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My Scammer Girlfriend: Baiting a Romance Fraudster

bentasker.co.uk

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Re: My Scammer Girlfriend: Baiting a Romance Fraudster

#61

Post by CPLX »

codedokode wrote: post #6

I thought gmail doesn't disclose sender's IP address? Or I was wrong? This is not good for privacy. Also, for fingerprinting you can obtain a GPU model via WebGL (helps in detecting a VM), and probably can scan for known browser extensions by trying to fetch extension-specific URLs. Some sites also scan ports on the localhost by trying to connect to them to find out which software is run.

Pretty sure that gmail doesn't disclose a useful email address when using web version of gmail, is that right?

Re: My Scammer Girlfriend: Baiting a Romance Fraudster

#62

Post by Scoundreller »

EvanAnderson wrote: post #60
fmajid wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The people doing the pig butchering are themselves trafficked and working in horrendous slavery conditions in Cambodia: https://theconversation.com/pig-butchering-fraud-the-link-be... https://restofworld.org/2022/cambodias-scam-mills/

I stopped trying to mess with them and string them along after I heard about this.

There are downsides to engaging and not engaging, but I’m still on team engage and waste time.

Once they can’t find any true victims in a reasonable amount of time, the industry will disappear (or automate and remove the torture and amplify the attempts 1000x)

Re: My Scammer Girlfriend: Baiting a Romance Fraudster

#63

Post by pavel_lishin »

EvanAnderson wrote: post #60
fmajid wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The people doing the pig butchering are themselves trafficked and working in horrendous slavery conditions in Cambodia: https://theconversation.com/pig-butchering-fraud-the-link-be... https://restofworld.org/2022/cambodias-scam-mills/

I stopped trying to mess with them and string them along after I heard about this.

I used to be somewhat mean to telemarketers, until I learned that some of them are prison laborers - getting paid pennies per hour to work in a prison call center.

That already feels morally un-great, and messing with them further no longer felt like something I could justify.

Re: My Scammer Girlfriend: Baiting a Romance Fraudster

#64

Post by pavel_lishin »

netsharc wrote: post #7
ChrisMarshallNY wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It was probably a Chinese slave in a Myanmar boiler room. Romance scammers and “pig butchering” scams are usually run by Asian gangs. Nasty folks. The “good” news, however, is that AI is likely to make a big impact, here, and reduce the need to kidnap poor folks.

Ha, with AI scammer traps (e.g [1]), it'll be AI lying to other AI, trillions of CPU cycles wasted accomplishing nothing other than speeding up the destruction of the planet. I suppose one can then declare the mission accomplished: zero scammers left on the planet. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RV_SdCfZ-0s

> Ha, with AI scammer traps (e.g [1]), it'll be AI lying to other AI, trillions of CPU cycles wasted accomplishing nothing other than speeding up the destruction of the planet.

Reminds me of a small part of Neal Stephenson's "Anathem".

Or maybe a bit of Peter Watts' Rifters trilogy.

Re: My Scammer Girlfriend: Baiting a Romance Fraudster

#65

Post by asah »

fmajid wrote: post #42
danielvf wrote: post #11

One warning, this scam, with it's fast timeline and request for funds to be sent to the girlfriend is a classic, but modern scams can be quite different than this. "pig butchering" scams can run for months of contact with no requests for money, and then instead of asking for money, the user "invests" into what appear initialy to be profitable investments alongside the scammer.

The people doing the pig butchering are themselves trafficked and working in horrendous slavery conditions in Cambodia: https://theconversation.com/pig-butchering-fraud-the-link-be... https://restofworld.org/2022/cambodias-scam-mills/

I suppose it's good news that AI will displace these humans ?

Re: My Scammer Girlfriend: Baiting a Romance Fraudster

#66

Post by eXpl0it3r »

namaria wrote: post #18

The opening email is hilarious "I am true woman! Scammers are bad!"

Every few weeks I'll get a DM on Discord where they try to sell me some art. Of course they never have any public portfolio and don't identify themselves further. Usually I ask them directly "what's the scam this time" or similar and they always reply along the lines of "I'm not scammer. I'm real!". Haven't had the patience to find out how the scam eventually works.

Re: My Scammer Girlfriend: Baiting a Romance Fraudster

#67

Post by gosub100 »

_tk_ wrote: post #8

I've never quite understood this sort of anti-scammer content and what its appeal is to readers. There are a million YouTube videos and other articles out there that explain, analyze, as well as mock[1] and denigrate scammers - who are essentially modern day slaves [2]. [1]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWzz3NeDz3E [2]: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-03-02/human-trafficking-vie...

Then the telecom industry is responsible for blocking it, or perhaps is liable for damages caused by the slavery.

Re: My Scammer Girlfriend: Baiting a Romance Fraudster

#68

Post by pocketarc »

pavel_lishin wrote: post #63
EvanAnderson wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I stopped trying to mess with them and string them along after I heard about this.

I used to be somewhat mean to telemarketers, until I learned that some of them are prison laborers - getting paid pennies per hour to work in a prison call center. That already feels morally un-great, and messing with them further no longer felt like something I could justify.

I agree, and I feel like that goes for everything in general. It's like people who get mad at customer service people - the customer service person has absolutely nothing to do with the product that's giving you grief. Even the telemarketer, as you point out, doesn't want to be there (or even if they do, they may just be there because they have no better options and need to put food on the table).

In life, there are very few situations where being unkind is ever worth it.

And even here on HN, I sometimes get the impulse to argue with someone for whatever they said. What I do is I type out my little comment, then close the tab without actually posting it. Some things are better left unsaid, regardless of how satisfying they'd be to say.

Re: My Scammer Girlfriend: Baiting a Romance Fraudster

#70

Post by pavel_lishin »

pocketarc wrote: post #68
pavel_lishin wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I used to be somewhat mean to telemarketers, until I learned that some of them are prison laborers - getting paid pennies per hour to work in a prison call center. That already feels morally un-great, and messing with them further no longer felt like something I could justify.

I agree, and I feel like that goes for everything in general. It's like people who get mad at customer service people - the customer service person has absolutely nothing to do with the product that's giving you grief. Even the telemarketer, as you point out, doesn't want to be there (or even if they do, they may just be there because they have no better options and need to put food on the table). In life, there are…

I should have been clearer that I meant the more-obviously illegal telemarketers, which frankly are the only ones left.

Having said that, I have no moral problem with keeping them on the line and dragging out a conversation without being rude - every minute they're speaking with me is a minute they're not trying to convince my elderly grandmother to switch her power bill to some fly-by-night shitfarm.

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