Dangerous?

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Hello I'm New here! Joined: 27 Aug 2013 Posts: 6

Hi there

I am a newbie Embarassed

. I have been watching my inbox constantly filling up with UN Fund/ATM card emails. Apparently I have been compensated with $1.2 mill....happy days!

Anyway, I would love to try this game out....only thing is that all the scambating tips tell you that don't worry about being in danger....after all you are many miles away from the lads. Uhm...what if you live in ....?

Nervous! Shocked

Posted: Fri Sep 06, 2013 11:47 am

Welcome!
The point "Don't worry, scammers are far away" is but one of the elements making safe-baiting a relatively safe pursuit. And indeed there are many baiters who live in areas with scammer communities (myself included) who rely on other aspects of anonymity to provide sufficient safety measures. And a small number, occasionally, who are in African locations, although few of them make it particularly public.

Anyway, as long as you are careful in other ways, your location in Africa should not be problematic at all. Just be sure not to reveal anything about your true identity when dealing with the scammers.

Posted: Fri Sep 06, 2013 11:57 am

Welcome Phoebe Buffayl!

I second Mr F's comments. As long as you are using an email which has no connection to your real life and can't be traced through it's IP address Gmail, for instance, then you can say you are based in whatever country you like. America and the UK seem to be popular amongst the lads as countries which are full of paying victims.

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 27 Aug 2013 Posts: 6

Thanks for your input. I was about to kill off my pseudonym.

The IP address of the lad seemed to be in the same city as I am, which made me super nervous.

Posted: Fri Sep 06, 2013 2:01 pm

Just keep anonymity on your mind at all times. Stay in character, keep your IP hidden and never give any clues about your real identity and location. Remember, you never have to rush anything in baiting, it's all about wasting as much of their time as you can afterall, so take time composing your mails and read through them before sending to make sure you haven't slipped in anything you shouldn't, like local news or incidents etc...

I'm guessing by your username you're in -snipped-. As cities go, that's a big one, and you're one of 4.4 million residents. Not very likely that they will find you unless you specifically tell them where you are.

EDIT= city guess redacted. Doesn't need confirming :p

Posted: Fri Sep 06, 2013 2:03 pm

Welcome to Eater, Phoebe Buffay. Smile

Safe baiting is a concept you will hear often, and you will hear it linked to many different contexts. If you are nervous, I would (instead of listing all different aspects of safe baiting I can think of) encourage you to think of it like some people might encourage you to think of avoiding a computer virus. No matter how great antivirus software you have, it is useless if you do not use it properly. The greatest asset for safe baiting is the gray mass located approximately in between your left and right ear.

The fact that you are nervous is a good sign. That means you realize and accept that we are dealing with criminals and that when the older baiters talk about safe baiting, they are not pulling your leg or hazing new baiters into doing silly things just for fun. It's simply realism. None of us would like to meet these guys in person, whether we have baited them or not. You do not need to be afraid or paranoid. Simply realizing, accepting and taking into account this fact and then acting appropriately to guard your anonymity is what you need. While we can give you hints on how to hide your IP, how to set up an anonymous phone number etc., none of us is more expert in protecting you than you are. I, for example, don't bother hiding my IP. But someone else might have an IP they would want to hide. It all depends on the situation.

With that healthy attitude you have, I'm sure you'll be a good addition to this crew. Thumbs up

Not quite a Newb Joined: 02 Aug 2013 Posts: 59

Hi Phoebe Buffay,

If you want to be super paranoid, you can use Tor (www.torproject.org). There is a Tor Browser Bundle that gives you a configured browser + tor, very convenient. You have to get into it a bit, i.e. you have to deactivate java, etc. because those things can lift your anonymity.

I have never tried it with webmail, only for general surfing.

I guess most people would consider that as overkill for scambaiting, though.

cow

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 27 Aug 2013 Posts: 6

Thanks for the tips from everyone, cowfordinner, Duckling, Phil Yerboots, firehouse5! I am in a city which, unfortunately, has global notoriety for its crime (and stupid and corrupt politicians - do you get any other kind?). Many friends have either been hijacked or been victim to a violent armed robbery at home. So yes, the thought of coming home to an AK47 pointed at my head is not so far out of this world and I want to be cautious.

I appreciate you taking me under your wings.

PS Notwithstanding the above, I also live in beautiful country of some amazing people and breathtaking spaces. And in most cases, I am proud to call it home.

Posted: Fri Sep 06, 2013 2:51 pm

Phoebe Buffay wrote:

Thanks Basinga! After I posted my post, I realised the utter stupidity of my choice of username. Well done me...now no one on this forum knows where you are from. Confused

(Be assured, I am not as stupid to use this name if I were to head into baiting).

Just as I said tho, it's little things like that which can slip through.

However, it's not likely an IP trace or a casually dropped hint will get anymore accurate at pinpointing your location than the city you live in. Like I said, big city, lots of people, it's like finding a needle in a field of haystacks.

But it is still important to go over absolutely everything to make sure your lads don't get any clues out of it. You've had 1 lesson in it already, at least it wasn't a lad who picked you out on it this time :p

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 27 Aug 2013 Posts: 6

These tips are great.

Posted: Fri Sep 06, 2013 2:58 pm

On this forum... um... probably by asking a mod or admin.
Moderators are the green-named folks, Admins are the even rarer Red named beings.

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 27 Aug 2013 Posts: 6

^^^ Thanks so much...

Posted: Fri Sep 06, 2013 3:16 pm

snipped the city name from my earlier post. Hopefully your username can be changed soon Wink

EDIT=
As a PS, I'd also suggest other posters edit out the old username for their posts now it's been changed. Wink

Posted: Fri Sep 06, 2013 6:39 pm

Welcome to Eater!

I use Tor for baiting, but turning off Java isn't necessary for baiting, as you're just making sure that the IP address in the headers isn't yours. My characters all have nonexistent addresses which are more than 500 km from me. None of my character names has any resemblance to my real name or my Eater name.

If you live in a city with a large scammer population, I suggest that, besides the usual precautions, you do not bait in Internet cafés, as your lad may happen to be in the same building! Even if he thinks you're in the next country, if he happens to glance at your screen, it's all over.

Not quite a Newb Joined: 23 Mar 2010 Posts: 25

It's not very profitable to pursue a baiter. I guess it would depend on how easy the access to you is in relation to the pain caused. I get Skyped all the time so I know they have my phone number but the phone games I play are relatively short because of the hassle of it. Net games are played on G-mail so things can be more involved and anonymous. If I new a scammer was in my city I simply would not bother with them. Not worth it! Exclamation

Posted: Mon Sep 09, 2013 1:01 am

^Yes but you may not know he's in your city at first. He may be using Gmail, and you find out only when he tells you the address of the person to send the money to by WU.