4 ms·

Is this a wealth transfer from stupid to smart, or is it actually possible to scam people with and above normal intelligence?

toomuchtodo 2y ago
It’s a wealth transfer from the emotionally vulnerable to criminals. > Scammers specifically seek out the lonely—people living regular lives consisting of doctor’s visits, frozen food and errands. They lure them with the prospect of an exciting life that would otherwise seem out of reach.
eesmith 2y ago
Cory Doctorow is smarter than I and got scammed. https://pluralistic.net/2024/02/05/cyber-dunning-kruger/#swiss-cheese-security https://pluralistic.net/2024/02/05/cyber-dunning-kruger/#swi...
ohnoitsahuman 2y ago
It's not smarts: I gave a phishing training and just an hour later I almost clicked on a phishing link. Made me reevaluate a lot of things.
fortran77 2y ago
With the elderly, dementia has a lot to do with it.
- orwin 2y ago
  I just saw a YouTube video peddling 'supplement for men' aimed towards men 16-30 (anybody older ought to have his life a bit more figured out), got to the website to check how much of a scam it is, and it was probably one of the biggest scam I ever saw. Typically the type of scam science my mother fell into times and times again, and that I though would only work on hippy women. This sexist bias I had is now dead, but i'm not reassured.
  - fortran77 2y ago
    I'm not saying young people don't fall for scams. But dealing with a 91 year old mother now, I know how vulnerable old people are. And some people start having signs of dementia in their 70s like the man in this WSJ article.
hurrdurr57 2y ago
Being smart isn't a requirement to be a scammer. Many of them are just working off of scripts that someone much more intelligent and manipulative put together for them to use. Being stupid also isn't necessarily a requirement for being scammed. If you can catch someone off guard or take advantage of an emotional vulnerability as in this case, you can exploit them.

toomuchtodo 2y ago

It’s a wealth transfer from the emotionally vulnerable to criminals. > Scammers specifically seek out the lonely—people living regular lives consisting of doctor’s visits, frozen food and errands. They lure them with the prospect of an exciting life that would otherwise seem out of reach.

eesmith 2y ago

Cory Doctorow is smarter than I and got scammed. https://pluralistic.net/2024/02/05/cyber-dunning-kruger/#swiss-cheese-security https://pluralistic.net/2024/02/05/cyber-dunning-kruger/#swi...

ohnoitsahuman 2y ago

It's not smarts: I gave a phishing training and just an hour later I almost clicked on a phishing link. Made me reevaluate a lot of things.

fortran77 2y ago

With the elderly, dementia has a lot to do with it.

orwin 2y ago
I just saw a YouTube video peddling 'supplement for men' aimed towards men 16-30 (anybody older ought to have his life a bit more figured out), got to the website to check how much of a scam it is, and it was probably one of the biggest scam I ever saw. Typically the type of scam science my mother fell into times and times again, and that I though would only work on hippy women. This sexist bias I had is now dead, but i'm not reassured.
- fortran77 2y ago
  I'm not saying young people don't fall for scams. But dealing with a 91 year old mother now, I know how vulnerable old people are. And some people start having signs of dementia in their 70s like the man in this WSJ article.

hurrdurr57 2y ago

Being smart isn't a requirement to be a scammer. Many of them are just working off of scripts that someone much more intelligent and manipulative put together for them to use. Being stupid also isn't necessarily a requirement for being scammed. If you can catch someone off guard or take advantage of an emotional vulnerability as in this case, you can exploit them.