Thursday, March 19, 2009

Scambaiting: Scam The Scam Artist

We're all familiar with those rotten emails from con artists in Nigeria, right? You know; the ones where some dude promises millions of dollars if you just send him some money first. But did you know there are people who make it their mission to get even with these sons of bitches? It's called scambaiting, and it is awesome! 419 Eater explains how it works:

"You enter into a dialogue with scammers simply to waste their time and resources. Whilst you are doing this, you will be helping to keep the scammers away from real potential victims and screwing around with the minds of deserving thieves. It doesn't matter if you are new to this sport or a hardened veteran; if you are wasting the time of a scammer, or frustrating them in any way, well, that's good enough for us..."

Gotta love that!

In any case, to turn the tables on these con artists, scambaiters get these shit-heads to take photos of themselves holding up signs or doing ridiculous things. For example, a scambaiter might email back to the scammer with, "Hey... before I do business with you, I just need to make sure I am dealing with a real person, so I want you to take a photo of yourself holding up a sign with my name on it..." Then they tell the scammer that their name is 'Jack MeHoff' (or some such comedic moniker.)

Here are some great pics of would-be scammers, straight from 419eaters.com. Click on the pics for a larger view:









And surely, what must go down as one of the greatest scambaiting pics ever...

Pretty funny, huh? For more laughs, and more on the whole "419" scam and how to protect yourself, be sure to visit 419 Eaters!


Thanks, 419eaters.com!



3 comments:

  1. Anyone want to try to bail this person? This is a mystery shopper/job-employment scam. His email is at the very bottom.

    Greetings,

    A position is currently available for any individual in the UNITED STATE OF AMERICA who is interested in becoming an evaluator/Secret shopper.

    REQUIREMENTS

    1. Minimal Computer usage skill e.g Desktop, Laptop or Mobile phone.

    2. To become a mystery shopper with TNS Mystery shopper you must be over the age of 18 and all you need to do is to register with us today by providing your details below and start shopping Evaluation!

    Kindly reply with the basic information below to get started.

    Full Name...
    Contact Address ...
    City...
    Zip Code...
    Mobile/Home number (s)...
    Email Address....

    We're looking for thousands of particpants to become mystery shoppers,tell us about their experiences in shops, pubs, clubs, hotels and many more places

    It is a flexible, fun and rewarding job. There is no charge to become part of our teams.

    You do not need previous experience, also you would be paid $200 For Two Surveys Per Day; $600 for 3days surveys completed in a week

    NB: Only participants who replies or responds with their informations above would be taken seriously.

    If you did not request this subscription, please accept our apologies and simply ignore this message.

    Warm Regards.
    Russell Lee
    russeelllee@gmail.com
    TNS Mystery shopper

    ReplyDelete