As webmaster of the anti-fraud website "419HELL.com" http://www.419hell.com Calvin Huckle became so frustrated with law enforcement's apathy for curtailing the crime, that he took it upon himself to do something about it. For the last two years he has been working undercover, as a "double agent", posing as a Nigerian email scammer. Doing so allows Huckle to fool REAL Nigerian email scammers into trusting him with information about the innocent people they are attempting to scam. With that information Calvin Huckle is able to contact the would-be victims and warn them that they are about to be scammed. He has warned 670 people so far.

Q: How did you manage to fool the Nigerian scammers into thinking you were a Nigerian scammer too?
A: I've had a lot of experience with "baiting" Nigerian scammers and was able to mimic their way of talking and writing. With practise I was able to perfect my deception and communicate with the scammers with ease. I was able to convince them that I was a fellow Nigerian scammer, living in the United States, who was willing to help them exploit people in exchange for a percentage of the "take". But of course I was not really helping them.

Q: Do you work for the police?
A: No. On very rare occasions I have worked with the police, but the vast majority of the time I work on my own.

Q: Do you get paid to do this?
A: No. I do this for free.

Q: What do you do with the victim information you obtain from the scammers?
A: I usually call the would-be victims up and warn them that they are being targeted. Depending on the circumstances, and their wishes, the victims usually either choose to "freeze out" the scammers (by ignoring them completely) or help me "bait" the scammers (by pretending to still be interested in the scams). In this way I am able to covertly thwart some email scammers for months (even years) before they realized I am a spy.

Q: How do the victims react when you call them?
A: The majority are grateful for the warning. Some are also profoundly disappointed or heart broken. The worst are the romance scam victims - not only are they being scammed out of money, but many of them have had their hearts stomped on. Some of the people I call have already been scammed out of money before I came into the picture. Those victims usually require extra attention and special advice.

Q: What motivates you to do this? Have you, your self, ever been scammed?
A: Fortunately no, I have never been scammed. I'm motivated by my desire to help innocent people. I also find it tons of fun thwarting and annoying the scammers.

Q: How much money did you save the people who were about to be victimized?
A: The average email scam victim loses about $6,000 by the time a 419er (email scammer) has finished with them. I have successfully warned 670 people so far. About half of them would have fallen for the scam. So it's fair to assume that I saved them about $2,010,000 collectively

Q: Is $2,010,000 significant?
A: Depends on how you look at it. It is certainly significant to the individual victims who were about to be scammed. And the loss is significant to the individual scammers who were thwarted. But admittedly we are talking about 4.3 BILLION a year racquet. In the United States the annual loss to email scammer is about $830,000,000. So $2,010,000 only makes about a 0.25% dent. Still, when you consider that I'm just one man who is doing this for free - and without support of law enforcement - I think I'm doing a very good job.

Q: How do the scammers react when they finally realize you have betrayed them?
A: They usually whine like a pair of bad breaks, curse, insult my mother and rant hysterically. They also often make (thoroughly misspelled) death threats. (Examples) One Nigerian scammer (Mikel Bolton) wrote this...
'Calvin, You're a game player with NO sense of honour, hence i knows your @#$%ing type @#$%hole.Are you tired of @#$%ING your mum?.Well nice work for breaking every record of sound morality and good mannerism with this singular honour of @#$%ING your mum @#$%hole!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.'
Shockingly, even after making the above quote, I was still able to "sweat talk" the scammer into trusting me with even MORE of his victims' information!

Q: Are you worried about retaliation from the scammers?
A: No. These are cowardly, lazy thieves hiding on the other side of the planet who have no intention of caring out their threats. But, as an added precaution, I always use a fake phone number and false identity.

Q: Do you ever feel sorry for the scammers you are thwarting? Do you ever feel bad that you are lying to the scammers and betraying their trust?
A: NOT... AT... ALL... Email scammers are the most unscrupulous group of ignorant, hypocritical degenerates that a normal person will ever come into contact with. Remember the 419hell.com motto... 'It is good to be a jerk - to those who deserve it.' ...and these email scammers definitely deserve it."

Q: Who is the man in the photo at the top of this page? Why is he holding a sign that reads "Press Release"?
A: He is a Nigerian email scammer who I was able to trick into sending me a photo of himself. I have similar photos of scammers at the tops of these pages as well:
Frequently Asked Questions http://www.419hell.com/Nigerian_Scam_Baiting/Scam_Baiting_FAQ.html
Scam Baiting Hints and Tips http://www.419hell.com/Nigerian_Scam_Baiting/Scam_Baiting_Tips.html
FAQ for Email Scam Victims http://www.419hell.com/Nigerian_Scam_Baiting/419_Scam_Victim_FAQ.html
Help and Advice for Email Scammers http://www.419hell.com/Nigerian_Scam_Baiting/Tips_for_Scammers.html
"Is this email a scam?" FAQ http://www.419hell.com/Nigerian_Scam_Baiting/Is_This_a_Email_Scam.html 
Scam Baiting Terminology http://www.419hell.com/Nigerian_Scam_Baiting/Scam_Baiting_Terms.html 
Types of 419 Scams http://www.419hell.com/Nigerian_Scam_Baiting/Types_of_419_Scams.html 
Testimonials http://www.419hell.com/Nigerian_Scam_Baiting/419_Scams_Testimonials.html 
Forum http://www.419hell.com/Nigerian_Scam_Baiting/Scam_Baiter_Forum.html 
Links http://www.419hell.com/Nigerian_Scam_Baiting/Scam_Baiting_Links.html 

Q: Have you called and warned anyone who lives in the area where I work as a reporter?
A: Probably. I have warned 670 people so far. So the odds are that I have warned someone in your area. If you give me a short list of the towns near to you, I can check and see.

Website: http://www.419hell.com/
Contact name: Calvin Huckle
Email: frankjacksoniscool(at)gmail(dot)com
Snail Mail: 905 Spotsylvania St. New Athens, IL. 62264
Phone: (206)376-0330

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