Now I was watching some anime on my laptop earlier and a message came through on my Skype. Those of you who don't know, Skype seems to stay open indefinitely until you close it (like twice). Now that I think about it, I only have like two contacts on Skype: My uncle and one friend who also uses Skype. So feel free to ask me why I even bother to have it on my laptop.
Anyway, so this message comes through all of a sudden:
"Notice I didn't pick up on this SMS right away."
Now I don't know this person. My first thought is: "Probably a guy pretending to be a girl", but I go with it. This kind of thing doesn't normally happen to me. NO! Not the girls calling me 'cutie', people randomly Skyping me. Plus, I don't know this person, so it sort of counts as an adventure right? I mean I once had a 5 hour conversation with a female student who I didn't know and we both never asked one another's names. We just talked, listened to each other's problems, gave advice and chatted. I never saw her again, but a stranger helped me sort through a really tough issue I was dealing with at the time so talking to strangers isn't always bad. Anyway, this followed:
Now the response that my username seemed familiar is actually accurate. Some of you who follow me on Twitter or DWTV or the other sites know that I use the same profile picture, as well as the same username for all my accounts. However, none of that explains how this person knows my number. To you guys in the real world, I am a very security conscious person. Almost to the point of being OCD. If I lock my car and head out, then if I haven't checked to make sure it's locked, I walk back, regardless of how far back it is now. So I am curious, but careful with this person. I am a Forensic Accountant after all. It's practically our job description.
Well that didn't take long? Now because there will be at least one gullible, naive reader on this article thinking 'Gustaff you lucky son of a bitch', I feel it's my duty to inform you that if the above is true, then you're probably talking to a prostitute. Girls are not this anxious - especially not to show off their good bits on camera. Now obviously after hearing this, my suspicions of this person being some sort of escort or prostitute are more or less confirmed. I also know where this is going. She/he will ask me if I want to see them naked. The catch will be to sign up and...
...actually, let's not get ahead of ourselves. OK, so red flags raised, I decide to carry on. Why not have some fun at least:
How convenient that she has big boobs and a big ass? I do wonder what she would have said if I had said I prefer legs. Or I could have gone all creepy and said "I like girls with three tits'. Regardless, I will not lie and say that this conversation is getting me on, even if it is all a big lure. OK, so we're on Skype, she's setting up her webcam, I'm using my imagination to picture what she supposedly wants to show me before reminding myself what's about to happen:
OK. I didn't see that coming. I was expecting some kind of 'go here and sign up, it's free', but instead I get a plea begging me not to post what I'm about to see anywhere else. I'd be lying if I said I didn't feel bad for whoever I was talking to. Usually, this type of behavior might indicate some trauma or self-hatred. It also got me curious as to why they would volunteer to do this type of thing for an absolute stranger.
And there it is! Instead of a fragile girl who is looking to ruin her life by flashing me all her lady bits, we arrive at the prediction I made since I started chatting to this person. Unfortunately, there is a twist even I didn't see coming:
Yes, this isn't actually a living person. I've been talking to what is called a 'bot', a computer program designed to deliver natural responses. As you can see, from our dialogue, it doesn't give out any 'computer database' answers until I ask a question and it carries on like nothing happened. This is because it can't translate what I'm saying and even if it could, it isn't programmed with a proper response to what I asked. That is a clue and the fact that me asking her where she got my number somehow got her all hot and heavy. If only that worked in real life:
Me: So how you'd get hold of my phone number?
Girl: Oh! Gustaff! *Squeals*
OK, this is important guys. While
chat bots may have legitimate purposes (such as leaving an automated message
when you are offline), this isn’t what's happening here. As per what we were taught in cyber fraud class at Uni, the only purpose of this bot is to trick me into signing up and submitting my credit card details insecurely. Whoever gains access to the requested
information (name, card number, CVC/CVV code and so on) can use my credit
card on the internet for whatever they want.
You've probably heard this a thousand times, but I'll say it again: NEVER GIVE OUT YOUR PERSONAL BANKING INFORMATION ONLINE!
This is serious business. Websites like these usually have this at the bottom of the screen to help convince you it's safe:
They're just pictures. They don't mean anything. In 2010, fraudsters manages to scam almost 2.5 million people by tricking them into doing what I just finished telling you. The 2012 Norton Cybercrime report, which was based on
self-reported experiences of over 13,000 adults in 24 countries
including the United States, Singapore, Japan, China, South Africa, and
others, showed the following:
- Every second, 18 adults become a victim of cybercrime. This means that every day, all around the world, a total of over 1.5 million people become cybercrime victims.
- From 2011 to 2012, the estimated cost of damages due to global consumer cyber crime was at US$110 billion.
- From 2011 to 2012, approximately 556 million adults around the world experienced cybercrime.
- Two out of three online adults have become victims of cybercrime in their entire lifetime.
- In the U.S. alone, the estimated cost of consumer cybercrime totalled about 21 billion dollars.
Here's something my daddy told me that I will remember for the rest of my life, regardless of how hot or heavy I get or what any woman tries to offer me: "There's no such thing as a free lunch." Everything comes at a price. In the real world, one free night's roll in the sack with someone could end up costing you decades or millions. On the internet, the same applies with one huge difference: While in the real world you might get one night of great love-making, here you can bet your ass you ain't gonna get to see no boobies!
While
chat bots may have a legitimate purpose (such as leaving an automated
message when you are offline), that isn’t the case here. The only
purpose of chat bots like the one we encountered, is to trick people
into signing up and submitting their credit card details insecurely.
Whoever gains access to the requested information (name, card number,
CVC/CVV code and so on) can use your credit card on the internet for
whatever they want. That’s a chilling thought, as scammers won’t waste
any time in getting their hands on your money. - See more at:
http://blog.emsisoft.com/2013/04/25/new-skype-scam-uses-chat-bots-fake-webcam-girls-want-your-credit-card-information/#sthash.38CuCfUu.dpuf
While
chat bots may have a legitimate purpose (such as leaving an automated
message when you are offline), that isn’t the case here. The only
purpose of chat bots like the one we encountered, is to trick people
into signing up and submitting their credit card details insecurely.
Whoever gains access to the requested information (name, card number,
CVC/CVV code and so on) can use your credit card on the internet for
whatever they want. That’s a chilling thought, as scammers won’t waste
any time in getting their hands on your money. - See more at:
http://blog.emsisoft.com/2013/04/25/new-skype-scam-uses-chat-bots-fake-webcam-girls-want-your-credit-card-information/#sthash.38CuCfUu.dpuf
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