Hacktivism (a portmanteau of hack and activism) is the subversive use of computers and computer networks to promote a political agenda or a social change. Its ends are often related to the free speech, human rights and freedom of information movements.

Some people believe hacktivism is a growing force and will become more active and take on bigger challenges. But, others believe it is a spent force and will die away slowly over the coming years.

Mr. Robot

“Mr. Robot” is a TV series that tells the story of hacker Elliot Alderson  and his role in an anarchist collective called “fsociety,” whose followers wear masks that resemble “Rich Uncle Pennybags” from the Monopoly board game.

The series was inspired by a notorious computer hacker named H who has gone from trying to bring down the authorities — to working for them.

As a key member of the hacking group known as Anonymous and a founder of its elite “LulzSec” unit, Hector Monsegur helped launch cyber attacks on government and corporate targets including the US Senate, the FBI and major credit-card companies.

But when he was arrested in 2011, Monsegur — known online as “Sabu” — began secretly cooperating with an investigation that led to a wave of arrests across the US, Great Britain and Ireland.

Today, Anonymous still goes by the motto it unveiled in 2009: “We are Anonymous. We are Legion. We do not forgive. We do not forget. Expect us.”

Hector Monsegur

But Monsegur, 35, says society has little to fear from the online anarchists in Guy Fawkes masks as “Anonymous is irrelevant.  “All it is now is a figment of hipsters’ imagination.”

Monsegur pleaded guilty to seven felonies as part of his deal with prosecutors and spent nearly eight months in Lower Manhattan’s infamous Metropolitan Correctional Center before being sentenced to time served in 2014.

The following year, Monsegur, landed a job working remotely as a “white-hat hacker” for Seattle-based Rhino Security Labs, helping companies identify vulnerabilities in their computer systems.

He admits that in comparison to what he used to do before, it’s not the same kind of thrill.

The article at http://www.fightbackonline.org/index.php/guidance/12-explanations/108-is-hacktivism-a-force-for-good has more information on Hacktivism.

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Kitboga is the Internet alias of an American YouTuber whose content primarily focuses on scam baiting against scams conducted over the phone.

His YouTube channel has over 2 million subscribers.

In mid-2017, Kitboga found out that his grandmother had fallen victim to many scams designed to prey on the elderly, both online and in person. He then discovered “Lenny”, a loop of vague pre-recorded messages that scam baiters play during calls with the aim of convincing the scammer that there is a real person on the phone without providing any useful information to the scammer. After seeing these videos uploaded to YouTube, he decided to have a go himself.

. While he started out streaming for his friends on Twitch, his viewership soon started growing beyond his immediate circles, eventually leading to the growth in popularity he has experienced since starting his channel. Kitboga hopes that by wasting scammers’ time, he can prevent them from scamming others, while also providing a source of entertainment and education to his viewers.[5]

In March 2020, with the growing prevalence of the COVID-19 pandemic, Kitboga started baiting scammers who were selling an essential oil which they dishonestly claimed was a cure for COVID-19, following a warning from the United States Federal Trade Commission to consumers to be alert for coronavirus-related scams.[6]

Technique[edit]

In his Youtube videos, Kitboga engages in scam baiting with several types of scammers.

Typically technical support scammers, refund scammers, tax  scammers, social security scammers, and more.

To misdirect scammers away from his real identity, as well as for viewer entertainment, Kitboga often poses as a number of different characters during his videos, including a grandmother named either Edna, Vera, Matilda, or Bernice  a Russian man named Vicktor Viktoor.

He always plays characters who know little about IT and can be easily cheated by the scammer.

Kitboga plays along with the scammer, misdirecting, apparently making mistakes again and again and so on.

At the end of bait calls, Kitboga sometimes turns off his voice changer and reveals that he has been scambaiting.

Usually that results in a hangup, but some are so dumb and so used to lying that they carry pretending it is real.

You’ll find Kitboga’s videos at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCm22FAXZMw1BaWeFszZxUKw

If you have any experiences with these scams do let me know, by email.

Scammers call you trying to steal your money or your identity or both.

So, why not waste their time, drive them mad and get your own back.

Plus while you’re keeping them busy they cannot be scamming someone else.

Cathy Simpson came up with an unusual way to have a bit of fun while deflecting cold callers, although it needs a little preparation to really work well.

“I used to be plagued with them, sometimes as many as six in a day, so I applied serious thought to the problem. My life changed forever when I discovered that you can download MP3 clips of various sounds, which I saved in iTunes.

“So… a scammer would call, and I’d tell them I’d need to transfer them to my husband, then play a clip of someone snoring REALLY loudly for a few minutes or a chorus of screaming chimpanzees.

“Sometimes I’d tell them my computer was in the other room, and I’d need to go down there to turn it on. So they could accompany me on my journey, they were treated to the sound of someone walking along an interminably long echoey corridor, followed by the sound of wading through water. These guys have no staying power, you know. When I asked if they were still there, they’d already rung off.

“My favourite, though, was the time they phoned to tell me my IP address had been hacked. They told me to turn on my computer. I played a clip of artillery fire, followed by an explosion. I expressed dismay that my computer had just blown up.

“I told them I couldn’t tell, as the computer was now in small pieces all over the floor and the room was full of smoke. They told me not to worry, that they were working on it. I thanked them, of course. It was only polite.”

Have fun.

If you have any experiences with these scams do let me know, by email.