Pig Butchering Scam

[iris lily]

I wasn't familiar with the term "Pig Butchering" in this context so I pulled up Wikipedia and this was in the first paragraph:

"In October 2023, 12% of Americans using dating apps had been victims, up from 5% in 2018."

That's a startlingly high number to me, one that presumably doesn't include a whole lot of 70 and 80 year olds since it's just dating apps.

When you've been taken in by a scam you feel like an idiot.  People tend to be quite hesitant to broadcast things that make them look and feel stupid.  You might not hear much about these scams, but I wouldn't be surprised if the numbers were actually higher than reported.

Just wait until AI takes over, and makes today's pig butchering and spearphishing attempts look like Nigerian prince mass-emails.

The AI will get to know you and your friends, measure your and their characteristics across hundreds of variables, merge data about you from hundreds of sources, create a psychological profile, and calculate the exact scam that you'll fall for with the same effectiveness as YouTube, Facebook, or TikTok can guess the next video their users will engage in. Instead of recycling a handful of scams we can name, the AI will come up with a custom approach to fit the vulnerabilities of your particular brain, and it might not look like anything you've seen or imagined before.

To say we won't all get scammed is like saying you've never been sucked into a loop of algorithmically-selected content. Imagine if it's not just your child's voice and video image on the phone asking for a money transfer, but they also know all your information, can respond with the same intonation and cadence as the real person, and know the answer to any question you might ask. The stuff destroying people today is primitive compared to what's coming.

If the internet was developed to facilitate porn, AI will be developed to facilitate scams. Think about that if you are worried about the machines eventually turning on us. They will be built to harm people in the first place.

This is exactly what I was saying above, AI will figure me out sooner or later and appeal directly in intimately targeted ways to my particular persona.

I think it’s likely I will be dead by then, but maybe not. We shall see.

But that said, I am so annoyed at how clunky “targeted “ ads are that come to my social medias and emails. They’re just so stupid. They think they’re showing me things I want but they are not. I would actually welcome super targeted ads serving up exactly what I’m interested in.

[GuitarStv]

But that said, I am so annoyed at how clunky “targeted “ ads are that come to my social medias and emails. They’re just so stupid. They think they’re showing me things I want but they are not. I would actually welcome super targeted ads serving up exactly what I’m interested in.

Run an ad blocker, and use your email spam filters.  Between the two of these I've radically reduced my exposure to advertisements.  It's a better way to live.

[Luke Warm]

But that said, I am so annoyed at how clunky “targeted “ ads are that come to my social medias and emails. They’re just so stupid. They think they’re showing me things I want but they are not. I would actually welcome super targeted ads serving up exactly what I’m interested in.

Run an ad blocker, and use your email spam filters.  Between the two of these I've radically reduced my exposure to advertisements.  It's a better way to live.

I get an inordinate amount of Febreeze adds on Youtube. I've never bought Febreeze nor does my house smell. I watch a lot of cycling and hiking videos. They never try to sell me a new bike or backpacking gear.

[Villanelle]

I wasn't familiar with the term "Pig Butchering" in this context so I pulled up Wikipedia and this was in the first paragraph:

"In October 2023, 12% of Americans using dating apps had been victims, up from 5% in 2018."

That's a startlingly high number to me, one that presumably doesn't include a whole lot of 70 and 80 year olds since it's just dating apps.

When you've been taken in by a scam you feel like an idiot.  People tend to be quite hesitant to broadcast things that make them look and feel stupid.  You might not hear much about these scams, but I wouldn't be surprised if the numbers were actually higher than reported.

Just wait until AI takes over, and makes today's pig butchering and spearphishing attempts look like Nigerian prince mass-emails.

The AI will get to know you and your friends, measure your and their characteristics across hundreds of variables, merge data about you from hundreds of sources, create a psychological profile, and calculate the exact scam that you'll fall for with the same effectiveness as YouTube, Facebook, or TikTok can guess the next video their users will engage in. Instead of recycling a handful of scams we can name, the AI will come up with a custom approach to fit the vulnerabilities of your particular brain, and it might not look like anything you've seen or imagined before.

To say we won't all get scammed is like saying you've never been sucked into a loop of algorithmically-selected content. Imagine if it's not just your child's voice and video image on the phone asking for a money transfer, but they also know all your information, can respond with the same intonation and cadence as the real person, and know the answer to any question you might ask. The stuff destroying people today is primitive compared to what's coming.

If the internet was developed to facilitate porn, AI will be developed to facilitate scams. Think about that if you are worried about the machines eventually turning on us. They will be built to harm people in the first place.

This.

WHen I was a kid, our family had a code word.  It was to be used if, for some reason, a stranger had to pick us up from school or activities.  (The concept was pushed at a school assembly.)  Perhaps the concept needs to come back, only as security against scammers instead of kidnappers. If your loved one doesn't know that codeword, they don't get Mexican bail money. 

[rocketpj]

I once had a customer/client get scammed by someone pretending to be me.  When they called me asking for the 'next' invoice, I had no idea what they were talking about.  When they realized they had been scammed they asked me to reimburse them - also NO.  Just a couple hundred dollars, but they were really angry and vented it on me.

[Michael in ABQ]

But that said, I am so annoyed at how clunky “targeted “ ads are that come to my social medias and emails. They’re just so stupid. They think they’re showing me things I want but they are not. I would actually welcome super targeted ads serving up exactly what I’m interested in.

Run an ad blocker, and use your email spam filters.  Between the two of these I've radically reduced my exposure to advertisements.  It's a better way to live.

I get an inordinate amount of Febreeze adds on Youtube. I've never bought Febreeze nor does my house smell. I watch a lot of cycling and hiking videos. They never try to sell me a new bike or backpacking gear.

When platforms can't target you specifically, they will default to products like Febreeze (or laundry detergent) that have broad market appeal. Also, P&G and other larger consumer brands can afford to waste a lot of money on non-targetted ads for branding purposes.

Our business spends close to $100k/year on digital ads but they're highly targeted direct response ads (mostly Google shopping) that we expect to result in immediate measurable sales.

[Luke Warm]

But that said, I am so annoyed at how clunky “targeted “ ads are that come to my social medias and emails. They’re just so stupid. They think they’re showing me things I want but they are not. I would actually welcome super targeted ads serving up exactly what I’m interested in.

Run an ad blocker, and use your email spam filters.  Between the two of these I've radically reduced my exposure to advertisements.  It's a better way to live.

After posting this I got a bike add on Youtube. Let's see if a Bugatti add shows up.
I get an inordinate amount of Febreeze adds on Youtube. I've never bought Febreeze nor does my house smell. I watch a lot of cycling and hiking videos. They never try to sell me a new bike or backpacking gear.

When platforms can't target you specifically, they will default to products like Febreeze (or laundry detergent) that have broad market appeal. Also, P&G and other larger consumer brands can afford to waste a lot of money on non-targetted ads for branding purposes.

Our business spends close to $100k/year on digital ads but they're highly targeted direct response ads (mostly Google shopping) that we expect to result in immediate measurable sales.