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In a Nutshell
Scambaiting videos on YouTube have garnered hundreds of millions of views in the past year, turning the act of wasting a scammer's time into a viral genre of justice. High-profile creators like Kitboga and Scammer Payback spend hours frustrating IRS imposters and tech support fraudsters to keep them off the phone with vulnerable targets. You have likely seen these clips and felt the urge to grab your own phone to fight back.
The core mechanic of scambaiting is simple: every minute a criminal spends talking to you is a minute they aren't robbing a grandmother. You take the role of the "bait," pretending to be a confused or willing victim to occupy their resources. This process—known as "occupying the line"—is the primary goal of the global scambaiting community.
While it feels like a prank, professionals treat it as a form of volunteer digital defense. They use elaborate characters and voice changers to lure scammers into "honey pots"—decoy environments designed to trap the scammer's information. You might find the idea of scammer numbers to call for fun appealing, but the professionals are running a high-stakes game of cat and mouse.
Most active scam numbers are aggregated by communities like Scammer.info, which currently boasts over 30,000 registered members. These users report numbers they receive from "cold calls" or find in phishing emails. They often focus on IRS, Social Security Administration (SSA), and PayPal impersonation scams that target the general public.
These databases often pull from Nomorobo and RoboKiller, which track millions of automated "robocalls" every day. These platforms identify patterns in tech support and PCH scams to warn users before they pick up. When you search for a scambaiting guide, you are essentially looking for the front lines of a massive, automated war.
The biggest mistake you can make is using your personal smartphone to call a scammer. Even if you use *67 to hide your Caller ID, sophisticated scam centers use "Automatic Number Identification"—a service that bypasses blocking—to see your real number. Once they have it, they can put you on a "hot list" for continuous harassment.
In one case reported by the Oregon Courts, a woman who tried to confront a scammer found her number listed as the contact point on dozens of fake ads. She was bombarded with thousands of calls from angry people looking for non-existent products until she was forced to change her number. Scammers do not just hang up; they retaliate by "doxing" you—publishing your private information online.
There are also legal grey areas you must consider before making a call. Recording a phone call without consent is illegal in many "two-party consent" states, and impersonating a federal agent or legal authority can lead to criminal charges. What starts as a fun way to waste a scammer's time can quickly turn into a legal or privacy nightmare.
If you are determined to engage, you must use a "burner" VOIP—Voice over Internet Protocol—service. Apps like TextNow or Google Voice allow you to generate a secondary number that is not tied to your SIM card or home address. This provides a layer of insulation between your real life and the person on the other end of the line.
You must never use your real name, location, or any "character" details that resemble your actual life. Even a small slip of the tongue can give a professional social engineer enough information to find your social media profiles. To learn how to waste scammers time safely, you must first learn how to become a ghost.
While a 10-minute prank call occupies one low-level agent, a single report to the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) feeds into a national enforcement database. These reports allow authorities to track the "originating service provider" and shut down entire blocks of numbers at once. Pranking is a temporary nuisance; reporting is a structural blow to their business model.
A scam phone number checker like the one provided by ScamAdviser can tell you if a number has already been flagged by thousands of other users. Instead of calling, you can verify the threat and then report it to the proper authorities. This ensures the data is used to protect others permanently rather than just providing a moment of entertainment.
Many people looking for scammer numbers are specifically dealing with a pch scam call—an impersonator claiming to be from Publishers Clearing House. These scammers tell you that you have won a "multi-million dollar prize" but must first pay a "processing fee" or "tax" via gift cards. They use the excitement of a big win to bypass your logical thinking.
The real PCH never calls ahead to announce a major prize, and they never, under any circumstances, ask for payment to claim a win. If you receive one of these calls, the best "bait" is to simply hang up and report the number. Engaging with them often leads to your number being sold to other "lottery scam" networks, increasing the volume of junk calls you receive.
If you do decide to engage, treat it like a high-risk game—stay sharp, protect your personal information, and watch for any signs the situation is escalating. It can be interesting, even satisfying, to waste a scammer’s time, but the smarter move is knowing when to step back and report them so the right people can take it further.
Adam Collins is a cybersecurity researcher at ScamAdviser who operates under a pseudonym for privacy and security. With over four years on the digital frontlines and 1,500+ days spent deconstructing thousands of fraud schemes, he specialises in translating complex threats into actionable advice. His mission: exposing red flags so you can navigate the web with confidence
