Is it illegal to scam a scammer?

I have been scammed a few times before. The scammer promised me a loan if I buy itunes gift cards to pay for a processing fee. The scammer deposited money in my checking account and the next day, the money was gone and my account was overdrawn. If some one tries to scam me like this again, would it be illegal to withdraw the money immediately and then close my account so he can't get his money back ad my checking account will not go negative. I doubt a jury would find me guilty for stealing from a scammer.

Yes, it's illegal - its obtaining funds by deception
It's highly doubtful though that they'd seek legal means of recovering the debt though.

It would be better if you get them to forward you the money through their usual channels, like Western Union etc. The last thing you want a scammer to have, is your details

Doesn't work that way, those initial deposits are fraudulent, they never actually clear. If you pull the money out, you are as guilty as the scammers in the banks/federal eyes. It would be difficult for you to prove you were not involved. Those first fraudulent deposits that are made, give the scammers the info they need to access your account. That is all they are for.

So you want to 'join' and scam… A thief is a theif is a thief

Yes, but it wouldn't work. The money deposited doesn't exist in real time. Thus if you were to try to spend it you would only be spending your own money and they scammer would withdraw the deposit the same way. And if doing so make you overdrawn, that would be completely on you, not the scammer.

Not illegal at all.

Yes you can w/draw the money as soon as possible and close out the account. But it does not matter since the check is fraudulent either way, thus even after you close the account, the bank will go after you for those fraudulent funds/check that did not exist.

Remember the check is not good, regardless if a scammer does this, or even if a friend wrote you a check that does not have enough in their account to cover the check.

The scammer doesn't care about the money he sent to your account, because he used a fake account in the first place. The bank is the one that took the money back when they realized it was fake. If you withdrew the money, the bank would come after you for it.

Wouldn't it be easier to just say "no" to scams?