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Post by agentredhead on Jun 29, 2022 15:59:40 GMT
I get a lot of cold calls, and I usually hang up on them pretty quickly. Recently I started watching youtube videos of scambaiters (Jim Browning, Kitboga etc) and I realised how much of a problem this is and how many people can get scammed and how easily they get scammed and so I want to do my part to scam bait as every minute someone is chatting to me, its one less minute they are trying to take someone elses money or details. I'm a really busy person so I dont currently have time to go out of my way to find scammers, but I figure if they call me then fair game.
So looking for some advice to get started. Usually when they call they just seem to know my name. Occasionally they know my maiden name and an address thats like 5 years and 2 homes out of date. How much do I confirm, I figure there is no harm in confiming my name (and if they have my maiden name, then they can keep it and not get my updated name!), do I make up fake details from here to keep them on the line longer? 'oh no Hunny I moved from there - gives fake address'.
Do I literally just make up fake details, or is there a good way to go abut making up a 'character'? If I refuse to give them any details they usually just hang up on me pretty quickly.
Thank you for any help or advice you can give to get me started on wasting some scammers time!
I just had a call about compensation from being in an accident in the last x amount of months (I have never been in an accident ofc...) and when I said I hadn't been in an accident they hung up. But I want to know what happens if I take it further and give them fake details to keep them on the phone for longer etc. And what kind of scam is it from this particular phone call?
Thank you in advance!
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Post by Admin on Jun 29, 2022 17:36:17 GMT
Welcome to SF, agentredhead. Love the site name! The problem is that they have your RL - Real Life information. Even if it seems outdated, in today's world it only takes a few clicks to find current information if the scammer is determined to get some payback ... and it happens: www.q13fox.com/news/frustrated-scammers-call-911-on-victim-swat-team-surrounds-their-homeThe chance may be very small, but why even take that little chance? We here at SF are definitely against it: scambaiting-help.freeforums.net/thread/764/rules-ethics-scambaiting-updated-2021The fact that you want to waste their time is great, but please, this is not the way to go about it. Of course, it's your life and you can damn well do as you please, but I hope you will at least consider what I've said. Even if they don't "SWAT" you, they have other ways of getting revenge if you've irritated them enough and isn't life full already with irritations?  |
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Post by agentredhead on Jun 29, 2022 21:45:37 GMT
Thank you for replying! I'm in the UK, so I'd like to think no matter how bad it got SWAT won't be surrounding my house anytime soon! I've had my mobile number for many many years, so I can imagine a good couple of ways that my name and number have got onto a list. And the only address that they seem to have is a very outdated address. All my social media is fully private. And in fact the only thing I can find on myself with google is my linkedin profile. But if I am reading what you have written right, then even with them only having my phone number and either my current name or my old name and old address then this still perhaps safe baiting? It's just annoying when I get a couple calls a week of things like 'you've been in an accident and are entitled to compensation' or the one I got last week 'I work with a covid centre and we are updating medical records'. I usually just keep ask them to repeat everything they say and that usually wastes a minute of time, but when I'm not forthcoming with any details they just hang up on me. I just was hoping to waste a little bit more of their time and checking if there was a way to be fully safe, and perhaps just tips on how not to be obviously scam baiting whilst doing this doing this. Whilst I am full up to my ears of life (I'll slowly go through this forum), if you have the time to point out some threads that are good reads on how to get started safely scam baiting or just how to get started I'd love to join in at some point in the near future. I have read the rules/ethics post you have linked already thank you  Last note: I fully admire you all who are able to scam bait properly because as I said, I figure every minute they are on with someone who is aware of whats going on is another minute they arent scamming someone who will fall for it. A sibling of mine has admitted to losing some money, and a parent was on a call for a long while almost losing some money before they felt something was off and hung up and called the actual company to clarify what the heck was going on. Thank you. Thank you again. |
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Post by Gerald Croft on Jun 29, 2022 22:56:31 GMT
If the scammers have any real information about you at all then this would generally be considered unsafe baiting. While it may seem unlikely that anything serious would result from the types of interactions you have had so far, if you ever got to a point where a scammer is really invested in scamming you then you cannot rule out them attempting to take some action against you. You may not be planning to ever get this far, but if you can never get a scammer invested then you are not really baiting them. Even if the address they have for you is outdated, someone else may now live there who could be affected (even a small nuisance to them such as receiving junk mail is something you would want to avoid). Unless of course your previous address no longer exists.
You don't know how the scammers got your number and other details, so you don't know if they have ways to find your new information. While SWATting is an extreme example of the effects of unsafe baiting, we do have armed police units in the UK so it is not impossible for something equivalent to happen no matter how unlikely it might seem. It is important to remember that we are dealing with members of criminal organisations in many cases, so the general philosophy is not to take any risks, even if they seem small.
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Post by Admin on Jun 30, 2022 4:25:19 GMT
In every forum/sub-forum, there are threads at the top that are "stickys". Those are worth reading to learn about posting and navigating around the site. Look in the Members' only forum for scammer calls and you can listen to/learn from some of the best. Do you have Skype? Many of our baiters utilize that program to call and record scammers. If you want to delve a little further into it with a mentor, send a PM to me or any of our friendly moderators (the folks with the green names). |
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