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Hello I'm New here! Joined: 17 May 2007 Posts: 17

Found the forum through a link off a major newspaper site. Never ever thought; a get a scammer site like this existed. This place has made me laugh for three days lurking. Being from the days of the old chain mail and ponzi scams, my oh my how things have change! Got to love technology.

I have a very good friend who's elderly father was scammed by scum like many of these people not long before he died. The poor guy was to ashamed to tell anyone about it and it could well have hastened his death. They just never stopped on him and still made attempts after the mans death.

I would love to get a little paypack for my friend Laughing

! Thinking a elderly character in a retirement home with bouts of memory loss and a lot of money might be a good introduction? Would I be on the right track?

Posted: Thu May 17, 2007 10:53 am

I usually start of with:

Quote:

Dear Scammer,

You're proposal sounds interesting, please tell me more.

Regards
A. Baiter

This is enough to get their second scripted reply, then you can feed out the back story of your character bit by bit.

Remember: Never do more work than the scammer.

Have fun. Read the IP's, Get yourself a sticky and hide the mentor Very Happy

Posted: Thu May 17, 2007 10:53 am

Welcome to Eater!

Sounds like a fine start, but just be sure to bait safe and get on the good side of the Mods here and read the stickies. They put a lot of good info in them. Also, look to sign up for a mentor ASAP because they can help guide you through the tough parts. I also found reading the letters & published baits gave good ideas and also how to handle certain situations that may arise.

I'd suggest for your first couple of baits to just play it straight and get the feel for them. Don't rush them, don't ask for trophies right away, and don't do more work than they do. They should always do the work; heck they want money, let them earn it! Laughing

Good luck and enjoy making them miserable. Twisted Evil

Posted: Thu May 17, 2007 11:04 am

Welcome to the Eater.

The mentor thing may take a few days to organise, so you need to be patient. In the meantime if you have any questions or want advice post them up in the Scambaiting Help, Hints and Tips forum.

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 17 May 2007 Posts: 17

Thanks for the reply guys. Being self employed the bs stories are no problem (heard em all and might just recycle a few). The tech side of things is a little different. Should I operate through a proxy and what would you advise? Also when it comes to sending documents and such that could be a problem but I will worry about that when the time comes. There is no problems getting tech questions answered around here is there?

Posted: Thu May 17, 2007 11:23 am

Do you run a static IP or dynamic w/ your home business?

You could just use Gmail if you want your IP stripped from it.

Posted: Thu May 17, 2007 11:29 am

^^^

Gmail, Hushmail and fastmail are the way to go as they strip your IP so there's no way to trace you.

As for documents and the like, I use: http://www.xnet.se/fd/ Select the filename and extension and the file size and bingo, a completely unopenable file.

There are many tech gurus on here so you're usually a post or two away from the answer you need.

Posted: Thu May 17, 2007 11:32 am

You don't need to be a techinical genius to participate Joe. If you can send an e-mail, you can bait. There are lots of fun things and tips and tricks, but you can pick them up as you go along. We're not all geeky kids, you'd be surprised how many of us are grey haired. Very Happy

You don't need to be behind a proxy unless you have a static ip, or bait from a company or educational establishment that can be traced, but this can all be checked for you, or by your mentor.

The risks of revenge are very minute but we still recommend baiting safely to get you into good habits. There's much fun, and good work to be done.

Often it's hilarious. Don't rush it, the nack will come to you slowly - usually a couple of weeks, then you'll be smoking.

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 17 May 2007 Posts: 17

OxygenDeprived I have no idea what the first line means. Sorry (be gentle with me). I work in a manual trade and computers are not my strong point (I have a helpful office lady called a wife that takes care of it). What I do know is the basic internet and I have at least one month of a lot of spare time.

The second line I understand. So Google mail does not record an IP address?

Mostly I want to know would it be worth signing up to a automated proxy server even if they charge a small fee? If so what would be the one advised? A small amount of cash is not really such a problem for the fun I plan to be having.

Posted: Thu May 17, 2007 11:42 am

@Slow Joe Welcome to the house of fun.

As above, sign up for email with googlemail or even Fastmail.

Never use your real name or your baiter id in your baits.

Avoid phone numbers - if you are an elderly gent then your deaf so you dont have a phone.

You are new to computers so you don't have a scanner - means you cant send copies of froms/passport/id etc.

Take it slow. Never respond to email immediately. Let the lad wait.

Be as helpful and nice as possible but then lose your cool after say 3 or 4 messages. Lad thinks he's got a patsy and then gets a shock.

Most important, as others have said. Get a mentor and read the stickies etc. Bait safe and have fun. Waste their time as much as possible.

Remember, most of them pay for Internet access at cafe's so the more they work on you the more it costs them and the less they are scamming real victims.

Posted: Thu May 17, 2007 11:45 am

SLOW JOE wrote:

The second line I understand. So Google mail does not record an IP address?

Google does record it, it just strips it from the email delivered to the recipient. So anybody wanting to trace your whereabouts would need a court order to get your IP/location. Same as if you were using a provider that doesn't strip your IP actually. Very Happy

For any clarifications on the topic of IP paranoia feel free to PM our new moderator Scampatroller - he's the resident tech wizard!

Posted: Thu May 17, 2007 11:45 am

Okay - have you signed up in the mentor thread yet Joe ?

Sign up for a googlemail account here

CLICKONTHISLINK

DO NOT fill in with your real life information

If you want fake details and a credible postcode/zipcode visit here

http://www.fakenamegenerator.com/

We can put you through a short exercise to check your ip - it's all so easy - once you know Wink

Not quite a Newb Joined: 14 Jul 2005 Posts: 41

Hi Joe and welcome here.

There really isn't a need for proxies and whatnot, especially if you're going to pay for them.

The key thing, regardless of which email provider you decide to use, is to make sure that you aren't using any information that can be linked to your real life details- hiding behind 12 proxies and using IP stripping email isn't going to do you a lick of good if a simple google search of your baiting name leads straight back to a myspace profile and your entire life story. Wink

Just a general comment, but the IP thing has been blown way out of proportion. Most of the time your IP isn't a factor, but there are exceptions. I use gmail and fastmail mostly because I claim to be elsewhere other than the middle of the bible belt. I'd suggest checking your IP personally and seeing how much information about you is available and then decide from there.

Posted: Thu May 17, 2007 12:10 pm

@Joe, essentially a static IP means it doesn't change. You would have to pay extra for this when you got your internet. This is mostly used if you wanted to host a webpage for your business and didn't want it to change. You would know if you had it (by paying for it Wink

).

But if you follow the advice that everyone has stated, you don't need to worry about a proxy. Besides, I'd say 99% of the lads out there wouldn't understand an IP Adress even if you tried explaining it to them.

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 17 May 2007 Posts: 17

Thanks everyone! I now feel ready to be "victimised"! Google it would seem is the way to begin. Now just where should I start? I never get any of these emails.

Depraved I would suspect I do not have a static address because I do not pay any extra charges. Well at least my provider is not telling me about them!

I hope and am very hopefull I post some entertaining things! Laughing

PS how to do this will be a question for another day Embarassed

Posted: Thu May 17, 2007 12:26 pm

Hi, Joe, and welcome!

To simplify all the advice above:

1) Make sure that the name you are using as a baiter does not lead back to you in any way - create a name and mail account specifically for baiting. It doesn't even have to be a joke name, it just has to be something (as TSNerd explained) that doesn't lead back to you.

2) Use gmail for your first baiting account until you understand the sport more fully.

All the more complex stuff can come later. Post a request for a mentor in the mentor thread - your mentor can help you as you start to gain experience. For now, those two rules will get you started safely.

edit: To get your very own scammer, take a look into the surplus letters forum. Pick one that looks good - a trunkbox or next-of-kin are good to start with - grab the scammer's email address, and send an email saying "I'm interested, what do you need from me" from your new email account.

Posted: Thu May 17, 2007 12:35 pm

@Joe
Feel free to stop in at the Surplus Letters and grab a couple. Just send an email from your baiter account to them with a "I'm interested. Please tell me more."

You can also sign up for the Lad Shuttle (do a search for the exact link) and you'll have them filling up your mailbox in no time!

Posted: Thu May 17, 2007 12:40 pm

SLOW JOE wrote:

Thanks everyone! I now feel ready to be "victimised"! Google it would seem is the way to begin. Now just where should I start? I never get any of these emails.

@ Slow Joe:

Read up on the stickies as much as possible, they'll give you a lot of info. I only registered here once I'd loitered for a whole month, reading the stickies, tips, and published work.

However, to get started on recieving scam letters, once you have your fake account set up, do a google search for:
"MUGU + GUYMEN + GUESTBOOK" (Remove the plus marks).
It'll come up with a lot of guestbook links.
Follow 'em. Sign the guestbooks. (Leave a polite comment, the scammers have nothing to do with the sites themselves), leave your fake email addy, then wait. The scammers will do the rest by harvesting the guestbook email entries.
I signed about 6 guestbooks, I waited all of 24 hours and had 5 emails.
I tend to get about 5 new ones a day.

That should get you some new friends to start with.

Posted: Thu May 17, 2007 12:48 pm

GomerPyle wrote:

If you want fake details and a credible postcode/zipcode visit here

http://www.fakenamegenerator.com/

Or you could just make up a street and use California 90210.

Posted: Thu May 17, 2007 1:09 pm

There you are Joe - 10 friends at 419eater and a million potential scammer friends all desperate to make your acquaintance. Very Happy

I have spent all morning terrorising scammers by phone - leave that until later, though it's equally easy. Spend �20 on skype-out for weeks of endless pleasure and fun. I am amazed at how long it lasts.

Nothing here is difficult - except the really tricky stuff Laughing

but with a bit of guidance you'll be able to bring chaos into scammers' lives.

Edit: I always get the number wrong dohhhhhhhhh

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 17 May 2007 Posts: 17

Yes thank you again everybody. A great bunch of people. I really do believe what I will be doing is right, a public service.

NOW LET THE FUN BEGIN!!!!!!!!! Laughing

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 17 May 2007 Posts: 17

I want Gomer Pyle as my mentor. I F@@@@@@ hated that show! Mchales navy was more my show Laughing

And I get sea sick!!!!!

Posted: Thu May 17, 2007 2:42 pm

^^^ Me too.. So much to learn.. I didn't even know IP meant all that. In my day it just meant my pants got wet. Embarassed