For those who think this site is just funny

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Posted: Thu Jan 12, 2006 2:21 pm

The funny and fun aspect of scambaiting is what draws people to this site. After a while either the fun wears thin or you gain a deep respect for the social good that goes on here. 419 CRIME goes practically unpunished and baiters efforts do make a difference. Baiting is a noble effort.

I'm here due to a 80 year old neighbor who ended up losing his life's savings to 419 criminals. If all of my efforts here to date and in the future prevent just one person from being a victim it will be worth it.

Posted: Thu Jan 12, 2006 11:33 pm

I see that scambaiting isn't all about fun and jokes. It pisses me off that honest people are being ripped off by all these scammers. A year ago, I almost got added to a victim list if it wasn't for someone to warn me. Being an honest guy like myself I couldn't keep the extra $7,000 from an over paid check. I would've WU'd the money to that low life sleeze bag.

I'm a straight bait person... this usually results in the longer bait. I'm in it to waste my lads time as much as possible. Also to cause some havoc for my lad. From time to time, I'll humiliate my lad or have something funny to make my baits exciting.

Posted: Thu Jan 12, 2006 11:48 pm

Well It seems like that sums it up,,,very reasonable people here,,,some like fun (but knows what the real Deal is,,,,,,some are extremely intent on stopping scammers,,,all in all ,,,,Some great answers from some GREAT people here at Eater,,,,,Congrats to all......

Posted: Fri Jan 13, 2006 5:48 am

When I started baiting it was all about the laughs, and sleuthy nature of it all.
I've known two check scam victims, and let me say that I�m glad it was a scammer on the other end, and not a real charity, or business. I� am 100% that both where going to keep all, or more than their share of the money(One of them was on her second check). That coupled with the unbelievable premiss, of even the best 419 pitch, gave me a skeptical and slanted view of both sides. So I baited for fun and intrigue... A game and nobody got the money.
My first baits where way over the top, and ultimately the mugu would twig with little accomplished, besides my writing a novella of self amusing puns and anecdotes. They would usually end something like this one:

Quote:

nonsense questions and unseless questions as all the questions from begining sounds likesome one that takes drugs or a mad person Shocked

please do not write me any more so that i can look for another helper as i did not see you in the Church website you lie.
bye and God help you as you promise and fail

Somewhere down the line the slapstick wore thin, and even the lads saw it:

Quote:

listen mummy the way you sound cool now is not the way you are sounding before because initially when i said right - you will say left so every thing becomes mixed up.

Since then, I have found that (semi) straight baiting is much more productive, and it's pretty easy to add funny elements as I go.
Hanging around here, I have gradual awakened to the seriousness of 419, the by-product, and the pretzel logic employed when judging victims, as guilty parties.
So nowadays I bait with a bit more resolve, but I don't think it would last long at all, without such a dedicated group of people share it with... I can see why KD guards this place like a Doberman Pincher... I just hope that chain holds. Rolling Eyes

Posted: Fri Jan 13, 2006 11:55 am

Buzzy wrote:

The funny and fun aspect of scambaiting is what draws people to this site.

and is probably the biggest tool in raising awareness of the crime.

I, as many know, am probably more active in the serious side of the hobby - but I am realistic that giving 419 a prescence both on and off the internet needs humour.

I also worry that if 419eater loses it's main drive for humour, then we will be failing in it's original purpose - we may all get a bit serious at times and that will lead to baiter burn out in my mind.

I do not disagree with the original poster, but I worry that a shift away from humour may be counter productive.

Posted: Fri Jan 13, 2006 12:05 pm

Just for clarification: I am not suggesting and never have suggested that we move away from humor. God forbid.

I simply stating that I'm disgusted by those the view 419Eater as a sounding board for their own sick trolling antics. Especially in light of what we do here.

It is of course nice when baiters realize that baiting isn't all, exclusively, only, just, [add your own superlative quantifier here] about pictures of people pissing on each other, but it's not the impetus for my starting this thread.

I guess I'll just repeat that from time to time.

Posted: Fri Jan 13, 2006 1:01 pm

Buzzy wrote:

The funny and fun aspect of scambaiting is what draws people to this site. ... Baiting is a noble effort.

Perfectly right. Even if we would arrest hundreds of scammers a month, there are countless people willing to fill the gap. Raising awareness about the 419scam by scambaiting reaches much more people.

Posted: Fri Jan 13, 2006 1:46 pm

Yes, having fun is nice.
For me the main reason that made me join and start baiting is trying to do whatever i can to stop them (as there are not many chances for official LEOs to do it) or at least to lower the time they have avilable to scam innocent victims who don't know anything about the whole story. The fun i can have is just something that 'pays' me for my effort.
Diana

Posted: Fri Jan 13, 2006 3:51 pm

I was part of a parenting board and a woman there told us that her husband took out a $2,000 loan because he was conned by a 419 scammer. They did not have this money to spare and its going to be a struggle to pay it back. That's money that could have gone to buy new clothes for the kids or let the familiy have a night at the movies.

I'm surprised that people fall for it, but I know they do.

Also, I was part of a charity group that helped overseas orphanages. At that time, I got lots of e-mail claiming to be from other orphanages who needed help, and had money to share. I had no idea what 419 was at the time, but it didn't made any sense to me that a Nigerian orphanage would be offering to send money to my organization in exchange for fees. Orpahanages don't send money to other orphanages. Since it didn't make sense I never replied. If the scammers had been a little bit better at what they did, who knows, maybe I would have been a victim too.

Posted: Fri Jan 13, 2006 4:03 pm

I knew a man that lost ALL his retirement savings to these scum. He declared bankruptcy and barely has enough to live on for the next several years over it. I then started looking on the web and found this site.

As far as the "funny" baits - it doesn't matter if anyone thinks it is funny or not. This is a serious business and I for one make it as difficult as I can on the lads that cross my path with my limited resources and intelligence...

-B

Master Baiter Joined: 02 Jan 2006 Posts: 120

I have to admit. When I first joined, I did it purely for shits and gigles. However, the more I read about how filthy these scammers are, the more serious I get, and the more I want to punish them.

I apologise if I trolled when I first joined, however, I have now got both feet stuck into baiting.

Posted: Fri Jan 13, 2006 4:16 pm

I read this thread with interest, because initially I thought "really, who can fall for this bs" when I came across the first 419-mails some years ago. But then I spent several months working in Nigeria in 2004 and that was a real eye-opener. The magnitude of corruption, fraud and scamming (and outright crime and violence) is absolutely mind-boggling and it pervades the entire Nigerian society. This is not to say that all Nigerians are fraudsters, but the honest guys usually don't get very far in the Nigerian society. And that's the problem. The corrupt elites who run that place have an interest in things remaining pretty much the way they are in Nigeria. And so far their success implies success of all the various fraud, scam, kidnapping, backhanding etc. schemes that are in place, because, believe me, rich Nigerians are filthy rich, and they certainly never worked for it.

In 2004 the turnover figures I got for scamming/fraud ranged between 1.5 and 5 billion US Dollars - most of that from 419-scams. And, yes, that makes it the 3rd largest industry in the country after hydrocarbons and minerals extraction. My guess is that the share of fraud as a part of Nigeria's GDP will increase rather than decrease, sadly, because those who make their money fast with as little effort as possible are held in high esteem especially in that hell-hole called Lagos.

Today I traded insults with a Mugu who saw through my thinly veiled deception. I idly wondered how much the few minutes it cost him to correspond with me impacted on his core business. I figured that if we can all, collectively, steal 1% of their time then that would cost them 15 million US Dollars in deferred business. Assuming that the Mugu income is a linerar function of the time spent online (or in the internet cafe) and assuming further that the average victim loses 20,000 US Dollars on these scams, then our efforts effectively prevent 750 people per year becoming Mugu-victims.

Master Baiter Joined: 21 Jul 2005 Posts: 228

Good maths Golden Hind. Also we have to count the number of mugus who quit the "job" because it is too stressful, they don't like being insulted or ridiculed on a daily basis, etc. Funny for us to do but serious for them, and serious for their future victims.

If I knew that all my baiting wouldn't even save 1 victim, then I wouldn't bother doing it, no matter how funny it is. It's thechance that victims will be saved that keeps me going. Even if I never know whether it's been successful or not. All my funny antics could've saved someone's life and I'd never even know it.

Master Baiter Joined: 02 Jan 2006 Posts: 120

Golden Hind wrote:

then our efforts effectively prevent 750 people per year becoming Mugu-victims.

Cant ask for more than that.

Posted: Fri Jan 13, 2006 4:57 pm

Charles Burger wrote:

Also we have to count the number of mugus who quit the "job" because it is too stressful, they don't like being insulted or ridiculed on a daily basis, etc.

I hate to disappoint you, but I don't see "terminal" success against individual Mugus as a very likely outcome of our activities. Lagos doesn't really offer many alternatives in terms of "clean & easy crime". Besides, the sheer day-to-day survival in that dump hardens people to the point where they are prepared to put up with a lot of shit.

I figure it's more like a cyber-version of the Battle of the Atlantic. We can't make them go away but we can reduce the casualty (i.e. victim) rate, we can tie up their resouces by closing down their fake sites, clogging their inboxes etc, make them fight pointless actions with baiters, cost them time and nerves (no doubt) and thus reduce their profitability (and professional satisfaction), but I guess that's it. Although that's probably good enough. Think of it: Every other percent of their resources we can waste will translate into 750 people less getting scammed. In due course they might then discover new schemes for scamming people, of course, and the whole thing starts over again.

Posted: Fri Jan 13, 2006 4:57 pm

Even though I am an "out of the closet" straight Baiter, I have to confess that even I have to add a small piece of my English humor and innuendo after I have had my way with my Pet..... They never spot them, but the activity makes me smile

..... there was a double entendre in there somewhere Cool

Spot

Posted: Fri Jan 13, 2006 5:08 pm

Whats with the trools around here anyways?
I hate to admit it, but I've seen some pretty amusing trolls (on other sites), but the ones around here seem to be a bit underdeveloped and colorless.
It's like they fly straight for bug zapper, without even collecting their Darwin Awards.

Posted: Fri Jan 13, 2006 6:52 pm

Our users have posted a total of 502779 articles
We have 15135 registered users... most of whom can't be wrong! Cool

Posted: Fri Jan 13, 2006 8:22 pm

Quote:

One American was murdered in Nigeria while pursuing his lost money. In February 2003, a scam victim from the Czech Republic shot and killed an official at the Nigerian embassy. A Greek man was murdered in South Africa after responding to a 419 scam.

not just fun

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 11 Jan 2006 Posts: 4

And people wonder why I'd like to see some of these lads get whacked...

Posted: Fri Jan 13, 2006 10:38 pm

Yeah, there is a very dark and depressing side to all this. But it's part of the reason I got into this. Everyday I feel that the criminal scum in this world get away with far too much. It's nice to get back at them, if just a little, even if it doesn't result in them getting the correct punishment they deserve.

I applaud the veterans here and those initial geniuses who put the whole scam-baiting ideas into motion. At least this way we keep the mugus occupied, whilst hopefully supplying information to potential victims with websites like these.

Posted: Sat Jan 14, 2006 9:25 pm

The reason i joined the 419eater was due to reading shivers published baits. I was amazed in the way he will quite happily chat away with a criminal on the phone whos time and resources he is wasting, like he was ordering a takeaway that must take balls.
After lurking in the forums for a while i joined and i love it, everyone seems pretty friendly and the mentor program is an excellent idea.
I dont know anyone who has been ripped off by these pondlifes but im sure its a devastating life changing event.
I would like to spend more time here but my family comes first and always will

Posted: Sun Jan 15, 2006 2:58 am

I see us as doing the exact same thing as perverted-justice.com, only we bait scammers instead of pedophiles, even though more of their "baits" seem to end in arrest and prosecution.

Our goals (preventing our respective crimes) are the exact same as theirs. Our motivations are likely the exact same as theirs. Our techniques vary (you can't just "jump in" to baiting pedos as easily as scammers, because of the much increased potential of prosecution), but in the end we're shooting for the same thing:

Making it more difficult for criminals to prey on real victims.

If a scammer or a pedo drops a real potential victim because they think they're an Eater or PJer, then we have done our respective jobs. If a scammer or a pedo has a proportionately smaller potential pool of real victims because of the continued increase of Eaters or PJers, then so much the better.

Scambaiting is easier on me than pedo-baiting, since I felt like I needed a shower after just reading some of the chat transcripts, much less talking to those scumbags. Either way, though people like us do make a difference. Some of just take it more seriously than others, I guess.

Posted: Sun Jan 15, 2006 10:08 am

I found out about baiting when I came across a link to some tattoo photos. I really got into it, and I love it. I think the outrageious and humorous things can get more people into scambaiting.

I was very intrigued by the idea of scammer's incomes being a linear function of time spent. I think this is very much the case, and we save victims just by wasting the lad's time.

But I think there are other things we do too:

-We make lads suspicious, and they drop real victims (thus reducing the amount per hour that they will make)
-We burn some lads so badly that they quit
-We (if we're doing our jobs right) teach the lads to do things wrong.
-We notify their banks if they give us bank account info
-We stumble across info from real victims from time to time
-We cause disharmony between the lads and their ogas

These add up to a HUGE difference. And, the more funny, outrageous and stupid shit that we make them do, and then publish, the more people will become drawn to scambaiting.

I think the next big line of attack is going to be auto-baiting. I'm just learning about that. Today I set up a chat bot and sent out about 500 ASEMs asking my lads to IM me to talk about this business deal. Maybe when I wake up in the morning, I will have wasted 10 or 15 collective hours of lad time. That probably represents something like $100 that they didn't have time to scam victims out of. Multiply that by 300 days per year, and I, myself, alone, and costing mugus 30K/year. YEah, thats making a difference.

We are cool. Scambaiting is awesome.

Posted: Sun Jan 15, 2006 10:24 am

HankReardan wrote:

-We (if we're doing our jobs right) teach the lads to do things wrong.

You summed it all up pretty well. The point about teaching lads to do things wrong is another good point. Somewhere in this forum I saw a completely outrageous scam letter made up by one of the baiters - and his Mugu actually used it! The thing is so bizarre that even the most dim-witted would-be victim would not fall for it.

Mugus don't like to invest a lot of time and effort into their work. And it takes them a lot of time to compose a scam letter. When I worked in Nigeria it took the (more or less upstanding and reasonably literate) regular office guys working around me half a day to produce a one page memo or letter on their PCs. It's really hard work for them. So if we feed them shit, the chances are they're just going to cut and paste it to save some time and effort, without realising how much they've just decreased their chances of success.

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