Scammer Payback

Scammer Payback goes by the pseudonym Pierogi to protect his identity while doing anti-scammer work. Keeping his legal name private is a deliberate safety measure, since the scammers he exposes often react aggressively and could attempt retaliation against him or his family.

The legality is genuinely debated and sits in a grey area. In the U.S., accessing another person's computer without authorization is technically covered by the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act — even if that person is a criminal. Scammer Payback frames his actions as turning scammers' own tools against them, and the topic comes up frequently in his community discussions.

He uses the same remote desktop tools — like AnyDesk — that tech support scammers install on victims' computers to steal from them. Once a scammer initiates a session expecting to access a fake victim's machine, Scammer Payback flips the connection and gains access to the scammer's system instead, turning their own method against them.

In videos like "I Made an Antivirus That Secretly Attacks Scammers" and "I Built a Virus To PUNISH This Nasty Scammer," he demonstrates custom-built tools designed to disrupt scammers' operations mid-call — triggering file deletions, locking their systems, or causing chaotic effects on their computers. The builds are presented as both a technical demonstration and a form of direct counter-attack.

AnyDesk is a legitimate remote access application that tech support scammers routinely weaponize by tricking victims into installing it. The sponsorship is a pointed fit — Scammer Payback uses the same software category as a tool against scammers, and partnering with AnyDesk aligns with his broader mission of cybersecurity awareness for his audience.

His official tipline is Tipline@ScammerPayback.org, where viewers can report active scam operations or suspicious activity for potential investigation and future video content. He explicitly notes that his Instagram DMs are not for personal scam help — the tipline is the designated channel for leads.

A substantial portion of his videos target India-based call center operations, which run some of the most widespread tech support, IRS impersonation, and Social Security fraud schemes aimed at American victims. His most-used hashtags include #india and #indian, reflecting how consistently that geography appears in the scam networks he exposes.

Scambaiting is the practice of deliberately engaging scammers — wasting their time, gathering evidence, and disrupting their tools — to reduce the number of real victims they can reach in a given day. Scammer Payback is one of the most prominent scambaiters on YouTube, combining technical counter-attacks with humor to make the content educational and widely shareable.

His YouTube sponsors include NordVPN, Incogni, AnyDesk, and Aura — all brands operating in the cybersecurity, data privacy, or identity protection space. The alignment is unusually tight for a creator, since his entire channel is built around exposing the exact threats those products are designed to guard against.

Scammer Payback has grown to over 9 million subscribers on YouTube, placing him firmly in the Mega tier and making him one of the largest channels dedicated to consumer fraud awareness and scambaiting anywhere on the platform. His engagement rate runs well above the category average, which reflects an audience that is highly active and personally invested in the subject matter.