Scambaiting Gets Comical; Internet Scammers All Dressed Up

Nurse Nasty writes "Scambaiting is a fun and relaxing full-contact email sport. It's all about baiting Internet and email scammers into exposing themselves and sharing that humiliation with the entire world. Recently I baited four different groups of Internet scammers into being comic book action super-heroes, and then giving them their own 10-page graphic novel. It's a bit of fun and eduction through entertainment." (Warning: The comic contains a bit of naughty language.)

Comments

My lovely dear

[palegray.net]

I am intrigued by your offer, and would like to subscribe to your newsletter. Before I do so, I must inform you that I am the deposed son of a deceased diplomat, and I would like to enlist your aid in moving the sum of $12 million out of my country from a secret account. Please reply (and subscribe me to) dearlyloaded@hotmail.com. Yours in Faith, Balatruyiah Malkorurtink

Re:My lovely dear

[symes]

God bless you dearest Balatruyiah - my fellow church members and I are delighted to help someone so neady at their time of greatest nead. I will send our account information as soon as you can confirm you are wearing the needed stockings, suspenders and rubber chicken. When you take the photos please do ensure you have "humped in heaven" written across your brow so we know it's you.

419 Scams are named for their law they break

[LostCluster]

They're technically breaking their local law by running these scams... but they're one of the leading industries so the government can't afford to shut them down. Since there's no hope you finding them if you go there so they feel safe from you, and certainty that they'd be arrested if they come here so you're safe from them finding you... let the fun and games begin.

Re:419 Scams are named for their law they break

[phonewebcam]

An obvious scam the government can't afford to shut down because of the taxes it brings in? We have one of those too ... its called the tobacco industry.

Re:419 Scams are named for their law they break

[JaredOfEuropa]

While it appears that for some reason this scene is dominated by Nigerian scammers, they don't always operate out of their own country. Amsterdam and London are popular bases for these scammers and they get arrested there all the time, sometimes with the help of Nigerian police. Amsterdam cops bust 419 ring, arrest 52

Re:419 Scams are named for their law they break

[Runaway1956]

Tobacco? You're out of date and out of touch. 3 decades ago, tobacco was one of the biggest scams in the US. Today? Not much. They deliver precisely what they say, without being overly hyped. Scam? They tell you right on the package, "This shit can kill you!" How is that a scam?

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/scam

scam [skæm] Slang
n
a stratagem for gain; a swindle
vb scams, scamming, scammed
(tr) to swindle (someone) by means of a trick

My recommendation for you, is reading comprehension 101. Somewhere, you've failed.

Today, the biggest scams involve the defense industry, diet foods and drinks, pharmaceuticals, insurance, and the "War on Terra" along with the "War on Drugs". Please, don't allow your obsessive/compulsive hatred of tobacco confuse you.

Re:419 Scams are named for their law they break

[Runaway1956]

Horse Shit.

There should be no schedule 1 drugs, or schedule 2, or any other schedule. Prohibition gained this country nothing but rum-runners and armed gangs in the 1920's, and the war on drugs has gained us the same thing since the 1940's. Prohibition is for morons, fools, and zealots - and there is no proven method to separate the groups.

Prohibition has not only killed tens of thousands of American citizens, it is today killing thousands of Mexican citizens, and destroying the poor excuse for a government that they enjoy.

Legalize and/or decriminalize drugs, let the potheads and crack addicts have all they want. Can't you hear Darwin? "Those fools have nothing to offer society anyway - let them kill themselves!"

If John Q. wants to blow 10 kilos of cocaine, LET HIM!! It's his right to die from an overdose if that's what he wants to do. Stop wasting resources on keeping him alive, just so we can persecute him for being a coke fiend!

As for my caffeine and nicotine addictions, I'll deal with them myself, in my own good time. I'll stop smoking some day. Probably the day the doctor pronounces me dead. And, it's none of YOUR business.

Slashbaiting

[lucm]

> Scambaiting is a fun and relaxing full-contact email sport. It's all about baiting Internet and email scammers into exposing themselves and sharing that humiliation with the entire world.

Slashbaiting is even better: have someone posting a mildly funny story to generate trafic for their website, only to make their web server go down in flames in only a few minutes of exposure on Slashdot.

("Yes Mr Advertiser, I got 200k visitors on my website last January. 199,997 of them between 5h and 5h10 on Jan 3, but still...").

Re:Slashbaiting

[Registered Coward v2]

Nurse Nasty is one of the regulars at 419eater.com, I doubt if they did this to generate traffic. The more peopel know about 419 fraud and the various methods used to scam people, the better. Even learning simple things, like why a check "clearing" doesn't, in the US at least, mean it is a good check; and may prevent soemone from being a victim.

You'd be surprised how many people aren't aware of how scams work. I ran into someone selling his bike; he had received a "money order" for the purchase, shipping, and an "opps, I sent to much please send me a Western Union money order for the overage less an a extra $200 for your troubles" overage. I explained to him that it probably was a classic overpayment fraud and either take the MO to his bank or police station and explain his concerns; or to simply send an email saying deal's off bank won't take your MO and tear up the MO. Either way, he was saved from a very expensive mistake.

Who are the victims?

[symes]

Sometimes I wonder if those Nigerians willing to engage in these scams are not just the poor and desparate foot soldiers of someone far more nasty... people who are caught in poverty and desparation can do strange things when offered a glimmer of a reward. Now what would be funny is if the 419eater people went and scambaited the Somali pirates. Now that would be worth watching.

Re:Who are the victims?

[Jeppe Salvesen]

Not quite. The 419'ers are proof of how technology and persistence can move people from the lower middle class to the upper middle class.

Re:Link Dead

[Simon80]

Coral cache link to the rescue: http://forum.419eater.com.nyud.net:8080/forum/viewtopic.php?t=177394

Re:racist

[Donkey_Hotey]

Has ANYBODY noticed that these are fairly creepy and somewhat racist images?

Just curious--if they were white Europeans, would you be asking the same question?

Define baiting

[hwyhobo]

Have we just been baited into reading crap for no good reason? Does that qualify as scam? Scam baiting? Or Baiting scam?

Re:racist

[Opportunist]

They're creepy and they're belitteling, demeaning and outright insulting pictures. That's part of the idea. Not because these people are black, but because these people are scammers. That they're black is simply quite logically considering they come from a country where most people are.

I'm quite sure they'd be just as belittling, demeaning and insulting if the scammers were white, yellow or polka dotted red and blue. It's not fun because they're black. It's fun because they tried to trick people out of money and got exposed and publically humiliated for being criminals. Not for being black.

Re:De-peer and 419 disappears

[SteveFoerster]

Nigeria has already demonstrated that they shouldn't be online

I hope someone someday collectively punishes you and everyone you know for things a few people who live near you did so you can get a sense of how fair your suggestion is.