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I trapped scammers in an impossible maze [video]

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Re: I trapped scammers in an impossible maze [video]

#111
The part where someone waits for a super long time in a queue, finally gets connected, but then gets sent to an answering machine that says "the mailbox is full" hit too close to home. I know this was set up on purpose but I've had that exact same thing happen to me on a real & important government system recently.

I've been trying to call California EDD to get some back pay for my state paid family leave. There is no option to get what I need online, I need to call in. I've had that exact thing happen twice after an hour of waiting in the queue... phone rings, goes to voicemail, full mailbox, line gets disconnected. And I have about a 1/100 rate of even getting a chance to join the queue when I call; usually I hear that the queue is too full to join at all. It's absolutely maddening and I may never get my PFL paid out properly.

Re: I trapped scammers in an impossible maze [video]

#112

You are all laughing, but I was just presented with an impossible captcha trying to login into my OpenAI account, that I pay $20/month for. To solve the captcha, I need to click the puzzle 80 (!) times, and if I make a mistake, I should start everything anew. That's totally not funny. Had to cancel the subscription. Anyway, Phind is faster and better quality.

This was my first thought. Commenters here are thoroughly entertained, but all I see are the efforts of people that mold the internet experience into what I have to deal with on a daily basis. They would make great additions to AI and CAPTCHA teams. /snark It's pretty wild that my $20 subscription earns me a long string of puzzles. Sometimes I am forced to solve so many of the very-difficult-to-solve variety that I j…

> It's pretty wild that my $20 subscription earns me a long string of puzzles.

Well that GPT5 isn't gonna train itself

Re: I trapped scammers in an impossible maze [video]

#113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This was my first thought. Commenters here are thoroughly entertained, but all I see are the efforts of people that mold the internet experience into what I have to deal with on a daily basis. They would make great additions to AI and CAPTCHA teams. /snark It's pretty wild that my $20 subscription earns me a long string of puzzles. Sometimes I am forced to solve so many of the very-difficult-to-solve variety that I j…

I've had GPT pro since it was first available and have not once had to do a CAPTCHA to use it, first time I'm hearing about this actually.

Congrats, you are a good person with high social rating, keep at it!

Re: I trapped scammers in an impossible maze [video]

#114
post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So, I'm not sure but I think what's going on is that a scammer calls and asks the "victim" (in this case, Kitboga) to transfer funds into one of their Bitcoin wallet addresses. This can be done via a Bitcoin ATM which will then print out a receipt which the scammer asks the victim for a picture of (see [0]). As Kitboga says, the scam normally has to end at this point because the scammer can easily verify whether the…

Why would victims be calling in on the scammer's behalf then? I would assume that would only happen if a real victim somehow has a receipt that ties into Kitboga's fake system right?

I think you have the right idea. And that's what threw me off at the end. How did this lady (as well as the others he mentioned) get pulled in to the mix?

Perhaps the scammer convinced this lady to handle the call for him since it was taking hours/days of his time. If she was gullible (no disrespect) enough to be scammed for 6 years, she could be easily manipulated into doing their tedious work.

Re: I trapped scammers in an impossible maze [video]

#115

Not much sympathy for these scammers but I do wonder how desperate some of them have to be to waste so much time on a couple hundred bitcoin max.

In one of the screenshots, Kitboga's fake page promises them the equivalent of $11k in BTC. Considering a lot of these scams originate from countries with low wages and high unemployment, not really surprising people would be willing to waste a few days for the promise of a year's salary or more.

I’d work for a couple of days for $11k and I live in Australia!

Re: I trapped scammers in an impossible maze [video]

#116
Kudos to Kitboga!

But let's really think about it, isn't it true that most things in the world are some form of a scam?

Growing up in a poor country, I've realized that scams are everywhere, right from the day you start school:

1) Parents resort to scamming the school hiring board using fake addresses just to enroll their children in a good school.

2) In the early years, students learn how to cheat in exams to survive.

3) Teachers unfairly give lower marks to students (or parents) who don't buy into their side hustles like private tutoring or educational CDs.

4) Movies and music are all pirated, contributing to this cycle of deception.

5) Even radio and TV shows shamelessly copy Hollywood productions.

6) Need to get something done at a government office? Be prepared to pay bribes.

7) If you want to leave the country / immigration purposes, you have to navigate a web of bribery and money-grabbing schemes at every level.

8) Far-right racism use pseudo-science to deceive people into thinking that the majority is superior.

9) There are fake diploma and degree providers scamming people within the same country.

10) Interested in day trading? Beware of commission-driven scams and cryptocurrency schemes targeting people from your own country.

11) If you need the government to fix a road, you have to approach politicians and plead for something they promised in the first place.

12) Even small local shops dilute products, potentially selling toxic items to unsuspecting customers.

13) Need water? Attempting to approach politicians is futile. Eventually, the local community took matters into their own hands, establishing a private company to provide water. By the time standard water lines were laid, the locals had already constructed the water tank. (My father played a significant role in this endeavor - the type of person politicians dislike, haha!)

14) As elections draw near, there is a sudden decrease in the prices of goods.

15) Having trouble conceiving? Thinking of consulting the local guru? Don't worry; if your daughter bears a resemblance to the guru, it's all good.

16) A women fell victim to a cryptobro/environmentalist/spiritualist/influencer scammer. Interestingly, this scammers's father is also a con artist who specifically targets older women (he's the old school type). (It's essential to educate your children about pickup artists and red pill nonsense; unfortunately, these tactics sometimes work and are genuinely dangerous.)

---

It's no surprise that people resort to scams, likely due to a lack of empathy, extreme cynicism, narcissistic personality disorder, or some combination thereof. Extracting individuals from this mindset requires significant effort.

Re: I trapped scammers in an impossible maze [video]

#117
post #96

I know Kit through a friend. Played magic the gathering with him once. No difference between his persona and personality, one of those people made for the job. Absolutely great guy, too, nice wife and kids. He also started off as a Web Dev. The fake banking websites are all his own work. Really clever stuff, ironically using phishing tactics to catch phishers.

Really, never would have thought he was a programmer.

Re: I trapped scammers in an impossible maze [video]

#118
post #111

The part where someone waits for a super long time in a queue, finally gets connected, but then gets sent to an answering machine that says "the mailbox is full" hit too close to home. I know this was set up on purpose but I've had that exact same thing happen to me on a real & important government system recently. I've been trying to call California EDD to get some back pay for my state paid family leave. There is n…

I've had this happen to me with a bank before! It was nuts. Eventually I DM'd their twitter account and got the customer service I needed.

Re: I trapped scammers in an impossible maze [video]

#119
post #111

The part where someone waits for a super long time in a queue, finally gets connected, but then gets sent to an answering machine that says "the mailbox is full" hit too close to home. I know this was set up on purpose but I've had that exact same thing happen to me on a real & important government system recently. I've been trying to call California EDD to get some back pay for my state paid family leave. There is n…

Calling comcast customer support almost guarantees this happens. You call in, repeatedly ask for a representative, they will hang up on you. The only way I've reliably been able to talk to anyone to say you wish to 'Talk to a representative about cancelling my account'.

TBH, I kind of dread when they start incorporating LLMs or better ai, because it will be truly impossible to speak to a human anymore.

Re: I trapped scammers in an impossible maze [video]

#120

I love Kitboda's videos. The one thing that strikes me all the time is how arrogant, smug, full of themselves these scammers always sound. They do profoundly believe they're oh-so-intelligent and don't hesitate to make fun of the old people they (think they) are speaking to. Despicable scum of this earth. Thanks to Kitboga for fighting the good fight and it's great to see banks and crypto-exchanges immediately freezi…

Jim Browning (like a kitboga) too
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