Am I in danger?

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Hello I'm New here! Joined: 12 Sep 2017 Posts: 2

Long story short, I have started to engage a call center of scammers who did the old robocall, "A formal complaint has been filed ... please call us back."

I've called a dozen times in the past two days asking for more information about a company called 'Recovery Support.' Of course, they won't tell me anything about who they are or where they are based. I have been yelled at and hung up on multiple times.

So, my question is, now that I have thoroughly pissed them off, should I stop calling? They do have my real phone number (who knows where they got it), but I didn't give them any information. I just wonder, can I become a target of some other kind of harassment if I anger them off enough? Should I block my number? Should I use a different number? Am I getting in over my head here?

I'd like to continue calling to waste their time, but I would like to know if it's safe to do so. Any advice is welcome.

Also, I have known about 419eater since This American Life profiled the group some years ago, and I am a fan of the work you are all doing. This is my firsts post in the forum.

Thanks.

Posted: Tue Sep 12, 2017 11:09 pm

Welcome to eater! If you are using your personal phone for the calls, you need to stop all calls and block their number now. We don't do phone scam baiting, here. But I can tell you that you need to learn to bait safely no matter what type of scammer you choose to engage with. Personal phone numbers can provide a lot of other personal information in the wrong hands. The risk is just not worth a few amusing telephone calls.

Posted: Wed Sep 13, 2017 12:29 am

These types of phone scams aren't "baitable," as we define it here. Also, they are not Advance Fee Fraud, which is also what we concentrate our efforts against. These types of scammers are known for exacting revenge.

https://consumerist.com/2016/02/11/diabolical-irs-phone-scammers-call-swat-team-tell-victim-theyre-there-to-collect/
http://wjla.com/news/crime/irs-scammers-swatting-against-people-who-discover-their-phone-schemes-114088
http://wavy.com/2014/09/16/police-irs-scammers-responsible-for-hoax-swat-call/
http://www.postbulletin.com/news/crime/scammer-gets-revenge-with-bomb-threat/article_b6f83e37-4adf-52be-8327-9bf366f23089.html

Since you're familiar with what we do, have a look around and see if it's something that might interest you.

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 12 Sep 2017 Posts: 2

I appreciate the feedback. I did some deeper reading after I posted my comment and realized my mistake. Advice taken, number blocked.

I am absolutely interested in learning how to scam bait. I will visit the forums to educate myself on the guidelines and terminology.

When I am ready to contribute, what is the next step?

Thanks so much.

Posted: Wed Sep 13, 2017 2:48 am

When you're ready, I'd suggest creating a baiting character and typing up all the basic details like name, DOB, sex, address etc. After that, sign up your character to a free email account (Google, Yahoo or whatever). This ensures your anonymity.

To find lads to bait, post your character's email address in the clear on website guestbooks (the infamous mugu guestbook is a good one) or pick them up from surplus: https://forum.419eater.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=18

Enjoy. Plenty of people here will be happy to offer their help if/when you need it.