UN says scam call centers are epidemic and expanding globally
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Re: UN says scam call centers are epidemic and expanding globally
#2It boggles the mind that Apple and Google don’t take meaningful steps to combat this. Is it really that hard of a problem or do they just not care?
Re: UN says scam call centers are epidemic and expanding globally
#3It boggles the mind that Apple and Google don’t take meaningful steps to combat this. Is it really that hard of a problem or do they just not care?
I don’t see how technology is going to stop lonely old people from falling for someone who says they love them. Human desire is stronger than reason.
Re: UN says scam call centers are epidemic and expanding globally
#4It is nice to see news of this in the actual news rather than just on YouTube channels like Scammer Payback.
Re: UN says scam call centers are epidemic and expanding globally
#5The Economist recently ran an excellent podcast series on the scam industry called Scam Inc.
https://www.economist.com/audio/podcasts/scam-inc
Re: UN says scam call centers are epidemic and expanding globally
#6It boggles the mind that Apple and Google don’t take meaningful steps to combat this. Is it really that hard of a problem or do they just not care?
It is called pig butchering. Your online girlfriend teaches you how to invest in crypto. Both you and her get incredibly rich and you pour more and more money into your investment. Until one day you learn everything was a lie. Your online girlfriend. The riches you supposedly earned.
The answer for these scam centers and for ransomware is to declare any nation that harbors them as state sponsors of terror.
Re: UN says scam call centers are epidemic and expanding globally
#7It boggles the mind that Apple and Google don’t take meaningful steps to combat this. Is it really that hard of a problem or do they just not care?
It is called pig butchering. Your online girlfriend teaches you how to invest in crypto. Both you and her get incredibly rich and you pour more and more money into your investment. Until one day you learn everything was a lie. Your online girlfriend. The riches you supposedly earned. The answer for these scam centers and for ransomware is to declare any nation that harbors them as state sponsors of terror. https://cy…
Seems like a way to use lax consumer protection as an excuse to bomb people.
Re: UN says scam call centers are epidemic and expanding globally
#8I think one of the easiest way to combat this to make getting phone numbers harder. For example, you need to be a citizen of that country or have a business or other legitimate reason to get one. After that you can just block all foreign phone numbers.
Also, maybe a warning in OS level for remote access tools or block them by default.
Re: UN says scam call centers are epidemic and expanding globally
#9I think one of the easiest way to combat this to make getting phone numbers harder. For example, you need to be a citizen of that country or have a business or other legitimate reason to get one. After that you can just block all foreign phone numbers. Also, maybe a warning in OS level for remote access tools or block them by default.
I get like 7-8 spam texts and calls a day from numbers within my own state.
I suspect that something like hashcash or adding some small fee (like $1, that is returned to the spender if the recipient doesn't reply "STOP") would pretty much shut down these spam calls.
Please do not suggest these terrible solutions that make SMS/calls an unreliable transport, when it is just a sybil problem.
Re: UN says scam call centers are epidemic and expanding globally
#10It boggles the mind that Apple and Google don’t take meaningful steps to combat this. Is it really that hard of a problem or do they just not care?
They already are doing something. Google will warn about potential scams in their phone app, for example. Same for Gmail.
I think the most important issue is one of trust, which is one the scammers are trying to exploit. Do you trust Google saying "this might be a scam" over a person on your phone assuring you that there is some urgent need to do something? The answer depends obviously on how you view technology, generally older people tend to place less trust in technology and more trust in humans. That is why these scams work, they play on an inherent trust bias.
I don't see that Google or Apple really can't do that much more, as the issue really is a social one.