3 ms·

This is what I'm wondering. I often get auto warranty calls and I don't even own a vehicle. I just assumed that the calls were spoofed or were illegal in some s

This is what I'm wondering. I often get auto warranty calls and I don't even own a vehicle. I just assumed that the calls were spoofed or were illegal in some sense.

wahern 4y ago
Therein laws a potential flaw in those assuming that the solution can be found in plugging personal information leaks. Just like with e-mail, many (most?) of these scams aren't targeted. If the scam has no relevance, people ignore and readily forget it about. For those for whom the scam is pertinent (and that can be a large fraction of the population at any one moment), it seems like the scammer knew something personal about them. The salience may be purely in the mind of of the potential victim; the scammer is often just blasting out the same crap to everybody. I can't even count how many Chinese-language robocalls I've received, for example, and I neither speak Chinese nor could anyone have reason to believe I do (and in any event, such calls are a common experience, AFAIU). I mean, most scams work similarly to this. Fortune telling, for example. The scammer relies to some degree on the victim connecting the dots themselves as the scammer lacks the necessary information. This is just especially true when it comes to spam.
- ta988 4y ago
  The Chinese robo calls are about visas and as immigration rules are a massive source of stress, they probably work pretty well.
soneil 4y ago
I used to work a job where we did a follow-the-sun model, so not only do I not drive, I'm not even in the US - but I did answer a US 877-number for part of the day. We'd get one or two of these calls per month. I don't think there's a chance in hell these are targeted - randomly dialling 877 numbers in the hopes that one will be answered by a human instead of another robot has to be a complete crapshoot.

3 ms·

This is what I'm wondering. I often get auto warranty calls and I don't even own a vehicle. I just assumed that the calls were spoofed or were illegal in some s

by ne0flex 4y ago

This is what I'm wondering. I often get auto warranty calls and I don't even own a vehicle. I just assumed that the calls were spoofed or were illegal in some sense.

wahern 4y ago
Therein laws a potential flaw in those assuming that the solution can be found in plugging personal information leaks. Just like with e-mail, many (most?) of these scams aren't targeted. If the scam has no relevance, people ignore and readily forget it about. For those for whom the scam is pertinent (and that can be a large fraction of the population at any one moment), it seems like the scammer knew something personal about them. The salience may be purely in the mind of of the potential victim; the scammer is often just blasting out the same crap to everybody. I can't even count how many Chinese-language robocalls I've received, for example, and I neither speak Chinese nor could anyone have reason to believe I do (and in any event, such calls are a common experience, AFAIU). I mean, most scams work similarly to this. Fortune telling, for example. The scammer relies to some degree on the victim connecting the dots themselves as the scammer lacks the necessary information. This is just especially true when it comes to spam.
- ta988 4y ago
  The Chinese robo calls are about visas and as immigration rules are a massive source of stress, they probably work pretty well.
soneil 4y ago
I used to work a job where we did a follow-the-sun model, so not only do I not drive, I'm not even in the US - but I did answer a US 877-number for part of the day. We'd get one or two of these calls per month. I don't think there's a chance in hell these are targeted - randomly dialling 877 numbers in the hopes that one will be answered by a human instead of another robot has to be a complete crapshoot.