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AI fuels more than half of cybercrime in Africa as scams surge – Interpol

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Re: AI fuels more than half of cybercrime in Africa as scams surge – Interpol

#251

Post by ElProlactin »

cjbgkagh wrote: post #249
ElProlactin wrote: post #241

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you ever even been to Cambodia? I spent half a year LIVING there. Trying to sell software into Cambodia puts you squarely in a procurement situation where you're going to encounter the patronage networks that are responsible for the corruption. So since you seem to be suggesting the Cambodians have a disposition towards "act[ing] in a corrupt way if presented with the opportunity" (versus, say, Americans who you…

No, I don’t think I will

That might be your smartest response here.

In case anyone else is still reading this, there's an important context here: the US dropped 2.7 million tons of explosives on Cambodia during the Vietnam War. This is more than the Allies dropped in all of WW2.

The bombing was a direct cause in the rise of Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge, and an estimated 20-25% of the country's population (1.5-3 million people) died under the Khmer Rouge. People in rural areas still die every year in Cambodia due to unexploded ordnance.

American action against Cambodia was part of the First Indochina War, in which France was fighting to maintain a hold on its French Indochina colonial empire. In principle, the US got involved to stop the spread of communism but in reality, it was also doing France's bidding.

The result: millions of innocent people were killed by US military action. Cambodia and Vietnam were left destitute after the war, and the US, having lost, engaged in an economic war against Cambodia and Vietnam through the 1980s. In 1990, the nominal GDP per capita in Cambodia and Vietnam was under $200. People literally had nothing. Hunger and threat of famine was widespread.

So anytime you see a Westerner hinting that people in countries like Cambodia and Vietnam are more likely to "act in a corrupt way if presented with the opportunity", as if they are a less moral form of human being, you can read it for what it is: just a continuation of the racial, cultural and economic superiority complex of the West that has caused mass destruction all over the world and still somehow finds a way to blame its own victims for their misfortune.

Re: AI fuels more than half of cybercrime in Africa as scams surge – Interpol

#252

Post by Dylan16807 »

ElProlactin wrote: post #251
cjbgkagh wrote: post #249

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, I don’t think I will

That might be your smartest response here. In case anyone else is still reading this, there's an important context here: the US dropped 2.7 million tons of explosives on Cambodia during the Vietnam War. This is more than the Allies dropped in all of WW2. The bombing was a direct cause in the rise of Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge, and an estimated 20-25% of the country's population (1.5-3 million people) died under the…

No. A country is not a homogenous mass, and people hated Vietnam, and that was decades ago. Someone in the US mentioning Cambodia's abysmal position on the corruption perception index should understand the fucked up role their country had in that but that doesn't mean they're having a "superiority complex" or "blaming" the wrong people.

Re: AI fuels more than half of cybercrime in Africa as scams surge – Interpol

#253

Post by ElProlactin »

Dylan16807 wrote: post #252
ElProlactin wrote: post #251

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That might be your smartest response here. In case anyone else is still reading this, there's an important context here: the US dropped 2.7 million tons of explosives on Cambodia during the Vietnam War. This is more than the Allies dropped in all of WW2. The bombing was a direct cause in the rise of Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge, and an estimated 20-25% of the country's population (1.5-3 million people) died under the…

No. A country is not a homogenous mass, and people hated Vietnam, and that was decades ago. Someone in the US mentioning Cambodia's abysmal position on the corruption perception index should understand the fucked up role their country had in that but that doesn't mean they're having a "superiority complex" or "blaming" the wrong people.

The OP stated:

> ...the corruption there is very thorough and continues well on down to the lower strata of society.

This coming from a person who apparently never lived in Cambodia and might never have even visited, but who tried and failed to sell software to Cambodians.

This is a perfect example of the Western superiority complex. The average person in Cambodia is 27 years old. Well over half the population lives in rural areas, where median salaries are under $300/month and higher education enrollment is not even 25%.

The implied suggestion that Cambodians are a more corruptible form of human is as sad as it is ridiculous.

Re: AI fuels more than half of cybercrime in Africa as scams surge – Interpol

#254

Post by Dylan16807 »

ElProlactin wrote: post #253
Dylan16807 wrote: post #252

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No. A country is not a homogenous mass, and people hated Vietnam, and that was decades ago. Someone in the US mentioning Cambodia's abysmal position on the corruption perception index should understand the fucked up role their country had in that but that doesn't mean they're having a "superiority complex" or "blaming" the wrong people.

The OP stated: > ...the corruption there is very thorough and continues well on down to the lower strata of society. This coming from a person who apparently never lived in Cambodia and might never have even visited, but who tried and failed to sell software to Cambodians. This is a perfect example of the Western superiority complex. The average person in Cambodia is 27 years old. Well over half the population lives…

They are more corrupted, not more inherently corruptable.

Culture is real. Different countries have different levels of corruption. The US is currently getting worse on this measure.

Re: AI fuels more than half of cybercrime in Africa as scams surge – Interpol

#255

Post by ElProlactin »

Dylan16807 wrote: post #254
ElProlactin wrote: post #253

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The OP stated: > ...the corruption there is very thorough and continues well on down to the lower strata of society. This coming from a person who apparently never lived in Cambodia and might never have even visited, but who tried and failed to sell software to Cambodians. This is a perfect example of the Western superiority complex. The average person in Cambodia is 27 years old. Well over half the population lives…

They are more corrupt ed , not more inherently corrupt able . Culture is real. Different countries have different levels of corruption. The US is currently getting worse on this measure.

Except they aren't.

The average Cambodian is a "poor" person trying to get through the day with limited awareness of the power structures in Phnom Penh. Even the ones who have some awareness of the system they live in know they're powerless to change it.

Re: AI fuels more than half of cybercrime in Africa as scams surge – Interpol

#256

Post by alightsoul »

knicholes wrote: post #242
alightsoul wrote: post #157

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So kill psychopaths? Or let them kill each other in their own remote island where they are banned or killed on arrival if they go to any other place?

I didn't say kill. Not sure if I believe we should go all Hunger Games on them. Prison works just fine for me when they commit crimes sufficiently egregious.

So you are born, and then immediately go to prison? Wouldn't it be more humane to euthanize them at birth? Isn't this a way to achieve the goal of eugenics?

Re: AI fuels more than half of cybercrime in Africa as scams surge – Interpol

#257

Post by cjbgkagh »

ElProlactin wrote: post #253
Dylan16807 wrote: post #252

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No. A country is not a homogenous mass, and people hated Vietnam, and that was decades ago. Someone in the US mentioning Cambodia's abysmal position on the corruption perception index should understand the fucked up role their country had in that but that doesn't mean they're having a "superiority complex" or "blaming" the wrong people.

The OP stated: > ...the corruption there is very thorough and continues well on down to the lower strata of society. This coming from a person who apparently never lived in Cambodia and might never have even visited, but who tried and failed to sell software to Cambodians. This is a perfect example of the Western superiority complex. The average person in Cambodia is 27 years old. Well over half the population lives…

I was unsuccessful because I wouldn’t pay the bribes, I had a number of independent local advisors give pretty consistent accounts to how things work there.

I wouldn’t be so worried about the corruption of my society if I thought there was something implicit that meant we wouldn’t be corrupted in the same way that others are.

Nor do I blame the Cambodians for their predicament. You’re tilting at windmills.

Re: AI fuels more than half of cybercrime in Africa as scams surge – Interpol

#258

Post by ElProlactin »

cjbgkagh wrote: post #257
ElProlactin wrote: post #253

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The OP stated: > ...the corruption there is very thorough and continues well on down to the lower strata of society. This coming from a person who apparently never lived in Cambodia and might never have even visited, but who tried and failed to sell software to Cambodians. This is a perfect example of the Western superiority complex. The average person in Cambodia is 27 years old. Well over half the population lives…

I was unsuccessful because I wouldn’t pay the bribes, I had a number of independent local advisors give pretty consistent accounts to how things work there. I wouldn’t be so worried about the corruption of my society if I thought there was something implicit that meant we wouldn’t be corrupted in the same way that others are. Nor do I blame the Cambodians for their predicament. You’re tilting at windmills.

> I was unsuccessful because I wouldn’t pay the bribes, I had a number of independent local advisors give pretty consistent accounts to how things work there.

You didn't need to pay any advisors. It's very well-known that selling into Cambodian companies, all of the successful of which are owned by people who are part of the patronage networks, is typically pay to play.

But I still fail to see how this gives you any insight into the lower stratas of Cambodian society. The people who are living and working in Phnom Penh making procurement/purchasing decisions are not even "average" Cambodians. They're among the more fortunate.

Re: AI fuels more than half of cybercrime in Africa as scams surge – Interpol

#259

Post by nothercastle »

gambiting wrote: post #160
aenis wrote: post #152

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The advice I gave to my folks -- hard ignore any contact attempts not initiated by them. Dont read, dont answer the phone except from recognized numbers. I think thats the only way. No legitimate businesses call or text people out of the blue these days. I dont believe in AI voice assistants picking up phones and filtering scammers. Those tbings will fight a losing game considering how the mainstream LLMs are built.

It would be great if not for the fact that at least over here in the UK your doctor or anyone from the NHS will always call you from a restricted number. So especially if you're elderly and have regular check ups or anything medical going on, the advice to "only answer known numbers" falls apart. And in my experience NHS receptionists have zero patience for the whole "tell me why you're calling" automated screens too…

Legitimate actors perusing poor security policies is actually the biggest threat vector.

Re: AI fuels more than half of cybercrime in Africa as scams surge – Interpol

#260

Post by nothercastle »

phil21 wrote: post #227
aenis wrote: post #182

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, I think thats a valid edge case - and a manageable one. If you are expecting a call from a doctor, lift the firewall for a while.

This doesn’t work for older folks. They have medical providers constantly randomly reaching out. Typically medication changes or reminding them it’s time to come do labs or whatever. That and trying to walk my parents through turning this sort of thing on already was a 3 hour long process. That they will in no way remember even with a checklist. There is unlikely going to be a technical way to solve this social probl…

Personal assistants in the Philippines and hope they don’t scam you themselves
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