Last Updated on July 7, 2019 by SCARS Editorial Team

SCARSSCARS SCARS - Society of Citizens Against Relationship Scams Inc. A government registered crime victims' assistance & crime prevention nonprofit organization based in Miami, Florida, U.S.A. SCARS supports the victims of scams worldwide and through its partners in more than 60 countries around the world. Incorporated in 2015, its team has 30 years of continuous experience educating and supporting scam victims. Visit www.AgainstScams.org to learn more about SCARS.™ Special Report: ScambaitingScam Baiting A foolish activity where a victim or nonvictim engages in deception and fraud to lead on a scammer into revealing information or for the sport of it. Deliberate deception online, regardless of the reason, is both unethical and in many places may also be illegal. While not prosecuted, Scambaiting has no legitimate benefit and should never be performed by victims since it is an act of revenge and only amplifies trauma. It is a reprehensible practice that is popularized by amateur anti-scam groups driven by their hate for fraudsters. Learn more: SCARS Position Statement Against Scambaiting – You are Only Hurting Yourself

Continuing The Discussion On Scambaiting

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Scam BaitingScam Baiting A foolish activity where a victim or nonvictim engages in deception and fraud to lead on a scammer into revealing information or for the sport of it. Deliberate deception online, regardless of the reason, is both unethical and in many places may also be illegal. While not prosecuted, Scambaiting has no legitimate benefit and should never be performed by victims since it is an act of revenge and only amplifies trauma. It is a reprehensible practice that is popularized by amateur anti-scam groups driven by their hate for fraudsters. Learn more: SCARS Position Statement Against Scambaiting Is Where A Victim Or Other Person Engages In Deception And In Some Cases Actual Online FraudFraud In law, fraud is intentional deception to secure unfair or unlawful gain (money or other assets), or to deprive a victim of a legal right. Fraud can violate civil law (e.g., a fraud victim may sue the fraud perpetrator to avoid the fraud or recover monetary compensation) or criminal law (e.g., a fraud perpetrator may be prosecuted and imprisoned by governmental authorities), or it may cause no loss of money, property, or legal right but still be an element of another civil or criminal wrong. The purpose of fraud may be monetary gain or other benefits, for example by obtaining a passport, travel document, or driver's license, or mortgage fraud, where the perpetrator may attempt to qualify for a mortgage by way of false statements. A fraud can also be a hoax, which is a distinct concept that involves deliberate deception without the intention of gain or of materially damaging or depriving a victim. Lying To A ScammerScammer A Scammer or Fraudster is someone that engages in deception to obtain money or achieve another objective. They are criminals that attempt to deceive a victim into sending more or performing some other activity that benefits the scammer. For “Fun”

The mistaken ideas are that it either wastes the scammer’s time or causes them to go to extreme tasks because of the scamScam A Scam is a confidence trick - a crime -  is an attempt to defraud a person or group after first gaining their trust through deception. Scams or confidence tricks exploit victims using their credulity, naïveté, compassion, vanity, irresponsibility, or greed and exploiting that. Researchers have defined confidence tricks as "a distinctive species of fraudulent conduct ... intending to further voluntary exchanges that are not mutually beneficial", as they "benefit con operators ('con men' - criminals) at the expense of their victims (the 'marks')". A scam is a crime even if no money was lost. that is being pulled on them.

Some wrongly believe that it is ok to scam a scammer.

That is like saying it is ok to murder a murderer.

WRONG IS WRONG

In our view this is not a hobby. It is not fun. It is not therapeutic. It is engaging in the same kinds of deception that scammers do.

In fact, in our opinion, it can further reinforce the PTSD that a victim suffers from by continuing to expose the victim to scamsScams A Scam is a confidence trick - a crime -  is an attempt to defraud a person or group after first gaining their trust through deception. Scams or confidence tricks exploit victims using their credulity, naïveté, compassion, vanity, irresponsibility, or greed and exploiting that. Researchers have defined confidence tricks as "a distinctive species of fraudulent conduct ... intending to further voluntary exchanges that are not mutually beneficial", as they "benefit con operators ('con men' - criminals) at the expense of their victims (the 'marks')". A scam is a crime even if no money was lost..

It does not matter if the other person is a criminalCriminal A criminal is any person who through a decision or act engages in a crime. This can be complicated, as many people break laws unknowingly, however, in our context, it is a person who makes a decision to engage in unlawful acts or to place themselves with others who do this. A criminal always has the ability to decide not to break the law, or if they initially engage in crime to stop doing it, but instead continues. or not. If you engage in deception regardless of your intentions it is ethically (and in some cases legally) the same. Wire fraud is wire fraud.

We expect the FBIFBI FBI - Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, the FBI is also a member of the U.S. Intelligence Community and reports to both the Attorney General and the Director of National Intelligence. A leading U.S. counter-terrorism, counterintelligence, and criminal investigative organization, the FBI has jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crimes, including financial fraud. to track down these criminals, but what if their African governments came to track you down?

Deception is deception, lying is lying. If you want to hold the high moral ground then do not scam bait.

Scambaiting Is Wrong

Our position is that scambaiting has many negative qualities and it depends on the person who is doing it how great the damage is to them.

1. It is being deceitful – you are lying to a scammer. Just because they are that way does not mean you want to lower yourself to their level and become a liar too.
2. Wanting to take it out on the scammer is a form of revenge. Maybe a mild form, but still a form. Revenge hurts the person doing it as much as the target. When is enough? With most scam baiters there is never enough, it becomes a compulsion and obsession, they stop when they just get tired. But nothing changes.
3. It comes from an emotion of hatred. Scambaiters may not admit it but they hate scammers. You can be angry at a scammer because of what they did to you, you can say you hate them, but real hate – the kind of hate that you cannot let go of is more dangerous for you than for them. Hate will consume you eventually. Of course, most are not willing to use that word, they prefer words like: loathe, detest, despise, unable to bear, can’t stand, can’t tolerate, etc. Hate is still hate!
4. It will frustrate you. Scam baiting accomplishes nothing other than to consume your time. You are not stopping scammers. Yes, you can waste their time and make them do silly things but nothing changes with it. The scammers just learn from it, so you are making them smarter. The only scammers that will fall for it anyway are the dumb ones – the new or least experienced. The professionals will just blockBlock Blocking is a technical action usually on social media or messaging platforms that restricts or bans another profile from seeing or communicating with your profile. To block someone on social media, you can usually go to their profile and select it from a list of options - often labeled or identified with three dots ••• you.
5. It is just an outlet for your own aggression or for your own hatred against scammers. You may get a momentary high from baiting a scammer, but in the long run, it just leaves you hollow.

THIS IS NOT THE WAY TO RECOVER FROM A TRAUMATIC EXPERIENCE – RE-LIVING IT OVER AND OVER – CAN’T YOU SEE THAT?

Even those that make fun of scammers are doing it because deep down they loath scammers, while having fun with them.

In The End, This Is An Argument About Revenge And Who That Hurts Most

We view it as a self-destructiveSelf-sabotaging Behavior is said to be self-sabotaging when it creates problems in daily life and interferes with long-standing goals. The most common Self-Defeating behaviors include procrastination, self-medication with drugs or alcohol, comfort eating, and forms of self-injury such as cutting. behaviorBehavior   Behavior / Behavioral Actions Otherwise known as habits, behavior or behavioral actions are strategies to help prevent online exploitation that target behavior, such as social engineering of victims. Changing your behavior is the ONLY effective means to reduce or prevent scams..

It is also a contagious behavior.

Angry victims easily fall into that trap. For that reason, we disagree with it and prohibit it in our groups, and within our SCARS Membership, and through our SCARS Code of Conduct.

In Addition, Depending On Who The Scammers Are, Some Of Them Are In Fact Dangerous

Our position would have no value if we did not defend it, so we are always willing to discuss it further.

 

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SCARS™ Team
A SCARS Division
Miami Florida U.S.A.

 

 

TAGS: SCARS, Important Article, Information About Scams, Anti-Scam, Angry Scam Victims, Angry Romance Scam Victims, Hating Scammers, Hate Scammers, Loath Scammers,Scam Baiting, Scam Baiter, Scambaiting, Traumatic Experience, Scam TraumaTrauma Emotional and psychological trauma is the result of extraordinarily stressful events that shatter your sense of security, making you feel helpless in a dangerous world. Psychological trauma can leave you struggling with upsetting emotions, memories, and anxiety that won’t go away. It can also leave you feeling numb, disconnected, and unable to trust other people. Traumatic experiences often involve a threat to life or safety or other emotional shocks, but any situation that leaves you feeling overwhelmed and isolated can result in trauma, even if it doesn’t involve physical harm. It’s not the objective circumstances that determine whether an event is traumatic, but your subjective emotional experience of the event. The more frightened and helpless you feel, the more likely you are to be traumatized. Trauma requires treatment, either through counseling or therapy or through trauma-oriented support programs, such as those offered by SCARS., Reliving Trauma

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