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Ask HN: My mother was scammed out of all her savings. What should I do?

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Re: Ask HN: My mother was scammed out of all her savings. What should I do?

#51

Post by raw_anon_1111 »

This seems like such a simple problem to solve on the institutional level. Allow a person to have 3FA. Two phone numbers being required to log in - yours and trusted person.

I would have that setup for my parents so that if they ever called me for the 2nd code, I could ask questions about why they need it.

While I’m not too worried about my 83 year old mom, she is more tech savvy than most and has been using computers since 1986, I do worry about my dad if my mom passes first. He’s a lot more gullible.

Re: Ask HN: My mother was scammed out of all her savings. What should I do?

#52

Post by hulitu »

raw_anon_1111 wrote: post #51

This seems like such a simple problem to solve on the institutional level. Allow a person to have 3FA. Two phone numbers being required to log in - yours and trusted person. I would have that setup for my parents so that if they ever called me for the 2nd code, I could ask questions about why they need it. While I’m not too worried about my 83 year old mom, she is more tech savvy than most and has been using computer…

> Allow a person to have 3FA.

This might not be sufficient. We need 4FA or, better, 5FA.

Re: Ask HN: My mother was scammed out of all her savings. What should I do?

#53

Post by barrenko »

sebow wrote: post #31

(If you're OP: this is not a solution per se but more of a generalist rant; just so you don't waste critical time) People talk about changing laws or technical solutions, but the inconvenient truth is that technically literate people should peer-pressure nearby friends/family/etc. into being more aware of such possibilities. I've done so, to the extent that some people find it ether borderline schizophrenic/paranoid…

The bigger issue here (imvho) is that financial institutions / systems / companies accept (maybe even invite) / tolerate a small degree of fraud as it's "good" for the system.

Re: Ask HN: My mother was scammed out of all her savings. What should I do?

#54

Post by bluecheese452 »

tracker1 wrote: post #35
N_Lens wrote: post #2

I think this problem should be solved politically/legally first, technology can easily track money as you know. How are scammers able to operate bank accounts without leaving any traces, and why don’t the police and banks have the power to reverse transactions that are obviously fraudulent.

Sometimes, I think some aspects of "the old west" in the US might be worth considering a return to... such as "outlaw" and "dead or alive" I realize that in society we don't typically care for these kinds of approaches, but how else do you actually deal with literal evil that sits safely on the other side of the globe, when their own governments won't do anything to stop it? The problem is, in reality any such activi…

Ah yes the old west. A time of peace and low crime.

Re: Ask HN: My mother was scammed out of all her savings. What should I do?

#55

Post by [deleted] »

Mikhail_Edoshin wrote: post #24

It's a growing threat everywhere. Here in Russia it's nearly always in the news. They can even trick a person into selling expensive property (real estate) and then steal the money. One thing is the government must act. These calls are mostly done from abroad. Phone companies can implement some protective measures. Banks too need to watch for common patterns (doesn't always help because scammers talk the victim aroun…

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: My mother was scammed out of all her savings. What should I do?

#56

Post by romanhn »

Mikhail_Edoshin wrote: post #24

It's a growing threat everywhere. Here in Russia it's nearly always in the news. They can even trick a person into selling expensive property (real estate) and then steal the money. One thing is the government must act. These calls are mostly done from abroad. Phone companies can implement some protective measures. Banks too need to watch for common patterns (doesn't always help because scammers talk the victim aroun…

Then the singer went on to use her influence and celebrity lawyers to keep the apartment and not return the buyer's money, screwing the buyer in the process. Literally her defenses were "the buyer should've known this deal was suspect due to below the market price" and that the buyer should have asked for a health report from a psychiatrist (wtf). Not a nice old lady after all. I haven't been following the case closely, but it seems like the decision has been overturned.

Similar to Streisand Effect, there's now in Russia the term Dolina Effect [0] after this singer, referring to these "grandma schemes" where criminals direct the elderly to sell their property and then renege, relying on courts siding with them to keep the property and the money. Whatever the real story is, it's all so messed up.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolina_effect

Re: Ask HN: My mother was scammed out of all her savings. What should I do?

#57

Post by Bridged7756 »

TiredOfLife wrote: post #43
Mikhail_Edoshin wrote: post #24

It's a growing threat everywhere. Here in Russia it's nearly always in the news. They can even trick a person into selling expensive property (real estate) and then steal the money. One thing is the government must act. These calls are mostly done from abroad. Phone companies can implement some protective measures. Banks too need to watch for common patterns (doesn't always help because scammers talk the victim aroun…

> Here in Russia it's nearly always in the news And that is bad because...?

The guy is one of Putin's top generals, also known as "Bloodhound" (in Russian), anyways, he sounds pretty bloodthirsty too, just from the way he writes. You have to pay for your crimes you monster! You and all your people deserve to die! Every Russian. It's just so monstrous how they decide to just invade another country because they can right? What gives them the right? All their people should pay for it, with blood.

Re: Ask HN: My mother was scammed out of all her savings. What should I do?

#58

Post by tracker1 »

bluecheese452 wrote: post #54
tracker1 wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sometimes, I think some aspects of "the old west" in the US might be worth considering a return to... such as "outlaw" and "dead or alive" I realize that in society we don't typically care for these kinds of approaches, but how else do you actually deal with literal evil that sits safely on the other side of the globe, when their own governments won't do anything to stop it? The problem is, in reality any such activi…

Ah yes the old west. A time of peace and low crime.

You mean like today?

Re: Ask HN: My mother was scammed out of all her savings. What should I do?

#59

Post by lcnPylGDnU4H9OF »

hulitu wrote: post #52
raw_anon_1111 wrote: post #51

This seems like such a simple problem to solve on the institutional level. Allow a person to have 3FA. Two phone numbers being required to log in - yours and trusted person. I would have that setup for my parents so that if they ever called me for the 2nd code, I could ask questions about why they need it. While I’m not too worried about my 83 year old mom, she is more tech savvy than most and has been using computer…

> Allow a person to have 3FA. This might not be sufficient. We need 4FA or, better, 5FA.

You could reduce it to a single hardware security key without a password and it would be more secure. The problem—in this case and in general—is using passwords and OTPs for anti-phishing; with a hardware key, there is no way for the phishers to gain access to the account (without being in the room or in possession of the key), even if they successfully convince their victim to log in.

No affiliation other than using their products:

https://www.yubico.com/

Re: Ask HN: My mother was scammed out of all her savings. What should I do?

#60

Post by raw_anon_1111 »

lcnPylGDnU4H9OF wrote: post #59
hulitu wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Allow a person to have 3FA. This might not be sufficient. We need 4FA or, better, 5FA.

You could reduce it to a single hardware security key without a password and it would be more secure. The problem—in this case and in general—is using passwords and OTPs for anti-phishing; with a hardware key, there is no way for the phishers to gain access to the account (without being in the room or in possession of the key), even if they successfully convince their victim to log in. No affiliation other than using…

There are scams where they tell the user to do stuff themselves even as far as to tell the victim to take all of the money out and deposit it in a bitcoin account
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