My new video about scambaiting!

Such a good video! Two small problems I have with it: I disagree with your final point about why the scammer might want to look at the person they are talking to: there is money to be gained by determining if it's a real vulnerable person or a scambaiter, so the scammer can figure out whether they are wasting their time. I also don't think the assertion that the scammer is unaccountable or even working for themself is true. The scam centers are set up in large call centers, very similar to how I assume legit customer service call centers. This means the scammers aren't seeing all the stolen "profits" that they are doing the emotional labor for. In that way maybe they're sort of a broken broken robot? Or just more similar to the customer service workers that they're imitating.

Noah Luntzlara

it was good! I'm soooo happy to have two new analysis videos in such a short span of time! I'm going to be rewatching both of them many time in the coming weeks. i always feel weird about scambaiting stuff, because i just assumed the scammer is living in poverty and doing this out of necessity. and the dynamic of colonization makes it even weirder. I've heard one scammer tell the dude he was trying to get "revenge on americans." I could be wrong about all of this. I think it's shitty that people try to scam people in general. especially the people they're targeting like sweet little grandmas and grandpas. BUT I'm glad your video was about more then that. it was a different perspective and that's what i like. you always give me some nuance. thnks, b.

Creamer

These videos always make me think about the same stuff. Thanks for exploring it!

Jessica Loginov

True. I guess it's a matter of attention and emphasis. I don't disagree with any of your commentary, I just focus more on different aspects of the topic.

I currently work for a government call center in the US and have for almost 12 years. A colleague of mine turned me on to Kitboga back when he was only using Twitch. I like your question and take on the whole "what if this were fictional?" position. But one thing I would have liked to have seen added would be the few times when Kitboga has gotten the scammer to show humanity at the end. Your point about the US disconnect from the customer service we receive—especially from non-US citizens is still valid. After 12 years trying to assist taxpayers with tax questions, I can attest to not only the disconnect with the caller, but the fact that if you answer the call with a foreign accent, you are less likely to be trusted when you give answers. But the calls tend to end best when you make a human connection with the person you are trying to help. I know you have to fit your message into a 20 minute video, but the few instances of humanity from the scammers at the end of some calls where they admit, "Yes, I was just trying to scam you" and they give their reasons—well, back to the fiction question, if these were morality plays, I feel that those could be some of the best examples of raw human connection. Though they are rare and of course the scammer probably just tries to scam the next person. Unless Jim Browning gets to them first!

Peter Kyrouac

i dont watch scam baiting stuff because i don't like it when people are made to feel foolish- even when there's a lot more going on, that's the thing that stands out to me most. But i enjoyed this- i thought the last piece on the webcam stuff was great and would have liked more on that, in a way? Also, mothcub's art for these videos is always so great but this one was particularly delightful.

Well I def agree that’s what scambaiting is about, just from a narrative perspective. But you know, none of that really contradicts what I said in the end

Big Joel

I had a slightly different answer to your rhetorical question, "Imagine if these videos were fictional. What would they be about?" Instead of imagining the relationship between the developed world and the global south, I would view those stories as morality tales. Someone who is attempting to deceive and steal from someone else is themselves deceived and sometimes stolen from. In these stories, a skilled protagonist is taking on someone who preys on the vulnerable and turns the tables on them. Scammers are people who are knowingly doing harm to those who are mentally challenged, elderly, or afraid of the scenario they are being threatened with by the scammers. These scam-baiting stories are a kind of just deserts. Scammers aren't subjected to intense suffering, but a proportionate inconvenience, especially in a context where it is difficult to arrest a wrongdoer using more traditional law-enforcement techniques. As always, your video is interesting and thought provoking, but my take on the topic is somewhat different than yours.

As a former call center employee for an American company "most of their labor is emotional", really resonated with me, nice vid <3

PenguinWithATie