Scambaiting 101: My experiences and musings, as an occasional scambaiter

[StevieBlunder]

Typical scammer call center

First off, what is scambaiting? It is when one talks to a scammer, with full knowledge it is a scammer: possibly for revenge or a sense of justice, to troll them, or to occupy the scammers' time and prevent the scammer from stealing from anyone.

I have a scambaiting virtual-PC as follows:

✔ VMware Player or VirtualBox: with a virtual Windows XP operating system (so it is isolated from my main computer) and I can let scammers into my virtual PC with no worries of them harming my computer or finding my personal files. I was careful to cover my tracks and hide evidence that it is a virtual computer: I don't have VMWare Tools installed, because that is a dead giveaway that it is a virtual computer. Note: If a newer operating system is used, a scammer can find the key and sell the key on an ilegal website, so it's best not to use an activation key at all, and select to skip activation during install.

✔ A VPN on my main computer: I use NordVPN on my main computer, to mask my real IP address and display my IP address from anywhere in the world I choose. I don't install the VPN software in the virtual-PC, so the scammer can not see that VPN-software is running.

✔ An IP number (internet number): I use TextNow, because it gives one a free number and has free unlimited minutes in America, and most scammers use American numbers.

✔A Syskey password on my virtual PC: Syskey encrypts your Security Accountain Manager database. A scammer will often run the Syskey application and add a password, to prevent your computer from booting. Then they will likely try to get your debit card number in exchange for the password. Adding a Syskey password prevents a scammer from being able to change the password.

✔ An innocent wallpaper on my virtual computer: so it doesn't look like I'm a PC tech or expert. Kittens are always good, especially when they're sleeping on a piano or guitar.

These are the scammers I have gotten calls from:

✔ Tech Support scammer: They will often say you have malware on your computer from someone watching pornography or using the computer for shady activities. Once they get remote access to your computer (with your permission only, and you have to grant them access) they will type a command like Netstat, and then they will lie that Netstat displays "bad stuff" and is a list of foreign attackers (when in reality, Netstat simply shows TCP, reliable connections, including the connections with their remote log-on software, and TCP connections are normal and expected). Another common trick they will do is to go into the command line is type tree which simply displays a list of your files, and they will tell you the tree command is a scanning tool and all the files being displayed are infected. And to fix it, you need to purchase network security from them (though they never explain what network security is).

✔ Social Security and IRS scammers: They claim they are Social Security Administration agents, or IRS agents. They will say something about an abandoned car with 22-pounds of cocaine and covered in blood stains, registered in your name...and the government is going to permanently take all your money, delete your social security, and arrest you....and all you need to go to fix your legal troubles is to go to Walmart and purchase gift cards, and empty your bank accounts into the gift cards and give the scammer the activation codes, to safeguard your money.

Scambaiting Psychology: why do people enjoy it?

✔ People love watching a criminals and con artists getting justice and getting karma thrown at them, especially when the scammer realizes they've been talking to an expert and their scam isn't going to work.

✔ People see scammers attempting to steal from their family and loved ones, so they get a feeling of satisfaction from scambaiting, or watching scammers getting played on YouTube.

✔ Trolling is fun, and it's funny watching people get frustrated and angry: especially when the the recipient of the trolling is a scammer and criminal.

✔ There's a possibility for redemption: it feels great watching a YouTube video where the scammer is honest and upfront about being unhappy about earning their money by stealing it.

✔ Scambaiting wastes scammers' time and prevents them from stealing from someone else.

Conclusion:

Scambaiting can be fun to watch on YouTube and be fun to partake in (as long as you can safeguard your information and computer, and ONLY if you know how to do is safely). Though it can be fun and satisfying, I did IT for the military and have a lot of training in network security, so scambaiting is sort of boring and doesn't really challenge me. But still, it's funny when they find out they've been talking to an expert: they will either put on a false display of humility, and the scammer will say something like "how dare you waste an honest working man's time!" Or they'll just flat out start swearing and hurling insults. Once in while, they will admit to being a scammer, but that is rare. So what about you? Do you enjoy scambaiting, and/or watching scambaiting videos on YouTube? What scambaiters do you like watching? I like IRLrosie and KitBoga's YouTube channels.