https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WEvSRFGCJqY

something to laugh

OlafS25 Quote:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WEvSRFGCJqY something to laugh

Too funny! "I have AmigaOS." Amiga security through obscurity.

Those scammers must call all over the world. I don't know how many times I have been called by Amazon and Microsoft tech support. I pranked the Microsoft tech support myself once. He said my Windows was having problems and sending out bug reports so I asked him what version I had and he guessed wrong. I laughed at him so hard that it pissed him off and he immediately called me back after I called him a parasite scammer and hung up. The scammers are bold as law enforcement doesn't seem to think its important enough crime to shut them down which is sad. I can't imagine they are successful in more than 1 in 100,000 calls anymore and I would expect there are more prankers than victims.

@OlafS25

Quote:

something to laugh

Yeah!

Damn this was funny.

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@Scammers

I used to watch videos on YouTube where ethical hackers take down these scammers. Most of the time just hacking the caller's system and deleting essential files, and a few times taking down their operation with assistance from local enforcement agencies in India.

Ah, sweet comeuppance.

But seriously, in 2019 an older friend of mine got fleeced for $5,000 AUD in Google Play cards, because they had convincing enough info about his small business and claimed to be ATO. He's in his early 60s, a.k.a in the middle of the vulnerability bell curve.

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@agami

Speech GAN pose a new threat. People have been tricked by calls imitating the voice of their boss or other associates.

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About a year ago a scammer from 'Microsoft' called to inform me that my PC was compromised. I was using my A1200 at the time so I decided to play along. I told him that my computer didn't have a 'start' button, and that it was an Amiga not a PC. He put me on hold and came back a little while later to tell me that yes he understood, I had old computer from the 90's that was good for playing games (I guess he googled it).

That didn't stop him though. He then gave me a url to download the backdoor program from manually. I started that and told him it might take a while to download the 12MB file, knowing that the x86 executable couldn't possibly damage my Amiga. After a few minutes I hung up on him because I wanted to go out shopping. He rang back! By this time the file was downloaded so I 'tried' to run it as per his instructions, knowing it wouldn't work.

Even that didn't phase him though. He had me on the hook and wasn't about to let go. He discussed the problem with his mates for few minutes, then told me that I had to buy an Apple iTunes card. I have no idea how that scam would work, and didn't find out because by this time we had being talking for over an hour and I really needed to go out. So I hung up on him again and left. He probably still thinks he almost caught a live one!

This isn't 'security by obscurity', it's security by incompatibility! Turns out one of the Amiga's 'flaws' is actually useful! Some may say that's just as bad, but ultimately it's how all security systems work. The Amiga is like a big old lock that you can't pick because your modern tools are too sophisticated. And if you do manage to force it open somehow, you open the door to discover a dusty room full of worthless old junk.

@agami

Quote:

agami wrote: But seriously, in 2019 an older friend of mine got fleeced for $5,000 AUD in Google Play cards, because they had convincing enough info about his small business and claimed to be ATO. He's in his early 60s, a.k.a in the middle of the vulnerability bell curve.

I don't think age itself has anything to do with it. I'm 65 and more paranoid than ever! More a lack of knowledge about how the internet works and being too trusting. Business people often get scammed because business is all about trust.

Last edited by bhabbott on 06-Nov-2022 at 08:56 AM.

@bhabbott

Quote:

I don't think age itself has anything to do with it. I'm 65 and more paranoid than ever! More a lack of knowledge about how the internet works and being too trusting. Business people often get scammed because business is all about trust.

Of course there are multiple factors that come together to quantify and qualify vulnerability groups.

Being in his 60s is not the sole factor but rather a prominent factor that these scammers exploit. These scammers know the stats regarding ratio of computer knowledge as correlates to age, and statistically score the most from older marks.

You at 65, and even myself at 51, are exceptions to the rule. I happen to work in the field, but many of my contemporaries in other fields know very little about computers.

The scammers also exerted temporal pressure, thus never giving him the time to "phone a friend".

Last edited by agami on 07-Nov-2022 at 02:19 AM.

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