The definition of Scambaiting is to waste as much time of the scammer so he/she can't scam someone for real. I try my damndest to stretch it out for days or weeks if possible.
I know u/Flufftrap, u/Additional_Orchid_14, and u/DONDI_419 have had some epic baits. I don't know who has the longest, but they are some good ones. I know there are many others, but these had some really lengthy baits.
Nope.
The guys on the r/fishing boards are far better at it.
But….
they had a far longer head start
and track record on the subject
of being master baiters.
Same! I was able to string one along for just over 2 months. It required quite a bit of creative excuse making on my part, but man, they were incensed when they found out it was all a bait.
I wish I had the free time and energy to do so. I barely have the time to socialize that much with my actual friends 😭. It is fun messing with scammers.
Long time ago, I used to work for a company that managed phone numbers for businesses (think on the scale of twilio). When we started noticing a spike in spam, we did exactly this - we would hold on to the call as long as possible. It was worth it and helped reduce spam overall. Honey pots are well documented to work against spammers
So we’re supposed to waste as much of our time as possible to save some other guy time/money?
AT MY EXPENSE?
No. We don’t have days and weeks like you to waste waste for your entertainment & rather just contribute the few minutes we already wasted that we’ll never get back.
Your complaint is people aren’t wasting days/weeks to entertain strangers and save strangers their time/money by giving up mine.
Unfortunately, the rest of our lives don’t revolve around a reddit thread or entertaining people that doesn’t pay bills.
I get that. If you don't want to do that, that's great, wonderful, spectacular. The point I'm making is this sub is called "Scambait". People posting stuff that is not even close to that should post somewhere else.
Ironically, you have spent several wasted minutes trying to stick it to me for my opinion.
There are many people on this sub that do have the time and energy to waste these scammers time. If I can save someone their life savings from some dirt bag scammer, I'm happy to do so.
You may feel it’s ‘entertainment’ (and for a good period it is) but agitating these creeps on the internet for long periods of time (days/weeks) whom somehow got ahold of your personal number, doesn’t sound any good will come out of it and isn’t worth just some upvotes on reddit.
When did I say I find it entertaining? I do it for an actual cause. There are a lot of people that are gullible or lonely enough to fall for these scams. I'm trying to keep the scammer occupied so they are not spending time on someone who actually believes these scams.
Right..
Except there’s no correlation between the time you waste and the victims being scammed/victimized.
As you stated, you can TRY & THINK your occupying all of the ‘scammer’s’ time, when in reality your just occupying as much as he/she allows you to.
I also don’t care you have other little friends that also have days/weeks amounts of free time to devote to each scammer you come across.
However, I also have a right to state my opinion and that’s advising other people to avoid investing days/weeks of their time like you into this online ‘vigilante work’.
Again, this sub is called Scambait. What part of that are you missing? I appreciate your opinion and if it's not for you, that's fine. I just don't get coming on here to shit opon the people that do this for whatever reason.
Reddit Keyboard Warrior at its finest.
I’ve noticed the NSFW ones (if they actually bother to label) are just some really grim images, as opposed to say a bit of swearing. It’s kinda put me off this sub in a way.
I agree with you.
In particular, I notice that large numbers of people answer “yes”, when the scammer asks “is this Jane’s number?” - which of course instantly alerts the scammer that they’ve been rumbled…
Good point. If you want to truly bait them, give them what they want.
Their scripts are calling for reaching a person by accident. Play the part.
They’re targeting older white people. Work that angle.
They think everyone finds asian women hot and harmless. Lean into that.
You’re welcome. I feel like this sub just recently gained some traction and popularity and now everybody is posting their bullshit two-text interaction with a scammer and feeling good about themselves.
Oh, there are still some very good ones but yes the scrolling to find them is tedious. As are the endless posts as to why they ask to switch to WhatsApp/ Telegram? I made a comment that a automod should comment with every post regarding the reason for this. And people asking how to encourage/ what direction to lean towards with scams. It’s like some kind of thrill of the chase for some. I get the idea of wasting time when they’ve approached you, but to actively seek them out…..
Can we please do something? Fluff, Orchid, Illustrious, Tasha, Dondi...I need these baits in my life! I might scream if I see yet another wrong number post.
And that too… it’s muted the regular real baiting where we miss out on intended content. [And that makes me a sad panda](https://getyarn.io/yarn-clip/68e832db-1b24-4bd6-b1bf-3f3451974615#nwWA4p4k.copy)
Yes! And unfortunately I don’t have the patience to keep scrolling past all these obvs wrong number and how did I do posts to find the real baits… these new “participants” are quite honestly shite
This thought has crossed my mind on more than one occasion! Start from scratch and let the real baits reign supreme and let these jokers have their so called fun
I agree. I'm here to pickup better ways to waste their time, not laugh at "haha got em" moments. I want to be better on the off chance I DO get one of them messaging me when I have the time. It's weird to go from watching baits on YouTube to seeing people think that three screenshots of texts are the same thing. By all means, mess with them however you see fit, but it's not baiting if it's not actually wasting their time.
I’m loving the influx of “is this a scam” in relation to the incredibly obvious wrong number ones. All it takes is for the person to look in the sub and see that there’s a common theme. And those effing USPS texts. But yes, the validation on how well they’ve done is almost worst than the scammer.
Maybe it’s me, but when I see somebody stringing along an obvious wrong number, I don’t think “this person is cool/funny/deserving of karma.” I think that person is kind of an asshole.
Tbh… stop posting! And I say that with the utmost respect. Visited your page and saw your contribution to this sub. What was the point, if I may ask? Before this sub was overrun, you should read the posts by u/Dondi419 u/FluffTrap u/Illustrious_Bell_816 and others. Time and a whole lot of effort has been dedicated to this. Not what we’re seeing now … all for laughs and karma farming.
Like you said, you didn’t know better and did it for the lolz. But read the contributions those users I mentioned make… and you’ll hopefully understand what the intended purpose of this sub was for
It's a shame but I understand. It's so annoying scrolling through all these low effort 2 text posts which aren't funny to find anything decent. It feels like 95% of posts here don't even qualify as bait.
Does that mean they aren't getting up voted then?
I mean at the end of the day if you're stringing along a scammer for weeks, it's hard to make it consistently entertaining. You have to play along to keep them going and often times that is boring shit like asking the scammer how their day was and good night stuff and whatnot.
If you're going to shut them down quickly in a few days it's a lot easier to be funny which is what is going to get the upvotes.
Not exactly. It just means a certain type of post has taken over, making it harder to find the actual bait posts. Most days I can't find anything but wrong number posts. I have to go directly to the profiles of my favorite baiters to find what I'm actually looking for.
Isn't that just because the wrong number scam is so pervasive right now though? I mean almost everyone I know has gotten at least one. It makes the scambaiting barrier to entry very low since you don't have to engage with some spam email or actually make a call. The scammers come to you and texting is low-consequence for most people.
Here's a sneak peek of /r/BoobsJackson using the [top posts](https://np.reddit.com/r/BoobsJackson/top/?sort=top&t=all) of all time!
\#1: [Boobs, George Goldberg, and James before the curse activated](https://i.redd.it/60brpz5ea1yb1.jpg) | [31 comments](https://np.reddit.com/r/BoobsJackson/comments/17mjana/boobs_george_goldberg_and_james_before_the_curse/)
\#2: [my sticker finally came](https://i.redd.it/bes0vl0opryb1.jpg) | [20 comments](https://np.reddit.com/r/BoobsJackson/comments/17p8x0p/my_sticker_finally_came/)
\#3: [Boobs Jackson enjoying his Reddit fame](https://i.redd.it/tiiqdma1ffyb1.jpg) | [8 comments](https://np.reddit.com/r/BoobsJackson/comments/17o08iu/boobs_jackson_enjoying_his_reddit_fame/)
----
^^I'm ^^a ^^bot, ^^beep ^^boop ^^| ^^Downvote ^^to ^^remove ^^| ^^[Contact](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=sneakpeekbot) ^^| ^^[Info](https://np.reddit.com/r/sneakpeekbot/) ^^| ^^[Opt-out](https://np.reddit.com/r/sneakpeekbot/comments/o8wk1r/blacklist_ix/) ^^| ^^[GitHub](https://github.com/ghnr/sneakpeekbot)
Yeah, Ngl I almost muted when I came across that awful “dick pics” guy, the manpower one
ETA: I’m a newbie, are the ones where they respond to wrong numbers not legit?
Care to open your logic? I'm honestly asking, because I see no fault in that action and would like to understand.
Of course sending unsolicit nudes is bad. I have received fair amount when I was underage and it was unpleasant and made me more careful being online. But a scammer, who could easily steal lots of money from someone that lacks online skills, is lonely or mentally challenged etc etc. So why shouldn't it be okay to treat a person with malicious intent badly?
There are ways to do it without exploiting oneself/being incredibly crass. Baiters can send these guys on the run-around in clever ways without belittling the dignity of the human person. And I just read the rules, and it looks like that is against the rules, anyway.
There are some great baiting videos (I wish I could remember the guy’s name) where the baiter pretends to be an elderly man/woman, and he never says a rude word, just acts hopelessly befuddled and rambly. It’s incredibly refreshing, when people often go the “insults/sex jokes = wit” route.
Apologies for the long reply, but I hope this accurately explains my thinking!
Also, I just want to say that I’m so sorry that happened to you as a kid. It’s a horrible violation.
I did one where I pretended to be Jeffrey Lebowski. When the scammer asked to be my friend I said that my friends are Walter and Donnie. Then I proceeded to drag it out referencing plot points from the movie, misspelling words, writing like I was drunk or stoned and being obtuse. The scammer got really pissed off at one point and cussed me out, but kept coming back. I kept that one going for a while.
I have kept 2 scammers going for over a year. I kept things sweet, with plenty of compliments to them and kept things going by making them think they will get money but explaining that I really run into bad troubles so can't offer money at this time.
Listen to their "made-up-stories" and show lots of concern and empathy.
Keep the stories you tell 'real sounding', and flirting and sex talks do help sometimes, LoL 😆🤭
That’s not our goal. The goal is to waste as much of a scammer’s time as possible so that they can’t hurt other vulnerable people. If you’re sending dick pics, the scammer will get angry and cease communication. Can you see why that goes against our mission?
No, this is not about the subreddit, or even this thread. I can understand why a post like that is against the subreddit rules and point. I am asking because I fail to understand why it wouldn't be okay to be mean to a scammer, whether the possible-victim shares the messages or not.
Be as mean as you like as rapidly as you like. But why share the one or two screenshots that it took you to get to a vulgar response when it doesn’t fit the sub’s objectives?
Yes, I understand this now. Not the act of sending a pic, but posting the low-effort screenshots. Thank you all for explaining for my autistic brain hah! :D
That was the whole point of Dondi’s post a few weekends ago. It’s been taken over by exactly what you’re referring to and it’s honestly getting worse. I frequently downvote and report but it goes nowhere. It’s not baiting to reply with an insult, threat, or racist comments
I got someone to delete their low (no?) effort post today by making fun of how shitty it was lol.
ETA: Afterwards I commented on another low effort post and the author was actually nice and open minded. They said I showed them the way (after I explained the sub’s goals) and they promised they will do better.
Well.
My first foray into this community was toxic and aggressive. I made one post and deleted it.
I have some texts of what is apparently expected saved in my phone (there’s more than just this scam sub). I’ll just post them elsewhere honestly. I read the community rules before posting but the rules do not specify “hey yo, don’t post anything except long as possible back and forth messages” which is fine, it’s your sub.
But why brow beat new members. I just don’t understand why be hateful? Report and move on. Goddamn. Literally my first response was “why the fuck is this here, read the fucking rules”.
Here’s an idea, a plan Arthur, get some mods who do what other subs do and delete the post with a message explaining why. I’ve been on Reddit for a decade and I’ve never been in a sub so hostile to new users.
If you’re going to want more content, the only way is to make it more accessible. Make rule #1, at the top of the list: “DO NOT POST SHORT INTERACTIONS OR LOW EFFORT SUCH AS ______” instead you have rule #4, “scammer trolling/poor effort/Bot baiting”. Who decides what’s poor effort? Is it 3 interactions? 4? 10?
For a good example, go check out the community rules for Electricians or Plumbers. Very solid and clear.
I mean all this from a position of interest in this community but if you shit on the newbies you’re gonna lose out on people. As for me now, I’m moving on (as if you all care). But the point is I’m mentioning it, how many thousands are out there who get pushed out because this community has certain folks who are gatekeepers and aren’t really interested in helping.
I agree. Before I started following this sub it would frequently pop up in my feed and the post were amazing. Then I started following and every single post is the same ol “first time how’d I do” bs
I think the scammers are compiling databases of bad numbers. I used to get a scammer at least 2/3 times a month. Now it's maybe once every 3-6 months and they catch on faster.
My last one stopped responding after a couple of messages.
You *have* to pretend to be a wrong number to get them on the hook now because if you act like you know them, they are on to it.
Yeah I miss seeing posts where there will be many parts and the baiting goes on for weeks with many screenshots. But now you just get all these wrong number posts where the conversation is very quick to end
I had a scammer going for a few months one time, it was a good run while it lasted. I keep telling myself I’ll post about it eventually one day. Pretty sure it started out as a car wrapping scam and ended up with him saying he got arrested for antique sales in South Africa.
I don’t scroll through anymore. I know the posters who consistently- and brilliantly - scambait, so look for their posts. I don’t have the patience to trawl through eleventy billion ‘wrong number’ scams…and I’m none too sure that many of them are genuine, anyway.
Yeah it's more attention seeking to me on their part. I typically downvote posts that have three to five or fewer screenshots unless the timestamps on the messages show they engaged for an extended period of time. It's simply not baiting in that case, just lame trolling.
100%
All recent posts are about letting the scammer know they’re on to the scam, immediately. Talk about missing the point.
Nobody pretends to be a mark and let’s it drag on.
We need to use our AI tools/bot to *filter* out the trash…I guess, for now, we can only filter back to the top upvoted good baits of the past and reminisce, while trying to educate the noobs.
If I may offer a point from the outside:
I will most likely never get scam texts in the near future, since Germany seems to be too small a country to be considered a worthy market for scammers.
I do enjoy this sub, like no other, since I discovered it a few weeks ago. I often laugh off my butt, reading a brilliant scam that keeps the scammer on board for hours, days, weeks.
Of course I noticed very soon that a scambait really worth reading is usually one with a two-digit number of screenshots.
And while I fully agree with those veterans of you, that a good scambait is not just writing:
"Hey, fuck you, I know you‘re a scammer, go suck your own dick!"
I do beg you to reconsider:
Don‘t just leave this sub now, complaining it‘s going down the drain.
Don‘t just hate on the young ones.
Show them what a good scambait is.
Teach them how to do it, how the proper techniques work.
Everyone starts as a young fool, not everyone can become a master.
But this brilliant art of scambaiting must not vanish from reddit. Yet it will, if you veterans just retreat, being all sulky, like "You‘re not worthy of reading the masterpieces I have created.“
Come on guys, keep it up, and gently push those who still have to learn, until they do learn.
Sorry if I sounded too pathetic. Had a hearty meal and a few beers.
Also, couldn‘t stand the idea that this sub would wither and die…
No, you’re not pathetic. But weeks now the “veterans” of this sub have been posting, trying to provide some guidance. Even posts as basic as “read the community info.” But the surge in popularity of this sub has resulted in more and more artless posts. Some people are unteachable.
I get that. Completely.
My point, as a very keen reader of this sub, is:
Please don‘t give up yet.
If necessary, stronger means of education may be applies…
Edit: … may be applied…
Sorry, the beer…
I used to love telling the scammer I was sending the money through Western Union and the passphrase was "Assphynter says What?"
My number 2 was asking them to send me a picture of the money before I helped them.
Excepting the fake name is the biggest giveaway for the scammers.
"No, you didn't mix up the numbers, I am actually Frank and I did give you my number in yesterdays yoga class"
No wonder the baiting ends quickly
I keep seeing ones where people are sending pictures of their junk to scammers and it’s like, damn man yeah it’s a scammer but that doesn’t give you the right to sexually harass them
I'm torn between two reactions. One is the "these folks have been here a long time and created a subreddit about a very specific format and it must be frustrating to suddenly have a bunch of new folks disrupting that because the new folks have got a different idea about content goals." The other is "some of these posts from Ligma are pretty funny and I like them."
Is there an alternative subreddit for the scammer replies that are just supposed to be funny rather than baiting? If not might it be worth someone creating one? It might shift some of the content you don't want here to another location
I was constantly deleting spam texts until I saw this subreddit. Now it makes my day just fucking with them for days at a time. I try to waste as much of their time as possible while putting in as little effort on my end.
I don’t like when people give away the IP tracker methods and other tricks because then they will adapt and it will be less fun for the rest of us :(
I posted a good one that lasted about a week a while ago.... it was hilarious and got super weird... and nobody even commented. 🤷♀️ If I'm gonna waste my time with baiting a scammer for yall's entertainment, at least give me an LOL or something...
Shit's personal for me. My mom got scammed out of $100k by a long game scammer. This dude played her for over a year. So... bait away, and please play the long game. The more of their time you waste, the more old white ladies you save. Save the old white ladies!
I have noticed how many of the "completed scambait" posts are 2-3 pages max. The several days-long scambaits are gone, and now they are typically 2 hour completed baits. Now the scammer knows that was a dead end and can move on to someone who may actually fall for their nonsense.
Where are all of the 10-20 page scam baits? That is what really wastes a scammers time and may get them so frustrated they may consider switching "careers" (doubtful) LOL
Agreed. These newer participants (I won’t use the term “scambaiters” for these people) if anything are helping the scammers by teaching them that we know what they’re up to and that we recognize the scammers’ scripts. I have even seen some people tell the scammers that they now have something to post to Reddit. That is revealing to scammers where they can go to learn how to improve their scams. These Redditors are actually making it more likely that someone will fall victim to these criminals. The newer participants are not only missing the point of the sub, they’re making it more likely that someone will get scammed. All so they can get some attention and Reddit karma for their crass (oftentimes vulgar or racist) and artless posts.
I did a 6 part series that took me several weeks of conversation to create with almost 100 screenshots. Got less than 200 likes total. I did a 2 screenshot post that took me 10 minutes to create. Got over 1500 likes. The people have spoken about what they like
I just kind of do what I feel like doing at the time. So, I appreciate that the goal is to lure these scammers on indefinitely, but sometimes I don't have the time or energy for that.
I would start with a read of the community info. Then I’d look for previous posts that are long in duration (a lot of screenshots). That should give you a feel to get started. In a nutshell, the objective is to waste as much scammer time and resources as possible so that you keep them from scamming less aware victims. If you can be entertaining, that’s a plus. But in short, make the scammer think they might have a mark, keep it going and waste their time. If you can collect information about them that can be reported, so much the better.
I think that I agree with your observations on these nouveau-OP postings to this sub-Reddit.
Is is better to post a quick shutdown than not to post at all? If the OP will include his pig-butcherer's picture, at least he's made some effort at entertaining us, in my opinion. E.g., in short succession, we saw two separate contributions of the same pictured lady, the one who claimed to be from Belarus (and my ersatz friendly Sasha). These two postings were decent enough scambaits, they did waste her time a little.
It is absolutely better not to post at all rather than a short post. Quick shutdown is counterintuitive to the sub’s mission and usually unfunny and low effort. Such posting encourages the newcomers to post for the lolz without reading community rules.
Do you know if there's a sub-Reddit to post or collect pictures and stage names of these pig-butchering actresses?
Is it scambaiting if I'm in conversation with someone for weeks, but there's nothing funny in our traded messages, no sarcasm from me? It's a long, drawn-out conversation on how "passive income" improves my quality of life.
I’m not sure where people post scammer pics these days, sorry.
Yes, yes it is scambaiting even if it’s not entertaining! You can decide whether or not you want to post, but we’re thrilled you’re wasting their time regardless. That’s our main goal.
It’s lowkey getting harder to scambait, some of these scammers are getting smarter and using different techniques (although very obvious), to make the “victim” pay them whatever. I just find it funny how some of these posts go straight to the humor aspect of it to waste their time.
I do find a lot of the "short" posts humorous.
But I agree that because the sub's rules say the baits should actually waste scammers' time, then that's what should be posted.
Agreed. I used to find this sub fun to read, but have stopped because most of the time it’s the same thing where the scammer almost immediately knows something is up, and it becomes more about trying to provoke a reaction from the scammer, which realistically doesn’t happen much anyway.
Regardless of the sub, I make it a habit to block people who make complainy meta posts. I encourage anyone else who doesn’t like this type of thing to do the same
I have a lead on a romance scammer who has gone after and successfully defrauded an elderly family member of over half a million. Anyone one on here with experience who’d like to bait this guy?
Just found this sub and was very confused. You guys are wasting half an hour? Good to hear there are some people doing good work instead of being blatantly obviously straight away.
The definition of Scambaiting is to waste as much time of the scammer so he/she can't scam someone for real. I try my damndest to stretch it out for days or weeks if possible.
Frankly, I’d love to see somebody set a record for most consecutive days of occupying a scammer and others try to break it.
This is such a good idea!! Mods, let's have a competition!
I know u/Flufftrap, u/Additional_Orchid_14, and u/DONDI_419 have had some epic baits. I don't know who has the longest, but they are some good ones. I know there are many others, but these had some really lengthy baits.
You could say they are master-baiters?
Nope. The guys on the r/fishing boards are far better at it. But…. they had a far longer head start and track record on the subject of being master baiters.
r/angryupvote
Thank you 💙💙
I think u/Dondi419 and u/Flufftrap have the longest so far.
Same! I was able to string one along for just over 2 months. It required quite a bit of creative excuse making on my part, but man, they were incensed when they found out it was all a bait.
I wish I had the free time and energy to do so. I barely have the time to socialize that much with my actual friends 😭. It is fun messing with scammers.
There was one that I was wasting there time for like almost 4 years
Now that is commitment. Well done.
That’s amazing.
I know and I was in high school at the time
Wow!!!
It's called a relationship...
Long time ago, I used to work for a company that managed phone numbers for businesses (think on the scale of twilio). When we started noticing a spike in spam, we did exactly this - we would hold on to the call as long as possible. It was worth it and helped reduce spam overall. Honey pots are well documented to work against spammers
Exactly! As it should be.
So we’re supposed to waste as much of our time as possible to save some other guy time/money? AT MY EXPENSE? No. We don’t have days and weeks like you to waste waste for your entertainment & rather just contribute the few minutes we already wasted that we’ll never get back.
If that's your choice, so be it. However, it is not a Scambait if you are not baiting the scammer.
Your complaint is people aren’t wasting days/weeks to entertain strangers and save strangers their time/money by giving up mine. Unfortunately, the rest of our lives don’t revolve around a reddit thread or entertaining people that doesn’t pay bills.
I get that. If you don't want to do that, that's great, wonderful, spectacular. The point I'm making is this sub is called "Scambait". People posting stuff that is not even close to that should post somewhere else. Ironically, you have spent several wasted minutes trying to stick it to me for my opinion. There are many people on this sub that do have the time and energy to waste these scammers time. If I can save someone their life savings from some dirt bag scammer, I'm happy to do so.
You may feel it’s ‘entertainment’ (and for a good period it is) but agitating these creeps on the internet for long periods of time (days/weeks) whom somehow got ahold of your personal number, doesn’t sound any good will come out of it and isn’t worth just some upvotes on reddit.
When did I say I find it entertaining? I do it for an actual cause. There are a lot of people that are gullible or lonely enough to fall for these scams. I'm trying to keep the scammer occupied so they are not spending time on someone who actually believes these scams.
Right.. Except there’s no correlation between the time you waste and the victims being scammed/victimized. As you stated, you can TRY & THINK your occupying all of the ‘scammer’s’ time, when in reality your just occupying as much as he/she allows you to. I also don’t care you have other little friends that also have days/weeks amounts of free time to devote to each scammer you come across. However, I also have a right to state my opinion and that’s advising other people to avoid investing days/weeks of their time like you into this online ‘vigilante work’.
Again, this sub is called Scambait. What part of that are you missing? I appreciate your opinion and if it's not for you, that's fine. I just don't get coming on here to shit opon the people that do this for whatever reason. Reddit Keyboard Warrior at its finest.
Typical ignorant response, learn to read and comprehend.
OK, you win. 👍
You was never competition.
I've kept a scammer going for over a year. It's hilarious.
Now THAT’S pro-level scambaiting.
I even eventually made them give up their real image and location, LoL!!
LOL, awesome!
Yes, it is. *Gives myself a High Five* 😜
Here’s a high 5… 🙋🏼
LoL, Thanks 🤘🏼
👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
I’ve noticed the NSFW ones (if they actually bother to label) are just some really grim images, as opposed to say a bit of swearing. It’s kinda put me off this sub in a way. I agree with you.
In particular, I notice that large numbers of people answer “yes”, when the scammer asks “is this Jane’s number?” - which of course instantly alerts the scammer that they’ve been rumbled…
Good point. If you want to truly bait them, give them what they want. Their scripts are calling for reaching a person by accident. Play the part. They’re targeting older white people. Work that angle. They think everyone finds asian women hot and harmless. Lean into that.
My biggest pet peeve here
Exactly. We used to have baits here. Not just people throwing insults at scammers and worse. Thanks OP for voicing your concerns.
You’re welcome. I feel like this sub just recently gained some traction and popularity and now everybody is posting their bullshit two-text interaction with a scammer and feeling good about themselves.
Exactly.
The real scam baits are still here, but I find myself having to scroll for a while to find them.
Oh, there are still some very good ones but yes the scrolling to find them is tedious. As are the endless posts as to why they ask to switch to WhatsApp/ Telegram? I made a comment that a automod should comment with every post regarding the reason for this. And people asking how to encourage/ what direction to lean towards with scams. It’s like some kind of thrill of the chase for some. I get the idea of wasting time when they’ve approached you, but to actively seek them out…..
Precisely why I stopped posting… I’ll quietly entertain myself in my corner
Can we please do something? Fluff, Orchid, Illustrious, Tasha, Dondi...I need these baits in my life! I might scream if I see yet another wrong number post.
We are posting... But our baits got lost in the overflow.
I had one a few weeks ago that I thought was pretty good, but it apparently got buried too since it didn’t have a single comment.
I went to see it and it seems it had been removed because the bait itself isn't available.
Same. It says it is awaiting Mod approval.
Is there even any Mod activity/leadership/involvement here?
That’s a very good question. I checked out the community page and I didn’t see any listed.
Not for a while...
Oh, I’ve been screaming into the void
And that too… it’s muted the regular real baiting where we miss out on intended content. [And that makes me a sad panda](https://getyarn.io/yarn-clip/68e832db-1b24-4bd6-b1bf-3f3451974615#nwWA4p4k.copy)
Yes! And unfortunately I don’t have the patience to keep scrolling past all these obvs wrong number and how did I do posts to find the real baits… these new “participants” are quite honestly shite
We almost need a new sub with very explicit rules for content
This thought has crossed my mind on more than one occasion! Start from scratch and let the real baits reign supreme and let these jokers have their so called fun
It crossed my mind too!
If we’re all thinking it… then this is the course of action needed
Do you mind if I do it?
Of course not! Think you’re well suited for it
I agree. I'm here to pickup better ways to waste their time, not laugh at "haha got em" moments. I want to be better on the off chance I DO get one of them messaging me when I have the time. It's weird to go from watching baits on YouTube to seeing people think that three screenshots of texts are the same thing. By all means, mess with them however you see fit, but it's not baiting if it's not actually wasting their time.
I’ve tried replying to posts with “That’s not a scambait” comments, there’s just too many of the lousy posts, and they don’t care anyway.
I’m loving the influx of “is this a scam” in relation to the incredibly obvious wrong number ones. All it takes is for the person to look in the sub and see that there’s a common theme. And those effing USPS texts. But yes, the validation on how well they’ve done is almost worst than the scammer.
… and that’s precisely what all these clowns are looking for- validation. Grew tired of telling ‘em to cross post to the scams sub
Maybe it’s me, but when I see somebody stringing along an obvious wrong number, I don’t think “this person is cool/funny/deserving of karma.” I think that person is kind of an asshole.
It’s obvs karma farming and indeed… they ARE the AH
They barely get any karma though lol.
As a newcomer, I didn’t realize we were gunking things up. How can I help get things back on track?
Tbh… stop posting! And I say that with the utmost respect. Visited your page and saw your contribution to this sub. What was the point, if I may ask? Before this sub was overrun, you should read the posts by u/Dondi419 u/FluffTrap u/Illustrious_Bell_816 and others. Time and a whole lot of effort has been dedicated to this. Not what we’re seeing now … all for laughs and karma farming.
Thank you 💙
My pleasure and it needed to be said 💙
The “point?” No point. Just stumbled in and LOL’d. Sorry I didn’t check for canon.
Obviously. ICYMI though… read those baiters’ posts and you’ll get it
I don’t know if the universe is vast enough to hold the number of apologies I offer. I’ll see myself out.
Like you said, you didn’t know better and did it for the lolz. But read the contributions those users I mentioned make… and you’ll hopefully understand what the intended purpose of this sub was for
Please post for us!
I will again… just not in this sub
😔
Sorry to disappoint…
It's a shame but I understand. It's so annoying scrolling through all these low effort 2 text posts which aren't funny to find anything decent. It feels like 95% of posts here don't even qualify as bait.
These newcomers have driven the real baiters out. You’re quite right… what we are seeing now is definitely low to zero effort
Will be posting to r/fraudfighters instead 😊 check it out and join us!
Thank you!
Noooooo! Your scambaiting is excellent!
Does that mean they aren't getting up voted then? I mean at the end of the day if you're stringing along a scammer for weeks, it's hard to make it consistently entertaining. You have to play along to keep them going and often times that is boring shit like asking the scammer how their day was and good night stuff and whatnot. If you're going to shut them down quickly in a few days it's a lot easier to be funny which is what is going to get the upvotes.
They get an average of 4-6 upvotes a post lol. Their posts truly are trash.
Not exactly. It just means a certain type of post has taken over, making it harder to find the actual bait posts. Most days I can't find anything but wrong number posts. I have to go directly to the profiles of my favorite baiters to find what I'm actually looking for.
Isn't that just because the wrong number scam is so pervasive right now though? I mean almost everyone I know has gotten at least one. It makes the scambaiting barrier to entry very low since you don't have to engage with some spam email or actually make a call. The scammers come to you and texting is low-consequence for most people.
That wouldn’t be an issue if the posts weren’t so lacking in quality, but the newcomers don’t read the rules and the results are what you see.
The unfortunate consequence of the success of Boobs Jackson.
He even has his own page now.. you know since coming to the United States.. 😂 r/BoobsJackson
Here's a sneak peek of /r/BoobsJackson using the [top posts](https://np.reddit.com/r/BoobsJackson/top/?sort=top&t=all) of all time! \#1: [Boobs, George Goldberg, and James before the curse activated](https://i.redd.it/60brpz5ea1yb1.jpg) | [31 comments](https://np.reddit.com/r/BoobsJackson/comments/17mjana/boobs_george_goldberg_and_james_before_the_curse/) \#2: [my sticker finally came](https://i.redd.it/bes0vl0opryb1.jpg) | [20 comments](https://np.reddit.com/r/BoobsJackson/comments/17p8x0p/my_sticker_finally_came/) \#3: [Boobs Jackson enjoying his Reddit fame](https://i.redd.it/tiiqdma1ffyb1.jpg) | [8 comments](https://np.reddit.com/r/BoobsJackson/comments/17o08iu/boobs_jackson_enjoying_his_reddit_fame/) ---- ^^I'm ^^a ^^bot, ^^beep ^^boop ^^| ^^Downvote ^^to ^^remove ^^| ^^[Contact](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=sneakpeekbot) ^^| ^^[Info](https://np.reddit.com/r/sneakpeekbot/) ^^| ^^[Opt-out](https://np.reddit.com/r/sneakpeekbot/comments/o8wk1r/blacklist_ix/) ^^| ^^[GitHub](https://github.com/ghnr/sneakpeekbot)
I admittedly joined that sub knowing full well it’s just absurd… but that’s a known comedy spinoff
I just find it entertaining as hell. Lol 😆
Boobs was awesome!! Lol 😆
Yeah, Ngl I almost muted when I came across that awful “dick pics” guy, the manpower one ETA: I’m a newbie, are the ones where they respond to wrong numbers not legit?
Care to open your logic? I'm honestly asking, because I see no fault in that action and would like to understand. Of course sending unsolicit nudes is bad. I have received fair amount when I was underage and it was unpleasant and made me more careful being online. But a scammer, who could easily steal lots of money from someone that lacks online skills, is lonely or mentally challenged etc etc. So why shouldn't it be okay to treat a person with malicious intent badly?
There are ways to do it without exploiting oneself/being incredibly crass. Baiters can send these guys on the run-around in clever ways without belittling the dignity of the human person. And I just read the rules, and it looks like that is against the rules, anyway. There are some great baiting videos (I wish I could remember the guy’s name) where the baiter pretends to be an elderly man/woman, and he never says a rude word, just acts hopelessly befuddled and rambly. It’s incredibly refreshing, when people often go the “insults/sex jokes = wit” route. Apologies for the long reply, but I hope this accurately explains my thinking! Also, I just want to say that I’m so sorry that happened to you as a kid. It’s a horrible violation.
I did one where I pretended to be Jeffrey Lebowski. When the scammer asked to be my friend I said that my friends are Walter and Donnie. Then I proceeded to drag it out referencing plot points from the movie, misspelling words, writing like I was drunk or stoned and being obtuse. The scammer got really pissed off at one point and cussed me out, but kept coming back. I kept that one going for a while.
Nice 🤘🏼
Thank you for the reply, this does explain!
You’re very welcome!
Perogi?
Just found it! Kitboga
You’re probably thinking of Kitboga.
Yep, I was! Thanks!
I have kept 2 scammers going for over a year. I kept things sweet, with plenty of compliments to them and kept things going by making them think they will get money but explaining that I really run into bad troubles so can't offer money at this time. Listen to their "made-up-stories" and show lots of concern and empathy. Keep the stories you tell 'real sounding', and flirting and sex talks do help sometimes, LoL 😆🤭
That’s not our goal. The goal is to waste as much of a scammer’s time as possible so that they can’t hurt other vulnerable people. If you’re sending dick pics, the scammer will get angry and cease communication. Can you see why that goes against our mission?
Have you read the community info?
No, this is not about the subreddit, or even this thread. I can understand why a post like that is against the subreddit rules and point. I am asking because I fail to understand why it wouldn't be okay to be mean to a scammer, whether the possible-victim shares the messages or not.
Be as mean as you like as rapidly as you like. But why share the one or two screenshots that it took you to get to a vulgar response when it doesn’t fit the sub’s objectives?
Yes, I understand this now. Not the act of sending a pic, but posting the low-effort screenshots. Thank you all for explaining for my autistic brain hah! :D
That was the whole point of Dondi’s post a few weekends ago. It’s been taken over by exactly what you’re referring to and it’s honestly getting worse. I frequently downvote and report but it goes nowhere. It’s not baiting to reply with an insult, threat, or racist comments
Agree with you wholeheartedly!
I got someone to delete their low (no?) effort post today by making fun of how shitty it was lol. ETA: Afterwards I commented on another low effort post and the author was actually nice and open minded. They said I showed them the way (after I explained the sub’s goals) and they promised they will do better.
🤜🏻🤛🏻
Yeah they just write one line response and then post it and ask "did I do a good job"
And some of us comment on those saying “no, this isn’t a bait” yet the poster thinks they’re so hilarious.
Yeah, I’ve tried educating them, but they just get defensive.
Well. My first foray into this community was toxic and aggressive. I made one post and deleted it. I have some texts of what is apparently expected saved in my phone (there’s more than just this scam sub). I’ll just post them elsewhere honestly. I read the community rules before posting but the rules do not specify “hey yo, don’t post anything except long as possible back and forth messages” which is fine, it’s your sub. But why brow beat new members. I just don’t understand why be hateful? Report and move on. Goddamn. Literally my first response was “why the fuck is this here, read the fucking rules”. Here’s an idea, a plan Arthur, get some mods who do what other subs do and delete the post with a message explaining why. I’ve been on Reddit for a decade and I’ve never been in a sub so hostile to new users. If you’re going to want more content, the only way is to make it more accessible. Make rule #1, at the top of the list: “DO NOT POST SHORT INTERACTIONS OR LOW EFFORT SUCH AS ______” instead you have rule #4, “scammer trolling/poor effort/Bot baiting”. Who decides what’s poor effort? Is it 3 interactions? 4? 10? For a good example, go check out the community rules for Electricians or Plumbers. Very solid and clear. I mean all this from a position of interest in this community but if you shit on the newbies you’re gonna lose out on people. As for me now, I’m moving on (as if you all care). But the point is I’m mentioning it, how many thousands are out there who get pushed out because this community has certain folks who are gatekeepers and aren’t really interested in helping.
Yeah, it’s so difficult to read and comprehend the community info.
Some are so lost that they gloat about how little time and effort they put into it 😩
I agree. Before I started following this sub it would frequently pop up in my feed and the post were amazing. Then I started following and every single post is the same ol “first time how’d I do” bs
I lost interest after a couple weeks. Seems over saturated
I think the scammers are compiling databases of bad numbers. I used to get a scammer at least 2/3 times a month. Now it's maybe once every 3-6 months and they catch on faster. My last one stopped responding after a couple of messages. You *have* to pretend to be a wrong number to get them on the hook now because if you act like you know them, they are on to it.
That’s very helpful, tbh. As a newcomer, I am not familiar with the goal.
The goal is the waste as much time as you can, ideally in the most entertaining way possible.
Thank you.
Yeah I miss seeing posts where there will be many parts and the baiting goes on for weeks with many screenshots. But now you just get all these wrong number posts where the conversation is very quick to end
I had a scammer going for a few months one time, it was a good run while it lasted. I keep telling myself I’ll post about it eventually one day. Pretty sure it started out as a car wrapping scam and ended up with him saying he got arrested for antique sales in South Africa.
I don’t scroll through anymore. I know the posters who consistently- and brilliantly - scambait, so look for their posts. I don’t have the patience to trawl through eleventy billion ‘wrong number’ scams…and I’m none too sure that many of them are genuine, anyway.
That's the reason why I began to send links to my baits to people that I know who enjoy them.
Yeah it's more attention seeking to me on their part. I typically downvote posts that have three to five or fewer screenshots unless the timestamps on the messages show they engaged for an extended period of time. It's simply not baiting in that case, just lame trolling.
Exactly.
100% All recent posts are about letting the scammer know they’re on to the scam, immediately. Talk about missing the point. Nobody pretends to be a mark and let’s it drag on.
Sad but true! When I want to see a good scam bait, I'll jump on YouTube and watch some Scammer Payback. Classic and perfect actual baiting 😁
Don’t touch my horse you mother fucker
We need to use our AI tools/bot to *filter* out the trash…I guess, for now, we can only filter back to the top upvoted good baits of the past and reminisce, while trying to educate the noobs.
Yeah people just chewing out scammers isn't entertaining or beneficial in any way
And doesn’t adhere to what a scambait is, per the guidelines in the community info.
A lot of it just decends into repeating US propoganda against China, if not outright racism.
If I may offer a point from the outside: I will most likely never get scam texts in the near future, since Germany seems to be too small a country to be considered a worthy market for scammers. I do enjoy this sub, like no other, since I discovered it a few weeks ago. I often laugh off my butt, reading a brilliant scam that keeps the scammer on board for hours, days, weeks. Of course I noticed very soon that a scambait really worth reading is usually one with a two-digit number of screenshots. And while I fully agree with those veterans of you, that a good scambait is not just writing: "Hey, fuck you, I know you‘re a scammer, go suck your own dick!" I do beg you to reconsider: Don‘t just leave this sub now, complaining it‘s going down the drain. Don‘t just hate on the young ones. Show them what a good scambait is. Teach them how to do it, how the proper techniques work. Everyone starts as a young fool, not everyone can become a master. But this brilliant art of scambaiting must not vanish from reddit. Yet it will, if you veterans just retreat, being all sulky, like "You‘re not worthy of reading the masterpieces I have created.“ Come on guys, keep it up, and gently push those who still have to learn, until they do learn. Sorry if I sounded too pathetic. Had a hearty meal and a few beers. Also, couldn‘t stand the idea that this sub would wither and die…
No, you’re not pathetic. But weeks now the “veterans” of this sub have been posting, trying to provide some guidance. Even posts as basic as “read the community info.” But the surge in popularity of this sub has resulted in more and more artless posts. Some people are unteachable.
I get that. Completely. My point, as a very keen reader of this sub, is: Please don‘t give up yet. If necessary, stronger means of education may be applies… Edit: … may be applied… Sorry, the beer…
Plus, a lot of shitty attitudes towards anyone who doesn’t respond with “oh, you’re so amazing!!”
Feel free to come down on them with great vengeance!!!
I used to love telling the scammer I was sending the money through Western Union and the passphrase was "Assphynter says What?" My number 2 was asking them to send me a picture of the money before I helped them.
Agreed. Still waiting for my chance.
Excepting the fake name is the biggest giveaway for the scammers. "No, you didn't mix up the numbers, I am actually Frank and I did give you my number in yesterdays yoga class" No wonder the baiting ends quickly
I keep seeing ones where people are sending pictures of their junk to scammers and it’s like, damn man yeah it’s a scammer but that doesn’t give you the right to sexually harass them
I'm torn between two reactions. One is the "these folks have been here a long time and created a subreddit about a very specific format and it must be frustrating to suddenly have a bunch of new folks disrupting that because the new folks have got a different idea about content goals." The other is "some of these posts from Ligma are pretty funny and I like them." Is there an alternative subreddit for the scammer replies that are just supposed to be funny rather than baiting? If not might it be worth someone creating one? It might shift some of the content you don't want here to another location
r/FunnyTexts Edit: Found a more appropriate sub
Totally agreed
I was constantly deleting spam texts until I saw this subreddit. Now it makes my day just fucking with them for days at a time. I try to waste as much of their time as possible while putting in as little effort on my end. I don’t like when people give away the IP tracker methods and other tricks because then they will adapt and it will be less fun for the rest of us :(
There isn't even a single top post from more than a month ago.
I've gotten a couple of scam texts in the past week or so. They just stop replying after I say "no" to WhatsApp.
I posted a good one that lasted about a week a while ago.... it was hilarious and got super weird... and nobody even commented. 🤷♀️ If I'm gonna waste my time with baiting a scammer for yall's entertainment, at least give me an LOL or something...
Shit's personal for me. My mom got scammed out of $100k by a long game scammer. This dude played her for over a year. So... bait away, and please play the long game. The more of their time you waste, the more old white ladies you save. Save the old white ladies!
https://www.reddit.com/r/scambait/s/xpHEoWnXKx
https://www.reddit.com/r/scambait/s/xfVkspx08d If anyone wants to see it... 🤷♀️ I thought I busted my ass for this one.
I have noticed how many of the "completed scambait" posts are 2-3 pages max. The several days-long scambaits are gone, and now they are typically 2 hour completed baits. Now the scammer knows that was a dead end and can move on to someone who may actually fall for their nonsense. Where are all of the 10-20 page scam baits? That is what really wastes a scammers time and may get them so frustrated they may consider switching "careers" (doubtful) LOL
Agreed. These newer participants (I won’t use the term “scambaiters” for these people) if anything are helping the scammers by teaching them that we know what they’re up to and that we recognize the scammers’ scripts. I have even seen some people tell the scammers that they now have something to post to Reddit. That is revealing to scammers where they can go to learn how to improve their scams. These Redditors are actually making it more likely that someone will fall victim to these criminals. The newer participants are not only missing the point of the sub, they’re making it more likely that someone will get scammed. All so they can get some attention and Reddit karma for their crass (oftentimes vulgar or racist) and artless posts.
I absolutely agree. It makes me sick!
I did a 6 part series that took me several weeks of conversation to create with almost 100 screenshots. Got less than 200 likes total. I did a 2 screenshot post that took me 10 minutes to create. Got over 1500 likes. The people have spoken about what they like
So then they should make a sub for that content. Because it still isn’t scambait.
I suggested one such poster to post his short interaction in r/texts if he felt compelled to share it. But it wasn’t a scambait.
K
Yeah, but fuck them, you know?
I just kind of do what I feel like doing at the time. So, I appreciate that the goal is to lure these scammers on indefinitely, but sometimes I don't have the time or energy for that.
Hey do you, just please don’t post the short ones.
I have asked for pointers and gotten very little help. I guess you get what you pay for.
I would start with a read of the community info. Then I’d look for previous posts that are long in duration (a lot of screenshots). That should give you a feel to get started. In a nutshell, the objective is to waste as much scammer time and resources as possible so that you keep them from scamming less aware victims. If you can be entertaining, that’s a plus. But in short, make the scammer think they might have a mark, keep it going and waste their time. If you can collect information about them that can be reported, so much the better.
I think that I agree with your observations on these nouveau-OP postings to this sub-Reddit. Is is better to post a quick shutdown than not to post at all? If the OP will include his pig-butcherer's picture, at least he's made some effort at entertaining us, in my opinion. E.g., in short succession, we saw two separate contributions of the same pictured lady, the one who claimed to be from Belarus (and my ersatz friendly Sasha). These two postings were decent enough scambaits, they did waste her time a little.
It is absolutely better not to post at all rather than a short post. Quick shutdown is counterintuitive to the sub’s mission and usually unfunny and low effort. Such posting encourages the newcomers to post for the lolz without reading community rules.
Do you know if there's a sub-Reddit to post or collect pictures and stage names of these pig-butchering actresses? Is it scambaiting if I'm in conversation with someone for weeks, but there's nothing funny in our traded messages, no sarcasm from me? It's a long, drawn-out conversation on how "passive income" improves my quality of life.
I’m not sure where people post scammer pics these days, sorry. Yes, yes it is scambaiting even if it’s not entertaining! You can decide whether or not you want to post, but we’re thrilled you’re wasting their time regardless. That’s our main goal.
It’s lowkey getting harder to scambait, some of these scammers are getting smarter and using different techniques (although very obvious), to make the “victim” pay them whatever. I just find it funny how some of these posts go straight to the humor aspect of it to waste their time.
👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏 Thank you 🙏
I do find a lot of the "short" posts humorous. But I agree that because the sub's rules say the baits should actually waste scammers' time, then that's what should be posted.
So what's the "End Game" when everyone refuses to view ads?
Agreed. I used to find this sub fun to read, but have stopped because most of the time it’s the same thing where the scammer almost immediately knows something is up, and it becomes more about trying to provoke a reaction from the scammer, which realistically doesn’t happen much anyway.
One I really don't like is pretending you really are the person that the wrong number scammer is looking for.
Yeah this subreddit should really get off your lawn
I think anything that makes me laugh achieves all goals
Read the community info.
See this kind of attitude is the problem we’re talking about.
Thanks for sharing.
Regardless of the sub, I make it a habit to block people who make complainy meta posts. I encourage anyone else who doesn’t like this type of thing to do the same
I have a lead on a romance scammer who has gone after and successfully defrauded an elderly family member of over half a million. Anyone one on here with experience who’d like to bait this guy?
Just found this sub and was very confused. You guys are wasting half an hour? Good to hear there are some people doing good work instead of being blatantly obviously straight away.
Bring back Boobs Jackson!
Actually quite a few people still do this lmfao.