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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]

#311
post #197

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Reminds me of my experience with GCP... "here are 300 bucks of credit so you can try out absolutely nothing interesting because we set all relevant quotas to 0. Good luck trying to get any support, but if you really want, you can try to contact our business sales teams for very serious businesses that will just ignore you"

The zero API quota on GCP hits close to home for me too. Last year I wanted to write a little script that would use the YouTube API to find video URLs from a particular channel. The details on it aren't important; it was something I would only use locally for personal purposes and did a single API call per day. After wondering why it kept returning a 401 I finally figured out that the API quota was set to zero out of…

For me it was the GPU quota, but the form was probably the same and assuming that I am running a business so I should provide the name and a link to the homepage or something like that? In the end I never received a reply and gave up after a while. Needless to say, I will not give them any of my money because they clearly do not want it...

A friend did the same to play around with the larger Nvidia GPUs and never ran into any issues, but my almost 20 years old google account is not good enough?

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

#312

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've seen over 100 of Kit's videos and they are definitely not staged and it's all improv'd from Kit's side.

I was thinking about the scammer’s side. If a password creation dialog asks for the daily Wordle answer and it doesn’t trigger a red flag, the predator isn’t smarter than the prey at all apparently.

By watching a lot of the videos, you'll learn that a lot of these scammers don't seem to have any actual technical knowledge at all. For example, a really old series of videos have Kit use a joke Windows app called Windows RG and scammers still go along with it.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=F0peLpovDB8

They were most likely trained to work with the script they have and their technical knowledge is based on that.

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

#314
post #186
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…

The worst is that there are multiple startups that offer a "call back" service.

I mean the actual worst is having the 4th highest tax burden in the nation and having a dysfunctional EDD that can’t efficiently give unemployment to people who need it.

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

#315
post #310

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Believe? Propaganda? Did you ever have a single history lesson in your life? Where do you think Afro-americans came from? Why do you think half the continent is speaking french or English? Why do you think 14 African countries use a money created and still controlled by France? Plenty of mines and oil depots are still profiting European countries. Multiple generations of slave descendants had to pay reparations to Fr…

>>> Believe? Propaganda? I'm fairly certain I was discussing scammers. However, I admit my phrasing wasn't as good as I had hoped. Unfortunately, I come from a former colony (Sri Lanka) and English is not my native language. I apologize if my words triggered any PTSD or brought back unpleasant memories for you. I never stated that what they believe is wrong or inaccurate. The idea is not to scam the West, but rather…

At the risk of making my most political comment on HN, which I usually like to avoid, some people (both the elite and the rest) prefer to rehash the past to avoid any uncomfortable discussions about their direct role in what’s presently wrong, and their responsibility or role in improving it. Easier and more popularly appealing to just blame 200-year-old dead Europeans for all the problems than to talk about your corrupt plutocracy.

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

#316
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…

For the literal 98% of the world who don't know these acronyms: EDD: Employment Development Department, appears to be some sort of job seeker assistance group? PFL: Paid Family Leave - Maternity/Paternity or carer style leave.

Thank you.

- sincerely, a European

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

#317
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…

For the literal 98% of the world who don't know these acronyms: EDD: Employment Development Department, appears to be some sort of job seeker assistance group? PFL: Paid Family Leave - Maternity/Paternity or carer style leave.

Sorry yes, California EDD is the California state government agency/department you mentioned.

They manage payments and benefits for unemployment, disability, and Paid Family Leave (PFL), the last of which is paid time off from work you can take when you have a new baby. I think they also manage some statistics and data around employment disability etc.

PFL in California guarantees the state will pay you something like 70-80% of your typical wages, for up to 8 weeks, while you take time off to bond with and care for your baby.

There is no guaranteed paid paternity or maternity time in the USA so I am lucky to live in a state that offers this. You may view this program as either generous or paltry compared to your own countries offerings.

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

#318
post #315
post #310

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>>> Believe? Propaganda? I'm fairly certain I was discussing scammers. However, I admit my phrasing wasn't as good as I had hoped. Unfortunately, I come from a former colony (Sri Lanka) and English is not my native language. I apologize if my words triggered any PTSD or brought back unpleasant memories for you. I never stated that what they believe is wrong or inaccurate. The idea is not to scam the West, but rather…

At the risk of making my most political comment on HN, which I usually like to avoid, some people (both the elite and the rest) prefer to rehash the past to avoid any uncomfortable discussions about their direct role in what’s presently wrong, and their responsibility or role in improving it. Easier and more popularly appealing to just blame 200-year-old dead Europeans for all the problems than to talk about your cor…

I concur with your viewpoint. Furthermore, I believe that blaming dead Europeans and holding skilled immigrants accountable for job displacement are two sides of the same coin.

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

#319
post #317

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For the literal 98% of the world who don't know these acronyms: EDD: Employment Development Department, appears to be some sort of job seeker assistance group? PFL: Paid Family Leave - Maternity/Paternity or carer style leave.

Sorry yes, California EDD is the California state government agency/department you mentioned. They manage payments and benefits for unemployment, disability, and Paid Family Leave (PFL), the last of which is paid time off from work you can take when you have a new baby. I think they also manage some statistics and data around employment disability etc. PFL in California guarantees the state will pay you something lik…

Yes, that is paltry compared to most countries offerings:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parental_leave

Thank you for clarifying though.

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

#320

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was thinking about the scammer’s side. If a password creation dialog asks for the daily Wordle answer and it doesn’t trigger a red flag, the predator isn’t smarter than the prey at all apparently.

By watching a lot of the videos, you'll learn that a lot of these scammers don't seem to have any actual technical knowledge at all. For example, a really old series of videos have Kit use a joke Windows app called Windows RG and scammers still go along with it. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=F0peLpovDB8 They were most likely trained to work with the script they have and their technical knowledge is based on that.

They don't even realize Windows 95 is a thing [1] and why the script they follow isn't working.

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OHQUS-JSSKs

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