In this workshop we revisit the SPAM folder to see if there is something valuable we can learn from it. This workshop will offer participants both a theoretical and practical introduction to interactive narratives in ‘
419-fictional environments’ created by scammers and
scambaiters. We seek to understand different sides of online fraud and through creative storytelling reflect on issues like online privacy, virtual representation and trust within networks. We also draw parallels to other practices and cultures like gaming, transmedia storytelling and creative activism. With the help of a ‘419 fiction toolkit’ participants are introduced to tactics of creating fictional characters and infiltrating a scammers story-world in order to observe and interrupt their workflow. We explore how persuasive narratives are setup, how characters are designed and how dialog is exchanged to build trust between the acting parties. We will have a look at how social media, various content generators and other tools are used to orchestrate Internet fiction, creating entrance points to a story world and spreading traces of information online. The workshop also includes hands-on social engineering exercises to gather information about the scam and the scammer and how this can be used to warn other potential victims. By reflecting on scam bait experiences we enter a discussion around the topic of interactive narration connecting to the participants’ and their general work in this field.
This workshop needs at least 5 participants to run, and can fit a maximum of 16 participants.
Read more about the workshop at the organiser's blog, Kairus.
