CLEVELAND, Ohio — Organized crime rings are constantly working to get our personal information and money.
I caught up with a Northeast Ohio man who is trying to disrupt a process that is a 24/7/365 operation.
For a few hours each day, the man who goes by the name Eastside Eddie is going toe-to-toe with the scammers who have their sights on all of us.
He asked us to not use his real name or show his face due to the nature of his work from a converted bedroom inside his home.
"This stuff in this room, this is my happy place," Eastside Eddie said.
The retired IT professional has all the tools he needs to take on crime.
"This is an epidemic worse than COVID," said Eastside Eddie.
The 73-year-old is what's called a "scam baiter."
"Hundreds of thousands of us out here fighting the fight at all levels," said Eastside Eddie.
It all started decades ago, when Eastside Eddie would answer phone calls that he knew were not legit.
"The first thing they say is, good day to you, how are you today," said Eastside Eddie.
That’s Eastside Eddie’s cue to get to work and turn the tables on the scammer.
"It's like okay, officer John White, I'm going to keep you on the phone as long as I possibly can," said Eastside Eddie.
That's the main driver behind all of this. If Eastside Eddie is tying up these bad actors, that's one less likely victim taking their call.
"I bully and I badger, and I browbeat until they say 'no mas' and they give up and hang up that call, so it's a lot of fun to do, but it's fun with purpose," said Eastside Eddie.
I saw firsthand how all the technology packed into the bedroom is used to sidetrack scammers.
"When you get them off their script, they get so flustered," said Eastside Eddie.
Their goal, Eastside Eddie tells me, is to trick people into giving them access to their computers with false claims that accounts have been hacked or their finances are at risk.
When they connect to Eastside Eddies, they're only connecting to a Windows simulation.
“They think that's my bank account," said Eastside Eddie.
Microphones and computer programs allow the scam baiter to create a handful of characters that chat with the bad actors.
There's a growing appetite for this type of revenge online.
"There's some people doing it on Twitch live streaming, and there's also dedicated YouTube channels as well to scamming the scammers," said Mike Mazzola, President of Mazzola Tech.
Mazzola's tech company helps small and medium-sized businesses keep their networks secure.
I asked him if there are any dangers when it comes to scam baiting, whether over the phone or online.
"Absolutely, especially in a business environment," said Mazzola.
Mazzola told me a client had an employee try to engage with a scammer to get back at them, and they put the company's data, infrastructure, and privacy at risk.
"If you believe you've been scammed, the best course of action is to report it, not engage with the scammers. Trust the professionals," said Mazzola.
Back at Eastside Eddie's, he can sometimes take more than a dozen calls.
Since he’s talked with more scammers than the average person, I wanted to know what tips he would share to help people in those situations.
"Stop. Take a deep breath and ask yourself, is this even logical? eBay is never going to call you. Amazon's never going to call you. Visa fraud team, they're never going to call you," said Eastside Eddie.
He would like to expand his mission to squash scammers outside the four walls of his home by hosting workshops at senior centers and assisted living facilities.
Eastside Eddie does not charge a fee, he just wants to keep getting the word out.
He said we all need to acknowledge that scammers are out there and they're coming for us, so knowledge is power, and that education component is so crucial.
