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USPS text scammers duped his wife, so he hacked their operation

(blog.smithsecurity.biz)
460 points wglb | 3 comments | 08 Aug 24 23:00 UTC | HN request time: 0.001s | source
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0xEF ◴[09 Aug 24 08:27 UTC] No.41199904[source]▶
I hate that it kicks off with "DISCLAIMER: This is not my work. I would never and don't condone illegal hacking of scammers"

You know what? I do. We all should. These scammers are awful people and deserve to be attacked. I am tired of toothless authorities like CISA and the alphabet agencies in the US doing next to nothing about it unless some YouTube scam baiter does the work for them. Scammers destroy people, not just financially, but emotionally as well, even driving some victims to suicide. As far as I am concerned, any wannabe hacker out there should be using these scammers for target practice.

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chii ◴[09 Aug 24 09:19 UTC] No.41200161[source]▶
vigilantism can spiral out of control. While it makes sense in this scenario, it's because the scammer is obviously breaking some law and is criminal. What happens if it wasn't so obvious?
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newsclues ◴[09 Aug 24 09:55 UTC] No.41200327[source]▶
I’m fine with a war on scammers getting out of control to the point where bombs are being dropped on scammers call centres.

They are the modern Hostis humani generis

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cutemonster ◴[09 Aug 24 10:21 UTC] No.41200461[source]▶
Seems you didn't know that lots of people in scam call centers aren't there voluntarily. Trafficking and threats

> ... lured to countries through fake job adverts but are instead forced to work in scam call centers, pushing cryptocurrency investments, as well as work-from-home, lottery, romance, and online gambling scams. All this, while being subject to "abject abuse."

> A report from Interpol from earlier this year said victims are also subjected to extortion via debt bondage, beatings, sexual exploitation ...

https://www.theregister.com/2023/12/08/human_trafficking_for...

and:

https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/hundreds-thousand...

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ben_w ◴[09 Aug 24 10:28 UTC] No.41200483{3}[source]▶
Mm.

For what it's worth, I can get them to hang up immediately if I recommend they join a trade union.

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mnw21cam ◴[09 Aug 24 11:57 UTC] No.41200979{4}[source]▶
People who are the victims in a controlling relationship will usually say things that the controller wants them to say, even when the controller is not there. Ask me how I know.
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1. ben_w ◴[09 Aug 24 12:16 UTC] No.41201081{5}[source]▶
I can well believe it, and my sympathies to you.

Hopefully the suggestion gave them an idea to reflect on later — I don't know of anything better that can be done when on the receiving end of a phone call.

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2. mnw21cam ◴[09 Aug 24 14:51 UTC] No.41202424[source]▶
I think you're probably right. I came to the opinion a while ago that one of the very best things you can do to help someone who is a victim of a controlling relationship is to tell them things that are indisputably true in such a way that they can ignore you if they aren't ready to hear it or are unable to respond, but so that their mind will have something to chew on and slowly form the roots of a rediscovery of truth.
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3. lo_zamoyski ◴[09 Aug 24 16:00 UTC] No.41203063[source]▶
This is what I did with a scammer. He kept rationalizing his theft, claiming he's just taking "a little" from many people who are well off and wouldn't miss it. Of course, not only is that bullshit, but it wouldn't justify the theft even if it were true. I appealed to his conscience, sternly, and didn't give him an inch. I ended the conversation by wishing that he will come to renounce his evil ways.

The very fact that he didn't hangup, that he felt he had to explain away his guilt to me (a few times) shows that he himself wasn't convinced of his rationalization and that he himself believed he was doing something wrong. I can only hope that the guilt gnawed its way into his conscious and that the worm that never dies led him to rethink his life and to pick up some honest work.

May the guilty lose sleep, and may their ill-gotten goods taste of ash, and thus be led to remorse and reform and the righteous path. This is love of neighbor.