achieve our modest goals. We don't believe we can justify scambaiting if we too break the law, even if we have noble intentions. Okay, 'nuff said on that.

Question: How can I get started? [<a href="viewtopic.php?p=48679#startbait" id="startbait" name="startbait">link</a>]

Answer: The first thing to do is set up a free email account. If the free email provider asks for any personal information about you, lie. DO NOT give out any personal information while scambaiting. We recommend “baiting safely” which means, ideally, an email account that strips out your originating IP address. This way the scammer has no idea where you are located – not even your continent. While an IP address, alone, is unlikely to lead a lad to your doorstep, if you want the maximum level of protection, this is one important element (more on this in a bit).

The next thing to do is to find a 419 scammer to bait. There are a few possible ways to do this. One is to just check your email box. Most people have received them numerous times before and will continue to do so. If you don't have any in your email box then check out our Surplus Letters forum and read a few of the scams. Most include an email address of the scammer. You can also search on Google for "mugu guymen [current year, e.g. 2008]" and sign any of the guestbooks that come up in the search. If you do this, please do not spam the guestbook with nonsense. Look over the site and make an honest comment in the guestbook. The scammers will still find you and you'll make the guestbook owner happy too.

Once you have a scammer's email address send him (and they're almost all 'hims') a short email to let him know that you're interested in his offer and that you'd like more information. The shorter and more to the point the better usually. If you received the scam email to your regular email address then you should set up a free email account and reply from there as if that was the email address that received his letter. The scammer won't notice.

Once your bait is started just play it by ear. Ask stupid questions, misunderstand anything you possibly can in his emails, ask for him to sign meaningless documents, get him to pose for stupid photos, anything you can think of to keep him busy playing with you instead of scamming someone for real. Be sure to mention fairly early in your emails to him that you're quite filthy stinking rich and would love more money and his deal sounds just great. They love to know they've got a rich greedy mark hooked and will put up with just about anything to get your imaginary money out of you.

Importantly, never educate the scammer (it's akin to not feeding the bears). If the scammer has atrocious spelling, compliment him on his professional nature. If the scammer’s passport looks like something a 5-year old created with dried noodles and crayons, be sure to be impressed. We do this so that the scammer doesn’t learn how to improve his approach, and therefore, make it just a bit more likely that a truly unsuspecting victim will sniff out the scam before it starts. Please suppress your desire to “show up” the scammer – a good baiter will have many more sophisticated ways of doing this as opposed to ridiculing the scammer’s logic or spelling.

Oh and one more thing that crops up from time to time with new members: we don't shut down lad boxes by emailing Yahoo or Google to inform them of the scamming activity? 'Why is that?' you ask? Well, we'll tell you. In half the time it will take you to make a report to an ISP about a scammer email box, the lad can set up a new one. One you won't know about. Happy now? The saying "better the devil you know than the devil you don't" is applicable here. If you know where the lad is (at least one of his boxes) that is much better than having no idea where he is. Plus, to the extent there is a law enforcement investigation going on, (a) you won't know about it (and neither may the email provider), and (b) if it's shut down, you may have just handed the lad a 'get out of jail free' card. 'Unlikely' you say? Why take that chance?

Question: What do I do when my scammer wants my phone number? [<a href="viewtopic.php?p=48679#phone" id="phone" name="phone">link</a>]

Answer: A couple of things can be done. First, you can get a free voicemail account at http://www.k7.net or http://www.j2.com for voice/fax in the U.S. and U.K.

You might also just search for a phone number here - http://www.payphoneproject.com - and give him one in a country as far away from him as possible. Might as well cost him as much money as you can if he wants to call you so bad. There are loads more ways to deal with this issue -- why not try that nifty 'Search' button out?

Question: What do I do when my scammer wants my bank details? [<a href="viewtopic.php?p=48679#bank" id="bank" name="bank">link</a>]

Answer: Make the details up. Fake bank, fake address, fake account number. The scammer isn't going to use them anyway except possibly to put on some fake documents he'll send you later. They use the old "give me your banking details" ploy to see what kind of a sucker you really are. They figure if you'd give someone you just met your banking details that you'd gladly hand over wads of cash to them just as readily.

Question: What do I do when my scammer wants my passport? [<a href="viewtopic.php?p=48679#passport" id="passport" name="passport">link</a>]

Answer: We do not encourage sending fake passports as they can be 'recycled' by scammers in their future scams. The best way around sending a passport is by making up all kinds of excuses as to why you can't send one. Here are some suggestions: Your scanner's broke, someone stole it, it's locked up in a safe deposit box, you just don't have one, etc, etc. As you will soon find, for every scammer demand, there are 14 ways around it, and the scammer will never be the wiser (or the richer).

Question: Can't the scammer find out who I am from my email headers? [<a href="viewtopic.php?p=48679#headers" id="headers" name="headers">link</a>]

Answer: Short answer. No. Scammers are not, shall we say, brilliant by any stretch of the imagination. While it's true your IP is normally in your email headers the scammer would be extremely unlikely to even know what an IP is, let alone how to find you with it. And even if he did by some miracle track you down, he would have no way to get to you. It would cost him too much time, money and energy to even attempt to try it. Besides, I somehow doubt he'd get the Visa he'd need to enter the country.

Having said that I should now point out that 419 scammers are known to operate in the U.K., Canada, Holland, Germany, Thailand, the U.S. and many other countries, and therefore you should never presume that you are “safe” merely by virtue of geographical distance.

If you're really worried about your IP showing up then you can use a proxy connection or an email that strips your IP and be that much safer.

Question: What is a "Mugu" and a "Guyman"? [<a href="viewtopic.php?p=48679#mugu" id="mugu" name="mugu">link</a>]

Answer: Mugu (and its variants, like 'maye' or 'maga') is slang for (depending on who you ask), big idiot, big fool, moron etc, so on and so forth. The scammers use the term mugu for the people they scam. We, the scambaiters, in turn use it to describe the scammers. And if you're read any of the baits on this or other websites you'll know why we do that.

Guyman (also 'guy' or 'g') on the other hand is what the scammers use to refer to themselves and each other.

We at Eater frequently refer to them as 'lads', which is our 'affectionate' reference for these criminals.

Question: What is a Badger? [<a href="viewtopic.php?p=48679#bad" id="bad" name="bad">link</a>]

Answer: A ‘Badger’, also known as a scambaiter-baiter or ‘reverse baiter’ among other names, is someone who decides it would be more fun to waste a scambaiter's time than to waste a scammers time. A Badger will send a message to a real scambaiter posing as a scammer and will then attempt to simulate the errors and mistakes in spelling and grammar that a real scammer would make in hopes of fooling the scambaiter into falling for it. While much is often made about Badgers, the genuine article is exceedingly rare -- 90% of the time a 'Badger Alert' is nothing more than an oddly written email.

Question: Why would a Badger do that? [<a href="viewtopic.php?p=48679#whybad" id="whybad" name="whybad">link</a>]

Answer: Got me. If you find out let us know.

Question: How do I avoid a Badger? [<a href="viewtopic.php?p=48679#avoid" id="avoid" name="avoid">link</a>]

Answer: Experience. After a few baits you'll be familiar with the way most scammers write their emails and will then be able to feel when an email just doesn't sound right. Don't judge a scam email by the first couple letters you exchange with a scammer. They're usually just a cut-and-paste job from a script they have. Once you deviate from that script though the scammers real language skills will show through.

A Badger on the other hand is most likely a native English speaker, or at the very least extremely familiar with the language. Either way they tend to have to work hard at making mistakes when writing their letters to you and will end up making either too many, not enough, or not the right kind of mistakes.

Question: My scammer seems to be in ISRAEL, what's that all about? [<a href="viewtopic.php?p=48679#israel" id="israel" name="israel">link</a>]

Answer: Ok, you have tracked down the IP of your scammer, and it appears to be coming from Israel or some other location that seems fishy.

That's all well and good, but don't think "BADger!" right away, as many Internet caf�s in Africa make use of satellite service providers such as Gilat Satcom. The actual provider is based in Israel, while in many cases at least part of the company is US based and so is the administrative contact for the domain. It's a *very* common thing and there really is no reason to ring the alarm bells over it. Those are SERVICE PROVIDERS in Africa!

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

On behalf of the Administration and Moderator team, we would like to wish all of our new visitors a warm welcome to this Forum.

To get started in baiting, our founder, Shiver Metimbers, has an excellent page of baiting info which answers a lot of questions we normally see from first time baiters HERE

Nurse Nasty and JMRazor are your dedicated, super-duper specialist Moderators for the Main Scambaiting Forum and they can be found easily. If you cannot find either, feel free to address any Moderator or Admin and he or she will be happy to assist.

If you have any queries directly relating to topics in this Main Scambaiting Forum, please feel free to PM Nurse Nasty or JMRazor in the first instance and they should be able to point you in the right direction, or use the Report This Post to a Moderator link which is on every post on this Forum. Any Moderator can respond to your question.

A few items of house-keeping for everyone here:

Freedom of Stupidity:-

Everyone may think that he is free to say what he wants, but Rover and other Admin/Moderator team make the rules here, and what they says goes. There is no freedom of speech anywhere in any way, shape, or form. If your neighbour paints his house purple and you don't like it, you may say to anyone you like that you don't like it, but you are not allowed to barge into his living room and tell him that you don't like it. It's the same situation here. If you do say or post something and the Admins or Moderators disagree, then it's out. You are free to complain (hopefully intelligently and with an economy of words) or simply leave. No one is forcing you to be here.

New Baiters who would like assistance:-
Feel free to post a question (after you have searched the site) in the Scambaiting Help, Hints and Tips Forum or, if you are simply lost in all the lad emails, check out the Assistance for newcomers thread. The experienced baiters who are lending assistance are happy to act as mentor to anyone who asks.

Anyone asking about Mariam Abacha or Maryam Abacha or Mariyam Abacha or any scam letter which has the name Abacha involved:-
Please take time to search this forum for threads about them. Please do not start a new thread because we have all seen them and the Abacha trunkboxes or whatever-scam is one of the standard form letters used by lads. Believe us, the lads don't know how to think for themselves and wouldn't have a new idea to share between them even if 100 were in a room together.

Baiter Type Names or Joke Names used by Scammers:-
We often see a question about names used by scammers which appear to be ones also used by baiters. This is common because one thing scammers try to do is use real sounding names. We have seen on many occasions the details of actual victims being used. Other times we have questions about joke-type names. One of the most common ones put forward by new baiters asking is Wang Quin (or one of its dereviatives) We normally point members to use the search function of this forum, here are a few threads to take a look at: Thread One and Thread Two.

For those who think that the scammers are simply a few lone operators who are trying to make a living:-
There was a very interesting video report from a Canadian TV station in Feburary 2004 No guarantee that link and its video will be alive, but we are working on getting a mirror organised The video links are on the right hand side of the page. Thanks to Frodo for giving us the info Here which I couldn't find first time!
The video and print story clearly shows how large the criminal gangs are and they do have accomplices in non-African countries - Henry J Statz is one such accomplice.

For those who would choose to try and lecture or dictate to scambaiters about the morality of baiting:-
Here is an excellent FAQ in relation to this, it is located HERE. It is REQUIRED READING for all who do not fully understand the motivation or reasoning behind what scambaiters do.
We also encourage everyone to read the following link: http://forum.419eater.com/forum/monica This is a well documented series of email exchanges between a victim and scammer and, if anything, it should give all new members some idea of what us scambaiters deal with on a daily basis. This victim luckily is being assisted by the appropriate family services department now, but what the scammer did to her is inexcusable. Let me get this perfectly clear right now, this is only a mirror of the page; it was another scambaiter who uncovered this and made the emails available. All identifiable information in that story has been removed. Also you should take a look at the Leslie Fountain story: http://w3.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/cambridge/story.asp?StoryID=47575. This gentleman, after realising that he lost almost everything, took his own life. The Artists Against 419 dedicated the Second International 419 FlashMob to him.

Fake Banks Forum:-
The team of bank killers are doing a sterling job making life hard for the lads, and they need your help. Please don't be jealous if a fake bank or lottery site falls over while you are baiting a lad. Just remember that there are real victims out there and even the smallest thing such as a problem with a lad bank or email account will almost mean a win for scambaiters.

If, while you are baiting, you get sent a link to a fake lad-website, please inform the bank killers. If you can get the site shut down, then post it and follow the requirements of the Bank Forum. Don't worry about having the site go down in the middle of a bait; it gives you the best excuse for slapping the lads Twisted Evil

We also have a close association with the Artists Against 419. They have the largest database of fake bank and lottery sites listed on the internet (and its FREE to access!!). To keep up to date on their happenings, subscribe to their mailing list.

If you come across real bank account information given to you by a lad during a bait or otherwise, please do not ignore that or simply delete the information.
This is either one of the lad's real accounts, or an account that belongs to one of the lad's mules.
Send a copy of the email with full headers to Alan@aa419.org
You will not hear back from Alan, but rest assured that the account will be reported to the applicable banking and LEO authorities and either monitored or closed.

Support from Law Enforcement:-
With certain exceptions, we see little or no notice paid to Advanced Fee Fraud by law enforcement bodies. Again, the reasons for this are no doubt many, but they probably boil down to the generalized view of law enforcement, and really most anyone you ask, that (a) victims get what they deserve, and (b) 419 scammers are more amusing than anything else. Plus, they’re so far away, what can your local police officer do? He or she has bigger problems.

Well, in our experience, all of these perceptions are wrong – dangerously so. Scammers produce thousands of bad checks every week, which clog up our commercial banking system, causing a serious drain on resources. Scammer gangs can be extremely well organized, and while they may focus on 419 scams, they often deal in stolen goods, prostitution and illicit drugs. Remember too, that 419 scams are not limited to Nigeria. While we use the ‘419’ identifier, the advance fee fraud (and its cousins) are used the world over by nearly every nationality. Last, these people destroy lives. The financial toll is often the least of a victim’s worries when all is said and done. Whatever your perspective on victims’ mentalities, they do not ‘deserve’ to be robbed of their money, dignity and security.

We therefore welcome all members of law enforcement, and also business, directly affected by advance fee fraud (internet cafes, banks, web hosts etc.) and encourage them to form communication networks to take on the fight we play a small part in.

Trolls:-
As with most other large forums, we have our fair share of trolls come and go here. Your average troll usually has an inflated self opinion, and consider themselves highly intelligent, far too clever for us normal people (though so far we have yet to see this case proven!).

When we come across trollish behaviour, after yawning for a short period, and muttering "not another one", we will act as swiftly as possible. If you are a troll, expect to receive a polite warning to cease and desist. If you continue, then you can expect your posts and account to be suspended without notice.

Please do not feed the troll here at all, instead use the report this post to a Moderator feature. We really have seen it all before, and quickly grow weary of such juvenile behaviour. There are far better places to wind people up. For some reason most trolls seem to think it's big and clever to post crap all over the board, however apart from wasting your time, most people here will just think you are an arsehole.

Baiting for cash:- PLEASE READ CAREFULLY
Due to the possible legal implications involved, but more importantly because the possible dangers posed to baiters, please note that the Administrators and Moderators of 419eater.com no longer permit any discussion relating to cash baits or methods of extracting money from scammers on this board. If you feel the need to discuss such matters then please do so either by this board's Private Messaging system or by email – but be advised, we do not sanction or encourage such discussions and will play no part in furtherance of cash-baiting.

Any public posts relating to cash baits, other methods relating to the extraction of money from scammers will be immediately locked or deleted.

Personal message by Shiver Metimbers:

Of course people will say, "well, you have done it, so why can't we?", and that's a perfectly reasonable question to ask. What follows is my personal opinion, and not necessarily those of the other Admins or Moderators.

My only reason for wanting to implement this ban is SAFETY FOR ALL OUR MEMBERS. Most people are aware on my views of cash baiting - scammers are fair game IMO, and I have no moral qualms about fooling a THIEF into sending me his money. Some people with a more blinkered view on reality may think that this makes me a thief also, but I always give my proceeds away to a worthy cause.

Let me be quite clear here; convincing even a scammer to send you money under false pretences IS illegal, and I have never argued against that statement, however, if I have to tread the legal line in order to inflict maximum damage to a thief who has in all probability stolen many many thousands of dollars from innocent people, then so be it. Having said that, my days of 'cash baiting' are over. I did it just to show it could be done, and in a big way. Now I am moving on to more productive areas. The protection of members on this site is far more important to me than the extraction of a few dollars from a thieving piece of scum.

I implore newcomers to scambaiting to never lose sight of the main goal; to waste the scammer's time as much as possible, to mess with their minds, to make them jump through hoops. Of all my most favourite scambaits, not a single one of them involved extracting cash - or even a trophy picture - from the scammer. It is much more satisfying to drive a scammer mentally insane over a period of weeks or months than it is to spend a week or so convincing them to send you a bit of cash. None of my own cash only baits are remotely near any of my favourite baits in terms of overall satisfaction.

And finally:

419Eater reserves the right to terminate the membership of any individual who partakes in action directed at disrupting the operation of websites involved in scambaiting, 419 victim support, or anti-419 activities in general. Said action includes forum trolling, defirmation of character of anti-419 website members, and similar activities.

419Eater further reserves the right to terminate the membership of any individual who is known to be an active member of any organization or any website that promotes hate, prejudice, racism, social intolerance, defamation of character, etc.

These rules apply to those who actively participate in the action described above and to those who associate themselves with individuals who partake in such action, e.g. by active website membership.

Termination of membership in accordance with the above mentioned rules is subject to immediate action without prior notice.

While the Admins and Moderators of 419Eater strive to track and moderate 100% of the content on the Board, you should not assume that just because a post exists on a given topic, that it is endorsed by Rover, the Admins or Moderators. If something strikes you as odd, or even illegal, please contact us and ask the question. Once more, while we want to strike hard against the scammers, we do not condone illegal behavior. We adhere to the “Innocent Third Party Rule” – if your actions are likely to impact the welfare of an innocent third party, don’t do it!

Welcome to Eater.

***All legal and Law Enforcement inquiries should be directed by mail only to co-owner and general counsel as follows:

Okorie Okorocha
California Legal Team
117 E. Colorado Blvd., Suite 465
Pasadena, Ca 91105

EVERY MEMBER IS SOLELY RESPONSIBLE FOR THEIR OWN POSTS. THE OWNERS OF WWW.419EATER.COM DO NOT ENDORSE NOR TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR POSTS BY ANY MEMBERS.