Often, cell phones and online scammers seem to be beyond responsibility. Often operated from abroad, where illegal activities are tolerated or ignored, the organized criminal groups behind scammers and frustrated scams have earned billions of dollars from some of the most vulnerable people in society.
However, a small number of good people fought back.
Three of the world’s most popular “Scambusters” (with over 10 million total followers on their social media platforms) teamed up with CBC market To create a center to combat fraud, leverage its unique skills to penetrate overseas crime networks, re-enter Brut’s 62 active scam call centers back into their operations and intercept fraudulent calls to prevent fraudsters from getting money from Canadian victims.
Jim Browning: Scambusting’s “Godfather”
Scambuster Jim Browning infiltrated scam call centers to reveal who is behind them and share that information with authorities who can close them.
Jim Browning keeps the cover and covers it up – given the threat he faces is a necessary security measure after the successful evacuation of a global network of fraudsters.
Browning is known as Scambusting’s “godfather” and has been accepting fraudsters since March 2014. A computer engineer passes training, he will reverse the engineer’s scam, which means that when the fraudster tries to access his computer remotely, he accesses all information from their true identity, location and information in the script, including scripts, including scripts, including scammers, as well as scammers.
This penetration method has brought him into the interior of more than 3,000 scam call centers – he intercepts the scam phone and warns the victims of warnings when they call the fraudster. He also works with police forces around the world to locate and close scams.
In 2024, Jim produced a video about a scam that took place in Dubai, known as the “pig slaughter”, where fraudsters formed false online friendships to gain the trust of their victims and then convinced them to invest in cryptocurrencies by promising fast profits.
After the video was released, Jim released it renew On his YouTube channel, 2,000 workers who shared scam call centers were arrested at the largest bust of scammers at any location in the world – at least his videos played a role to some extent.
Pleasant Green: Protector
Pleasant green inserts itself into the scam to educate people about what to pay attention to.
Another Scambaiter who deals with pleasant green online trying to understand the psychology behind the liars tried to convince them to get rid of the scam.
“I like to think of scammers as humans, and I think a lot of people will do their jobs because they may not find a better opportunity around the world,” he said. “So if I can convince a scammer that there is a better way to make a living, then I will give them this opportunity.”
He also inserted various scams as he tried to convince the scam to change his way to help potential victims understand how the scams work and red flags.
he Teach courses online Regarding digital security, including how to manage passwords and privacy settings on your smartphone, how to identify phishing scams, such as text messages that claim you have received your deposit and need to click on the link.
internal market Counter-scan center, he reminded our team to conduct intercepted calls between scammers and female victims.
“This woman is scared. She thinks she’s in legal trouble. I have her phone number and I keep trying to call her, but she won’t answer my phone because the liar is saying, ‘Oh, that one calls you, he just wants to steal your money.'”
Pleasant green is playing against the fraudster to prevent the woman from losing money. He knew she had been directed to go to her nearest bank branch. He will call her bank when he can’t get to her.
“She is going to withdraw some money,” he said. “But I believe she is a victim of an internet scam.”
His team also called local police.
“We know her computer is compromised and she is under pressure to send money.”
He received confirmation that police warn potential victims before any loss of money.
It was one of the many wins of the Scambusters during a two-day fraud period.
Kitboga: Crime-fighting comedian
Popular YouTube and Twitch streamers Kitboga pretended to be a time-waste victim, swapping the table on the table for a liar.
YouTube star Kitboga is part of the tech guide and another part of the improvisation comedian – using different voices like “The Old Man Richard” and AI, wasting the time of the liar by convinceing them to successfully deceive someone.
He told the audience in a recent video. “We can laugh because the liar thinks he has the upper hand. Really, we are the ones who lied to him.”
After meeting a tech support scam that he knew his grandparents would be victims, he began wasting his time in 2017, starting to waste his time in order to avoid cheating victims.
“From the beginning, that’s ‘you know what, if I could spend five to 10 minutes on the phone with a liar, that’s they didn’t talk to someone’s grandma for five to 10 minutes.’ I think that’s still in my mind.”
So using his software engineering background, he managed to tie some scammers (even weeks) together in a ridiculous encounter.
In one instance, Kitboga wasted nearly 11 hours of fraudulent time (within four days) by promising to send the fraudsters a $500 Google Play card, just watching the fraudsters take apart because they learned they had redeemed the funds.
He also used his expertise to create a software company called Seraph Secure, which provides free software designed to block fraudulent remote computer connections to prevent access to scam websites and alert users when threats are detected on their devices.
Watch these Scambusters work with market journalists to face fraudsters, intercept live calls and save people from losing money.
Financial crime remains a deteriorating problem in Canada.
In 2024, total losses climbed to over $630 million, accounting for all different types of cybercrimes, which is the magnitude of all different types of cybercrimes, which is an increase from $576 million in 2023, according to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Center.
The most common method of tendering used by fraudsters is to call their victims. Last year, Canadians lost more than $73 million in phone scams, more than double the losses reported since 2020.
Cybersecurity experts, law enforcement agencies and Scambusters continue to recommend education as the best tool to combat scams.
market pass Head to Mumbaiexpose the location of many overseas criminal operations. The team accepted it Hidden cameras in the Scam Center operation Revealing what is happening, victim liars are usually targeted. In 2022, the team Some Canadians have been exposed through suspected financial ties Go to overseas crime operations and run scam call centers.
