crazy stuff. Probably at least part of the blame rests with OpenAI, and the Ai industry in general. There's a rush to push their tools to be used with few guardrails in place. So you can add greed of another kind, beyond the scammers/slavers.
You bring up an interesting point. Greed probably belongs on the list too, although I’m hesitant to link it entirely to the AI industry. These scams have so many responsible parties and a history stretching back even beyond the internet. AI has changed their speed and scale, but the underlying greed is painfully human. What do you think?
Concur. As I like to say… Communism was doomed to fail because it is not aligned with human nature. Capitalism is doomed to fail because it is too closely aligned with human nature. The middle ground is likely the best path. Meaning some strong regulation of Ai is needed at some point soon.
Anyone can be anyone else online is truer than it's ever been … and many people seem to be born without the intrinsic skepticism most evolved for in-person interactions let alone digital ones. Police still arrest fugitives who show up to claim fake sweepstakes prizes. Men still believe they're the one to save the poor, lonely stripper. Women still think he might propose after eight years. Hope is the chain with which we bind ourselves.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read and comment, Dave! The thing is, I really believe that for truly lonely people, scepticism comes second to hope. And there are more and more lonely people everywhere.Would you agree?
Like the capacity for violence, I think hope is a human condition, not necessarily worse for lonely people. We all have unique foibles and chinks in our armor. Different scams target different inherent weaknesses. People who feel unlovable are more susceptible to the hope that someone might love them. People who feel incompetent are more susceptible to the hope that someone will teach them something they need to know. And so forth. The easiest way to traffic a book nerd is to paint FREE BOOKS on the side of a panel van. 🤓
I don't know that there are more lonely people than there have ever been as a percentage of humanity, but humanity is larger now than it's ever been and we're more hyperaware of each other than we've ever been. The simple fact of hyperawareness of unlikely events causes changes in thought processes, fears, and behaviors. Kidnapping continues to decline in prevalence, but parents increasingly fear it more and have been for decades.
Because we're wired to perceive contrasts and edges differences, we're prone to think (based on internet representations) those are more common than they truly are. Media hype around the loneliness "epidemic" resonates with many people who are afraid of loneliness, whether they truly experience it themselves or not. Media hype encourages us to compare our lives with "Friends" and Instagram influencers' curated self-portrayals or other idealized stories which aren't any more representative of real life than porn is representative of real sex.
that is wild crazy stuff! i guess criminals don't understand how they are being tracked by using these tools, and maybe they rely on trying to disappear before their chats are reported. thank you for sharing this article! very interesting times we are living in!
It’s painful to see criminal operations adopt AI so aggressively. They are turning every part of the scam into a system. Meanwhile, people who could improve their work with AI are still hesitating.
Thank you for sharing this, very insightful. Criminal activity evolves with technology and criminal organisations are often run with more "integrity" and rigour than legitimate businesses so it is inevitable they wouldn't take long to optimise what's available with AI.
Scammers are using more and more advanced tricks because of AI. For example, our IT company gets a lot of emails with requests for proposals. The specs are well written, clearly by AI. They can hold a real conversation about scope and plans. Then it turns out you need to download an NDA or something from a git repo. That's the trap. You check it out and you get malicious software that steals whatever it can.
It's the same trick as the Contagious Interview scam, just pointed at vendors instead of job candidates.
And this is just one example of what lands in our corporate mailbox now.
AI is an amplifier, not the root cause. Pig-butchering scams existed long before generative AI. AI simply accelerates existing vulnerabilities: loneliness, weakened family and community ties, economic insecurity, and the desire for quick wealth. Many victims are looking for connection or hope, while many scammers are themselves victims of human trafficking and coercion.
At the same time, AI is helping expose these criminal networks. Law enforcement, banks, cybersecurity firms, and messaging platforms can use AI to detect scam patterns, uncover coordinated operations, and identify fraud much faster than before.
AI isn't inherently good or bad, it amplifies both attackers and defenders. The real solution is stronger communities, greater public awareness, and continued efforts to dismantle the organized crime behind these scams.
the story is sad, but if it reveal something, it will reveal we are broken societies, and we need to strengthen the importance of family and education. why we have helpless population? that the question we need to address and solve
crazy stuff. Probably at least part of the blame rests with OpenAI, and the Ai industry in general. There's a rush to push their tools to be used with few guardrails in place. So you can add greed of another kind, beyond the scammers/slavers.
You bring up an interesting point. Greed probably belongs on the list too, although I’m hesitant to link it entirely to the AI industry. These scams have so many responsible parties and a history stretching back even beyond the internet. AI has changed their speed and scale, but the underlying greed is painfully human. What do you think?
Concur. As I like to say… Communism was doomed to fail because it is not aligned with human nature. Capitalism is doomed to fail because it is too closely aligned with human nature. The middle ground is likely the best path. Meaning some strong regulation of Ai is needed at some point soon.
That's a powerful quote!
Anyone can be anyone else online is truer than it's ever been … and many people seem to be born without the intrinsic skepticism most evolved for in-person interactions let alone digital ones. Police still arrest fugitives who show up to claim fake sweepstakes prizes. Men still believe they're the one to save the poor, lonely stripper. Women still think he might propose after eight years. Hope is the chain with which we bind ourselves.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read and comment, Dave! The thing is, I really believe that for truly lonely people, scepticism comes second to hope. And there are more and more lonely people everywhere.Would you agree?
Like the capacity for violence, I think hope is a human condition, not necessarily worse for lonely people. We all have unique foibles and chinks in our armor. Different scams target different inherent weaknesses. People who feel unlovable are more susceptible to the hope that someone might love them. People who feel incompetent are more susceptible to the hope that someone will teach them something they need to know. And so forth. The easiest way to traffic a book nerd is to paint FREE BOOKS on the side of a panel van. 🤓
I don't know that there are more lonely people than there have ever been as a percentage of humanity, but humanity is larger now than it's ever been and we're more hyperaware of each other than we've ever been. The simple fact of hyperawareness of unlikely events causes changes in thought processes, fears, and behaviors. Kidnapping continues to decline in prevalence, but parents increasingly fear it more and have been for decades.
Because we're wired to perceive contrasts and edges differences, we're prone to think (based on internet representations) those are more common than they truly are. Media hype around the loneliness "epidemic" resonates with many people who are afraid of loneliness, whether they truly experience it themselves or not. Media hype encourages us to compare our lives with "Friends" and Instagram influencers' curated self-portrayals or other idealized stories which aren't any more representative of real life than porn is representative of real sex.
What are we doing to ourselves?
Thank you for writing this article and highlighting a very important issue.
Thank you for reading, Lisa! I heard about these scams before, but I never realized their scale. So many people got caught up in them...
that is wild crazy stuff! i guess criminals don't understand how they are being tracked by using these tools, and maybe they rely on trying to disappear before their chats are reported. thank you for sharing this article! very interesting times we are living in!
Crazy. 220k people. Thank you for sharing this with us.
Karo, I read about this too.
It’s painful to see criminal operations adopt AI so aggressively. They are turning every part of the scam into a system. Meanwhile, people who could improve their work with AI are still hesitating.
Thank you for sharing this, very insightful. Criminal activity evolves with technology and criminal organisations are often run with more "integrity" and rigour than legitimate businesses so it is inevitable they wouldn't take long to optimise what's available with AI.
Scammers are using more and more advanced tricks because of AI. For example, our IT company gets a lot of emails with requests for proposals. The specs are well written, clearly by AI. They can hold a real conversation about scope and plans. Then it turns out you need to download an NDA or something from a git repo. That's the trap. You check it out and you get malicious software that steals whatever it can.
It's the same trick as the Contagious Interview scam, just pointed at vendors instead of job candidates.
And this is just one example of what lands in our corporate mailbox now.
Reminds me of the movie HER
AI is an amplifier, not the root cause. Pig-butchering scams existed long before generative AI. AI simply accelerates existing vulnerabilities: loneliness, weakened family and community ties, economic insecurity, and the desire for quick wealth. Many victims are looking for connection or hope, while many scammers are themselves victims of human trafficking and coercion.
At the same time, AI is helping expose these criminal networks. Law enforcement, banks, cybersecurity firms, and messaging platforms can use AI to detect scam patterns, uncover coordinated operations, and identify fraud much faster than before.
AI isn't inherently good or bad, it amplifies both attackers and defenders. The real solution is stronger communities, greater public awareness, and continued efforts to dismantle the organized crime behind these scams.
the story is sad, but if it reveal something, it will reveal we are broken societies, and we need to strengthen the importance of family and education. why we have helpless population? that the question we need to address and solve
thank you Karo for this