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Yngwie Mangosteen
Aug 23, 2007

Platystemon posted:

:wtf:

Who rounds 1024 up to 1025? Either leave it exact or round it down to one thousand (which is also the exact value if you measure in real kilobytes).

Scams like this often make very weird, basic errors to set off the scam warning for people too savvy to fall for their idiocy. That looks like a pretty good example of that.

Or the scammer doesn't know enough about computers to know why 1024 is significant.

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stringball
Mar 17, 2009

Is there a reason they say it's nesscary for you to be in the USA? (first in the list if it matters I guess?)

Maybe a "you're American so you're super special to us" pride thing?

Asimov
Feb 15, 2016

American's are the only people that speak good enough english for the job.

Corsair Pool Boy
Dec 17, 2004
College Slice

Asimov posted:

Americans are the only people gullible enough for the job.

FTFY

Yngwie Mangosteen
Aug 23, 2007

You're dumb as hell if you don't think a version exists demanding they be British, Australian, etc. All majority English speaking countries get similar scams.

ToxicSlurpee
Nov 5, 2003

-=SEND HELP=-


Pillbug

Platystemon posted:

:wtf:

Who rounds 1024 up to 1025? Either leave it exact or round it down to one thousand (which is also the exact value if you measure in real kilobytes).

It's a baker's kilobyte.

shame on an IGA
Apr 8, 2005

ToxicSlurpee posted:

It's a baker's kibibyte.

:can:

(Hard drive spec sheets belong in this thread tho)

goatsestretchgoals
Jun 4, 2011

And if you don't believe it, and you live in a Commonwealth country, I have a job opportunity for you that involves copy writing. Boxes will be delivered to your house, you open up the box and compare the contents to the manifest we will email to you, stick your copy in the included envelope and tuck it in between the items (we want to be sure we're the first ones to see it!), grab the prepaid overseas shipping label, seal it up and slap it on! You'll be on a top 10 list in no time!

HerStuddMuffin
Aug 10, 2014

YOSPOS
What’s this one about? Taking the fall for trying to avoid tariffs, or something more sinister like drug trafficking?

Platystemon
Feb 13, 2012

as a person who never leaves my house i've done pretty well for myself.

HerStuddMuffin posted:

What’s this one about? Taking the fall for trying to avoid tariffs, or something more sinister like drug trafficking?

It’s called a “re‐shipping scam”.

The purpose can vary but usually it’s laundering goods purchased with stolen identities.

mostlygray
Nov 1, 2012

BURY ME AS I LIVED, A FREE MAN ON THE CLUTCH

goatsestretchgoals posted:

We have a scam in the USA called the Better Business Bureau that claims to do similar, but in reality just shakes down small businesses for 'memberships' at which point their rating goes from F to A for no apparent reason.

What's it like living in a country that actually looks out for the little guy. :allears:

Not quite right. The shakedown is true, but you don't go to an A+ without making sure you are a good business. By being a member, you get much better support from the BBB so that you can resolve issues more easily. You have to make sure that you have almost no complaints and that all complaints are resolved as best as possible. For our company to keep our A+ rating we have be very careful and keep up excellent dialog with our clients. Just one unresolved would take away the plus.

ToxicSlurpee
Nov 5, 2003

-=SEND HELP=-


Pillbug

HerStuddMuffin posted:

What’s this one about? Taking the fall for trying to avoid tariffs, or something more sinister like drug trafficking?

Yes. The short of it is that they want to obscure the actual origins of the package. The reasons can vary but that's the short of it.

It's also potentially for money laundering by shipping something of value to somebody else so they can sell it. There could also be stuff hidden in it that you don't know about. You might get like a few boxes that say they're full of tea or coffee or something that are...well, not tea or coffee.

ponzicar
Mar 17, 2008

ToxicSlurpee posted:

Yes. The short of it is that they want to obscure the actual origins of the package. The reasons can vary but that's the short of it.

It's also potentially for money laundering by shipping something of value to somebody else so they can sell it. There could also be stuff hidden in it that you don't know about. You might get like a few boxes that say they're full of tea or coffee or something that are...well, not tea or coffee.

Wouldn't that be a great target for a counter scam? Play along for a bit, then steal the "tea" or "coffee" once they think you're a trustworthy mark? It's not like they're going to report you to the cops. Although you'd probably want to not use your home address.

Krotera
Jun 16, 2013

I AM INTO MATHEMATICAL CALCULATIONS AND MANY METHODS USED IN THE STOCK MARKET

mostlygray posted:

Not quite right. The shakedown is true, but you don't go to an A+ without making sure you are a good business. By being a member, you get much better support from the BBB so that you can resolve issues more easily. You have to make sure that you have almost no complaints and that all complaints are resolved as best as possible. For our company to keep our A+ rating we have be very careful and keep up excellent dialog with our clients. Just one unresolved would take away the plus.

Don't take this personally but I seriously doubt you on this: I have heard a lot of people present mlm stuff to me as "yeah they're totally shady about X and Y but not about Z, where the thing I happen to be doing is Z."

I don't think the characterization of "shaky liars when it comes to dudes who don't pay them, but actually diligent and consumer-focused otherwise" makes sense, and their B+ rating for Herbalife, A+ rating for Amway, and A+ rating for the Church of Scientology strongly confirm my suspicion that they're actually just total shitbags who are lying to you.

Eric the Mauve
May 8, 2012

Making you happy for a buck since 199X
There is nothing you can do when someone you know joins an MLM cult, nothing will ever persuade them they're wrong until being left, years later, with no money and no friends finally turns the light on. All you can do is :sever:

Namarrgon
Dec 23, 2008

Congratulations on not getting fit in 2011!

ponzicar posted:

Wouldn't that be a great target for a counter scam? Play along for a bit, then steal the "tea" or "coffee" once they think you're a trustworthy mark? It's not like they're going to report you to the cops. Although you'd probably want to not use your home address.

Unless you have some form of trump card in an army of hired goons, it is generally not a good idea to piss off a drug syndicate.

HerStuddMuffin
Aug 10, 2014

YOSPOS

ToxicSlurpee posted:

Yes. The short of it is that they want to obscure the actual origins of the package. The reasons can vary but that's the short of it.

It's also potentially for money laundering by shipping something of value to somebody else so they can sell it. There could also be stuff hidden in it that you don't know about. You might get like a few boxes that say they're full of tea or coffee or something that are...well, not tea or coffee.
Thanks, to you and Platystemon for the explanations. Googling reshipping scam once I knew the name brought up plenty of info on the inner workings.

As for scamming the scammers, like another poster mentioned, I would recommend against it. It seems pretty hard to prove to the law that you’re not in cahoots with the scammers even if you didn’t know about the scam beforehand and thought it was a legit work opportunity. I can’t imagine “no you see I set up this fake identity and address to get back at the thieves, officer” coming across too well.

Platystemon
Feb 13, 2012

as a person who never leaves my house i've done pretty well for myself.
Some of the best scams are when the mark knows there’s a scam afoot and thinks he can navigate it, but in doing so he plays right into the conman’s hands.

They call it “the Kansas City Shuffle”

BiggerBoat
Sep 26, 2007

Don't you tell me my business again.

Eric the Mauve posted:

There is nothing you can do when someone you know joins an MLM cult, nothing will ever persuade them they're wrong until being left, years later, with no money and no friends finally turns the light on. All you can do is :sever:

Post out of nowhere butt god drat is this ever true.

These people go down the rabbit hole FAST and in no time at all are ALWAYS trying to sell poo poo. MLM's are insane and the scariest thing is how far they've penetrated politics.

Lutha Mahtin
Oct 10, 2010

Your brokebrain sin is absolved...go and shitpost no more!

why is it when i tell a street scammer to buzz off, their preferred comeback is to call me a "human being". why yes, it is 1995 and i care about a dumbass on the street attacking my hetero manliness durrr

Midjack
Dec 24, 2007



Lutha Mahtin posted:

why is it when i tell a street scammer to buzz off, their preferred comeback is to call me a "human being". why yes, it is 1995 and i care about a dumbass on the street attacking my hetero manliness durrr

Street scammers aren't generally known for their sensitivity and good manners.

Lutha Mahtin
Oct 10, 2010

Your brokebrain sin is absolved...go and shitpost no more!

that's the point though, right? the point of being a street scammer is to complete scams successfully. the dude who i ran into today immediately started threatening me and crying about me picking on him when i called him out. i'm not saying i require a street scammer to be an expert in game theory in order for me to respect them, but it seems like a really obviously bad plan to reveal to your marks that you're a piece of poo poo since it will just make those marks less likely to fall for scams in the future

cakesmith handyman
Jul 22, 2007

Pip-Pip old chap! Last one in is a rotten egg what what.

The faster you gently caress off the quicker he can scam the next guy, that's all there is to it.

Lutha Mahtin
Oct 10, 2010

Your brokebrain sin is absolved...go and shitpost no more!

he kept yelling at me and walking off very slowly instead of just moving on though. dude very obviously had to Defend His Honor and he even whined to the guy who worked at the store i was outside of after he too told the guy to :frogout:

AlbieQuirky
Oct 9, 2012

Just me and my 🌊dragon🐉 hanging out
I think what you have there is what human behaviorists call "a belligerent rear end in a top hat."

Asimov
Feb 15, 2016

You were right to stand up to him and I in turn would have stood up and slow-clapped for it had I been in evidence.

Wrex Ruckus
Aug 24, 2015

Got a text from a local area code number that says "Sorry, I can't talk right now. Call back later."

Is this a scammer looking for a bite or is my number being spoofed?

MightyJoe36
Dec 29, 2013

:minnie: Cat Army :minnie:

Wrex Ruckus posted:

Got a text from a local area code number that says "Sorry, I can't talk right now. Call back later."

Is this a scammer looking for a bite or is my number being spoofed?

My guess is a scammer looking to see if it's a good number. I get "ghost" voicemails on my landline daily which I'm sure are robocalls.

teh winnar!
Apr 16, 2003

Wrex Ruckus posted:

Got a text from a local area code number that says "Sorry, I can't talk right now. Call back later."

Is this a scammer looking for a bite or is my number being spoofed?

Probably the latter; iOS includes a "decline call but respond with a pre-set text message" option. I wouldn't be surprised if other phone OS's can do that too.

small ghost
Jan 30, 2013

Lutha Mahtin posted:

that's the point though, right? the point of being a street scammer is to complete scams successfully. the dude who i ran into today immediately started threatening me and crying about me picking on him when i called him out. i'm not saying i require a street scammer to be an expert in game theory in order for me to respect them, but it seems like a really obviously bad plan to reveal to your marks that you're a piece of poo poo since it will just make those marks less likely to fall for scams in the future

I used to work in a coffee shop in a very touristy area, so we got targeted for scams a lot and boy oh boy do they HATE it when you call them out. One guy tried to pull a short-change scam on me (claiming to have paid with a £20 when he paid with a £10) and when it became clear that I wasn't playing ball he cussed me out, told me I was going to go blind and threw a cup of hot tea in my face. Another colleague got physically attacked in a similar situation, and a couple of days ago my friend's wife who works in a cinema with attached café had a plate of food thrown at her head for calling out a scam.

I dunno so much about street scams but some of the people who try to get money out of restaurants/cafes just melt the gently caress down when they realise it's not going to work.

Sir_Lagsalot
May 6, 2007

Connection error
I'd imagine most scammers have some level of narcissism/socipathy going on, and thus take not getting what they want as a insult.

Rent-A-Cop
Oct 15, 2004

I posted my food for USPOL Thanksgiving!

Sir_Lagsalot posted:

I'd imagine most scammers have some level of narcissism/socipathy going on, and thus take not getting what they want as a insult.
People running lovely little scams in person are addicts like 9/10 times and you're getting between them and the $10 they need for crank.

Lutha Mahtin
Oct 10, 2010

Your brokebrain sin is absolved...go and shitpost no more!

the dude who came up to me had a fuel can in his hand. i honestly had half a mind of taking the gas nozzle out of my car once i was done and putting a bit in there, provided he wasn't going to try and insist on me handing him cash (obviously lol). but i was in a foul mood that morning so i reflexively sneered and that started our whole verbal pissing match

later i reflected that I'm not sure about the ethical issues surrounding giving a dangerous chemical to a dude off the street. is gasoline used in the production of low quality street drugs? I'm far too square to know about these things

Asimov
Feb 15, 2016

Nah I wouldn't just give a random guy with a gas can a few squirts of gasoline, even if I was already at the gas station. I'd feel bad about it in the moment and think, "what kind of a piece of poo poo won't give a brother a dollar in gas" but there are several things wrong with that situation. Hopefully he just needs cash, and gas is a way to get there. Huffing gasoline from a plastic bag isn't something to encourage.

Then again he could just have a fuel-hungry vehicle and was hustling people a gallon at a time!

Poldarn
Feb 18, 2011

He could also be huffing it.

Blackchamber
Jan 25, 2005

Since nobody has mentioned it yet, I'd like to point out he might be huffing it.

Platystemon
Feb 13, 2012

as a person who never leaves my house i've done pretty well for myself.

Professor Shark
May 22, 2012

I was shocked this morning when I had an email from Apple with a receipt for my recent purchases that listed them in the email itself, rather than an email from AppIe (uppercase "i") with a list of my recent purchaseds asking me to download a PDF

Eric the Mauve
May 8, 2012

Making you happy for a buck since 199X
Yeah I got that one too. It was comical how obvious a scam it was. Must have been 20 typos and Engrishes in it. The alleged transaction was dated 02 Mei 2018, which I assume is a Chinese person’s attempt at spelling May (and as Apple is an American company they would use the weird American M-D-Y date format). It referenced an attached PDF but the attachment is in .docx format, since a PDF can’t easily infect a computer with malicious macros. It was a treat, 9/10 would laugh at again.

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Teriyaki Hairpiece
Dec 29, 2006

I'm nae the voice o' the darkened thistle, but th' darkened thistle cannae bear the sight o' our Bonnie Prince Bernie nae mair.
The gas can is just a prop, gas can men want money.

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