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In his videos, Kitboga engages in scambaiting several types of scammers, a majority of whom operate call centers in [[India]]. Besides [[technical support scam]]mers, he also engages with refund scammers, [[IRS impersonation scam|IRS scammers]], and others.
In his videos, Kitboga engages in scambaiting several types of scammers, a majority of whom operate call centers in [[India]]. Besides [[technical support scam]]mers, he also engages with refund scammers, [[IRS impersonation scam|IRS scammers]], and others.


To misdirect scammers away from his real identity, as well as for viewer entertainment, Kitboga often acts as a number of characters during his videos, including an 80-year-old grandmother named Edna and a granny named Matilda,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://kotaku.com/this-twitch-streamer-gets-revenge-on-tech-support-scamm-1827454050|title=This Twitch Streamer Gets Revenge On Tech Support Scammers|last=D'Anastasio|first=Cecilia|website=Kotaku|language=en-US|access-date=2019-09-22}}</ref> a Russian man named Vicktor Viktoor,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-intersect/wp/2018/02/08/internet-scammers-are-terrible-this-troll-is-their-nightmare/|title=Internet scammers are terrible. This troll is their nightmare.|last=Selk|first=Avi|date=2019-02-08|website=The Washington Post|url-status=live|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2019-09-22}}</ref> a [[valley girl]] named Nevaeh,<ref>{{Citation|title=Angry Tech Support Scammer VS Valley Girl|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntht-X-yuOA|language=en|access-date=2019-09-22}}</ref> or sometimes even a competing technical support scammer named Daniel. He does this by imitating the accent or vocal intonation of the character he is trying to portray, in addition to oftentimes using a [[voice changer]] to alter the pitch of his voice. However, the common factor uniting all these characters is that they are not computer-savvy, giving the scammer confidence that the would-be victim is more likely to fall for the ruse.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ctvnews.ca/business/kitboga-the-internet-star-giving-scammers-a-taste-of-their-own-medicine-1.4364192|title=Kitboga: The Internet star giving scammers a taste of their own medicine|last=Ward|first=Adam|date=2019-04-04|website=www.ctvnews.ca|url-status=live|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2019-09-22}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://www.newsweek.com/laughter-death-threats-meet-kitboga-youtuber-exposing-tech-support-scams-938384|title="From laughter to death threats": Meet Kitboga, the streamer exposing tech support scams|last=Murdock|first=Jason|date=2018-05-22|website=Newsweek|language=en|url-status=live|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2019-09-22}}</ref>
To misdirect scammers away from his real identity, as well as for viewer entertainment, Kitboga often acts as a number of characters during his videos, including a grandmother named either Edna, Matilda, or [[Bernie Sanders|Bernice Anders]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://kotaku.com/this-twitch-streamer-gets-revenge-on-tech-support-scamm-1827454050|title=This Twitch Streamer Gets Revenge On Tech Support Scammers|last=D'Anastasio|first=Cecilia|website=Kotaku|language=en-US|access-date=2019-09-22}}</ref> a Russian man named Vicktor Viktoor,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-intersect/wp/2018/02/08/internet-scammers-are-terrible-this-troll-is-their-nightmare/|title=Internet scammers are terrible. This troll is their nightmare.|last=Selk|first=Avi|date=2019-02-08|website=The Washington Post|url-status=live|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2019-09-22}}</ref> a [[valley girl]] named Nevaeh,<ref>{{Citation|title=Angry Tech Support Scammer VS Valley Girl|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntht-X-yuOA|language=en|access-date=2019-09-22}}</ref> or sometimes even a competing technical support scammer named Daniel. He does this by imitating the accent or vocal intonation of the character he is trying to portray, in addition to oftentimes using a [[voice changer]] to alter the pitch of his voice. However, the common factor uniting all these characters is that they are not computer-savvy, giving the scammer confidence that the would-be victim is more likely to fall for the ruse.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ctvnews.ca/business/kitboga-the-internet-star-giving-scammers-a-taste-of-their-own-medicine-1.4364192|title=Kitboga: The Internet star giving scammers a taste of their own medicine|last=Ward|first=Adam|date=2019-04-04|website=www.ctvnews.ca|url-status=live|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2019-09-22}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://www.newsweek.com/laughter-death-threats-meet-kitboga-youtuber-exposing-tech-support-scams-938384|title="From laughter to death threats": Meet Kitboga, the streamer exposing tech support scams|last=Murdock|first=Jason|date=2018-05-22|website=Newsweek|language=en|url-status=live|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2019-09-22}}</ref>


== See also ==
== See also ==

Revision as of 02:39, 3 December 2020

Kitboga
Personal information
NationalityAmerican
WebsiteKitboga.com
Twitch information
Channel
Years active2017-present
GenreScambaiting
Followers826,676
Last updated: November 28, 2020
YouTube information
Channel
Years active2017–present
GenreScambaiting
Subscribers1.39 million[1]
(28 November 2020)
Total views183,478,539[1]
(28 November 2020)

Kitboga is the internet alias of an American Twitch streamer and YouTuber whose content primarily focuses on scambaiting. As of September 2020, his channel has gained over 783,000 followers on Twitch and his YouTube channel has over 1 million subscribers.[2][3]

Premise

Kitboga began scambaiting in mid-2017 after he found out that his grandmother was a victim of many types of scams designed to prey on the elderly, both online and in person.[4] He holds that, by wasting the time of scammers, he is preventing them from scamming others and is also providing a source of entertainment and education to his viewers. In doing so, he mixes elements of popular culture into his dialogue during scam calls.[5]

Scambaiting

Main article: Scambaiting

In his videos, Kitboga engages in scambaiting several types of scammers, a majority of whom operate call centers in India. Besides technical support scammers, he also engages with refund scammers, IRS scammers, and others.

To misdirect scammers away from his real identity, as well as for viewer entertainment, Kitboga often acts as a number of characters during his videos, including a grandmother named either Edna, Matilda, or Bernice Anders,[6] a Russian man named Vicktor Viktoor,[7] a valley girl named Nevaeh,[8] or sometimes even a competing technical support scammer named Daniel. He does this by imitating the accent or vocal intonation of the character he is trying to portray, in addition to oftentimes using a voice changer to alter the pitch of his voice. However, the common factor uniting all these characters is that they are not computer-savvy, giving the scammer confidence that the would-be victim is more likely to fall for the ruse.[9][10]

See also

  • Trojan.Clampi
  • Jim Browning - online alias of an anonymous British grey-hat hacker and YouTube personality whose specialty is scambaiting

References

  1. ^ a b "About Kitboga". YouTube.
  2. ^ "Twitch". Twitch. Retrieved 2020-02-09.
  3. ^ "Kitboga". YouTube. Retrieved 2020-05-27.
  4. ^ Lorenz, Taylor (2018-02-06). "This Twitch Streamer Is Avenging His Grandmother by Prank Calling Indian Scam Artists". The Daily Beast. Retrieved 2020-02-09.
  5. ^ Rigg, Jamie (2018-07-30). "Making a living scamming the scammers". Engadget. Retrieved 2019-09-22.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  6. ^ D'Anastasio, Cecilia. "This Twitch Streamer Gets Revenge On Tech Support Scammers". Kotaku. Retrieved 2019-09-22.
  7. ^ Selk, Avi (2019-02-08). "Internet scammers are terrible. This troll is their nightmare". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2019-09-22.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  8. ^ Angry Tech Support Scammer VS Valley Girl, retrieved 2019-09-22
  9. ^ Ward, Adam (2019-04-04). "Kitboga: The Internet star giving scammers a taste of their own medicine". www.ctvnews.ca. Retrieved 2019-09-22.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  10. ^ Murdock, Jason (2018-05-22). ""From laughter to death threats": Meet Kitboga, the streamer exposing tech support scams". Newsweek. Retrieved 2019-09-22.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
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