Whether we’d like to admit it or not, we fall for scams sometimes. Maybe not we Pandas particularly, but we as a society. According to a report by the Global Anti-Scam Alliance and Feedzai, scammers siphoned away over $1.03 trillion globally in 2024.
Yet not everyone is so easy to scam. Some people know how to play scammers at their own game, and when they put their scammer detective hats on, hilarity often ensues. We love to see scammers getting payback, so, we’ve collected some of the most creative and funniest conversations of the kind. See them below and rejoice!
We also want Panda to be safe online and know how to protect themselves from scammers. So, we reached out to Jake Moore, the global cybersecurity advisor at ESET, Europe’s number one cybersecurity company. He kindly agreed to talk to Bored Panda about the risks of scam-baiting, the most common scam tactics today and offered some practical tips on how to keep scammers away. Read his expert insights below!
Just found this sub and love it. I got a bit to learn from you guys regarding baiting them in for a bigger sting.
If you think only losers fall victim to scams, you probably need to think again. Recent data from Gallup shows that one in three Americans have at least one family member who was scammed in the past year. 8% say they’ve been victims of financial fraud themselves.
While the numbers aren’t that high, scams are still the second-worst crime worry for American households. 57% of respondents told Gallup that they often or occasionally fear getting scammed. The one thing that scares people more than scams is identity theft, as 72% of the respondents worry about it because they believe the ramifications might be worse than any other type of crime.
Most of the conversations we’ve collected here are clever comebacks to scammers, but people also love a good scam-baiting story. Mostly because it’s so satisfying to see a swindler get their comeuppance. Usually, scam baiting refers to people wasting a scammer’s time and resources so they can’t con even more people.
Some people have even turned scam baiting into careers. Like the YouTube channel Scammer Payback, where creator and streamer Pierogi catches scammers and serves them justice, which has over eight million subscribers. Reddit also has dedicated communities where people bait scammers, like r/Scams, r/ScammerPayback, r/scammers, r/scambait, and more.
While scam baiting might be fun and satisfying to read about, there are many risks associated with it. While digital creators both educate and entertain their audience with their scam-baiting tactics, it can easily backfire for some.
Global cybersecurity advisor at ESET Jake Moore kindly agreed to tell Bored Panda more about why it might be so dangerous. “Scam-baiting can bring personal safety concerns like retaliation, harassment, or even reverse cyberattacks,” he says. “Scammers can often know much more about their victims than they let on, so, although it may be tempting, it can be very dangerous to lead them on.”
He warns people that in some cases, there might even be legal repercussions. “Although it may seem counterintuitive, there could even be potential legal implications if the scam baiter crosses boundaries such as recording the conversations without proper consent or places any software on the scammers’ devices.”
Scammers try to rip people off using many different tactics: advanced fee payments, pretending to be customer service or a government agency, telemarketing, and many more. Yet the most common way scammers get people’s money is by sending out phishing emails. “Attackers impersonate trustworthy entities to obtain sensitive information,” Moore explains.
With new technological advancements, phishing has become increasingly difficult to spot. “Tactics have evolved significantly,” Moore notes, “becoming increasingly sophisticated through the use of artificial intelligence, deepfake technologies, and highly targeted personalised approaches designed to appear more credible and convincing.”
Bored Panda asked the global cybersecurity expert for some recommendations on how to stay safe from scams. “To protect themselves effectively, people need to remain informed about current scams and always verify the sender if something is unexpected or urgent, but especially if the request is for personal or financial information,” Moore emphasizes.
“Using unique passwords, activating two-factor authentication, and limiting the sharing of personal information online can help reduce being caught up in a scam,” Moore adds. “Furthermore, keeping antivirus up to date and simply being cautious of unexpected links or attachments will also help people stay safe online.”
Other experts also say to be wary of clicking on links and new website addresses that may appear identical to the ones you frequent. Don’t be like Michael Scott and don’t help the son of a deposed Nigerian prince. And while you’re at it, don’t go on a date with someone who’s looking for a healthy non-smoker with both kidneys.
Do you have any stories about scammers, Pandas? Even if it didn’t end very well, share your story with us in the comments! And if you’d like to see more stories of scammers getting owned, head over here and here. And, remember: update your passwords and stay safe out there!
This person has been texting me this exact message for years. I am not Lile and I do not live at this address. For context, I sent him a photo of the house from Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
I’m kind of new to this subreddit and I gave myself an opportunity to scam a scammer back and I actually succeeded, but the only problem is that they have my number and they can have the opportunity to text me. Now the way that “she” said “I’ll make you surfer” is kind of worrying me a little bit and I don’t know if she actually means it or not. I’m kind of freaked out. And I’ve seen at least seen 13-17 year olds do it and have fun. But I’m kind of worried about the outcome for me though. (I’m 15 years old with somewhat high anxiety). I just need some clarity if they’re actually bluffing instead to strike fear.
Recently got this Facebook DM on my personal account and got really excited bc I have talked to my grandma in a really long time and thought she might’ve changed her mind, low and behold it was a scammer pretending to be my grandma. I’m so tired of this.
Had a good laugh with this one throughout a long work day so figured I would share. Blocked them before they had a chance to respond to the last pic.
They must be desperate. They didn’t even pretend to care about what I was doing, just straight into pay for this.
Besides everybody knows it’s the phone that dies not the sim card. Am I wrong for being disappointed in the effort they put in?
I was cracking up the entire time typing the last paragraph, and was really hoping for a response back as i had a lot more stuff to share.
So I got a text from “yahoo” earlier today saying something along the lines of “someone has tried to add a phone number to your account. Rely ‘N’ if this was not you, otherwise just ignore this text.” Without thinking, I replied “N”. Something seemed off, as I didn’t get an immediate auto response. So l went online and logged into yahoo. I changed my password, checked to make sure I still had two factor authorization set up, and looked at my account activity. There was nothing there regarding any phone number change attempts Fast forward to about 10 minutes later, I get another text from the original number saying I need to provide them with the security code that yahoo is sending me so that they can secure my account. While reading that text, I get a text from yahoo with a verification code. Naturally I deleted both conversations and just went about my day. Another ten minutes goes by, and I get another text (pictured below) about how this is my last opportunity to send my yahoo verification code. Boom, another code comes through from yahoo. Being as I am home with Covid and bored, I decide to see who I can cry and whine to about this. After a few minutes poking around, I find myself filling out a cyber scam report on fbi.gov. Once I was done, 1 was about to close the web page when I thought ‘let’s have some fun for once! So I took a screen shot of the page and sent it to the scam number. I couldn’t be happier with the response I received.
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