Random Spam Victims Got Back At Their Spammers (12 items)

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  (#1) James Veitch Has Made A Career Out Of Trolling Spammers

  To defeat a spammer, you have to think like a spammer. James Veitch took this advice to the next level when he decided to embark on a crusade against spammers. He's managed to take this unusual hobby and turn it into a full-on career, even writing a book about his experience as a spam fighter.

  According to Veitch, the most important thing you can do is waste a spammer's time. In a TED Talk, Veitch discussed the first time he ever responded to a spammer in detail.

  One day, Veitch received an email from a man offering him an exclusive business deal. Veitch decided to play along, asking for details on the deal. The spammer informed him that he wanted to ship Veitch $2.5 million dollars in gold, but Veitch had bigger ideas. He kept asking for more and more gold, made fake graphs to illustrate his business savvy, and forced the spammer to speak to him in a ridiculous code. 
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  (#2) Somebody Pretended To Be Arthur Weasley To An Oblivious Scammer

  Some revenge can be downright magical. This story starts with a supposed postal mix-up, with the spammer claiming that a package worth $5 million was accidentally shipped to the Chicago airport instead of the intended recipient. In the email, the spammer said all that was needed to claim the package was the payment of a $350 storage fee.

  The reply they got back was straight out of the Wizarding World. The intended target claimed to be Arthur Weasley, saying they were dismayed by the postal mistake, typical of Muggle delivery systems. "Mr. Weasley" then suggested the next package be sent by owl, inquired about how much $5 million would be in gold galleons, and provided the following address: 

  Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office 
  Ministry of Magic 
  London, England

  According to a reply from the spammer, the address was acceptable.

   
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  (#3) One Man Got A Spammer To Join 'The Holy Church Of The Order Of The Red Breast'

  Some pranksters' plans are more elaborate than others, but few can beat the person who got one spammer to paint a red circle on his chest. The spammer claimed to be Nigerian Prince Joe Eboh and offered 20% of a $25 million sum. 

  The recipient, in turn, claimed to be Father Hector Barnett, a member of the Holy Church of The Order of The Red Breast. He insisted that he could not do any business dealings with someone who wasn't a member of his faith, but he would reconsider if Eboh promised to convert. Eboh jumped at the opportunity - and Father Barnett explained the history of the church in excruciating detail.

  To prove his commitment to the faith, Eboh was asked to send a topless picture of himself with the symbol of the church painted on his chest, and to sign a document swearing to abide by all the church's rules, including, "I shall not listen to Hip Hop" and "I shall not touch the one-eyed trouser snake."
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  (#4) A 77-Year-Old Man Beat His Spammers At Their Own Game

  When 77-year-old Herman Marmon received an email from someone calling themselves Davidson Boone, purportedly a representative of Budweiser, he was instantly suspicious. Boone had a business proposal for Marmon, saying he could get paid if he agreed to cover his car in Budweiser advertisements. Marmon ignored the email, but a short while later, he received a similar pitch from "Samsung" that offered him $350 a week for up to three months. 

  Marmon decided to play along, and soon enough this spammer was sending him false checks for a hefty sum of money. Marmon did his best to waste as much time as possible, and eventually called the spammer out on the scheme. 
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  (#5) A Spammer Got Charged $40 By UPS After A Redditor Sent A Box Of Gravel

  Redditor /u/AngelOfLight pulled the ultimate troll move on a spammer, managing to trick the spammer out of $40 in the process. The Redditor posted an ad for their PS2 on eBay, then received an email from a person claiming to be an African pastor. The pastor was hoping to get the PS2 at a reduced rate for their orphanage, and the Redditor agreed.

  After a little digging, the Redditor tracked the spammer's location to an internet cafe in Lagos, Nigeria. The spammer sent a prepaid UPS label to the Redditor, who slapped it onto a box full of gravel. The spammer was infuriated when they got the package, for which they were charged a $40 delivery fee.

  To add insult to injury, the Redditor falsely claimed they had contacted the FBI and given over the spammer's information. 
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  (#6) A Redditor Apparently Got A Spammer Fired

  Redditor /u/sledge-oatmeal-deer claims to normally ignore spammers, except on one special occasion. The man asked them to sign up for some account with a referral code, and the Redditor reacted by getting the spammer fired. 

  Apparently, the spammer was using his company's servers to engage in fraudulent activity, and the Redditor managed to track down the business. As it turns out, the spam messages they were being sent were far from legal, and the spammer could be fined up to $750 per message.

  The Redditor emailed the company about what their employee was up to during work hours, and a little while later the man's picture was removed from the company website. 
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  (#7) A Prankster Tried To Get The Spammer To Hire Him

  Mark Pothier of the Boston Globe kept one of his spammers in the lurch for some time, as he made absurd demands and sent rambling emails about the weather. The spammer claimed Pothier agreed to be a representative for their company, and asked for Pothier's personal information. What the spammer got instead was a string of emails detailing Pothier's move to Canada, his disdain for barley, and his lucky number. 

  Pothier tried to negotiate his commission as a new staffer and also demanded a fancy title that would look good on his business cards. After corresponding for some time, the spammer rescinded their "generous" offer.
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  (#8) A Redditor Managed To Take Control Of Their Spammer's Car

  Not all spammers are trying to get money out of you. Take the case of Redditor /u/F3nman, who discovered that someone was using their email address to sign up for spam. The Redditor was fed up with the spam emails, but had little to no means of counteracting them. That is, until the spammer signed up for a Sirius XM radio service, not knowing they had just given the Redditor access to their car's horn.

  F3nman started honking the horn whenever other Redditors requested it, before eventually leaving a note in the app: "stop using my email."
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  (#9) Brian Weinreich Made A Bot That Never Stops Asking Spammers Questions

  If your goal is to waste a spammer's time, you probably don't want to waste too much of your own in the process. Luckily, Brian Weinreich worked out the perfect solution. He created an automated system that's designed to waste time by sending the spammers an unending series of questions. This encourages the spammer to keep in contact and protects the time you might have wasted replying to them. 

  The Sp@mLooper, as it's called, is an open source program with which anyone can tinker. It sends a series of questions every time it receives an email. Some examples are:

  "Hmmm... I like what you're saying, but can you provide me with just a little more information? Looking for specifics."

  "Very nice! Where abouts are you located?"

  "Wow! This sounds like an awesome opportunity. Can you tell me a little more about it?"
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  (#10) A Redditor Led On A Spammer For A Month

  If spammers are to be believed, Nigerian princes are in constant need of financial assistance. One former Redditor detailed their attempt to "help" one such spammer. They admitted to keeping the spammer occupied for several months as they strung them along.

  The spammer asked for money orders through Western Union, and the Redditor was happy to oblige. They would tell the spammer that they sent the money to the account number provided, but the spammer would insist they never received payment. When the Redditor responded with the account number they supposedly sent money to, it was always off by one or two digits.

  The Redditor continued to make the same "mistake" for a month before the spammer realized what was happening. 
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  (#11) New Zealand Web Developers Created A Tool To Frustrate Scammers

  Netsafe stops spammers every day. The New Zealand-based company developed Re:scam, a service that allows you to get some sweet revenge against spammers. The program is designed to waste as much time as possible and anyone can use it.

  Just forward your next spam email to [email protected]. Once they receive the email, a bot will start conversing with the spammer and pretend to be a gullible mark for as long as possible. The bot will go as far as dealing out fake information. For instance, it will send the spammer a fake bank account number, but only one digit at a time.
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  (#12) Rory Ashford Makes Spammers Send Emails To Themselves

  It seems like every company wants to add you to their mailing list these days. Promotional emails from companies can be just as infuriating as spammers, which is why one British developer invented a unique solution.

  Rory Ashford tweeted out his ingenious development, and it's as simple as it is vindictive. Just go to the website and change your address on the mailing list to one of company's own. Now, all those spam messages they send will go straight back to them.

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