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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]

#221

Post by Vicinity9635 »

spondylosaurus wrote: post #184
DonHopkins wrote: post #152

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Lenny: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lenny_(bot) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XSoOrlh5i1k https://www.reddit.com/r/itslenny/comments/5lcfwq/lennys_his... Also, I highly recommend the movie, "Sorry to Bother You": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sorry_to_Bother_You SORRY TO BOTHER YOU | Official Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=enH3xA4mYcY With LaKeith Stanfield playing Cash, and David Cross playing Cash's "w…

Sorry to Bother You is a wild movie. The less you know about the plot going into it, the better. (I was not expecting... the thing. You know which one.)

[dead]

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

#222

Post by nullc »

themagician wrote: post #73
rossdavidh wrote: post #54

Can these people actually be this stupid? I am having a hard time believing it. I would expect scammers to be more aware of the possibility of deceitful behavior by others. Incredible if true, but hard to believe...

It depends. A lot of these scammers are extremely desperate. Some are forced into it. For others it's just an office job like any other. Some firms actually do both legitimate support/customer service work and scamming side by side. I've called legit companies support lines before and the person picking up starts off doing some scam and them I'm like, "I thought this was Brand X," and they switch, "Oh yes, sorry abou…

Some of the scam baiters have frequently gotten video camera access to scam centers. While some amount of 'forced into' it presumably exists, the common spectrum seems to be more between "just a job" and "they're as awful as you might imagine".

In one video you see them drain some elderly persons bank accounts completely then the next day someone comes in with bag of cocaine and they're all doing lines to celebrate and hopping back on their calls all hyped up.

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

#223

Post by tux3 »

irrational wrote: post #178
Vicinity9635 wrote: post #160

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd rather do assembler than CSS.

You only say that because you have spent more time in assembler (I presume). I've spent enough time doing CSS that I find it to be pretty easy.

In assembly, any complexity is 'your fault' since the language is so simple.

CSS is often a lot of tedious trial and error, even if it has improved.

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

#225

Post by naet »

rickreynoldssf wrote: post #200
naet wrote: 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 EDD at 7:00:00 AM, the second they open, will usually get your call answered. Or it may be 8:00 I forget... If you call too early you'll get a message telling you so. Also take note of the menu options you need to select so when you call back you can bypass all the blah, blah, blah in most cases.

I've called exactly at opening many times (8:00 am currently), and called back over and over in the morning, even still rarely get in the call queue. Not sure how many people can be waiting but it's almost always instantly full.

That is the only way I've ever gotten in the queue so far though, calling multiple times right at opening hour. And then once in the queue I see the issue above re: no answer / mailbox is full after waiting on hold for ages for my turn.

I also have a thing on my phone that automatically pushes the right buttons as fast as possible to navigate to the extension I need (for a more efficient rejection).

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

#226

Post by iosystem »

digital-cygnet wrote: post #135

What I don't understand is the bit at the end (spoilers): he finds out that a person who Kraken's fraud team sees as a victim of scams, but hasn't been able to contact, has called his Gauntlet. He's then able to reach out and help her, as well as other scam victims who end up in the Gauntlet. So, three questions - 1. How do scam victims end up in the Gauntlet at all? I thought the idea was that Kitboga and his team p…

I agree; it feels like what could happen a lot with this system is similar to what people did to get past captchas with their bot software. They might hire some less fortunate individuals to attempt solving it. I found the video funny, but I am definitely aware of how privileged I am not to have been born into the circumstances that would lead to becoming one of these 'damned folks' – the scammers or the victims.

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

#227

Post by ncallaway »

dylan604 wrote: post #23
FirmwareBurner wrote: post #2

"Why did you redeem it?!" Kitboga is a youtube national treasure.

there are certain phrases that when i read them, i hear the voice of specific people saying them in specific ways. typically this is movie phrases, but "why did you do that?!?!?!" from one of the scammers is now in my head.

For me, it's not just the voice, but the distortions/clipping that come from the cheap microphone as they're yelling.

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

#229

Post by hn_throwaway_99 »

sumedh wrote: post #190
josu wrote: post #172

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>low wages and high unemployment Low wages sure, but high unemployment is not correct. Most scammers seem to be based in India where unemployment is around 3%.

The low wages are not enough to live a meaningful life.

Bullshit. These aren't Indian peasants. They are people with very good English skills, and at least the technical acumen to know how to use computers, and obviously some level of sales ability. There are lots of jobs in tech available for people with these skills. I'm not saying they're super high status jobs or people will get rich, but they are still able to live much better than tons of lower class people in India.

People choose to scam simply because they believe they can make more money doing so. There is also more of a "gambling" aspect to it, in that the vast majority of scammers probably make peanuts at an hourly rate, but every now and then there is a guy that will make multiple years worth of salary in a day.

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

#230

Post by toast0 »

naet wrote: post #225
rickreynoldssf wrote: post #200

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Calling EDD at 7:00:00 AM, the second they open, will usually get your call answered. Or it may be 8:00 I forget... If you call too early you'll get a message telling you so. Also take note of the menu options you need to select so when you call back you can bypass all the blah, blah, blah in most cases.

I've called exactly at opening many times (8:00 am currently), and called back over and over in the morning, even still rarely get in the call queue. Not sure how many people can be waiting but it's almost always instantly full. That is the only way I've ever gotten in the queue so far though, calling multiple times right at opening hour. And then once in the queue I see the issue above re: no answer / mailbox is ful…

> I also have a thing on my phone that automatically pushes the right buttons as fast as possible to navigate to the extension I need (for a more efficient rejection).

Pushing buttons slowly might work better if fast doesn't work.

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