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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: 0.704s | 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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1. nonrandomstring ◴[09 Aug 24 12:25 UTC] No.41201147[source]▶
If we're going to invoke "vigilantism" (as opposed to notions of reasonable and proportionate self-defence) let's acknowledge how U.S. American culture at least in the 80s and 90s is drenched in a deep love of vigilante justice... The A-Team, Knight Rider, The Equaliser, even Batman! Who doesn't dream of a secret base inside a mountain, filled with surveillance gear, an anti-crime computer and a personal Apache attack helicopter waiting on the pad to rain fire down on miscreants?

Let's say that's more than just individual morality but a concrete cultural relation to wealth, power, justice and social contract of the state.

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2. lo_zamoyski ◴[09 Aug 24 15:49 UTC] No.41202966[source]▶
The trouble with vigilatism is that it involves a usurpation of state authority that one does not possess. State authority can be deputized under certain conditions, of course, and self-defense is an example (I can shoot someone trying to commit murder, for example; or consider citizen's arrest), but it isn't arbitrary and isn't vigilatism.

Of course, when the state demonstrates a dereliction of duty and becomes feckless in its ability to punish criminals in proportion to their crimes, this creates outrage and a strong temptation to engage in vigilatism. The state then shares responsibility for the resulting vigilatism.

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3. nonrandomstring ◴[11 Aug 24 11:34 UTC] No.41215485[source]▶
I agree, and think there are many facets of degeneration that lead people to disrespect the law and see justice as something they must provision for themselves; Surveillance cameras and drones instead of police in the streets. Algorithms and predictive policing instead of presence - ears to the ground and forward intelligence. Procedural and summary justice in place of juries and deliberation. Police who are uneducated in, and frequently break the law. Delegation to untrusted private power without democratic mandate...

All of these things give people a sense they have been abandoned by a derelict state and must meet violence with violence, power with power. That's profitable for an "insecurity industry" that thrives on fear, but devastating to societal wellbeing.