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We live in a weird world where blowing up money containers to get the money inside will only net you a meager $2mio over 15 ATMs while getting people to click o

We live in a weird world where blowing up money containers to get the money inside will only net you a meager $2mio over 15 ATMs while getting people to click on your scam crypto IPO link can easily net you $20mio in an hour.

JumpCrisscross 5y ago
> weird world where blowing up money containers…will only net you a meager $2mio…while getting people to click on your scam crypto IPO link can easily net you $20mio Why is that weird? Local versus global distribution; plentiful versus scarce skill requirements; and experienced versus naïve adversaries.
- ClumsyPilot 5y ago
  "plentiful versus scarce skill requirements" You think promoting a shitcoin requires more skills than blowing things up without blowing yourself up?
  - JumpCrisscross 5y ago
    > You think promoting a shitcoin requires more skills than blowing things up without blowing yourself up? More or less skill is irrelevant. There are more people who can blow up an ATM (or be trivially trained to) and collect the cash from it than there are who could do similarly for a cryptocurrency scam. (Few, if anyone, make $20mm simply tweeting promotions for other peoples’ coins.)
  - kybernetyk 5y ago
    If it’s so easy why aren’t you making $20 million an hour then?
    - corndoge 5y ago
      Who said it was easy? FFS read what is being written instead of going for the epic cheap shot
      - ryanlol 5y ago
        Most HN users could figure out how to safely blow up ATMs, few could figure out the other thing.
        Beldin 5y ago
        I doubt it. I think most HN users would be above-average successful at white-collar crimes, especially if those involve technology. I see no reason for any correlation between HN readership and aptitude for blue-collar crimes.
        aaron695 5y ago
        Lol, you walk into a welding shop buy oxygen and acetylene and tubes. Go to a hobby store and by a model rocket fuse. Wake up at 3:00am stick them into the ATM and get money. A lot of aptitude needed isn't there? You can't be a coward though. Most HN readership can't do either. Unless you call pretending they use AI or AR or chatbots or big data as white collar crime.
        ryanlol 5y ago
        Anyone capable of stopping to think for 5 minutes will be above average aptitude for blue-collar crimes.
        ClumsyPilot 5y ago
        I think if all of HN tried it, a third would be in jail, and a third would need to be scraped off the pavement with a mop. Maybe sucess chance is higher than with crypto, but the faiure is much worse
        ryanlol 5y ago
        I would bet that the amount of people that need to be scraped off the pavement would be much less than a third. The kind of explosives you would normally use for this are not difficult to handle or deploy, anyone with access to google can figure it out. I think HN users in general would be much more inclined to do at least a little bit of research, unlike most blue collar criminals.
    - ClumsyPilot 5y ago
      "if it's so easy to get away with rape, how come you haven't done it yet"? Wtf?
  - csomar 5y ago
    Yes. You are making the same wrong assumption that many people do. Just because it's a website and some code doesn't mean it's easy.
Nextgrid 5y ago
The ATM robber will also face jail if caught, while the crypto guy is will remain free and may even attain popularity.
- dylan604 5y ago
  Depending on your nationality and location of commiting the crime though. If you're in a country that feels cyber crimes are actual crimes, you'd be screwed. If you're in a country that says as long as you don't commit these acts acts your country or fellow countrymen, you're good to go.
  - Nextgrid 5y ago
    I was suggesting that useless ICOs or similar vaporware crypto projects are rarely considered crimes in most countries. The ICO typically gives you a shitcoin in exchange. You technically get what you were promised. It's just that the utility for said shitcoin never appears, but that wouldn't count as a crime. Making a blockchain-powered cat food company and raising tons of money from investors without delivering anything is not a crime either, that's the expected outcome for 90% of startups.
dpflan 5y ago
Seems like a difference in medium: physical vs. digital. One is more constrained than the other.

JumpCrisscross 5y ago

> weird world where blowing up money containers…will only net you a meager $2mio…while getting people to click on your scam crypto IPO link can easily net you $20mio Why is that weird? Local versus global distribution; plentiful versus scarce skill requirements; and experienced versus naïve adversaries.

ClumsyPilot 5y ago
"plentiful versus scarce skill requirements" You think promoting a shitcoin requires more skills than blowing things up without blowing yourself up?
- JumpCrisscross 5y ago
  > You think promoting a shitcoin requires more skills than blowing things up without blowing yourself up? More or less skill is irrelevant. There are more people who can blow up an ATM (or be trivially trained to) and collect the cash from it than there are who could do similarly for a cryptocurrency scam. (Few, if anyone, make $20mm simply tweeting promotions for other peoples’ coins.)
- kybernetyk 5y ago
  If it’s so easy why aren’t you making $20 million an hour then?
  - corndoge 5y ago
    Who said it was easy? FFS read what is being written instead of going for the epic cheap shot
    - ryanlol 5y ago
      Most HN users could figure out how to safely blow up ATMs, few could figure out the other thing.
      - Beldin 5y ago
        I doubt it. I think most HN users would be above-average successful at white-collar crimes, especially if those involve technology. I see no reason for any correlation between HN readership and aptitude for blue-collar crimes.
        aaron695 5y ago
        Lol, you walk into a welding shop buy oxygen and acetylene and tubes. Go to a hobby store and by a model rocket fuse. Wake up at 3:00am stick them into the ATM and get money. A lot of aptitude needed isn't there? You can't be a coward though. Most HN readership can't do either. Unless you call pretending they use AI or AR or chatbots or big data as white collar crime.
        ryanlol 5y ago
        Anyone capable of stopping to think for 5 minutes will be above average aptitude for blue-collar crimes.
      - ClumsyPilot 5y ago
        I think if all of HN tried it, a third would be in jail, and a third would need to be scraped off the pavement with a mop. Maybe sucess chance is higher than with crypto, but the faiure is much worse
        ryanlol 5y ago
        I would bet that the amount of people that need to be scraped off the pavement would be much less than a third. The kind of explosives you would normally use for this are not difficult to handle or deploy, anyone with access to google can figure it out. I think HN users in general would be much more inclined to do at least a little bit of research, unlike most blue collar criminals.
  - ClumsyPilot 5y ago
    "if it's so easy to get away with rape, how come you haven't done it yet"? Wtf?
- csomar 5y ago
  Yes. You are making the same wrong assumption that many people do. Just because it's a website and some code doesn't mean it's easy.

Nextgrid 5y ago

The ATM robber will also face jail if caught, while the crypto guy is will remain free and may even attain popularity.

dylan604 5y ago
Depending on your nationality and location of commiting the crime though. If you're in a country that feels cyber crimes are actual crimes, you'd be screwed. If you're in a country that says as long as you don't commit these acts acts your country or fellow countrymen, you're good to go.
- Nextgrid 5y ago
  I was suggesting that useless ICOs or similar vaporware crypto projects are rarely considered crimes in most countries. The ICO typically gives you a shitcoin in exchange. You technically get what you were promised. It's just that the utility for said shitcoin never appears, but that wouldn't count as a crime. Making a blockchain-powered cat food company and raising tons of money from investors without delivering anything is not a crime either, that's the expected outcome for 90% of startups.

dpflan 5y ago

Seems like a difference in medium: physical vs. digital. One is more constrained than the other.