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GoodWill ransomware forces victims to donate to the poor

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Re: GoodWill ransomware forces victims to donate to the poor

#231

Post by code_duck »

nemo44x wrote: post #53
can16358p wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While the action may look creepy and KFCs definitely not the healthiest choice, it is donating. You are donating food to someone hungry.

You’re probably just helping poor people acquire diabetes faster. In the USA poor people are more likely to be fat suggesting food access is not a problem.

People associate fast food and lower quality food with type 2 diabetes, but Type 2 is associated with excessive carb intake. More expensive food often has just as many carbohydrates.

Re: GoodWill ransomware forces victims to donate to the poor

#232

Post by code_duck »

nemo44x wrote: post #56
nisegami wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>I've also not heard of someone dying in the hospital because their loved ones couldn't gather up enough money Am from a country with universal health care. It's not uncommon to die waiting for treatment or there simply not being any way to get the treatment in my country. Raising money to visit the US for treatment is a pretty common thing here as a result.

And in the USA if you don’t have insurance and are dying you’ll be treated. They act like dead poor people are piled up outside of hospitals. They’ll even discount you to 0 if they see you’re really poor.

It's true that ERs don't turn people down, but some hospitals would be happy to treat someone but also send them a gigantic bill which may or may not eventually be waived. Speaking from experience, often people put off obtaining medical care because they fear large bills and financial ruin.

Re: GoodWill ransomware forces victims to donate to the poor

#233

Post by danans »

usednet wrote: post #32
paulgb wrote: post #6

I was expecting them to want you to make a donation and send the receipt, but they want you to actually round up less fortunate kids and take them out for pizza. Bizarre.

Its definitely a cultural thing. The task would be extremely easy in any Indian city, but they probably don’t realize it would be near impossible in the West. Same with task 3, it would bankrupt Americans to pay for somebody else’s medical bills.

It's only perhaps possible in the most desperately impoverished portions of Indian cities. If you think even moderately poor and above Indians are going to be OK with a random person picking up their children for a meal, that's pretty unlikely.

Re: GoodWill ransomware forces victims to donate to the poor

#234

Post by code_duck »

seoaeu wrote: post #149
Hamuko wrote: post #23

Can I assume that the author of this ransomware is American or at least is very immersed in American culture? Because the activities listed sound very America-centric. I've never seen someone actually sleeping roadside in the cold, and since we have universal healthcare, I've also not heard of someone dying in the hospital because their loved ones couldn't gather up enough money. I guess I might as well just smash my…

> Can I assume that the author of this ransomware is American or at least is very immersed in American culture? No, they sound like someone who learned about the US from internet memes, but doesn’t have firsthand experience. For example, hospitals in the US do not generally collect payment at the time of treatment so it wouldn’t really make much sense to show up to one and try to pay for someone needing urgent medica…

Urgent Care facilities do. One time I badly needed a minor surgery. I went to an urgent care and was told they could see me immediately, but didn't accept my insurance and would charge $450. My other option was to go to the hospital across the street which did take my insurance, but I had to wait 8 hours and be treated like I was an opiate addict with a self inflicted or imaginary condition. So, that would have been great if someone somehow showed up and paid the first clinic.

Re: GoodWill ransomware forces victims to donate to the poor

#235

Post by throwaway576 »

kodah wrote: post #227
throwaway576 wrote: post #225

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Quoted post unavailable.

There's a line in the guidelines that touches on the nature of this comment. Since you have 1 karma: https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

Appreciate your concern and goodwill.

When I see sweeping, often incorrect generalizations, I will respond.

His statement in the parenthesis seemed unnecessary. I wanted to point out that his premise could also be applicable to the gunslingers.

Now, watch my karma go negative ;)

Re: GoodWill ransomware forces victims to donate to the poor

#236

Post by root_axis »

barneygale wrote: post #191
trompetenaccoun wrote: post #185

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Right. Picking up random children from the street and taking them to a restaurant comes at almost no cost. In fact if anyone sees this and calls the authorities they are likely to give you free lodging and food at a state owned facility top of it :)

Again, this is mostly an American problem. In other countries you know your neighbours and local community and wouldn't have a problem feeding hungry kids.

Hungry kids are only a problem in the U.S?

Re: GoodWill ransomware forces victims to donate to the poor

#237

Post by pbhjpbhj »

paulgb wrote: post #6

I was expecting them to want you to make a donation and send the receipt, but they want you to actually round up less fortunate kids and take them out for pizza. Bizarre.

Arguably the value in potential change of the rich interacting with the poor is immeasurably higher than the meal itself's monetary value.

I think if I needed to do this in a UK community where I wasn't already known then I'd speak to a MP/councillor and say I wanted to fund them having a meal with X poor families so they could hear about their struggles and such.

It's actually an interesting challenge.

You could probably donate '5 family pizza dinners' to a school in a poorer area, eg for a school fair.

Re: GoodWill ransomware forces victims to donate to the poor

#238

Post by MockObject »

bornfreddy wrote: post #195
0des wrote: post #178

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I just wanted to know what was out there, and most importantly what actual aliens looked like. I cringe now.

That was one thing that became pretty apparent with smartphones - those blurred "photos" of UFOs were scams. If they weren't, there would be tons of high quality alien vehicles footage available by now.

I'm not sure about that. I have a pretty good phone, but I still can't take a decent picture of the moon, so I'd have no hope with a suspicious airplane-sized light in the night sky. The cameras are optimized for selfies and meals.

Re: GoodWill ransomware forces victims to donate to the poor

#239

Post by vincentmarle »

cupofpython wrote: post #193
867-5309 wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

agree. the freelancer / gig economy is dominate by script kiddie / template churner companies in India for whom $2/hr is a good wage. there's no competing with that

this is a feature, not a bug, of globalization. Work that can be done in cheaper countries is allocated there. On a related note (and I get negative feedback whenever i say this, but) this is the future of all software developers as i see it. If you can do your entire job remotely, then "remote" is going to get optimized over time. It does not make sense to spend your time in USA (for example) coding when you can sto…

I agree with you in principle but having worked a lot with cheaper contractors overseas, in practice you are often wasting time and money.
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