419 Scam Baiters

May 6, 2006 2:48 PM

419Filter: I read a couple of years ago, a website that was a chap who would reply to phishing and spam emails, and take the scammers for a ride. There was one very funny one where the guy pretended to have drowned his girlfriend, and his mistress, and convinced the guy to fly to Amsterdam, amongst other things. Does anybody know where I can find this online?

It starts with a typical 419-type scam email, "Mr Whoever has a large sum of money, wants your bringing it into the country, etc". The guy basically reels him with some very funny responses, which he completely believes. Does this sound familiar? Are there any similar, but equally funny ones on the intar-webs?

posted by gaby to Computers & Internet (10 answers total)

419eater.com
posted by Brian James at 2:52 PM on May 6, 2006

Here's one.
posted by special-k at 2:52 PM on May 6, 2006

not 419, but the p-p-p-powerbook story is hysterical.
posted by exlotuseater at 3:14 PM on May 6, 2006

This guy has been doing a lot of that with Nigerian Scammers. His book about it is about to come out.
posted by Steven C. Den Beste at 3:19 PM on May 6, 2006

There's africanscam.co.uk, which includes the classic, must-read Mupesa Solomon email exchange. The high point for me is when our hero seamlessly weaves the following poem into the conversation as a challenge:

Solomon Grundy,
Born on a Monday,
Christened on a Tuesday,
Married on a Wednesday,
Took ill in Thursday,
Worse on Friday,
Died on Saturday,
Buried on Sunday,
This is the end
Of Solomon Grundy.
posted by chrismear at 3:29 PM on May 6, 2006

Scam-o-rama
posted by milkrate at 4:07 PM on May 6, 2006

And also Wikipedia's Scam-baiting entry
posted by Neiltupper at 4:40 PM on May 6, 2006

Here's one.
posted by flod logic at 8:42 PM on May 6, 2006

Response by poster: exlotuseater: I've seen the p-p-p-p-p-powerbook one, that was absolutely cracking. I like the part where some people actually wait outside the delivery address to see the response (and the underside of the mouse, "LASER!").

Still haven't found the exact one. I remember that he had fake photos of his drowned girlfriend, and the cleaner. He also sent a passport scan of James T Kirk's passport. Ring any bells?
posted by gaby at 3:00 AM on May 7, 2006

Googling "James T Kirk's passport scam" gave this as the first hit. Seems to meet the other criteria, too.. drowned girlfriend, etc.
posted by ajpresto at 6:23 AM on May 7, 2006