• TommySalami@lemmy.world
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    8 months ago

    There’s gotta be some crazy scam that will work on me that I’ve never heard of. Every time a new one comes around its always something that throws a ton of red flags out the whole way. They have to be just catching people with particular blind spots

    • Cryophilia@lemmy.world
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      8 months ago

      Every time a new one comes around its always something that throws a ton of red flags out the whole way.

      That’s on purpose. If people like you easily avoid scams, it helps self-select your idiots. Easier to scam.

      Think about it, would you rather spend a ton of effort scamming a small amount of money from a smart person, or very little effort scamming a ton of money from a dumb person?

      • Riskable@programming.dev
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        8 months ago

        It’s surprisingly easy to obtain lists of MAGA Republicans. Their address and phone numbers.

        These people get “letters from Trump” saying he needs donations with instructions on how to donate. And they do donate! Millions and millions. Except how many of these letters are legitimate? Do they even know how to verify?

        All the pieces for pulling off the easiest scam ever are in place. I mean, the man himself is a con artist and classic swindler but I wouldn’t be surprised in the slightest if a huge number of “donations” end up in the pockets of completely different scammers.

        • Cryophilia@lemmy.world
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          8 months ago

          If I had the technical know how, I would 100% do this. Set myself up for early retirement.

    • Aceticon@lemmy.world
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      8 months ago

      It’s a numbers game (pun not intended but, hey, if it works I’m alright with it) - use an automated method to send a no-cost/ultra-cheap message to millions of people, swindle the small fraction of those who fall for it.

      Now that sending this kind of text message is as cheap as sending e-mails, we see this same principle applied in these as we saw with scam emails.

    • petrol_sniff_king@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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      8 months ago

      catching people with particular blind spots

      They do, yeah. It’s part of their strategy, actually. Henry Gullible doesn’t ask too many questions.