# Online scammers...

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/online-scammers/341873>\
**Category:** The BBQ Pit\
**Created:** [January 27, 2006, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/online-scammers/341873 "2006-01-27T18:08:14Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 3

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**Author:** ![Pullet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Pullet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pullet)\
**Post date:** [February 9, 2006, 8:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/online-scammers/341873/41 "2006-02-09T08:08:09Z")

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I don’t have an example because I deleted it, but has anyone else gotten the radom pulp story scam email? You open it up and there’s a paragraph lead in that sounds like a film noir. Then it ends abruptly. No ill effects noticed yet, if bug filled.

Also, if the money orders are so problematic, how am I going to pay for stuff on ebay? Personal check is no good. Cash is out. Not everyone is set for PayPal. Suggestions?

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**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\
**Post date:** [February 9, 2006, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/online-scammers/341873/42 "2006-02-09T15:19:15Z")

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Sure a MO could be a forgery. A check could be bad. Someone’s CC could be fake. BUT EVEN CASH CAN BE COUNTERFIET.

As long as you get a MO from a known company, and it looks decent, it should be fine. Actually, if the buyers rating is good, even a Personal check is usually OK.

Some sellers refuse sales from newbies unless it’s Paypal, and some refuse sales from “overseas” countries. I’d probably wouldn’t sell to the 3rd World myself.

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**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\
**Post date:** [February 11, 2006, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/online-scammers/341873/43 "2006-02-11T03:45:05Z")

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> [@sturmhauke](#):
>
> Some of the scambaiter tales are awfully damn funny, but I have to wonder if the baiters aren’t technically guilty of scams in some cases as well. [This guy](http://www.thescambaiter.com/forum/showthread.php?t=109) actually managed to get some hard cash from the scammer, and also stuck him with thousands of dollars in import taxes and shipping fees for “Anus Computers” which were actually a bunch of junk. If you rob a thief, he may well deserve it but you become a thief as well.

Most baits can be characterized as extensions of pranking: they waste the scammers time.

[419Eater.com](http://419Eater.com) no longer supports cash extraction (and, as it happens, when the webmaster did, he would contribute the money to charity, FWIW). As a rule, [thescambaiter.com](http://thescambaiter.com) is more willing to venture into ethically grey areas.

I’m not sure it’s that grey though: I would characterize it as nonviolent vigilantism. The very best baits involve law enforcement. But where the rule of law is absent (and I mean _absent_ and not merely “insufficient” in somebody’s opinion), I believe that nonviolent turnaround becomes fair play.

419eater provides a missive on [The Ethics of Scambaiting](http://www.419eater.com/html/ethics.htm), which I have not read in a while.

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