Fed up with getting dodgy messages but is revenge worth the risk?
By Widia Jalal for ABC News
WHAT IS SCAMBAITING AND HOW DOES IT WORK?
Richard Buckland is a professor in cybercrime, cyberwar and cyberterror at the University of New South Wales.
He defines scambaiting as "the act of scamming scammers", where it is traditionally carried out by an individual out of moral outrage.
"It's a vigilante action," he added, using the term to describe scambaiters as people who bypassed laws and took charge of the issue of their own accord.
It's not a new phenomenon, having picked up traction around the year 2000.
"As you know, scams make people very, very angry — even just getting spam makes people angry and [outraged] — so people suddenly have vented that outrage by attacking the scammers back," Professor Buckland said.
In the early days, he said, scambaiting was effective in raising awareness, where the more humorous it was, the more publicity followed.
"It was really good at getting people, even young children, interested in noticing the sorts of things that scammers did, so that was great," he said.
SO HOW EFFECTIVE IS SCAMBAITING AND WHAT ARE THE RISKS?
Relating it back to today's world, where scams are rampant, Professor Buckland says there is less of a need for it.
"It doesn't really address the underlying problem of scamming as it happens at vast scale," he said.
"The scams that work are just more sophisticated than the ones that don't work and we've seen no sign that scamming has dropped off."
Professor Buckland said vigilantism could be problematic, especially because there could be all sorts of risks when people took matters into their own hands.
In extreme circumstances, scambaiters' actions can be classified as a crime.
"Some scambaiters may attack other people's systems and carry out cyber attacks themselves, which normally would be breaking the law in most countries," Professor Buckland said.
Here are some other dangers he listed:
It's possible to target the wrong person or have an unanticipated impact on bystanders
It's possible to have disproportionate effects on the people you are targeting
Scambaiters are not protected by the law in instances where they break the law
Scambaiters could be drawing more attention to themselves, which could be harmful
Scambaiters could be leaking information about themselves without even realising
"Whenever you respond to a scam, you're risking the chance your name will be added to a list of people [who] respond," Professor Buckland explained.
"And those lists are sold because it's worth [it] to have someone [who] responds.
"Scammers do grab a lot of information from you, even if the scam doesn't complete."
This information is not limited to addresses, emails and phone numbers.
"Anything where emotions are raised is dangerous," he warned.
Then there’s the human aspect of scammers that Professor Buckland urges scambaiters to consider.
"Often the people carrying out the attacks are fairly young, or low-level people in the organisation, so attacking them is not the same as attacking the scammer necessarily," he said.
Based on his knowledge, he said, scams were often run from third-world countries.
"You don't want to become the things you despise. There's something very sad when that happens and things can escalate."
SO WHAT CAN WE DO TO PROTECT OURSELVES FROM SCAMS?
"If you suspect you have been contacted by a scammer, do not respond, and report [the approach] to Scamwatch," the ACCC spokesperson said.
Professor Buckland suggested getting a second opinion on matters involving money, especially because scammers tend to strike once they get people into an emotional state.
"Never, ever give information or transfer money to anyone unless you've gone to someone else," he said.
