Scambaiting for fun

[Retro]

For those who love to get their own back on scammers by wasting their time and winding them up, this article explains how to go about it and the precautions one must take, which are critically important for this activity.

WARNING: the latest AI technology has become very good at cloning someone's voice with just a few seconds of chat, so there's always the possibility that they might do that with yours and try to scam friends and family with it, assuming they make the connection between you and them, which would require your real identity. This article was only published on 18 July, so I'm surprised that it doesn't mention this risk.

The temptation was too great. I just couldn’t resist!

When Angela Hoy posted a story about scammers pretending to be publishing giant Macmillan—and listed the scam website address—I had no choice. Within a minute, I was at the fraudulent website, chatting online with one of the scammers.

Now, why would I do such a thing? Wouldn’t any reasonably sane person avoid a site designed to cheat writers out of thousands of dollars—especially since Angela had pointedly warned us about it?

Under most circumstances, yes. But, not only am I a writer, I am also a Scambaiter.

YOU Can Strike a Blow Against Scammers by Becoming a Scambaiter! And, It’s FUN!!! – by Charles Culbertson

Not only am I a writer, I am a scambaiter as well. For me, Angela’s story was like french fries to a fat man!

writersweekly.com