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The scariest "user support" email I've received

devas.life

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Re: The scariest "user support" email I've received

#181

Post by xg15 »

I think the first red flag for me would be that the user's reply completely mismatched with what OP wanted to know.

> Can you tell me which Url, your OS, and browser? Kind regards, Takuya

> Hey, Thanks for your previous guidance. I'm still having trouble with access using the latest version of Firefox on Windows It's difficult to describe the problem so I've included a screenshot. [...]

Lots of users will ignore requests, but I think very few will make up requests that never happened. OP was asking for information, yet the user makes it sound as if OP had requested him to update the browser. That already makes it sound a lot as if the reply was prewritten and not an actual conversation.

Of course it's not foolproof and a phisher with more resources could have generated the reply dynamically.

Re: The scariest "user support" email I've received

#182

Post by swiftcoder »

xg15 wrote: post #181

I think the first red flag for me would be that the user's reply completely mismatched with what OP wanted to know. > Can you tell me which Url, your OS, and browser? Kind regards, Takuya > Hey, Thanks for your previous guidance. I'm still having trouble with access using the latest version of Firefox on Windows It's difficult to describe the problem so I've included a screenshot. [...] Lots of users will ignore requ…

I don't read the response that way - it reads like fairly reasonable wording for a frustrated and moderately technical user.

"I'm still having trouble" as in "my problem hasn't magically resolved itself since the last email".

And "using the latest version of Firefox" as in "I'm going to preempt the IT guy asking me to install updates".

Re: The scariest "user support" email I've received

#183

Post by snailmailman »

mort96 wrote: post #157

Why would you ask ChatGPT to tell you what a base64-encoded string is? Just base64 decode it! This blog post's "investigation" is worthless when it's just copy/pasting what a chat bot said. There is no reason to rely on a chat bot for this.

these AI services also won't really distinguish between "user input" and "malicious input that the user is asking about".

Obviously the input here was only designed to be run in a terminal, but if it was some sort of prompt injection attack instead, the AI might not simply decode the base64, it might do something else.

Re: The scariest "user support" email I've received

#184

Post by [deleted] »

radu_floricica wrote: post #176
mort96 wrote: post #157

Why would you ask ChatGPT to tell you what a base64-encoded string is? Just base64 decode it! This blog post's "investigation" is worthless when it's just copy/pasting what a chat bot said. There is no reason to rely on a chat bot for this.

"Why use a calculator all the time? Just use pen and paper!" ChatGPT is the right tool here, because it does the job, and it's more versatile. And underneath the hood it most likely called a decoder anyways.

[deleted]

Re: The scariest "user support" email I've received

#185

Post by seb1204 »

swiftcoder wrote: post #182
xg15 wrote: post #181

I think the first red flag for me would be that the user's reply completely mismatched with what OP wanted to know. > Can you tell me which Url, your OS, and browser? Kind regards, Takuya > Hey, Thanks for your previous guidance. I'm still having trouble with access using the latest version of Firefox on Windows It's difficult to describe the problem so I've included a screenshot. [...] Lots of users will ignore requ…

I don't read the response that way - it reads like fairly reasonable wording for a frustrated and moderately technical user. "I'm still having trouble" as in "my problem hasn't magically resolved itself since the last email". And "using the latest version of Firefox" as in "I'm going to preempt the IT guy asking me to install updates".

To me guidance is more than a simple reply asking for more information. This immediately stood out to me, flag.

Re: The scariest "user support" email I've received

#186

Post by torben-friis »

johnisgood wrote: post #174
mort96 wrote: post #157

Why would you ask ChatGPT to tell you what a base64-encoded string is? Just base64 decode it! This blog post's "investigation" is worthless when it's just copy/pasting what a chat bot said. There is no reason to rely on a chat bot for this.

I mean some people asked what "cat" is, then I remembered there was a time when I had no idea how to use mIRC, so whatever. In my defense though, I was REALLY young.

>In my defense though, I was REALLY young.

No need to apologize, needing an excuse to lack knowledge is how we end up with people afraid to ask.

I try to make it visible when I’m among juniors and there’s something I don’t know. I think showing the process of “I realize I miss some knowledge => here’s how I bridge the gap” might help against the current trend of going through the motions in the dark.

It used to be that learning was almost a hazing ritual of being belittled and told to RTFM. That doesn’t really work when people have a big bold shortcut on their phones at any given time.

We might need to make the old way more attractive if we don’t want to end up alone.

Re: The scariest "user support" email I've received

#187

Post by addandsubtract »

userbinator wrote: post #154

Weird already — because my app’s website, https://www.inkdrop.app/ , doesn’t even show a cookie consent dialog. I don’t track or serve ads, so there’s no need for that What I would do in this situation: check to make sure that my site hasn't been hacked, then tell the "user" it's not a problem on my end. The class names in the source code of the phishing site are... interesting. I've seen this in spam email headers t…

Reverse phish them by sending them a "fixed" link. Then report their IP to authorities.

Re: The scariest "user support" email I've received

#188

Post by addandsubtract »

mcherm wrote: post #158
userbinator wrote: post #151

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"I don't have to prove anything. Fuck off." is my normal response to being presented with CAPTCHAs or other "challenges" unexpectedly.

Interesting. I wonder how you even manage to utilize the modern web.

"Hey ChatGPT, do this for me...", because somehow AI is immune to captchas, but humans aren't. What a time to be alive.

Re: The scariest "user support" email I've received

#189

Post by anthk »

DocTomoe wrote: post #165
jb1991 wrote: post #162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You are forgetting the world we live in now where, as time passes, fewer and fewer people will know how to do anything on their own and more and more will only accomplish things by using AI.

As a kid who was raised editing and tinkering memory blocks out of CONFIG.SYS, I've been watching this for a while when the GenZ-Mobile-Generation showed up and was not able to do the darnest things. I see with terror in my heart that the downward ride isn't yet over.

Gen-Z people without AI (AWS' downtime for sure put tons of vibe coders/vibe sysadmins in their place) will be doomed. Mark my words.

I didn't grow by editing DOS config files, but I began with it in Elementary and I've got Debian Woody (later Sarge) in my late HS teen years. OFC I played with game emulators, settings, optimizations, a lot, and under GNU/Linux I even tweaked some BTTV drivers for some El Cheapo TV Tuner. The amount of thinkering these people had omitted because of smartphones and such it's huge.

Re: The scariest "user support" email I've received

#190

Post by miki123211 »

mort96 wrote: post #177
radu_floricica wrote: post #176

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Why use a calculator all the time? Just use pen and paper!" ChatGPT is the right tool here, because it does the job, and it's more versatile. And underneath the hood it most likely called a decoder anyways.

Nah this is more like, "Why do you consult the vibes oracle to compute 7 * 5? Just use a calculator!" .. which is, to be honest, a criticism I would make if I saw someone try to ask ChatGPT to do math .. and, FWIW, that is exactly what's happening here; base64 decode is just math

> if I saw someone try to ask ChatGPT to do math

This makes me wonder how many kids are using Chat GPT as a calculator.

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