42 lines
2.5 KiB
Markdown
42 lines
2.5 KiB
Markdown
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title = "Please Don't Dunk on Scam Victims"
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# description = ""
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date = 2024-04-06
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# updated = 2024-04-06
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#draft = true
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[taxonomies]
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tags = ["security"]
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Yesterday, a Twitter user going by the name "marsothy" (@splatatouille) posted a thread of tweets about getting caught up in a Discord scam. You can find that thread \[linked here\]\(https://twitter.com/splatatouille/status/1776311022506459564\) (link broken) but I'll summarize it here:
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- a friend's account was compromised
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- scammer poses as friend claiming that Marsothy needs to get in contact with Discord support via a specified Discord account
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- having Marsothy change their Discord account's email address
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- asking for banking information
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- asking for a money transfer via Venmo + Bitcoin
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- Marsothy is locked out of their account
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I've had one person DM this to me, and another group I'm part of post about it.
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The general consensus was "this person was very dumb".
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And yeah, to an extent, he was.
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Having to share your bank account information or sent money via crypto is really clear of a scam and I'd like to believe that I wouldn't fall for something like that.
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But some of it tilted the scales in the scammer's favor.
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It's important to note that:
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- Marsothy had just woken up (so probably not thinking straight)
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- Marsothy had never heard of this kind of scam.
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Scammers prey on you not thinking rationally.
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If you got a text from your [mother/close fiend/amicable ex-lover] using a semi-verified way of knowing it was them (like phone contacts) shortly after waking up, you'd probably not think as much about "who is this" versus "how can I help".
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I used to construct social engineering campaigns professionally (and under legal contracts that gave me permission to do so).
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They also prey on people now knowing about scams.
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Yeah, this one might have been less believeable once it got the the bank account stage.
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But **it's a good thing to share knowledge of scams** even if it's embarrassing.
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We need to stop dunking on people who share that they fell for a scam.
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I applaud Marsothy for sharing this with the world.
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I leave you with two of his tweets from after the thread had been up for a while:
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> muting this, but that you to everyone who has been understanding of my situation despite the...questionable lack of judgement i had in the moment. [...] hopefully sharing will prevent more people from falling victim to this terrible scam
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> everybody calling me or anyone stupid for falling victim to this kind of situation, you're really not helping anybody
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