What is a scambaiter?
Someone who misrepresents themself to a e-mail scammer. The desired result is either to impair the scammer's ability to work on other scams, or to wholesale counter-scam them.
How many scam baiters are there?
We don't know. say a thousand or so and growing, it is a an entertainment growth kind of thing.
What are open source scambusters?
Organized volunteer groups with methods and ethics based on emotions (sometimes raised by anger and/or fun about scammers and victims),who scambait e-mail scammers to register e-mail, fax, phone numbers, bank accounts and web sites used by the scammers to defraud their victims. The desired results besides fun are:
A. warning potential victims, helping victims to realize that they are a victim of an Advance Fee scam, advising victims on their possibilities
B. maintaining public records of scam details, on 419 fighting web sites.
C. Defacing web sites used by scammers to defraud their victims.
D. Warning Internet Providers of scam-email account registered on their servers, requesting for the scam account to be closed.
E. Registering IP addresses and other details of the scam-spam e-mail with internet emailfilters.
F. Organized using of the limited bandwidth of scam web sites in order to force the scammers to pay more for extra bandwidth to their provider and/or close the web site.
What are their results?
A. Since 2002 over a hundred thousand (potential) advance fee victims warned per year!!, not to forget the educational role!!
B. Thousands of scams intervened and scammers frustrated.
C. Experienced scammers start avoiding e-mail as means to communicate, changing to snail mail telephone landline’s and even door to door tactics.
D. Scam fighting acknowledged by most of the public as a necessity until law enforcement shows they take care of the problem
What are secret scambusters?
Secret well organized experienced volunteer groups with professional rational methods and ethics. Who use “other means” to get access to the communications of complete advance fee scam organizations.
The desired results are:
A. Covertly making a complete inventory of advance fee scam organizations, in order to to intervene with the future plans and/or current scams or preparations, without alerting the scammers.
B. Warn victims and potential victims of which the details are found in the communication of the scammers.
C. After inventory of scammers and their means, closedown all communication of complete scamorganisations in order to stop all attempts to work scams for a sustained period of time.
D. Manipulation of open source scambuster groups in order to control (not stop) attacks on the different scamorganisations in favor of better result.
E. Covertly submitting detailed information on scammers to law enforcement which is willing to act upon 419 advance fee cases in their jurisdiction.
What are their “known” results?:
A. Since march 2002 the devastation of many Advance Fee scam organizations, resulting in extra cost and millions of lost income for those scam organizations!!!!
B. Since 2002 over fifty thousand (potential) victims warned per year! Not to forget the educational role!
C. Active intervention in at least eight thousand ongoing Advance Fee scams per year!
D. ................................................
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CONSTRUCTION