会合，会う the scambaiters （警官の）巡回区域，受持ち区域ing fraudsters at their own game... by wasting THEIR time and money
- Scambaiters try to waste as much of 犯罪のs' time and money as possible
- Here two scambaiters open up to This is Money about the tricks of the 貿易（する）??
In a car park somewhere on the rugged Cornish coast, a Ghanaian scammer stands shivering and 混乱させるd. He has been sent here to collect the 支払い（額） for 10kg of 非，不，無-existent gold 約束d to the 犠牲者 of one of his scams.?
The fraudster is 推定する／予想するing to get £234,000 in cash. It's a 大規模な sum, by far outweighing the costs of the 6,000 mile 一連の会議、交渉／完成する trip from the Ghanaian 資本／首都, Accra.
The problem is that he has been waiting for longer than he'd like, and there is still no 調印する of the money. In fact, his 犠牲者 hasn't even shown up.
Hidden in a car nearby, a man congratulates himself on a 職業 井戸／弁護士席 done: another scammer taken on a いわゆる 'safari', and with photos to 証明する it.
In the 影をつくる／尾行するs: Hidden in his car, one scambaiter captur es the 証拠 of his 'safari'
'That was 広大な／多数の／重要な fun…that cost them a few thousand dollars to organise,' the 操る told This is Money.
The man in question is a scambaiter, someone who manipulates fraudsters into wasting their time or money.
The scambaiting community is understandably 隠しだてする, and one of its most famous members will only speak to This is Money using the 偽名，通称 of Mr Pricky.?
Mr Pricky runs a YouTube channel, ScamBait Central, on which he 株 ビデオs of his 試みる／企てるs to take scammers for a ride.
'We're not really caped 改革運動家s,' Mr Pricky 主張するs, 'We dislike scammers, we loathe them and we loathe what they do to ordinary people in society.
'I can't say that we do it 純粋に to do good. We do it because we have a lot of fun. It can be very 満足させるing.'
によれば the scambaiter, they do their best to 占領する as much of a scammer's time as possible: 'It could be days. It could be weeks, months, even years. Some scambaiters have had scammers on the hook for five, even as much as 10 years,' he said.
'It can be やめる cathartic, but also it helps to keep them away from real 見込みのある 犠牲者s,' he 追加するd.
However, the 商売／仕事 of scambaiting is not just about having a laugh, and the consequences of 存在 careless could be serious.
'The 犯罪のs we bait can be very dangerous and violent, and some of them are murderous, he said. 'I get death 脅しs often, and some of them I take 本気で.'
Wild goose chase: Mr Pricky led this scammer 3,000 miles from his home in Ghana
Because of this, he doesn't talk about his scambaiting, even to friends or family.
'Very few people 現実に know about it, but I'm a very 私的な person, because I was with the with the 省 of Defence for over 20 years, and I've been a Samaritan for 34 years,' he said.?
'So confidentiality and keeping my mouth shut has been the cornerstone of most of my adult life.'
The only one who does know? 'My accountant', （機の）カム the reply.
On 最高の，を越す of 存在 careful, Mr Pricky says that his scambaiter community follows a strict 始める，決める of 指導基準s.
His community 支配するs 含む that scambaiters should not '燃やす' the scammers by giving away that they are 存在 duped. They should also never 伴う／関わる innocent third parties.
The scambaiter 追加するd: 'We discovered very 早期に on in our community, which was formed in 2003, that [燃やすing them] educated scammers, and they learned from the mistakes that we were gleefully pointing out.'
'They became better scammers and more likely to 略奪する your grandparents blind the next time 一連の会議、交渉／完成する.'
His group also 避ける taking scammers' money, never send any them copies of IDs and never 報告（する）／憶測 their email 演説（する）／住所s.
'The scammer will open a new email account within three minutes and start scamming again,' he said, 'but because they're using a new 演説（する）／住所, the 演説（する）／住所 that they were using before that we've 地位，任命するd on a scam 警告 場所／位置 is now redundant.'
In 害（を与える）'s way: Mr Pricky 誘惑するd a scammer (pictured 権利) from London to Cornwall on his 最新の of more than eighty 'safaris'
Another scambaiter, SkeletonSyskey, is （疑いを）晴らす on what 運動s him.
'My 動機づけ was to find who these people are and see what I can do to stop them,' he told This is Money.
'I want to do this, I've got to do this as much as I can,' he said, 'I have more 運動 for this than I do for my actual work.
'I do put in many hours each week, in a way it is more than a 職業. In the past when I have had 職業s, I've been the 肉親，親類d of person to do 9 to 5, get paid and then I just separate myself from my work when I get home. I don't tend to talk shop.
'With this it is different.'
When he first started, SkeletonSyskey was 事実上の／代理 as a carer for his father, who has Alzheimer's, so he 設立する that he had 解放する／自由な time to 焦点（を合わせる） on scambaiting.
'Since then, the channel has become やめる a bit bigger, and I've 設立する that I now have to dedicate a lot of time to this,' he said.
'My father is now in a care home and 存在 looked after, 解放する／自由なing up more time to do this, but I also have to do my normal 職業.'
The scambaiter has more than 15,000 加入者s on YouTube.
SkeletonSyskey began by 報告（する）／憶測ing the scammers he 暴露するd to 活動／戦闘 詐欺, finding the 指名する of the company that was trying to scam him.
'My 計画（する） at the start was to find out who these companies were and 報告（する）／憶測 them,' he said. 'In the beginning I would 報告（する）／憶測 them straight away to 活動／戦闘 詐欺.'
Dogged 追跡: SkeletonSyskey 保護するs his 身元 in his online ビデオs, instead appearing? as an animated Shiba Inu dog?
'I 供給するd the phone call as 証拠, but I heard nothing 支援する from 活動／戦闘 詐欺. A few years later another scambaiter ended up doing a ビデオ on the exact same company, and I realised that company was still active.'
The 欠如（する） of 活動／戦闘 by the 当局 was 失望させるing, he said. 'I 設立する that it is better to speak to other scambaiters to get more （警察などへの）密告，告訴（状） on them and then try to get them shut 負かす／撃墜する,' he 追加するd.
They may not consider themselves caped 改革運動家s, but there is something superhero-esque about scambaiters' 二塁打 lives - perhaps their hidden 身元s and their altruistic 願望（する） to help others by distracting scammers.
But 存在 a scambaiter also comes at a price, as it 要求するs individuals to hide their real 詳細（に述べる）s at all costs.
Unsurprisingly, SkeletonSyskey's 偉業／利用するs go unnoticed by those around him, hidden behind his 数字表示式の likeness in the form of a Shiba Inu dog.
'It's a 罰金 balance,' he said, 'I have learned to separate what I do here on YouTube to what I am up to in real life.
'Only my brother knows, to be honest. The only 推論する／理由 he knows is that he walked in once while I was speaking to scammers on the phone.
'It doesn't feel like I'm hiding it, but I don't talk about it with friends and family, there are always other things to talk about. I'm always busy living a normal life.'
'There are people in scambaiting I've known for over a １０年間, and I don't even know their first 指名する,' Mr Pricky told me. 'I don't know what they do for a living. I don't know about their familial backgrounds.
'We are very 隠しだてする.'
How to 避ける losing out to scammers?
What do scammers look for in a 犠牲者?
When looking f or a 可能性のある 犠牲者, scammers tick off a mental checklist. If you 落ちる under one these 部類s then they might class you as having a vulnerability they can 偉業／利用する.
Scammers tend to 的 the 孤立するd, such as people who don't have の近くに family that will talk them out of going along with something.
On 最高の，を越す of this, the ideal 的 may be retired and in 所有／入手 of かなりの 貯金, and likely 選び出す／独身, a 未亡人 or a widower, meaning that they could be a 可能性のある 犠牲者 of a romance scam.
Unscrupulous as they are, scammers will also 的 the desperate and 貧困の, SkeletonSyskey said.
Scammers impersonating a 合法的 company often become angry if you try to hang up
'As soon as they call someone, if they can hear that it is an 年輩の person, or someone who doesn't seem like they know a lot about computers, that is the first point they think that they might be able to make some money,' he said.
Mr Pricky 追加するd: 'The scammers will then 申し込む／申し出 them all sorts of 計画／陰謀s, with a small 量 of money to be sent, and then it's a bit like 賭事ing. Y ou put some money in a fruit machine and you don't 勝利，勝つ, you think "井戸／弁護士席, I've lost some money now, but if I put a few more coins in, I might get that 支援する".
'They'll often start very low. They might ask for just £40 or £50, but they know once you've sent that, and they come up with a good excuse for why you 港／避難所't got your fortune yet, you'll send a bit more.'
What are the red 旗s you should look out for?
'If somebody 約束s you millions online, it's a scam. It is as 黒人／ボイコット and white as that. Just forget it,' Mr Pricky said.
With the 419 scams that he engages with, the instant giveaway is that a scammer will 約束 you a fortune, and then tell you that you need to send them money in 前進する ーするために 安全な・保証する it.
Often, these scams come in the form of an (a)手の込んだ／(v)詳述する backstory designed to throw you off guard, such as that you have a 親族 who has died abroad and you are a 受益者, or you have won the 宝くじ.
'The types of scam are 限られた／立憲的な only by the ingenuity of the scammers themselves,' he said.
The most obvious 調印する of a scam, SkeletonSyskey said, is simple （一定の）期間ing mistakes in an email, or strangely 建設するd 宣告，判決s.
What 選択s are open to you if you think you are 存在 scammed?
にもかかわらず all your 警告を与える, you might find yourself in the 中央 of what you think is a scam, having 小衝突d off any 早期に 警告 調印するs.
But it isn't too late to stop the scammer before they get a 持つ／拘留する of your hard-earned cash.
によれば SkeletonSyskey, if you have given a scammer 接近 to your PC, then your first course of 活動／戦闘 should be to turn off any internet 関係, before uninstalling any remote 接近 ソフトウェア that they have asked you to download.
If you are on the phone to a scammer, however, the 重要な is to stay 静める. If you aren't sure if the call is 合法的, tell them you are going to hang up and will call them 支援する.
Trying to keep you on the hook, a scammer will likely become frantic.
'If it is a scammer on the line, they'll say: "no no no, we have to do this now, we have to stop the hackers",' SkeletonSyskey says, 'A 合法的 company will say: "that's 罰金, take your time and call us 支援する when you are ready".
'If the scammers are hysterical, then it isn't 合法的 ? you can tell if a company is 合法的 by the way they を取り引きする you on the phone.'
Once you have hung up, it is best to find an 公式の／役人 number from the website of the company that the scammer says they are from and call 支援する using that.
Mr Pricky 追加するd that there are ways you can 保護する others from 直面するing the same 運命／宿命.
He said: 'If they're in your social マスコミ accounts, 封鎖する them and tell your friends about them, because they will also have befriended some of your friends. They're always looking for new 示すs. Get them out of your life.'
The 詳細（に述べる）s of the scam can also be 追加するd to scam 警告 場所／位置s such as the fraudfighters.online 会議. This can 妨げる others from 落ちるing for the scam in 未来 if they search for a scammer's email 演説（する）／住所 or phone number online.
Unfortunately, Mr Pricky said that 'if you sent money, then you've almost invariably lost it.'
Scammers use money 移転 services like Western Union to 移転 基金s across the world, meaning that there is little that can be done if your money has made it to Africa or Asia.
Still, he 示唆するs 報告（する）／憶測ing it to your bank, through which you might be able to 回復する your 基金s.
How can you 避ける 落ちるing for a scam?
'The most ありふれた mistake is to reply to their email or their social マスコミ message,' Mr Pricky said.
SkeletonSyskey agrees. He said: The most ありふれた mistake is not taking the time to read most of the （警察などへの）密告，告訴（状） you have. With emails, they will see an image for an invoice from a company like アマゾン and just click it. Then it all begins.'
The best advice, in fact, is to 減ずる your attractiveness as a 的.
動きやすい phones are often overlooked as a window to 詐欺, SkeletonSyskey said, with the 装置s now 申し込む／申し出ing scammers 接近 to banking apps, social マスコミ and two-factor authentication.
'There are so many people th at don't even think about what can happen through your phone,' he said. 'They don't realise how 平易な it will be to work out where they live, who their 親族s are. It is rare you see someone 任命する／導入する anti-ウイルス ソフトウェア on a phone.'
'As a general 原則, one should be very careful about how one leaves one's 足跡 online,' Mr Pricky echoed.
'Your social マスコミ account, 特に Facebook should be locked 負かす／撃墜する so that only friends can see what you've got in there… [scammers] can go 権利 through Facebook accounts. I get 犠牲者s 接触するing me through my Facebook page, I look at their Facebook accounts and I can see everything.'
