The History of 419 Eater

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Posted: Wed Oct 22, 2014 10:06 pm

THE HISTORY OF EATER
~ 2003 - Present~

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to heaven, we were all going direct the other way - in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.

~Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities~
English novelist (1812 - 1870)

***THE PAST***
Eater's past was neither Utopia nor Dystopia; it was simply different. It was a new forum set up by Shiver Metimbers for the purpose of getting back at the multitude of scammers, who were happily filling the inboxes of normal people with their outrageous claims, offering instant fortunes to anyone who would 'simply take it'.

Baiting was in its infancy and lads were unaware of the relatively few internet jokers lurking about. Any reply to their formats was looked upon without a cast of distrust. Lads tended to be more receptive to strange requests, and then (as now) there was always a tendency to try and raise the bar on the sensational and outrageous. Photo trophies were among the first, usually a picture of one's lad with a simple sign and funny text. When these photos became commonplace, requiring the lads to pose with bread/fish etc. on their heads ruled the day.

Out of necessity, monotony, or basic human curiosity, baiters started pushing the envelope of baiting. How far would the lads go if the 'dangled carrot' was large enough? Nobody knew, but they were determined to test the limits of the lads and their limits as baiters.

Tattoos, safaris, burning lads, fake bank flash mobs (simple DoS attacks on fake bank sites - whose hosters were not responsive to reports), shutting down lad gmail accounts (gmail then, was by invitation only), badgers, Usm4n B3ll0, freight baiting, and even cash baiting, were all the rage in the days gone by.

In short, Eater was the Wild West, where anything went, the bigger the better - and baits and baiter tactics were quickly expanding into the realms of the shocking, the incredible, the absurd, and the questionably legal. So long as the chosen tactic inflicted maximum pain and damage on the lads and 'rogue' hosters, it was generally well-accepted in the community. Baits and flash mobs became, for lack of a more fitting description, simply epic events.

With the dawning of the epic baits and flash mobs, came some equally epic ethics debates. Some debates had little consequence, other than to reaffirm, rather than change, any given individual's position on the subject du jour, and the closing post of each debate was (more often than not) along the lines of: "If you don't feel comfortable with a particular type of bait, don't do it."

On rare occasion a topic would arise, which most assumed would rapidly become a heated debate, ending in the typical manner (see above), on even rarer occasion, some of these polarizing topics became more discussion than debate, and proved to be invaluable for the community as a whole. A few of these discussions prompted a logical reconsideration of what had previously been largely acceptable among our community. Admins and moderators would sometimes continue these discussions, and if agreed that a certain type of tactic or practice did not benefit the continued growth of our community, appropriate changes were made to the rules and guidelines - and what once was accepted as standard operating procedure, faded into the the pages of the past while Eater moved ever steady forward.

~ Flash Mobs went the way of the horse and buggy thanks to our excellent Fake Bank killers putting in countless hours (if not days/weeks/years) of effort, to develop positive working relationships with hosters to facilitate the quick closing or removal of the fakers' sites.

~ Freight baiting was sent out to pasture due to the fact that: the lads were paying for the freight with stolen or compromised UPS, DHL, or FedEx accounts.

~ Cash baiting was tarred, feathered, and ridden out of town on a rail, because; while hilariously devious in it's irony, it really made the baiter no different from the lad - in a purely legal sense.

As Eater continued to grow, more and more victims made their way to the forums, through recommendation from friends, family, or internet searches. Their individual stories, and spirits, varied from; c'est la vie - easy come/easy go, to complete despair and financial ruin. Eater offered a glimmer of hope to many of these victims, but as a baiting forum, it was ill suited for strictly dealing with the needs of the victims - at a time when they needed it most.

Scamwarners was founded to fill this need and bridge the gap between discovery and recovery (always emotional, never financial). The Scamwarners project started off slowly, but in time surpassed the expectations of everyone involved, with the help and support of many, many baiters, both past and present.

As Eater evolved, so did the scammers and scams. As the Lads became increasingly suspicious of baiters, baiters became increasingly adept at playing the role of 'legitimate' victims...

I will digress at this point, for a brief moment, to give some recognition to all the straight-baiters, who have done so much to further awareness and knowledge of the complex makeup of past and current types of scams. While we all enjoy a good tattooed lad, and epic safari, monument of faith and all of the outlandish and impossible exploits that our fellow trophy-baiters post; it is the straight-baiter who strings the lads along and appears to work willingly and diligently to help the lads claim the inheritance, collect the trunk-box, pass off the fake checks, etc.. It is he/she who uncovers the inner workings of the scams themselves, and by posting their findings, educate us all about the ever-changing and ever-evolving scams that are out there - keeping Eater on the cutting edge of information regarding the many varieties of scams, lurking in wait for their next victim.

A very big thank you to you all, who fight the good fight every day. You are as valuable a part of this community as anyone else, whether you realize it or not.

Which brings us to the most recent addition to the Eater family, the Anti Fraud News Blog, which was founded in the hopes of someday putting both Scamwarners and 419 Eater completely, and permanently, out of business.

***THE PRESENT***
So here we are, in between evolutions. If you are new here; Welcome! If you have been here all along; Thank you! If you are back from a break to deal with R/L (real life); Welcome back! Eater has evolved and become what it is today because of each and every one of us.

Members, old and new are encouraged to contribute, participate, and offer their knowledge as well as their opinions, in an environment that basically boils down to: A bunch of guys and gals doing our best to fight 419 Advance Fee Fraud Scams. We use this forum as a meeting place to exchange ideas and further the cause. Eater is a living breathing forum of similar minded people whom, for the most part, are bonded by a common goal. The fact that we have evolved over the years is simply a byproduct of what we do. As technology changes, as the lads change, as peoples' views change, so will we. This includes of course; what is acceptable to do today, may not be acceptable to do tomorrow. When that time comes, we will evolve some more. Some believe we should document this change, some believe it is of little consequence that we document something that will happen regardless of our actions.

***THE FUTURE***
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Posted: Wed Oct 22, 2014 10:07 pm

Because some of you good folks wanted to know. Smile

Posted: Wed Oct 22, 2014 10:52 pm

Just checked out the blog; Awesome job!

And a big Awesome Job to everyone at Eater who has done so much over the past decade to disappoint and fraudstrate lads worldwide!

Kudos to you all!

Posted: Thu Oct 23, 2014 8:12 am

nice summary Jose, thank you

You missed out about how Shiver retired to Brazil with his nubile maids, but no doubt that will be an update Wink

Posted: Thu Oct 23, 2014 11:53 am

What about the DoS attacks we've suffered? At least one of them, I'm pretty sure, was caused by the Bimbom-Bump gang in retaliation for their back end going down.

Posted: Fri Oct 24, 2014 4:18 am

Thanks for posting this Jose! I am hoping that with more people joining and our spreading the news, there will be a day when Eater and scambaiting is no longer necessary. Until that time, you all are stuck with me. Razz

I have read quite a few of the articles on the Antifraud site today, and they're wonderful. Just an FYI, there were a few times, more often than not, actually, when I clicked a link the new page gave me a 500 error, but resolved itself after I refreshed the link.