Even if you spot the scam and don’t fall for it, being on the receiving end of a scam attempt can be infuriating. It can make you mad enough to want revenge against the scammer. That is usually a very bad idea. There are people, though, who love to mess with the scammers. Some of them even make a living at it.
“Scambaiters” actively seek out opportunities to interact with scammers. When they get a scammer on the line they keep them there as long as they can. Some do it just to keep the scammers from talking to potential victims. Others do it for the entertainment value. Lots of people get vicarious satisfaction by observing what the scambaiters do, and the scambaiters can earn money from views of their videos of them interacting online or over the phone with the scammers.
Someone who uses the screenname Kitboga will spend hours on the phone with scammers, using speech manipulators and other devices to conceal his identity. He will take on the persona of a sweet old lady in some calls, acting confused by technology and going off on tangents that extend the conversation. His grandma character is not good with computers, and scammers spend forever just talking her through granting them remote access to her machine. But that’s just the beginning. “Even though they’re going to go through their script, when they get on my computer, now it’s my world. It’s my little playground,” he says. “I put them through all kinds of little traps and silly ways to waste their time.”
These calls (which may be hours long) are livestreamed on Twitch where he has thousands of subscribers who pay a monthly fee to support his channel. Edited highlights of the calls are posted to YouTube. Kitboga used to be a software engineer, but he is now a full-time scambaiter, as he is making enough money from Twitch and YouTube to replace his former salary.
Kitboga hopes that what he is doing is raising awareness of these scammers and how they operate, but if awareness becomes so high that the scams no longer work, he may be out of a job. “I would be happy to know I played a part in getting rid of these scams, even if that meant I go back to software development. Or if the stream became more about talking just general tech stuff, and maybe writing code and playing games together, I would be okay with that. Because humanity would be in a better place, right?”
Some scambaiters are very sophisticated when it comes to technology. Of course, they need to be able to shield their identities (and their computers) from the scammers, and some are able to take over the scammers’ computers, install malware on them or delete all their files. There is a debate (even among scambaiters) about the ethics of some of these tactics. One scambaiter admits to having second thoughts after convincing a scammer to fly 600 miles to Lagos for the promise of a lucrative job. He called the scambaiter in tears, claiming to be stranded with no money. Although he may not have been telling the truth (you never know with scammers) it was enough to cause the scambaiter to think he may have gone too far.
Vigilante justice is not a good idea. There is always the possibility that the scammers will take revenge. Scambusters suggests the following ways of dealing with scammers:
- If it’s an email, just delete it.
- If it’s a phone call, just hang up. Don’t engage. Screen your calls before answering.
- If you receive a threat, report it to the police.
