Scam baiting
Encyclopedia
Scam baiting is a form of Internet vigilantism
, where the vigilante poses as a potential victim to the scammer in order to waste their time and resources, gather information that will be of use to authorities, and publicly expose the scammer. It is, in essence, a form of social engineering
that may have an altruistic motive or may be motivated by malice. It is primarily used to thwart the Advance-fee fraud scam and can be done out of a sense of civic duty, as a form of amusement, or both.
A bait is very simply initiated, by answering a scam email, from a throwaway email account, e.g. one that is only used for baiting. The baiter then pretends to be receptive to the financial hook that the scammer is using.
The objectives of baiting are, in no particular order:
The most important element of scam-baiting, however, is simply to waste as much of the scammer's time as possible. The idea is that when a scammer is preoccupied with a baiter who has no intention of falling victim to the scam, it prevents the scammer in question from conning genuine victims out of their money.
Amusements that the baiter may gain from the interaction include fooling the scammer into falling for claims just as ludicrous as the ones that the scammer is using to defraud his victims. Baiters will often use joke names which, while obviously ludicrous to a native or fluent English speaker, will go unnoticed by the scammer. Similarly baiters may introduce characters, and even plot-lines, from movies or television shows for comedic effect.
In February 2011, the Belgian television show Basta portrayed, with hidden camera
s, how a scammer was fooled during a meeting with baiters, raising the stakes by involving a one-armed man, two dwarves
and a pony
. Eventually, a police raid was faked, during which the baiters were arrested and the scammer went free, abandoning the money, and without any suspicion.
Internet vigilantism
Internet vigilantism is the phenomenon of vigilantic acts taken through the Internet or carried out using applications that depend on the Internet...
, where the vigilante poses as a potential victim to the scammer in order to waste their time and resources, gather information that will be of use to authorities, and publicly expose the scammer. It is, in essence, a form of social engineering
Social engineering (security)
Social engineering is commonly understood to mean the art of manipulating people into performing actions or divulging confidential information...
that may have an altruistic motive or may be motivated by malice. It is primarily used to thwart the Advance-fee fraud scam and can be done out of a sense of civic duty, as a form of amusement, or both.
A bait is very simply initiated, by answering a scam email, from a throwaway email account, e.g. one that is only used for baiting. The baiter then pretends to be receptive to the financial hook that the scammer is using.
The objectives of baiting are, in no particular order:
- Keep the bait going as long as possible, thus costing the scammer time and energy.
- Gather as much information as possible, so that the scammer can be personally identified and publicly exposed.
- Ensuring the scams, and any names used, are easily found by search-engine spiders, as a preventive strategy.
The most important element of scam-baiting, however, is simply to waste as much of the scammer's time as possible. The idea is that when a scammer is preoccupied with a baiter who has no intention of falling victim to the scam, it prevents the scammer in question from conning genuine victims out of their money.
Amusements that the baiter may gain from the interaction include fooling the scammer into falling for claims just as ludicrous as the ones that the scammer is using to defraud his victims. Baiters will often use joke names which, while obviously ludicrous to a native or fluent English speaker, will go unnoticed by the scammer. Similarly baiters may introduce characters, and even plot-lines, from movies or television shows for comedic effect.
In February 2011, the Belgian television show Basta portrayed, with hidden camera
Hidden camera
A hidden camera is a still or video camera used to film people without their knowledge. The camera is "hidden" because it is either not visible to the subject being filmed, or is disguised as another object...
s, how a scammer was fooled during a meeting with baiters, raising the stakes by involving a one-armed man, two dwarves
Dwarfism
Dwarfism is short stature resulting from a medical condition. It is sometimes defined as an adult height of less than 4 feet 10 inches , although this definition is problematic because short stature in itself is not a disorder....
and a pony
Pony
A pony is a small horse . Depending on context, a pony may be a horse that is under an approximate or exact height at the withers, or a small horse with a specific conformation and temperament. There are many different breeds...
. Eventually, a police raid was faked, during which the baiters were arrested and the scammer went free, abandoning the money, and without any suspicion.
See also
- 419eater.com419eater.com419eater.com is a scam baiting website which focuses on advance-fee fraud. The name 419 comes from "419 fraud", another name for advance fee fraud, and itself derived from the relevant section of the Nigerian criminal code. The website founder, Michael Berry, goes by the alias Shiver Metimbers...
- Sting operationSting operationIn law enforcement, a sting operation is a deceptive operation designed to catch a person committing a crime. A typical sting will have a law-enforcement officer or cooperative member of the public play a role as criminal partner or potential victim and go along with a suspect's actions to gather...
- Internet vigilantismInternet vigilantismInternet vigilantism is the phenomenon of vigilantic acts taken through the Internet or carried out using applications that depend on the Internet...