Pirate Guide

Requirements (for beginners)

Quite a bit of skills, but since most of them don’t take too long and most of them are essential anyway it’s not too much of a hassle.

Speed
Train Microwarp Drive. This way you can evade missiles and turret fire. In a frigate you can take down opponents much larger than yourself if you can rely on a speed advantage. This leads to…
High Speed Maneuvering I
Navigation IV
Afterburner IV
Interrupts
Warp Scrambler (the -2 scramble is more likely to stop a target with a warp core stabiliser opposed to a Warp Disruptor), meaning…
Propulsion Jamming I
Navigation II
Electronics III
Capacitor Power Relays (since a Microwarp Drive and Warp Scramber are quite a drain…), which means:
Energy Grid Upgrades II
Science I
Engineering II
Slow Downs (optional)
Stasis Webfilter (no additional requirements for this one), though not necessary in asteroid belts, near planets, etc.
A ship (.. surprise!)
Kestrel or Rifter. They allow lockdowns combined with decent speeds and fire power.
The Kestrel should be outfitted with rockets or standard missiles, depending on your personal preference
The same goes with guns and missiles for the Rifter
The Amarr and Gallente versions of those ships are a little more difficult to master and are inferior in regards to ship design

Hunting Locations

In general 0.4 space and below. Look around less busy areas since those are the ones where the miners are usually hiding and keep your eyes open in local.
Use your scanner to look for haulers and mining cruisers
Once you found one either use the scanner to narrow him down (recommended - takes some practice but much faster once you got the hang of it), or skim the belts manually

Fighting

Orbit your prey at your optimal range and engage your warp scrambler and weapons
Convo him once you got him down to structure to ask for a ransom. Base your request on the value of his ships, modules and the overall amount he would lose if he went down.
Don’t pod-kill your target as the security status hit will prevent you from going into high security space again