Vigilante Hackers use Old West Tactics for Justice

dismorphic writes "Angered by the growing number of Internet scams, online 'vigilantes' have started to take justice into their own hands by hacking into suspected fraud sites and defacing them. These hackers have targeted fake websites set up to resemble the sites of banks or financial institutions in recent weeks, and have inserted new pages or messages. Some say 'Warning - This was a Scam Site,' or 'This Bank Was Fraudulent and Is Now Removed.'" So maybe it's not a posse of horsemen, but it's still kinda cool that someone is taking care of those who would defraud the public.

ahhh...

[Anonymous Coward]

that's why my citibank fansite was defaced!

Western Justice, eh ...

[TripMaster_Monky]

"The Geeks, the Pasty and the Unbathed"

If only they could hack the email servers as well

[ravenspear]

Dear Sir,

My name is Dr. Samouismai from the royal family of Nigeria and I would like to offer you a proposal that you may find compelling.

I have recently come into an inheritance of goatse pics and I feel that I can not hold all of it safely. I would propose that if you agree I will hold 26 million of these pics in trust for you to deposit at whatever place you wish to keep them.

I would like to meet to arrange this as soon as possible. If this deal succeeds, I would also like to discuss the possibility of you acquiring my collection of 4.3 million woopie cushions.

Sincerely,
I forgot my real name but I usually go by Jack Ass

Re:Retribution

[Anonymous Coward]

Just think if Visa did this. Only instead of "fake", they use honeytokens: Cards which, once used, are immediately flagged. Black Helicopters swoop in and arrest the baddie. You know, like in that documentary "Enemy of the State".

Hacker Man!

[clayasaurus]

Hacker-man, Hacker-man
Does whatever a hacker can
pwns fake websites, any size
Catches phishers, just like flies
Look out! There goes the Hacker-man!

Is he strong? Listen, Bud!
He's got caffinated blood.
Can he type from a chair?
Take a look over there.
Hey there, there sits the Hacker-man!

In the chill of night,
At the scene of the crime
Like a streak of light
He arrives just in time

Hacker-man, Hacker-man
Friendly neighborhood Hacker-man
Wealth and fame, he's ignored
Action is his reward

To him, life is a great big bang-up
Wherever there's a scam-up
You'll find the Hacker-man!

Re:I agree

[kclittle]

I have mod points, but I can't find the "Insightful Flamebait Troll" value in the list...

Re:Report yourself to the authorites?

[Adrilla]

By the way, most comic book heroes are known as vigilantes

Well most comic book heroes have great powers, or amazing tools and weapons and um...oh yeah...They Don't Exist!

Re:justice

[ear1grey]

This was originally an ill-considered and underinformed comment disagreeing strongly with the attitude and social misalignement of the parent comment, however vigilantes have hacked it and altered it's purpose to throw the original comment's cunning and socially wry insight into sharp relief.

Re:justice

[thinkliberty]

Yeah but scammers are now useing new souper P-P-P-Powerbooks! [zug.com]

There is no way you are going to bring down their site.

2nd Amendment

[lheal]

I believe our Founding Fathers, well-versed in the technology of the day, said it best:

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Sploits, shall not be infringed.

Easy way to get phishing sites closed down

[tyagiUK]

Hack the phishing server, fire up a torrent tracker and post a link to some US chart music or movie downloads. ref: http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/05/25/22 6228&tid=95&tid=17 [slashdot.org]

That way, the FBI, RIAA, MPAA will all be round there in about 10 minutes flat.

someone is biased against horses

[MichaelGospatrick]

So maybe it's not a posse of horsemen

I take issue with this statement. Yes horses are not as popular as they once were, but that doesn't mean they are completely out of the picture. Why you automatically assume that everyone else subscribes to your horseless worldview, I have no idea.

The Real Truth

[Le_Papet]

'Warning - This was a Scam Site...If you would like to aid us in our future attacks on scam sites please enter your credit card number and expiration date in the fields provided below.'

Re:Retribution

[lheal]

>You know, like in that
>documentary "Enemy of the State".

Yeah, I wish Time had put documentaries in their Top 100 films list. That one surely would have been right there.

Did you notice how the mainstream media just ignored that, treating it like just another movie?

I added another layer of foil to the bomb shelter after I saw it.

Re:Where are the authorities?

[fnj]

So where is the FBI and the DHS when you need them?

Having a doughnut.

Mod parent down

[Anonymous Coward]

Parent post is clearly a fake, it claims the code is Perl, but I could read and understand all of it.

Here's a Site for You to Hack and Slash(dot)

[Anonymous Coward]

Here's his lame phishing site: http://66.246.90.93/~testing/ebay/secupdate.html [66.246.90.93]

And here is full shell access to his web server via a web page: http://manta.dnsvelocity.com/~testing/cgi-bin/mzz. php [dnsvelocity.com]

Re:ahhh...

[Dumbush]

Wait a minute, your site is a fansite? How come it required my citibank login to view the news item!

Well, that explains it all

[pg110404]

Here I am, minding my own business, trying to protect people by setting up a very similar web site to their bank so I can "store" their credit card numbers for them, and some jackass goes and defaces my web site.

I never felt so insulted in all my life. Well, then. If that's people's gratitude, I'll just stop that and if they lose their credit cards, they're on their own.

Re:Jury nullification

[Arker]

I'm protected by Smith and Wesson.

Re:Jury nullification

[digidave]

Let me know how that BOIP (Bullet Over IP) goes.

Re:Jury nullification

[Short Circuit]

Love to see your monitor after that one...

Re:ahhh...

[Patrik_AKA_RedX]

Simple: if you aren't a client, you aren't a real fan, are you? You bank account reaching a large negative number after registration is pure coincidence.

Re:Vigilante activism

[Anonymous Coward]

Dude! Generate the first 15 digits randomly, then calculate the checksum digit. That's what I do when I, uh... never mind.

Re:Jury nullification

[Anonymous Coward]

The problem with vigilantes is this:

What happens when they come after YOU, and you don't have due process to protect you?

You sound a little paranoid. Is someone running a scam site?

Yeah...

[kikta]

Inflammatory and extremist talk is not tolerated silently.

...it is duly modded up. ;-)

Re:Jury nullification

[NinjaFarmer]

Zybl0re: get on up
Zybl0re: get up
Zybl0re: get on up
phxl|paper: and DANCE
* nmp3bot dances :D-{
* nmp3bot dances :D|-{
* nmp3bot dances :D/-{
[SA]HatfulOfHollow: i'm going to become rich and famous after i invent a device that allows you to stab people in the face over the internet

Re:Jury nullification

[Mr.Zong]

What happens when your parents/friends/@other_close_ones get hit by a phisher, and "due process" doesn't protect them, because the industry is still "searching" for a solution?

Darwinism?

Re:Phishing and organized crime

[Tongo]

Oh. My. God. We must stop that evil hydrogen NOW! Think of the children!!