Buried on Techmeme, this piece from the NYTimes shows real super heros. You know, the people who take time to go after the Nigerian scammers.
Ever been tempted to respond to that e-mail message offering untold millions from the relatives of a deposed African dictator?
Skip to next paragraphA scam-baiter known as Mike Berry has published a book of his favorite tactics with, yes, a somewhat misleading title. For some, replying to such Internet scams is a rewarding hobby. They call themselves scam-baiters, and they have started taking justice into their own hands.
Scam-baiters scam the scammer. They antagonize, humiliate and frustrate scammers who think they have an unwary victim. The baiters trade tips, tales and “trophies†on thriving discussion boards like those at 419eater.com, scamorama.com and aa419.org. (The 419 refers to the section of the Nigerian penal code that deals with fraud.)
“My reason for scam-baiting is to waste the time and resources of the scammer,†said a scam-baiter with the Web name of Scam Patroller, who declined to provide any identification beyond an e-mail address. “Each minute a scammer spends on my bait cannot be used to scam a real victim.â€
Did you ever see Chris Hansen’s special on these scammers? He actually teamed up with these scam-baiters to catch a couple of the bad guys in the act.
Yes, I did see that, classic stuff.
Internet scams turn make otherwise good people do vey nasty things