419eater.com
Encyclopedia
419eater.com is a scam baiting
website
which focuses on advance-fee fraud. The name 419 comes from "419 fraud", another name for advance fee fraud, and itself derived from the relevant section of the Nigeria
n criminal code. The website founder, Michael Berry, goes by the alias Shiver Metimbers. The 419 Eater forum has over 41,000 registered accounts.
In some cases, the scambaiter claims to have had the scammers send them money with a ploy similar to the original flim flam
. This is known informally as cash baiting. According to Berry as documented in some of his successful cash baits, the proceeds of such reverse scams were given to a local charity
. Now however, cash-baiting is frowned upon and is against 419eater.com rules which are rigorously enforced.
The website also includes a message forum and a bulletin board where scambaiters can post messages to communicate with each other. New scambaiters can request to be assigned a "mentor" to assist them in learning how to bait.
The 419eater community also engages in the activity of identifying and removing fake banks and other websites created by the scammers from the Internet, as well as shutting down bank accounts used by scammers in the process of their illegal scamming activities. It does this in cooperation with Artists Against 419
which host a large, publicly accessible database of fake banks.
During their baiting activities, experienced members may often gain information on victims of scams. This information is used constructively in the battle against the scammers.
Berry was a featured guest on BBC Radio 2's "The Jeremy Vine Show" on 1 November 2006. Berry has also collected some of the scambaits shown on website, to a book Greetings in Jesus' Name!: The Scambaiter Letters (Harbour Books Ltd., ISBN 1-905128-08-8). In early 2008, Berry retired from active involvement in 419eater.com to concentrate on work and other projects, handing control over to one of the site's long-running system administrators.
Beginning September 6, 2007, the 419eater.com website—among other "scam warning" websites—was subjected to a massive botnet DDoS attack which rendered the site unreachable. However, by September 18, 2007, the site and forums were both back online.
419eater and its operatives was profiled on the September 9th, 2008 episode of Public Radio's This American Life
, specifically one particular bait that ran for 100 days starting in April 2008 and involved sending a scammer named Adamu from Lagos, Nigeria to Abéché
, Chad
, a dangerous and politically unstable region.
Scam baiting
Scam baiting is a form of Internet vigilantism, where the vigilante poses as a potential victim to the scammer in order to waste their time and resources, gather information that will be of use to authorities, and publicly expose the scammer. It is, in essence, a form of social engineering that may...
website
Website
A website, also written as Web site, web site, or simply site, is a collection of related web pages containing images, videos or other digital assets. A website is hosted on at least one web server, accessible via a network such as the Internet or a private local area network through an Internet...
which focuses on advance-fee fraud. The name 419 comes from "419 fraud", another name for advance fee fraud, and itself derived from the relevant section of the Nigeria
Nigeria
Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...
n criminal code. The website founder, Michael Berry, goes by the alias Shiver Metimbers. The 419 Eater forum has over 41,000 registered accounts.
Concept
The website chronicles various reverse scams, known as "baits," with e-mail exchanges between the baiters and the alleged scammers, and commentary by the participants. The site hosts photographs of individuals reported to be scammers in humorous poses, or holding signs such as "I recommend 419eater". These photographs, according to the members who post them, were in most cases obtained during the process of a bait: the baiter, posing as an actual victim, will request the photos from the scammer, who will comply in the belief that the "victim" is about to fall for the scam and send money.In some cases, the scambaiter claims to have had the scammers send them money with a ploy similar to the original flim flam
Confidence trick
A confidence trick is an attempt to defraud a person or group by gaining their confidence. A confidence artist is an individual working alone or in concert with others who exploits characteristics of the human psyche such as dishonesty and honesty, vanity, compassion, credulity, irresponsibility,...
. This is known informally as cash baiting. According to Berry as documented in some of his successful cash baits, the proceeds of such reverse scams were given to a local charity
Charitable organization
A charitable organization is a type of non-profit organization . It differs from other types of NPOs in that it centers on philanthropic goals A charitable organization is a type of non-profit organization (NPO). It differs from other types of NPOs in that it centers on philanthropic goals A...
. Now however, cash-baiting is frowned upon and is against 419eater.com rules which are rigorously enforced.
The website also includes a message forum and a bulletin board where scambaiters can post messages to communicate with each other. New scambaiters can request to be assigned a "mentor" to assist them in learning how to bait.
The 419eater community also engages in the activity of identifying and removing fake banks and other websites created by the scammers from the Internet, as well as shutting down bank accounts used by scammers in the process of their illegal scamming activities. It does this in cooperation with Artists Against 419
Artists Against 419
Artists Against 419 is an Internet community dedicated to identifying and shutting down 419 scam websites...
which host a large, publicly accessible database of fake banks.
During their baiting activities, experienced members may often gain information on victims of scams. This information is used constructively in the battle against the scammers.
Berry was a featured guest on BBC Radio 2's "The Jeremy Vine Show" on 1 November 2006. Berry has also collected some of the scambaits shown on website, to a book Greetings in Jesus' Name!: The Scambaiter Letters (Harbour Books Ltd., ISBN 1-905128-08-8). In early 2008, Berry retired from active involvement in 419eater.com to concentrate on work and other projects, handing control over to one of the site's long-running system administrators.
Beginning September 6, 2007, the 419eater.com website—among other "scam warning" websites—was subjected to a massive botnet DDoS attack which rendered the site unreachable. However, by September 18, 2007, the site and forums were both back online.
419eater and its operatives was profiled on the September 9th, 2008 episode of Public Radio's This American Life
This American Life
This American Life is a weekly hour-long radio program produced by WBEZ and hosted by Ira Glass. It is distributed by Public Radio International on PRI affiliate stations and is also available as a free weekly podcast. Primarily a journalistic non-fiction program, it has also featured essays,...
, specifically one particular bait that ran for 100 days starting in April 2008 and involved sending a scammer named Adamu from Lagos, Nigeria to Abéché
Abéché
-Demographics:Demographic evolution:-References:...
, Chad
Chad
Chad , officially known as the Republic of Chad, is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, the Central African Republic to the south, Cameroon and Nigeria to the southwest, and Niger to the west...
, a dangerous and politically unstable region.
External links
- The ScamBaiter
- 419eater.com
- Official Site is down - archive.org mirror (20/05/2007)
- The 419eater forum
- "Turning the tables on Nigeria's e-mail conmen", 13 July 2004, BBC NewsBBC NewsBBC News is the department of the British Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs. The department is the world's largest broadcast news organisation and generates about 120 hours of radio and television output each day, as well as online...
- Greetings in Jesus Name!: The Scambaiter Letters
- "Pining for the frauds: scammers act up", February 20, 2007, The Sydney Morning HeraldThe Sydney Morning HeraldThe Sydney Morning Herald is a daily broadsheet newspaper published by Fairfax Media in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1831 as the Sydney Herald, the SMH is the oldest continuously published newspaper in Australia. The newspaper is published six days a week. The newspaper's Sunday counterpart, The...
- A Web Cadre Turns the Tables on African Scam Artists, New York Times
- Scam Baiting Technic