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UN says scam call centers are epidemic and expanding globally

theregister.com

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Re: UN says scam call centers are epidemic and expanding globally

#21

Post by listenallyall »

intended wrote: post #16
rawgabbit wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

Pit butchering scams are a subtype of scams. The core issue with pig butchering is that the harm process is distributed across platforms, so there’s no single view of the problem at a platform level. This hasn’t stopped efforts to improve knowledge and coordination, but the next barrier to action is in geographical location, and out right kidnap of people to man the fake accounts. But now, to make matters worse, ther…

I find it pretty amazing that so many people have a positive view of AI, when the plus side is that it perhaps makes writing code faster and easier (although too fast and easy and you'll be put of a job) while the downside is, as you point out, widespread scamming at infinite scale, destruction of trust in photos and videos as reality, spamming, cheating, harming, and who knows what else once not-so-nice people get creative on its uses. Automated internment camps? Dynamic pricing to extract the absolute maximum from every consumer transaction? Families unable to trust each other? I expect them all and more.

Re: UN says scam call centers are epidemic and expanding globally

#22

Post by TreeInBuxton »

netsharc wrote: post #19
beeflet wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I had (have?) the idea that one could have an off-band signal that "Yes it's actually my number trying to call your number". Anyone who wants to steal it, feel free, but I have a feeling Google/Apple could implement it and eat your lunch. So before I call the number (say the phone number is 9), my phone app will log into a central server and say "My number is 7, and I'm trying to call 9". The phone 9 will check the s…

I believe this is what STIR/SHAKEN was trying to do, however getting global adoption (which is what would be required) is where it fell over

Re: UN says scam call centers are epidemic and expanding globally

#23

Post by metalman »

I have a land line that was installed as part of a simple alarm system for insurance purposes, that was only used to test the line and get the number, and never given out , and it is hitched up to an old answering/message center phone, so every time I walk past it I can see the calls pilling up. The real issue is that the whole phone system is porous, well realy ,all comunications and data, so we lurch along, the scams very much like a parasitic infection that is only an inconvienience to it's host species, to which we apply powders and salves, the question then, is there the will to rebuild everything with a real immune system that is effective enough to prevent any scam ecosystem from evolving to profitability. certainly we are all exasperated by the irritation and the inability to swat and squish the offenders and gain some sense of retrebution, giving the whole ordeal a singular grimmness

Re: UN says scam call centers are epidemic and expanding globally

#25

Post by hyperman1 »

AymanJabr wrote: post #17

Would a simple solution, like demanding that anyone who isn't in your contact list pay a relatively substantial amount (like $5, or even $0.5), in order to contact you, and you are the one that decides if to return that money when the call ends or to keep it for yourself (send it to a charity/pay taxes). This would also cripple a lot of business in advertising, but not a big loss, if someone really wants to talk to y…

I'm from Europe. Everyone who calls me has to pay. I still get the microsoft people etc... calling me once in a while.

Re: UN says scam call centers are epidemic and expanding globally

#26

Post by hyperman1 »

bentt wrote: post #2

It 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?

Why them and not the legal system? We should use the systems designed to catch criminals for catching criminals.

Start with getting the phone companies to not lie about the real phone number. Then implement blocklists at the borders and catch the criminals inside your own borders. Start some interpol like treaties so cooperatieve countries can help each other, then treat the noncooperators as probable criminals. And do this for IP routing too while you're at it.

Re: UN says scam call centers are epidemic and expanding globally

#27

Post by floydnoel »

metalman wrote: post #23

I have a land line that was installed as part of a simple alarm system for insurance purposes, that was only used to test the line and get the number, and never given out , and it is hitched up to an old answering/message center phone, so every time I walk past it I can see the calls pilling up. The real issue is that the whole phone system is porous, well realy ,all comunications and data, so we lurch along, the sca…

whoever had the number before you probably gave it out plenty. "fresh" numbers are not really a thing anymore.

Re: UN says scam call centers are epidemic and expanding globally

#29

Post by ashoeafoot »

sometimes_all wrote: post #15

Spam and scam calls are an absolute menace in India, to the point that the prime minister went on record warning citizens about some of them (there was a wave of "digital arrest" scams recently). The authorities are generally trying to crack down, but it's a case of too little too late; they should've started at least a decade and a half ago when things were just starting to pick up, but corruption and lack of techni…

Yeah they are firing arrows,lets discuss shield technology and make protection a private endeavour . Meanwhile everyone of this scam calls is a very effective advertising for isolationism and protectionism. How much water does there have to be in a boat before you stop giving swimming lessons and start calling the gaping hole in the hull a systemic risk?

Re: UN says scam call centers are epidemic and expanding globally

#30

Post by bentt »

hyperman1 wrote: post #26
bentt wrote: post #2

It 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?

Why them and not the legal system? We should use the systems designed to catch criminals for catching criminals. Start with getting the phone companies to not lie about the real phone number. Then implement blocklists at the borders and catch the criminals inside your own borders. Start some interpol like treaties so cooperatieve countries can help each other, then treat the noncooperators as probable criminals. And…

It's not either/or. The legal system has its place, but so many scams are international and the jurisdiction is murky. Apple/Google are uniquely positioned here by owning the phone OSs.
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