Beating E-Scammers at Their Own Game

The subject of spam has seen some recent developments. Besides a general increase in the amount of spam reaching corporate in-boxes, some new weapons are available in the antispam arsenal.

Even the European Union and the U.S. are close to agreeing on antispam legislation.

This is no doubt good news for the majority of e-mail users, who are drowning in an ever-expanding sea of special offers and get rich quick schemes. But my attitude to spam has recently changed--I don't mind it so much now. In fact, there is a certain type of spam that I actually look forward to receiving. You see, I've recently discovered the sport of "scam-baiting" and I must admit... I'm hooked.

Dangling Bait

The rules of the game are simple, but mastering it requires time, skill, and patience. It works like this: You eagerly open your e-mail client in the morning and download your mail. Before long, you'll find what you're looking for--a plea from the son of a deposed or deceased African president, who needs help to transfer a large amount of money out of the country. In return for your help, you'll receive a share of the proceeds. Now the game begins...

Rather than deleting the mail, use a free Web-based mail account to respond to the scammer, signaling your interest. You'll soon receive a reply from the scammer, who thinks he's found another sucker to extort large sums of money from. Your aim is to frustrate, humiliate, and thoroughly demoralize the fraudster. Given that these fraudsters aren't the brightest sparks, the resulting e-mail dialogue can be hilarious.

You'll find Web sites devoted to "scam-baiting" where you can read transcripts of e-mail dialogues. Some of the best examples are where the baiter gets the scammer to wait at an airport, or trudge to a Western Union office to collect a nonexistent money transfer. There are even examples where the "baiter" has managed to scam the scammer, the most famous being Pierpont Weaver (not his real name), who persuaded the fraudster to send him $60 worth of gold by DHL.

Scam-Baiting Tips

When "baiting," it's important to remember that you're dealing with outright criminals, whose only reason for conversing with you is to rob you of money.

This type of "advance fee fraud" or "4-1-9 fraud" (named after the section of the Nigerian penal code that addresses fraud schemes) nets the fraudsters millions of dollars every year, so by "baiting" you are doing the world a service by monopolizing the time and frustrating the efforts of these people.

I'm now going to continue "baiting" Mike Mobutu, who I'm helping to transfer $30 million out of the Republic of Congo, with the help of my friends Trinity and Morpheus (these guys really aren't very bright).