GeePawHill
So I was sitting outside on the deck this morning, coming to full consciousness with a cigarette and a diet coke, and I hear my wife becoming increasingly agitated with someone on the phone.
Mar 7 at 2:45amWeb
Show threadGeePawHillMar 7

This is not unusual, given the state of customer service in this day and age of rapacious capitalism, but then I heard her say that she wanted to know whether she should or should not turn off her computer.

So I came inside.

She'd been caught by a browser phishing attack, the one where they make the browse full screen, suppress the mouse cursor, and say that Microsoft has shut down their computer.

I could see it instantly, and told her to hang up, which she did.

Show threadGeePawHillMar 7

My wife is not a computer geek, but she does know we don't share our info with strangers, and she hadn't.

But she still thought it was possibly legit, even tho it's the second time it happened. And she didn't want to wake me up and ask me. And she did call the phisher's number and talk to them.

If you're a proper geek, which I am, you know what to do: 3-finger salute, task manager, kill the browser, restart the browser but don't reload.

Show threadGeePawHillMar 7

I can readily imagine the people who use computers on a regular basis who *don't* have slightly hungover crabby spouse who is a serious geek. I can readily imagine them succumbing.

And I want so much to *hate* that guy on the other end of the line.

But you know what, that guy isn't the guy makin' all the money. He's making below minimum wage but with commissions for every "sucker" he snares.

Show threadGeePawHillMar 7
And I ask myself, is *this* what we created the internet for?
Show threadGeePawHillMar 7
I think the answer is "yes", and it just breaks my heart.
Show threadGeePawHillMar 7
Anyway, she has just gone to bed, and was reading, and I went in and told her, "next time just wake me up. I'm *always* grumpy, anyway, and it's not gonna be any worse, and I love you and I will teach you how to tell and what to do, grumpily."
Show threadKevin Karhan Mar 7

@GeePawHill the fact that #ScammerPayback, #JimBrowning and all the other #ScamBaiters don't run out of content and nowadays find more and more aggressive #Scammers literally emptying peoples' bank accounts (or rather manipulating them into doing that) is worrying.

Show threadMay Likes TorontoMar 7
@GeePawHill yes.
Show threadDarth DeproMar 7
@GeePawHill porn, definitely porn.
20 years ago porn sites had viruses abound, now its the religious site's
Show threadGeePawHillMar 7

@MineMcG Porn *seriously* funded the internet, a fact that is not usually known by kids today.

She caught the script, however, from a false facebook messenger "you have messages" link.

My wife uses very little porn, as a) she is 76 years old, and b) she's hot for sephardic looking walking encyclopedia forester guys, and in spite of Rule 34, there is no available site for that.

Show threadGeePawHillMar 7

@MineMcG (I'm not sephardic-looking, or a forester, but I *am* a walking encyclopedia, so, you know, she took what she could get.

And, for the record, my stock has dropped since smartphones and wikipedia.)

Show threadGeePawHillMar 7

@MineMcG (You think I'm kidding, but she zoomed tonight with an incoming WWOOFer, and she told me he was in to forestry and pursuing a graduate degree.

Then she said, "But he's way too young for me, so don't worry.")

Show threadGeorge DinwiddieMar 7
@GeePawHill No, the Internet was created to support the military and their contractors. But the capability for destruction has been democratized since then.
Show threadChris PittsMar 7
@gdinwiddie @GeePawHill I always find it ironic that the dark web was a US Navy project.
Show threadan actual busMar 7

@GeePawHill Nah, the folks who made the internet were cool people I'm pretty sure, and they dreamed of a world where knowledge was freely shared.

I think that in spite of everything that dream lives on every time someone reads up a wikipedia article and learns something.

Show threadBen RamseyMar 7
@GeePawHill Have you seen John Oliver’s show on pig butchering scams? When these folks try to reel you in, it’s tempting to play them yourself, but John Oliver’s segment showed that many of these people are victims of human trafficking, forced to work under threat of life (theirs or their family). It’s horrible.
Show threadkevinMar 7

@GeePawHill

I feel personally embarrassed to share that a few years ago my wife was targeted by a SSA scammer who enticed her to share her SSN and other deets. she told me that day it was very important that i contact this nice man and answer his important questions.

#smdh

Show threadBen RamseyMar 7
@kmmfoo @GeePawHill Even the most vigilant among us can be caught unawares.