4 ms·

I can't remember what the website is exactly and I am currently at work now so I won't be able to google it up but there was a person that use to do this except

by kinkora 12y ago

I can't remember what the website is exactly and I am currently at work now so I won't be able to google it up but there was a person that use to do this except that he didn't use a bot but "bait" the scammers himself. It is utterly hilarious. What he does is he replies to a "scam email" and most of the scammers will do anything once they see an actual human being replying to their spam email. He obviously leads them on and his signature move is to always try to get the scammer to post a picture of themselves with a card held up (for verification purposes of course) and the cards usually say stupid things like "ilikebukake". He collates all the emails, replies, pictures, etc and puts it up on the internet. When I get home later, I will try and dig that site up.

S4M 12y ago
I think you're taking about http://www.419eater.com http://www.419eater.com Yeah, my idea would be to automate what they are doing. It won't be able to do the crazy stuff people came out with though, but it will be able to "reach" much more scammers.
durrrrrrr 12y ago
I remember this, is it this site? http://www.419eater.com http://www.419eater.com
vitamen 12y ago
One example: http://oddorama.com/2008/02/11/scamming-the-scammers-5-brilliant-419-reverse-scams/ http://oddorama.com/2008/02/11/scamming-the-scammers-5-brill...
thmorton 12y ago
419 Eaters, possibly? There are quite a few people who contribute their stories there: http://www.419eater.com/html/letters.htm http://www.419eater.com/html/letters.htm
- golergka 12y ago
  http://www.419eater.com/html/user_subs/godfather/plonker1.jpg http://www.419eater.com/html/user_subs/godfather/plonker1.jp... A great read indeed.
deciplex 12y ago
If you automated it though, and scaled it enough, you could effectively spam the scammers, reducing their profitability.
- jobigoud 12y ago
  Yes it could be a feature of the spam detector. However it could lead to an arms race. What if the scammers start to write bots that parse the answers until there is a substantial progress in the scam? We would end up with machine small talk and the overall level of spam traffic would skyrocket…
  - ghc 12y ago
    If the scammers learn to write parsers, then job well done. They'll have a skill they can use to get a real job.
    - seunosewa 12y ago
      That won't happen. Some evil geek would write the parser and sell it to all of them.
aaron695 12y ago
I use to think it was funny messing with people from poor countries who participated in activities that wasted our time for little $ benefit to themselves but not so much any more. Humiliating other humans beings for enjoyment isn't a great trait to encourage. These sites are also, whether that say they 'aren't' or not, are racist on some level. I'm sure there are some real a@#holes participating and running these scams but often the people on the ground are just human beings who have no other way to earn money.
- eru 12y ago
  > I'm sure there are some real a@#holes participating and running these scams but often the people on the ground are just human beings who have no other way to earn money. So the bot is probably a better idea than targeted humiliation. Making crime quietly unprofitable is a good thing. (You can help with Nigerian development, eg by giving to Doctors without Borders or other approaches.)
  - digitalengineer 12y ago
    Wait, what? No thoer way to earn money? These are common thieves looking for victims to rob them out of as much money as they can. People with skill, a PC, access to the internet and good social skills.
    - jacquesm 12y ago
      That sounds like most telemarketeers to me. Outbound call centers employ these people by the legions. And selling crap stock to retirees is no better than pretending you're a Nigerian prince.
- dspillett 12y ago
  > I'm sure there are some real a@#holes participating and running these scams I'd say that all of them are arseholes. The ones running the scams are not the local poor - they are poor relative to us in the west, but not in local economy they are relatively powerful. They are the local criminal hot-shots. >but often the people on the ground are just human beings who have no other way to earn money This is the problem. The above people use the poor(er) in their area as cannon fodder. When a 419eater story shows someone in a massively embarrassing situation that is not the scammer, it is some local fool that the scammer has somehow scammed (or forced) into playing the game. Yes they have wasted the scammer's time, but that is not the scammer being humiliated in those pictures.
zhte415 12y ago
The Register have a fair few number of 419er stories: https://duckduckgo.com/?q=419+site%3Awww.theregister.co.uk https://duckduckgo.com/?q=419+site%3Awww.theregister.co.uk
bitJericho 12y ago
My favorite of course is when the "victim" scammed the scammer of 60 bucks :D

by kinkora 12y ago

S4M 12y ago

I think you're taking about http://www.419eater.com http://www.419eater.com Yeah, my idea would be to automate what they are doing. It won't be able to do the crazy stuff people came out with though, but it will be able to "reach" much more scammers.

durrrrrrr 12y ago

I remember this, is it this site? http://www.419eater.com http://www.419eater.com

vitamen 12y ago

One example: http://oddorama.com/2008/02/11/scamming-the-scammers-5-brilliant-419-reverse-scams/ http://oddorama.com/2008/02/11/scamming-the-scammers-5-brill...

thmorton 12y ago

419 Eaters, possibly? There are quite a few people who contribute their stories there: http://www.419eater.com/html/letters.htm http://www.419eater.com/html/letters.htm

golergka 12y ago
http://www.419eater.com/html/user_subs/godfather/plonker1.jpg http://www.419eater.com/html/user_subs/godfather/plonker1.jp... A great read indeed.

deciplex 12y ago

If you automated it though, and scaled it enough, you could effectively spam the scammers, reducing their profitability.

jobigoud 12y ago
Yes it could be a feature of the spam detector. However it could lead to an arms race. What if the scammers start to write bots that parse the answers until there is a substantial progress in the scam? We would end up with machine small talk and the overall level of spam traffic would skyrocket…
- ghc 12y ago
  If the scammers learn to write parsers, then job well done. They'll have a skill they can use to get a real job.
  - seunosewa 12y ago
    That won't happen. Some evil geek would write the parser and sell it to all of them.

aaron695 12y ago

I use to think it was funny messing with people from poor countries who participated in activities that wasted our time for little $ benefit to themselves but not so much any more. Humiliating other humans beings for enjoyment isn't a great trait to encourage. These sites are also, whether that say they 'aren't' or not, are racist on some level. I'm sure there are some real a@#holes participating and running these scams but often the people on the ground are just human beings who have no other way to earn money.

eru 12y ago
> I'm sure there are some real a@#holes participating and running these scams but often the people on the ground are just human beings who have no other way to earn money. So the bot is probably a better idea than targeted humiliation. Making crime quietly unprofitable is a good thing. (You can help with Nigerian development, eg by giving to Doctors without Borders or other approaches.)
- digitalengineer 12y ago
  Wait, what? No thoer way to earn money? These are common thieves looking for victims to rob them out of as much money as they can. People with skill, a PC, access to the internet and good social skills.
  - jacquesm 12y ago
    That sounds like most telemarketeers to me. Outbound call centers employ these people by the legions. And selling crap stock to retirees is no better than pretending you're a Nigerian prince.
dspillett 12y ago
> I'm sure there are some real a@#holes participating and running these scams I'd say that all of them are arseholes. The ones running the scams are not the local poor - they are poor relative to us in the west, but not in local economy they are relatively powerful. They are the local criminal hot-shots. >but often the people on the ground are just human beings who have no other way to earn money This is the problem. The above people use the poor(er) in their area as cannon fodder. When a 419eater story shows someone in a massively embarrassing situation that is not the scammer, it is some local fool that the scammer has somehow scammed (or forced) into playing the game. Yes they have wasted the scammer's time, but that is not the scammer being humiliated in those pictures.

zhte415 12y ago

The Register have a fair few number of 419er stories: https://duckduckgo.com/?q=419+site%3Awww.theregister.co.uk https://duckduckgo.com/?q=419+site%3Awww.theregister.co.uk

bitJericho 12y ago

My favorite of course is when the "victim" scammed the scammer of 60 bucks :D