Thursday, January 07, 2010

Scamming the scammers

I recently learned of an organization devoted to payback against scammers, also known as "scambaiting." The site is called 419eater.com. The 419 part of the name comes from a section of the Nigerian penal code:
"The perpetrators of Advance Fee Fraud (AFF), known internationally as "4-1-9" fraud after the section of the Nigerian penal code which addresses fraud schemes, are often very creative and innovative.


The people who run this site are devoted, mainly, to wasting the time of the scammers, to give them less time to scam the gullible. The web site is full of fascinating stuff, but one of the most INSANE things I found was this series of exchanges from a Nigerian scammer and a scambaiter posing as, and I kid you not, an insane lesbian dominatrix. Talk about a culture clash. The Nigerian scammer is apparently completely oblivious to the prankish nature of the "dominatrix"'s email, probably due to a combination of English language deficiencies on the part of the scammer, and cultural misunderstanding. The result is an acid trip through insane dominatrix scambaiter wonderland. A sample of the dominatix's correspondence:
From: Fanny Plunge
To: amina abid abidamina65@yahoo.co.uk
Date: 31-Aug-2006
Subject: Re: Attached My Pictures reply here

How's it hangin'??,

You may call me Mistress Fanny my little diamond girl in a sess pool of slime. I fully comprehend all you've said and so excited after reading your mail and I am utterly thrilled to be apart of your soon to be over life, hopes and lofty dreams.

Rest assured of the secrecy of this farcical escapade being kept as such.

I am 30 years old and the Co-Founder of an anonymous group and charity for women with Excessive Vaginal Discharge. We receive hundreds of thousands of USD every year from all over the world. We run anonymous group support units all over the States and parts of Europe. You'd be surprised how many sufferers there are out there and how many wish to aid us in our plight and fight for Normal Vaginal Discharge.

The company has made me and my co founder very rich, which was our intent all along and of course to meet women because in my spare time I'm a Lesbian Dominatrix and proud of it. I only use my Dominatrix skills on women. I noticed you said, "we can go into life partnership, or to have me as one of your family", in your email and as I'm lonely at the moment and without a lover for so long I pray you hope to be my life partner. I will do everything in my power to get here to my Dungeon Of Pleasure and show you the way Lesbian Bondage Heaven. I'm attaching a pic of myself. Hope it turns you on.
--
Please reply with baited breath.



It only becomes more insane from there. I haven't laughed so hard in a long time.

If this was against anybody else I might feel qualms, but scammers are truly evil, a case made very well by the site's Ethics of Scambaiting essay.