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*** BANNED *** Joined: 12 May 2011 Posts: 141

It all sounds well and good when you start...occupy scammers time and waste their resources...but every time I do this I get so overwhelmed by the darkness of their world.

I KNOW many of these scammers are working at gun point, that my baits in the past MAY have resulted in someone getting killed...these are vicious war lords we are toying with here sometimes...

I've killed banks, strung out lotto wins for months, bombed facebook lover accounts ...nothing on the scale of the masters of 419eater, just my little contribution to the agenda...but I gotta wonder...

How do the rest of you handle it? When you know that next email will just make your flesh crawl, make you sick to the pit of your soul. Those I tend to dump...for better or worse...I did SOME damage to time and resources and isn't that the goal? I could do more damage, of course, but it gets to that point of just being so sick, so dark...

I want to get back in the fight, I realize it's value...but I get lost sometimes in the darkness of it...any tips on how you deal with it?

Posted: Wed Jul 09, 2014 11:34 pm

One main thing, YOU know you are dealing with a scammer, you can walk away, and not worry about losing everything you own.

Imagine how much harder it is for a victim of a lad, who has sent everything they own, borrowed, got into hock, and faces jail, loss of their house, dignity.

Keep that in your mind, you are not a victim, what we try to achieve is less victims, more lad pain.

Take a break, rest up, go catch up with real life for a while, then come back.

Take care

Posted: Wed Jul 09, 2014 11:34 pm

Too deep for me

Posted: Wed Jul 09, 2014 11:38 pm

irishemigrant wrote:

One main thing, YOU know you are dealing with a scammer, you can walk away, and not worry about losing everything you own.

Imagine how much harder it is for a victim of a lad, who has sent everything they own, borrowed, got into hock, and faces jail, loss of their house, dignity.

Keep that in your mind, you are not a victim, what we try to achieve is less victims, more lad pain.

Take a break, rest up, go catch up with real life for a while, then come back.

Take care

Very well put.

Baiting Guru Joined: 31 Jan 2007 Posts: 12237

irishemigrant wrote:

Take a break, rest up, go catch up with real life for a while, then come back. Take care

+1 Burnout in this line of work (hobby) is very real. Take a break, and best wishes to you.

Posted: Wed Jul 09, 2014 11:58 pm

The Lads may tell you that their doing this at gunpoint or any other lie they want to tell. It's all BS. (So far as I've ever heard) Has anyone ever documented a case where a scammer was scamming because they were at gunpoint and would die if they didn't do it?

So far as I've ever heard. They do this because they get to be the big, rich Man around town. They don't have to work for a living they just steal other people's money by lying. Look at some of the Gold Scammers that TM has posted. They don't look like they are at gunpoint or starving to death if they don't get the client to pay.

I have seen documented cases of people losing their houses and life savings by sending them to scammers. There are even cases of people killing themselves and others because they were victims of scammers and lost everything.

I sleep just fine at night knowing what I do.

But Scambaiting isn't for Everyone. If your consience bothers you, then you have to quit or at least take time off to put it into perspective.

Posted: Thu Jul 10, 2014 12:20 am

Congratulations BS57. You have a conscience. I am convinced that lads do not. They are not working at gunpoint. The chances that anyone has been killed as a result of one of your baits is pretty slender. Rest assured that the do this to get rich as Big Al said.
Most of these people are among the best and brightest in their area. They come from a culture where it is considered an enviable thing to be able to scam and make money for doing little. In doing so they make life difficult for the vast majority who just want to make an honest living.
We all have our own comfort level. No reason to ever exceed yours. But I think that you are over imagining the damage you are doing to the scammers.
Best of luck with whatever you find comfortable. Thumbs up

Posted: Thu Jul 10, 2014 12:26 am

No need to feel too much remorse. These guys and gals are hardly working at gunpoint.

Your average developing world scammer is actually quite well off compared to his compatriots - you'd be surprised how lucrative what they do can be for the individual scammers, not just the Ogas/Bossmen.

Bastards.

Posted: Thu Jul 10, 2014 12:49 am

Hello BS57.

BS57 wrote:

When you know that next email will just make your flesh crawl, make you sick to the pit of your soul.

I can't say that I have ever felt anything like this in baiting. Maybe someone else here has...

Elite Baiter Joined: 10 Mar 2013 Posts: 1486

Propably the only way that the scammer gets killed because of your actions is because he was laughing too hard on the way to the MG office and gets hit by a car!

They don't work on the gunpoint although i'm sure that they will tell you so if they even momentarily think that this helps them to get the money. It is just an annother trick they play on you just like they play their other victims.

Scammer lies. They do that a lot. Scammer wants your money. They don't care what happens to their victims. If they claim otherwise they are lying again.

That being said there are several types of baits that i don't usualy touch. Sweetheart -scam being one.

Edit: Annother thing i don't do is the phone baits. I just don't want to jump into lie-mode spontaneously.

Also, never break your character. This is for a few reasons but also to prevent lad from getting under your skin as you know that the character he is trying to fool is a fake one. If you reveal what you are he may try to manipulate you in a new way.

Posted: Thu Jul 10, 2014 1:04 am

I agree with the advice to take a break just for a little while. You have a lot of empathy and there is nothing wrong with that.

Just to quickly touch on the "lads at gunpoint" statement: I tend to go after the morally bankrupt lads to see just far low they will go and in my experience, with few exceptions, lads will witness/participate in nearly anything if they think they can part you with your money.

Posted: Thu Jul 10, 2014 2:05 am

I gotta admit that I kind of felt bad tonight because I have a lad believing that Ninjas are going going to kill him tonight. But, unfortunately, I can't get a hold of them by phone to call off the mission.

So I gave him a codeword to shout and shout when they break down his door.

He practiced it very well...

It was so funny that I quit feeling bad.

I think he's still awake...

Posted: Thu Jul 10, 2014 2:41 am

^^ Dwatina

Got his phone number? I feel like pizza Very Happy

Posted: Thu Jul 10, 2014 3:53 am

Dwatina,

Please tell me you have a recording. I want to hear that!

Posted: Thu Jul 10, 2014 4:23 am

I once had a very strong feeling that I got a lad thrown out of and barred from the local Moneygram office. Even if I was absolutely sure he was physically kicked to the curb I wouldn't feel the slightest remorse.

Posted: Thu Jul 10, 2014 5:41 am

I had those kind of thoughts as well after I wasted a lot of a lad's time that wanted me to visit him in a country in Africa. He wanted my character to bring his 8 year old girl with him to the office. He didn't want him to leave her in a hotel room. To this day it haunts me about what this guy was planning to do to my character and his little girl. The way I deal with it is something I like to call "controlled psychopathy". I have learned how to turn my emotions and my conscience off at will. It was really useful when I had to deal with bullying and death threats at my school. (went to the principal and police and nobody would do a thing about it so I just had to learn to deal with it.) No longer in school anymore so I use my skill of turning off all emotions to deal with the scammers. I just emotionally detach myself from what I'm doing an type everything as if it was just a role-playing game with some random stranger online and getting a piggy out of it means I win.

So tl;dr I can turn my emotions off at will and think of the bait as an RPG.

*** BANNED *** Joined: 12 May 2011 Posts: 141

I have seen some evidence in the past, through news reports, some of the guys are at gun point...I can neither prove nor disprove that belief, but sometimes I do get a sense there is something else going on in the background. And sometimes I do feel bad for the "mean" things I do to these people, no matter what their situation is, no matter what kind of monsters they really are.

I know that all sound extraordinarily lame. I'm a "good" person with a little bit of web skill and time I can dedicate to derailing the lads, it's a noble purpose and I applaud those who survive it day after day. I know the people who do this are at their core good people as well, I been in this web site in the past, never found negativity towards myself, no matter what weird state of mind baiting put me in.

Thanks for the advice and thoughts all, I really want to help in the fight, still trying to find that balance with real life...between being human and "controlled psychopathy" ( I do like that phrase hahaahhahaha)...remember I tend to stray into love baits, what I consider to be the darkest circle of scammer hell...advance fee is almost an implied conspiracy to take possession of money not rightfully yours, but a love scam plays on the emotions to freely give money...and that's where things really start to get dark.

Thank you all for putting up with my crap...time to get back to work and suck down some time and resources from my little nigerian pals....a little here a little there...nickle and dime them to death...

Posted: Thu Jul 10, 2014 7:20 am

As Doc H says, pick your comfort level and stick within it.

If you aren't happy putting lads in situations where they may get beaten up or worse, then stick to straight baiting, report their bank accounts, fake websites, mules etc. and leave the other stuff to those of us who see the scum for what they are and couldn't care what happens to them as they will quite happily destroy the lives of innocent victims and their families.

As to the gun point theory - I've been doing this a long time, read various news items and the only people I've heard of who are likely to end up at gun point are victims who are unfortunate enough to travel to meet their scammers.

Posted: Thu Jul 10, 2014 7:31 am

I feel very much the way FauxFox does...baiting is like the ultimate RPG, I can change/drop characters at will. Each one has his/her own email so that if I don't feel like dealing with a particular "role play", I can simply leave that email alone until I'm back into that game. Yes, I get disgusted with the lads a lot, but emotionally I'm about as vested and affected by my baits as I am when my crops die in FarmVille. I play a role, the lad plays a role, and any damage inflicted on the lad is because he/she chooses to continue playing.

*** BANNED *** Joined: 12 May 2011 Posts: 141

B8er wrote:

As Doc H says, pick your comfort level and stick within it.

If you aren't happy putting lads in situations where they may get beaten up or worse, then stick to straight baiting, report their bank accounts, fake websites, mules etc. and leave the other stuff to those of us who see the scum for what they are and couldn't care what happens to them as they will quite happily destroy the lives of innocent victims and their families.

As to the gun point theory - I've been doing this a long time, read various news items and the only people I've heard of who are likely to end up at gun point are victims who are unfortunate enough to travel to meet their scammers.

I'm not saying anything at all on that, no "proof", just a fear I have...who am I to cause harm to others, no matter who they are? ...so yes I am looking for "level of comfort", where I can use my limited skill to combat this nightmare AND keep my sanity.

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

Fuck them.

I personally don't care if each and every single one of them keel over and die.

Quote:

where I can use my limited skill to combat this nightmare AND keep my sanity.

Fake banks.

Yes, I edited, some.

*** BANNED *** Joined: 12 May 2011 Posts: 141

I very much understand the value of baiting, even a straight bait to nickle and dime them to death...every bit counts towards draining resources.

I'm just curious how obviously good people can deal with this filth, find some level of comfort in their actions. I get lost in it, the love baits in particular get very dark...but I feel it's an area in particular where action is needed to help...if I can lead one lad astray for awhile, that's a one life saved from the misery....but DAMN it gets dark.

419eater has been good to me, you people are just amazing, yet I can't even spare $30 donation to give back...all I have is some time and a disposable email account....point me at a lad I can string out for awhile, I want to help and when I loose myself in it, I'll drop and move on, because I know every email they send to me is one less to a potential real victim.

Posted: Thu Jul 10, 2014 8:34 am

As Faux_Fox and OC say, you need to learn to compartmentalise - when the email account closes and I go off and play with my son or watch TV etc, the scammers don't cross my mind.

If you can't learn to do that and are going to spend the night worrying yourself sick that even getting a scammer's bank account closed or shutting down his website is going to cause him to get shot or beaten up, then you need to think about whether this really is a hobby for you.

If you think that you can cope with X level of baiting then pick a lad from Surplus and reply to him as a victim would - don't play games with him, just get his WU details or bank account and then pass them to a Mod, or as TS says, go and join the activities in the Fake Banks forum and start helping them to report the fake domains.

Posted: Thu Jul 10, 2014 8:50 am

BS57 wrote:

remember I tend to stray into love baits

If you are getting the feelings you write about, my advice is to stay away from lovebaits until you can divorce your own personal feelings from what the lad is telling you.

Love lads are masters of manipulation, psychology. They can and do, wait until they know you are believing them. Then they play with your emotions.

My suggestion is to bait as the opposite gender, then you can play with an alter-ego, and know that it is all a game. If, that is, you continue with love lads, and I suggest you walk away from them for the time being.

TS has put a good link, it causes maximum lad pain, and you can straight bait, or help out in the forum.

Personally I agree with TS and "Lads? Fuck the lot of them and I hope they all get stranded in Chad"

Baiting Guru Joined: 19 Sep 2013 Posts: 2210

Tsnerd wrote:

Fuck them.

^^^What he said.^^^