The concern here is that old search engines can give you links and you can go into them to verify the content. AI taking over our search engines hides the sources of information, forcing us to blindly trust the AI and wherever it got its information from.
We computer people have been warning about lack of transparency in devices, software and services for as long as I can remember.
It's happened with EV charging poles. And then people not looking and just going ahead and doing payments on that fraudulent site.
@jan
What I don't get with QR code scams on EV chargers. These things usually have displays, don't they? Why there is a sticker?
@zoetek @flxtr @jan @s1m0n4 @angelastella
This practice also leads to rampant use of junk domains and tracking strings. In my day you registered proper domains and created simple, readable URLs. Now they hide URLs under QR codes and append long strings to every link. This helps to confuse URLs and further obfuscate users from being able to look at a link/URL and quickly ascertain its legitimacy. They have created a scammer/phisher's paradise, at the behest of upper-management and corporations.
@s1m0n4
I think typing in an URL is challenging for non-techy people these days. Maybe because modern mobile browsers hide parts of the URL (scheme, randomly some third level domains). When you tap in the address field in mobile chrome, to edit the URL, the field gets cleared…
@angelastella
Google'll never fix it. AFAIR they announced about a decade ago or so, they wanted completely get rid of the address bar; that URLs should be completely hidden to users. Of course they got a lot of flak for it, so they are pushing it very slowly. And other browsers do the same because their UI designers think that's how it's done now. The fall from grace was probably to combine the address bar and search bar, even though this is incredibly practical…
@angelastella
Non-techy people will use whatever comes with their device. I don't really see how you can influence that. There are now people who have grown up with the Chrome browser. They don't question it. Such people are as likely to switch browsers as I am to come up with the idea of installing Danish (outward-opening) windows in my house.
(I hope I'm just unimaginative and disillusioned and that someone manages to make tech literacy hip.)
@zoetek
Yeah, but some rando could just put a sticker with their payment link anyways. Then you might not be tricked, as you find it suspicious, that it's not working with the app. But another person might scan it with their regular QR-code app and still get scamed.
I think QR-code is ok, as long it's shown by the Monitor and the current status and next step is clearly shown.
Ned Yeung
Ángela Stella Matutina
s1m0n4
Jan ☕🎼🎹☁️🏋️♂️
Tom DB 🦣
trusty falxter 🧠
zoetek