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Another growing area is the fake internet bank. Most scams of this type originate in Russia, and 419eater.com has started to concentrate in this area. "There's a section on the forums dedicated to shutting down fake bank sites, and we're taking down about 50 to 100 of these a week," Mike explained. "It costs [the scammers] a few hundred dollars to a few thousand dollars to set up a fake bank site."

This has not pleased the Russian gangsters, and a denial-of-service attack was launched against the top three scam-baiting sites (419eater, Scamwarners and Artists against 419) in September. This prolonged attack took the sites offline for a couple of weeks. According to Mike, "this was one of the biggest concerted attacks made, and must have cost them a few thousand a day". Which is a result of sorts.

The attack didn't stop the scam-baiters in their fight against the scammers. "We do have a backup site that's not published in the public domain so we can still keep in communication. But [having the site offline] does mean we don't get any new members," said Mike.

Becoming a scam-baiter

Scam-baiting began a few years ago when people such as Mike and Bustedup Cowgirl got tired of having their email inbox clogged with scam messages, and decided to fight back. They began by replying to scammer's emails, trying to string the scammer along. This evolved into a sort of competition in which the scam-baiters would see who could get the scammers - often referred

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to as their 'lads' - to waste the most time and spend the most money. The coup de grāce is getting the scammer to send a photo of themselves in a humiliating pose. These stories, email exchanges and photos fill the 'virtual' trophy cases on scam-baiter websites such as 419eater.com and Scam-O-Rama (http://scamorama.com).

A lot of these sites have forums in which scam-baiters trade tips and swap stories. As experienced scam-baiters frequently make clear, anonymity is crucial. Scammers are often hardened criminals who could easily resort to violence. Scam-baiters who post humiliating photos of such men want to make sure they can't be found. These photos range from the ridiculous (such as those above) to more obscene examples, and many scam-baiters obtain photos of their 'lads' in compromising poses or holding signs that declare same-gender sexual preferences. As most scammers come from cultures that don't tolerate homosexuality, this is a very damaging form of public humiliation for the scammer.

It is this seeming hunger for humiliation that has put Neil Forsyth off the scam-baiting fraternity. Forsyth is the author of Delete This At Your Peril, a book about the email exchanges he has had with scammers under the persona of Bob Servant. You can find out more about Bob at www.bobservant.com. "With scam-baiting the objective is to purely humiliate. On scam-baiting websites there is a real kind of vitriolic anger against the scammers, and I don't have that. I'm just into it for fun."

You'll also find videos of frustrated scammers who've turned up at a meeting point thinking they're about to get the big payoff, posted on the internet. Taking scam-baiting this far is potentially dangerous. Even when hiding in a crowd, a scam-baiter may be more easily identifiable than they realise. It is worth repeating that scammers are not very nice people. Victims who've fallen for a scam to the point of actually meeting the scammer have been beaten, mugged and even murdered.