Scam Baiting for Fun and..Well, Just for Fun

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Scam baiting – the act of leading scammers on a wild goose chase – has been raised to a new art form with the advent of the Internet, and Internet scammers. And none more so (or more deservingly) than the so-called 419 scammers. You know the ones: “I am Mariam Abacha…“, and someone has always died with a lot of money hidden away, and they want you to help them get the money out of the country. But first you have to send them some earnest money.

While some do it on their own, for the sheer joy of baiting a scammer, groups and even complete websites have sprung up, all dedicated to scamming 419 scammers. And unlike the controversial Mugu Marauder, which encourages untargeted users to churn bandwidth of websites which may themselves be innocent, the individuals involved with the 419 scam baiting sites are responding directly to 419 scammers who have targeted them.

One of the more prolific, and certainly amusing, sites is the 419 Eater site.

The 419 Eater site starts out with this warning: “Please remember that these people are CRIMINALS and should be treated as such. Under no circumstances must you enter into any communications with these people unless you feel you are adequately prepared to deal with them.”

Good advice, that.
Clearly the people running 419 Eater feel adequately prepared, and indeed they seem to be. The 419 Eaters regularly send their pet 419 scammers on goose chases which involve filling out and returning bogus forms (” the bank said you must first fill out a Money Laundering and Fraud Suppression Certificate”), and even taking and returning photos of their scammy selves holding up hand-lettered signs for the camera (“Ohwa Tafu Kwit Iam”).

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Ok, so maybe it isn’t getting these guys arrested, but hey, it’s keeping them busy, and exposing them (in more ways than one!)

And it’s darned funny.

Check out 419 Eater at 419Eater.com.

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The Internet Patrol is completely free, and reader-supported. Your tips via CashApp, Venmo, or Paypal are appreciated! Receipts will come from ISIPP.

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32 thoughts on “Scam Baiting for Fun and..Well, Just for Fun

  1. SCAM….SCAM..I DIDN’T FALL FOR THERE S**T I WOULD LOVE TO F**K THEM UP REAL GOOD.I HOPE THEY GET CAUGHT AND PUT IN PRISON AND BUTT F**KED

    Hello,
    Thanks for the prompt response to my mail. I will be
    buying it from you so please kindly withdraw the advert from the web
    as i will be adding $50 for the removal. Please to be informed that i
    will be paying you with a certified bank check and once you have the
    check cashed at your bank then i will arrange for the pick up at your
    place..I will need the following details to mail the payment as soon
    as possible.

    Name to be on the Check_____________
    Home or office address(No P.O.BOX)___
    City__State__Zip Code_______________
    Phone Numbers_____________________

    FYI:You will not be responsible for the shipping of the item..and I
    will have my mover come over for the pick up as soon as you have the
    check cashed at your bank,and i will get back to you once my secretary
    made the payment out to you immediately.THERE EMAILS.westmoney003@gmail.com,Greg David devidgrill@gmail.com,keith.sean22@gmail.com

  2. Hi people, I got scammed.
    I wanted to rent an apartment from James Walter. Seemed legit with pictures and good address. I was desperate for apartment so send a copy of my ID as requested. After he asked to transfer the deposit, I understood where this is leading.
    So my question is if I should be worried about my pass ID being used anywhere. Are there any steps I should take, like change my passport ID, or just let it go because it’s too late?
    Thanks for help guys.

  3. scammed me on craigslist labor gigs section uses a google voice line 347-762-3736 already filed email with maryland police and feds,ic3

  4. “Most Recent Searches that Led to This Page: DEALFUN REVIEWS, just4dates review, dealfun review, dealfun com reviews, deal fun scam, dealfun com review, dealfun com scam, is dealfun legit, is deal fun a scam, dealfun scam, just4dates, is dealfun a scam, is deal fun legit, dealfun com, is dealfun a scam?”

    Sorry if I’m dense, but I can’t tell from the above paragraph whether this page thinks Dealfun is a scam, or not, or neither. It seems to say that when a search term is entered, it bounces to this page. So is DealFun being baited, or am I? Or neither…

  5. Look out for jamesmavrck@yahoo.com he goes by James Walter, says he is a civil engineer, has fake photos on dating sites, wants money wired to UK and to Nigeria, wants you to go on Yahoo Messenger but won’t show you himself on webcam.

  6. Watch out for tockwilliams77@yahoo.com. He claims to be a US soldier and wants to send you $2.7 million that he is trying to get out of Iraq. What a scam. He preys on women on social networking sites, so beware.

  7. Have you heard of this scam artist called Keshe who claims to have discovered a new science that anyone with brains will realise it is a pure scam. Website is www.keshespace.com/ . I need advice on how to bring him down. He is already selling tickets to the moon for 50000 euros without even proving the technology. He is a pure scam. Please advice on how to bring him down.

  8. I would like to submit this email address as a scammer: isaiahthomas247@gmail.com
    He tried to get me to send camera equipment I was selling on Craigslist to Nigeria. Said he’d pay with a PayPal account, and even sent me a fraudulent confirmation stating that the funds were delivered. When I signed into PayPal to transfer the funds to my banking account – there was nothing there!

  9. Terry james said he found me on craigs list.I had been selling a ring and laptop and we chatted,said he was a building contractor for Corporate Engineering Limited.Said he had a 15 year old son Dan,he said he was originally from England but moved to USA when his parents died.was married to becky but she died four years ago in a car accident,he was from bakersfield,California.Said he was building I corporate reteat and he and dan were staying at the whitehouse Hotel in lagos.Nigeria and the contract was almost uop.Sent me a check for $29,995,95 and asked me to cash it from him.I sent it to the real comapny it came from and it was a stolen check.Customes.secret service and law enforcement agencies are hot on his trail.His email was terry.james002@yahoo.com.I knew he was a scammer when he started asking for money .telling me he loved me,and started harrassing and threatening me when i received the check and I did not tell him i sent it to the company it was stolen from

  10. CLAIM OFFICER
    Clinton Moore and Francis Bowell

    This ‘DUDE’ wants info of mine and says that he works at a coca cola in great britain. 21 Caroline street VHQ LONDON, UK. he says i won 3,000,000 in coca cola lottery. i dont care for money. I have plenty. please look it up and people please dont fall for junk like this.

  11. I am SOOOO lucky I have won half a million pounds with Cocacola :-).
    I have to contact this Mr A. Terry

  12. terry James just did the same thing. You would think they would change the game up a little at least.

  13. James Walter just contacted me via craigslist….same thing…trying to do a UK move and reimburse the difference scam.

  14. Personally, I write back politely explaining that I can’t help (usually because I’m dead, or suffering from the Ebola virus, or something similar) and then I direct them to a charity who has an established record of helping people in their position – namely thescambaiter.com. Other sites may or may not do better work, but they have the best pictures.

  15. I have had a lot of these people try to get me through Craig’s list. I have been trying to rent my house as well and he gives me all the same info that he gave you guys. How does this scam work, does he use that SS# and DOB that belongs to someone else. Is there some poor sap named gary out there getting his credit shred to hell? I forwarded his email and DOB on to the local police force, should I do more, can I do more. I hate thieves, unless your stealing food due to hunger or a coat because you are cold and you have not other option. But these guys are terrible.

  16. Thank all of you for putting this info in the Web. Gary Cartford emailed us this weekend wanting to rent our house on Craigs List. Same name, phone, etc. Said he was from London and worked for Global Link. Something seemed odd, so I googled him and found this. thanks for saving us from wasting a lot of time.

  17. Gary Cartford is trying to rent from us right now. Besides the same email address(gcart101@yahoo.com) & phone 7943105125 also gave us a social security number of XXX-XX-3021…to do a credit check. Thanks for alerting us to him. We also were posting on craigs list.

  18. Gary Cartford (alias) is using the telephone number of 011-44-794-310-5125 . He says that he sent me a check for rent and involved is a living expense to be used in his move that he wants me to refund to him. He wanted to rent my home and found my listing on Cragslist.com. Thanks for the heads-up. He sounded fishy from the beginning.

  19. well done patrol! he is still at it. i recommend forwarding the bad check and SSN to your local FBI office.

  20. Gary Carford sent us an email he’s coming from the UK wants to move in November 30th. We were suspicious, I think he wants to steal your ID. Thanks for the info

  21. Peter Dickson is another name
    GaryCartford uses. Claims company overpays for rent, asks for reimbursement of bad check

  22. totally just recieved an email about him wanting to move in and coming from the UK… I will give him a FAT no thank you… well done you guys, thanks for the forum to catch assholes like this.

  23. James Walter-same wording as GAry Cartford’s email, same date to move in=watch out for him as well!!

  24. Ntice…lets try to set this guy …. email me at yfromchi@gmail.com…i would love to catch this guy..he burned me

  25. this gary just scammed me…he said he wanted to rent from me …he got me ….be careful he sends you a fake check and then tells you his company sent you to much and to send the difference back so he can proceed with traveling plans…. Real piece of shit

  26. someone scambait some prick named gary cartford . he claims to be from UK but his english is awful . he is trying to scam me right now .

  27. THE BRITISH GAMING BOARD zonies2@cox.net

    THE NATIONAL LOTTERY claimsdept888@hotmail.com

    These are scams. Please take care of these.

  28. want to submit this email address as a scam mail address
    dbaker@cox-internet.com
    so u should know wht to do about it ok.

    i will want u to close it finally

  29. i want to submit this email address as a scam mail address princeuzo70@ yahoo.com, so u should know wht to do about it ok.

    i will want u to close it finally

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