Pissed off a scammer, did I mess up at all?

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Hello I'm New here! Joined: 09 Oct 2015 Posts: 2

Without going into details, I got a weird phone call, messed around using a virtual machine, and installed some remote desktop software and they installed some other things.

After like 45 minutes I just ended the call and closed the vm since I had to go, and they called me back asking where I went. I told them that I was just messing with them, and I know they are scammers.

He was getting pretty upset and was asking why I did it then and I said just because I wanted to waste his time. He told me that he already had all my information but I responded that he doesn't have anything and ended the call.

However thinking about it now they have my phone number and my IP address. Is there anything I would need to be worried about? I feel like I'm fine, but maybe I went a little too far on my first scam...

Also, I have the VM still saved, I don't know if there's anything of interest in there, anything I could gain out of it?

Posted: Fri Oct 09, 2015 6:56 pm

Welcome to Eater, some_guy. To answer your questions:

Pissing off a scammer? Not a bad thing at all.

Pissing off a scammer who knows something (no matter how small) about you? Not a good idea.

Here at Eater, we practice safe baiting. That means that you don't give a scammer any piece of information that can be traced back to you in RL. Since they do have your phone number and your IP, there is a chance they will try to get back at you. Will they do it? Probably not, since there's more profit to be made in hosing some other victim, but you should still probably be on your guard.

If you want, feel free to create a new identity, set up a fake email, give your character a fake address/fake phone number/etc, grab a scammer or two from Surplus, and try again.

Baiting Guru Joined: 10 Oct 2010 Posts: 3876

I second this.

if you want to piss those microsoft-support scammers off (they aren't really advance fee fraud, the topic of this board), get a voice over IP landline-like number. free, anonymous and safe (but I guess, you already have that - okay, in the US, there are no special mobile phone or VOIP-areacodes, but other countries do have that).

the idea with the VM is great, especially if you have older snapshots, so you can revert back to them after he did a lot of things to it. in order to play safe, you should maybe use a windows-VW inside a linux OS. there is malware capable of breaking out of the VM.

and one more thing: never tell them, that you messed around with them. we want better baiters, not better lads Wink

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 09 Oct 2015 Posts: 2

Thanks for the tips! It seems like maybe in the future I should be more careful.

Maybe I haven't looked well enough, but I don't seem to see a lot of computer tech support scams on these forums, is that because it's mostly dedicated to the 419-type scam?

I would like to try again though, and leading them on a bit longer and with a more interesting story.

Darn though, it's so satisfying to tell them that you purposely messed around with them. But I suppose you're right! It wouldn't be wise to make them more aware of what's happening.

Posted: Fri Oct 09, 2015 10:57 pm

I do not want to blame you, but telling a lad that you are a baiter and messed with him is the most bad thing you could do after giving him your real address and credit card number.

Never tell them, that you baited them.
This will make them just more careful and they will become "better" scammers.
Do you really want to support them that way?
I'm sure you don't. Wink

Baiting Guru Joined: 10 Oct 2010 Posts: 3876

Quote:

Maybe I haven't looked well enough, but I don't seem to see a lot of computer tech support scams on these forums, is that because it's mostly dedicated to the 419-type scam?

this type of scam was discussed several times. and as you already discovered, it is not advance fee fraud, but it is close.

they can for example install scareware, and then charge a lot of money, repair something at the pc, charge more, and so on.

the main reason why most baiters avoid them is the save baiting rule, which is rather hard to accomplish (they have to contact baiters, they dictate the time, and so on... they don't call at convenient times). a possible way to bait them: if he calls you, tell them you need the phone number, so you can call back at a more convenient time (if they hide their number). call back (at a convenient time via voip/skype) and give a bogus name and so. then interrupt the call, and let them call back (just to save money). and then you can basically waste hours of their time. let them install software on the VM, when they ask for a reboot, revert to the older snapshot, and so on (they are really happy if 2 hours of work vanishes Very Happy

)

this way you should be safe while baiting those scums.

Posted: Sat Oct 10, 2015 12:02 am

Great advice from the above but if I could chime in here please don't be discouraged and leave the community. I made mistakes when I started but I ended up embracing the teachings and now I have a blast BAITING when I have time. You will too.

The most important thing is to never let them know you baited them. Always keep acting like you will send money and "enticing" them until they go away (if they do). I've had one lad on the hook now off and on for 16 months. I have a feeling he will stick around for as long as I will have him.

Good luck!

Baiting Guru Joined: 04 Jan 2006 Posts: 3193

I kept one on the hook for quite a while once. If they think you're a good mark they'll stay on hold for a surprisingly long time and call back and all sorts.

If you know computers well you don't even need to do anything to let them in, just bait as you normally would by email. Ask lots of questions, make mistakes, confuse the issue, I'm sure you know the drill.

However, they do have your phone number, so it isn't really safe as we like to practice safe. And anyone who doesn't know computer tech support well would be best advised to steer clear.

If you annoyed them enough they may make a half-hearted attempt to hack you and you might see an increase in attempted access. But if you're behind a secure firewall with no exploitable flaws and you haven't opened any holes in it such as an ssh login with passwords enabled, then you're probably safe enough even if they know your IP address.

Elite Baiter Joined: 19 Apr 2008 Posts: 1300

As stated, never admit you are baiting them especially if they have your phone number which these type of 'non 419 scammers' inevitably do.

However these guys can often be held on the phone for hours (if you have the time) whilst you mess up their instructions on how to install the remote access software they inevitably want you to use to 'fix' your problem. My own favourite is to select the 'Do not allow remote keyboard/mouse' option on the remote access software before clicking OK. They can see everything so close but can't actually do anything to get what they want (which is normally to install an over inflated priced AV software solution). Obviously this is not something you want to do unless you are very sure they can only see the screen and can't use the (remote) mouse and keyboard.

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