Some of us in the personal finance realm have a weird little hobby: We try to scam the scam artists.

We’re not out to steal their money — just their time. When fraudsters call to say we’re about to be arrested for tax debt, our Social Security number has been “suspended,” or a loved one is in trouble, we play along.

This gives us valuable insight into how the scams operate while wasting the time these jerks could spend victimizing more vulnerable people. In my latest for the Associated Press, how to protect yourself from these scam artists