Should you tell your friends/family that your scambaiting?

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Not quite a Newb Joined: 19 Dec 2012 Posts: 24

Is this a good idea or just keep it secret?

Baiting Guru Joined: 17 Sep 2006 Posts: 5905

The Mods don't come and eliminate you if you tell someone you are a scambaiter, at least not yet Wink

. It's down to the individual. Telling people about baiting in a way can be good because it can lead to discussions about 419 among your family/mates that could be of educational value. 419 scams can only thrive in ignorance, the more people are aware of the format and can see the signs the better.

On another note you have to take into account how not telling someone may affect your friendship/relationship as I found out recently to my peril as it did cause some friction between me and my wife. My wife knows, as I live with her I can hardly keep it a secret and naturally she became curious as to why I had a phone other than the one she knew about and why I would go to another room and shut the door to answer. Naturally you could imagine where her mind was going with this one and I think, to be honest, after confronting me she was quite relieved to know I was talking to criminals as opposed to a 'bit on the side.' You can see how people caught in 419 scams who are told to keep everything 'top secret' can lose their loved ones when they enter this secretive world as it breeds suspicion.

Unless you are specifically asked to keep some aspect of baiting secret everything else is available for public consumption.

Posted: Thu Jan 03, 2013 9:42 am

My friends and family know about it -- I find it's a good path into discussions of scam awareness and avoidance. I am not any good at trophy baiting (no tattoos, safaris, funny pictures or carvings for me) so I just describe it as messing with the scammers to learn how scams work.

But I don't tell them all of the gritty details nor the forums I participate on, with the exception of my wife (for reasons similar to those 4X1X9 posted). I do point people to scamwarners if they have "a friend" who is involved in a scam but don't imply that I am involved there.

Posted: Thu Jan 03, 2013 10:06 am

There's no reason not to tell people and in fact, it's a good thing to advertise it.
The more people who know about what we do, the smaller the number out there who are likely to fall for a scam. By getting the word out there about what we do, we let fly a little bit of education.

So shout it from the rooftops - "A Scambaiter and proud of it!!!"

Not quite a Newb Joined: 19 Dec 2012 Posts: 24

I asked this because I was in a busy restaurant the other day and I thought that talking about scambaiting would be a good conversation starter, but then I realized that what if there were a scammer in the restaurant and then they might shoot me or something so I kept it quiet.

Posted: Thu Jan 03, 2013 11:18 am

I seem to get about a 50/50 reaction to telling people that I do this. Some say that's pretty cool and have even forwarded me E-mails and Snail-mailed letters. Others look at me like I'm the ID-10T and think "Nobody falls for that crap". I figure they'll never believe it until it happens to someone they know and love.

(That'll be two more cents please)

Posted: Thu Jan 03, 2013 12:56 pm

They know but don´t understand the fun (or the "work + prepare" aspect) in baiting. However, now they know about scams Smile

so indirectly, a true benefit.

Posted: Thu Jan 03, 2013 1:27 pm

I've told some people in my city, my aunt, and people in Lojbanistan. I've told them about the Libyan Detector Ship; once I told a girl the name of my main character, and she laughed even before hearing what her occupation is. I've posted a few scripts my aunt sent me.

Not quite a Newb Joined: 19 Dec 2012 Posts: 24

4X1X9 wrote:

The Mods don't come and eliminate you if you tell someone you are a scambaiter, at least not yet Wink

. It's down to the individual. Telling people about baiting in a way can be good because it can lead to discussions about 419 among your family/mates that could be of educational value. 419 scams can only thrive in ignorance, the more people are aware of the format and can see the signs the better.

On another note you have to take into account how not telling someone may affect your friendship/relationship as I found out recently to my peril as it did cause some friction between me and my wife. My wife knows, as I live with her I can hardly keep it a secret and naturally she became curious as to why I had a phone other than the one she knew about and why I would go to another room and shut the door to answer. Naturally you could imagine where her mind was going with this one and I think, to be honest, after confronting me she was quite relieved to know I was talking to criminals as opposed to a 'bit on the side.' You can see how people caught in 419 scams who are told to keep everything 'top secret' can lose their loved ones when they enter this secretive world as it breeds suspicion.

Unless you are specifically asked to keep some aspect of baiting secret everything else is available for public consumption.

Wife: Honey, you seem to be acting strange lately... you're not cheating on me are you?

4X1X9: No honey. I'm just scambaiting bloodthirsty cutthroat criminals.

Wife: Oh, thank God. I'm so relieved.

Posted: Thu Jan 03, 2013 6:34 pm

Abso-effing-lootly! I always told anyone who might be interested. You'd be amazed how many people do not understand scams, and my talking about scambaiting has educated more people than I can count. Some people found it to be fascinating, and would ask a bazillion questions. Others found it to be distasteful, and the "racial" aspect of it would occasionally come up. I was always prepared with what to say when those questions arose.

What I found most interesting is how many people -- intelligent, active, professional people - really had no clue about internet scams! Oh, many of them have heard jokes about the "Nigerian prince" scam, but that's it. They wouldn't have recognized other kinds of scams if they landed in their inbox. Some of them would have absolutely been at risk for some of the more inventive scams - particularly mystery-shoppers, payment-processing, anything to do with checks. MOST people I know assumed that once the check clears in 3 days, it's guaranteed good.

Sadly, I recently learned the hard way that no matter how much you try to educate people, some will still be at risk for scammers. But I have no doubt that at some point in my years of scambaiting and talking about it, I've saved at least a couple of people from getting scammed.

The only way to stop scams is through educating potential victims. So blab away, I say!

Posted: Thu Jan 03, 2013 7:26 pm

FrumpyBB wrote:

Quote:

They know but don´t understand the fun (or the "work + prepare" aspect) in baiting. However, now they know about scams so indirectly, a true benefit

Exactly what I find, but many do see the fun aspect, others think that baiting is a proper part time job I do & ask me how much I get paid for doing it (Oh how I wish it was so Smile

)

Trophy Videos · Posted: Thu Jan 03, 2013 8:48 pm

My family was a little uneasy about it at first, until they realized that I used all fake details and untraceable emails and phone. Once they heard me talk about a few of the baits, and saw Big Worm's pictures of "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas," and Buck Turgison's "Morris Lads," they accepted the necessity of baiting. How could anyone live without seeing those?
And more recently, bobdemol's "Toilet Bike Mike" pictures floored them. Laughing

Baiting Guru Joined: 17 Sep 2006 Posts: 5905

Li scam bait wrote:

Wife: Honey, you seem to be acting strange lately... you're not cheating on me are you?

4X1X9: No honey. I'm just scambaiting bloodthirsty cutthroat criminals.

Wife: Oh, thank God. I'm so relieved.

Have you been secretly recording our conversations? Wink

Posted: Thu Jan 03, 2013 9:47 pm

SOOI wrote:

"A Scambaiter and proud of it!!!"

I have several pairs of underwear with that exact quote on the front.

Baiting Guru Joined: 31 Jan 2007 Posts: 12237

Slightlyoutofit wrote:

So shout it from the rooftops - "A Scambaiter and proud of it!!!"

Just don't do it naked. Don't ask me how I know.

Posted: Thu Jan 03, 2013 10:23 pm

A lost of things can come from you telling that you are a scambaiter, you being shot by a scammer in the restaurant is not one of them.

Some of my friends and family are supportive albeit not all are very interested. Some just don't care very much. And some few (my girlfriend sadly among them) dislike what i do as they feel sorry for the scammers. And they don't know a tenth of the shit i have put my poor pets through. Sadly they see them as innocent Africans that do this because it is the only way out of poverty. We who bait know that this isn't the case and also know exactly what they are capable of. Sadly it is not easy to get that knowledge out there even to the ones closest to me. They are sadly ignorant to that kind of reasoning. That being said they are not ignorant regarding scams in general, only the motive behind it.

Some see it as a waste of time on my side but only one have had a downright hostile approach to it asking me how i slept at night. She was a moron so i only answered that i am not loosing any sleep over this.

But as said before here, opening a discussion by telling you scambait is a good thing. Mainly because it opens up for a discussion regarding scams and what they are and how to protect yourself from them. I'd say "go public".

Elite Baiter Joined: 19 Jun 2011 Posts: 1066

My husband knows all about this. As others have said, it's hard to keep something like this from your spouse. My aunt is an avid lurker on this forum. I tell my friends and co-workers all the time. Most think it's the coolest thing ever. A few have given me that, "What the fuck is wrong with you?" look. One compared this to trolling. Rolling Eyes

Baiting Guru Joined: 31 Jan 2007 Posts: 12237

Dr Mike wrote:

my girlfriend

I call bullshit!

Posted: Thu Jan 03, 2013 10:50 pm

I do, we can't all have tragic unanswered mancrushes for certain admins that keeps us lonely.

Baiting Guru Joined: 31 Jan 2007 Posts: 12237

^ Are you trying to hurt my feelings?

Mission accomplished.

Posted: Thu Jan 03, 2013 11:01 pm

I have found that people's reactions to scambaiting are similar to people's reactions to the movie "This Is Spinal Tap".

Some people get it and find it funny, others don't get it and think it's stupid.

Not quite a Newb Joined: 13 Apr 2006 Posts: 29

To brake my habit of not posting..
It's simple (not Wink

):
-some you can tell, they are the kind of people with a good sense of humor(and are just slightly sadistic ..), and a good sense of justice, and not overly paranoid..
-some you can definitely not tell, the kind of people who don't like your kind of humor, the kind of people that are slightly paranoid, and the kind that could easily think that 419 baiting is about racism (and would see a 419 scammer as victim..).

You are the best judge whether you are talking to the first or the second group of people.

Posted: Fri Jan 04, 2013 12:07 am

@equinoxe....you are the exact opposite of a post whore.

How do you manage not to post? I can't help myself... Embarassed

Posted: Fri Jan 04, 2013 1:21 am

I don't know how many of my friends know,but my family and co workers do.Mostly because I do sometimes bait from work(with my employers knowledge).I have saved a few co workers and the business itself from a couple of scams.The more who know and can be educated the better.I have found that people who know what I do will ask me first if something fishy comes their way.

Posted: Fri Jan 04, 2013 1:35 am

I wouldn't tell my coworkers, because I have to keep somewhat professional at work, but I have told my friends and my brother. I'm not a trophy or safari baiter so I rarely come away with hilarious stuff from my straight baits, but I have told people about the legendary baits on here. Some find it funny, others don't. I don't think my parents would understand, and if I had a gf I'd be wary about telling her right away.

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