Email Scam Retribution

Nigerian Scams, Email scams, 419 scams, phishing

After a getting a bit annoyed at the arrogance of some "people" to steal money by lying and scamming the unsuspecting, I though it would be worthwhile playing along with their game, never intending to give any money but becoming as disruptive as possible. A few laughs along the way also makes it entertaining.

Tell Tale Signs

Here are some common features of emails than can be termed "A Nigerian Email Scam"

• BOLD CAPITAL LETTERS THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE EMAIL.
• The words confidence / secret / urgent / representative / trust in the Subject line.
• Hyperlinks to BBC News Online Africa where a news story of a real Air crash or accident is used as a basis for the scam (Please remember the BBC is in no way responsible for this, in fact if you email them they will often put a note against their news report to warn against scams.
• A reply email address different to the one used to send - both of which will probably be from a free email provider.
• The text "100%", "guaranteed", "risk free", "ASAP" inside the email.
• Pooor speeling.

My Episodes

In this section I have listed a number of adventures that I have had with various email scammer's. The purpose of this is to try and get as much humor from the scammer while still having them think I am convinced by their story.

Tools of the Trade

Steps to becoming a fully fledged anti scam vigilante

1. Get your own free anonymous email account. (this should be easy, perhaps a more obscure domain will add to your creditability)
2. Put it in the name of a normal sounding person, but with the option of becoming a joke in the future. Philip is a favorite of mine as it can become Phil after a while and then lead to the Phil McCavity, Phil McCrackin, Phil Osophy. (Get more funny names here)
3. Get a Free voice mail account (see yac.com)

The Road to Retribution

1. Get your new email "on the lists" - To do this you need it to appear online as much as possible. Go to a search engine and search around the terms ("MUGU" , "message board" , "guestbook") to find free message boards. Whatever the message board is, just leave random comments e.g. "Amazing site! keep up the good work" and remember to include you email. Do this for several message boards.
2. Wait (My guess would be 1-2 weeks). The scammer will then scan these message boards for new emails.
3. You should start to receive emails (This is like catching a fish as it usually comes out of the blue). There will be only a few at the beginning, but then it should get busier. An amount of other junk mail can be expected.
4. Now you can get down to business !!!
5. Don't be greedy! Only select a few to reply to, after all you wont have the time to pay attention to every lead. Look out for emails that seem slightly amateurish, i.e. poor language and spelling. and maybe even a story that doesn't make sense. I have seen a few emails from scammer's who don't even seem sure what they are asking for, and I have ended up prompting them what they should ask for!.
6. Have no respect for the scammer. This doesn't mean that you should be abusive or use foul language - as this will stop the whole thing very quickly. You shouldn't think twice as you try an manipulate them and take the piss out of them. Questioning their sexuality always seems to hit a raw area (pardon the pun).

Inventory of Aims

Things you should try to achieve

• Have a laugh
• Get as many photographs as possible - these often come without even asking.
• Phone calls - makes the whole thing seem much more real (don't let this put you off as they don't know who you are!), but can be very funny
• Authenticated photographs - Most of photos sent to you will be copied off the internet. To get a good laugh you should (insist) that the scammer sends you a recent photo. To do this ask them to hold a sign in the photo with a word or sentence that YOU decide. This phrase is very important - make it innocent at first glance, but a joke in reality. E.G. get the scammer to hold a sign that says "I am Richard Head" - there's plenty of scope for a good joke here.
• Money - this is the ultimate. If you can get more money from them than they get from you, you have beat them at their own game. This may seem impossible, but remember the whole scam plays on your greed, but this is because the scammer is also greedy and therefore weak to "Pot of Gold" ideas. Manipulation is the big word here and therefore you need to build up a false friendship with the scammer to trick them.

Links

After a bit of research I have found a number of like minded people have been doing the same thing, most of whom seem to have a bit more success. Here's their links ...

The 419 Eater

http://www.whatsthebloodypoint.com/

http://baita.mugu.co.uk/

http://the.mugu.co.uk/