Scam baiting

Scam baiting is a form of Internet vigilantism, where the vigilante poses as a potential victim to the scammer in order to waste their time and resources, gather information that will be of use to authorities, and publicly expose the scammer. It is primarily used to thwart advance-fee fraud scams and can be done out of a sense of civic duty (activism), as a form of amusement, or both. However, some of this scambaiting can involve racism while there are other forms that document e.g. scammers tools and methods, warn potential victims, provide discussion forums, or take down fake websites.