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	Archive through July 11, 2025	25		08/03 08:59pm

On our various phone lines, we're getting six calls every day for new medicare benefits.

And at least one call a day from "Your cable provider".

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Tuesday, July 22, 2025 - 11:33 am: Edit

We are now up to a dozen or more calls every day from someone selling medicare advantage plans. They start with "You do have medicare parts A and B, right?"

I tried answering "Nicht gesprechen Englandich. Ihnen gesprechen zie Deutch?" and got "we will have someone who speaks your language call you."

I tried "I am not answering that" and got "I understand your concern but we just need some basic information. You have medicare parts A and B right?"

I tried "I am not interested in what you're selling" and got "Let's talk about this some other time."

Pity, it's just a robot whose time I am wasting. I am going to go buy an airhorn and start answering with "of course, tell me more?" And see if I can get through to a human.

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Sunday, August 03, 2025 - 08:28 pm: Edit

The old scam of calling a senior and pretending to be a grandchild in trouble in a foreign country who desperately needs thousands of dollars has taken a dark turn. A voice generated by Artificial Intelligence (copied from Facebook posts) can sound exactly like your grandchild and due to Facebook research the scammers know the real names of family members, and even pets. It is recommended that your family establish a security question NOT related to anything that could be found on the Internet (do not use the name of your childhood pet), something as simple as: "What is the family code word?" and "Revelation." Absent that, say something fictitious like "I am sorry about what happened last Christmas; I didn't know you were allergic to shellfish" (or something else the kid is NOT allergic to). The AI will be unable to answer correctly ("What are you talking about?) as there is no Facebook post about imaginary allergies.

By Mike Erickson (Mike_Erickson) on Sunday, August 03, 2025 - 08:52 pm: Edit

One more reason not to use Facebook! It's a great way to populate the fraudsters database with your family information.

--Mike

By Robert Russell Lender (Rusman) on Sunday, August 03, 2025 - 08:59 pm: Edit

---

Quote:

... A voice generated by Artificial Intelligence (copied from Facebook posts) can sound exactly like your grandchild...

---

By Jeff Anderson (Jga) on Monday, August 04, 2025 - 04:24 pm: Edit

With voice sampling and the ability of AI to simulate voices so well, there's part of me that would like to see about getting one of those "Throat Buzzers" (normally just for people who've lost their larynx) so that I can answer the phone with a clearly artificial voice.

(Methinks I also might use it for singing along with "When Doves Cry" by 'The Artist')

By Robert Russell Lender (Rusman) on Monday, August 04, 2025 - 08:48 pm: Edit

You're killing me smalls!

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Monday, August 04, 2025 - 10:42 pm: Edit

Killing me softly with AI...

By Jean Sexton Beddow (Jsexton) on Monday, August 18, 2025 - 04:10 pm: Edit

Caller: I'm calling because your site doesn't show up on the five major search engines.

Jean: That's a lie.

Them: Click.

By Garth L. Getgen (Sgt_G) on Tuesday, August 19, 2025 - 12:13 am: Edit

Quote: ... ability of AI to simulate voices so well ...

Obviously, you have not listened to AI-narrated stories on YouTube.


Garth L. Getgen

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Saturday, September 20, 2025 - 09:11 pm: Edit

This one is snail mail, not internet, but worth noting.

I got a letter at the house. The envelope was blank, but inside the "window" I could read not just my address, but the following:

Official Business FINAL NOTICE
Penalty for Private Use $300 IMMEDIATE ACTION
Fannie Mae Mortgage YOU MUST CALL TODAY

Sounds ominous. That "penalty for private use" thing is on government mail.

The problem is we don't have a mortgage. We paid off the house the year we printed F&E.

Inside the letter had all kinds of stern, threatening language.

We have been trying to contact you.
Our records indicate you have not called.
Failure to call by XYZ may result in cancellation.

After I boiled through the baloney I figure out that this was an offer to sell me a home warranty and was not from the government.

I spoke to a postal inspector who said: "Sigh, we get these all the time. Those crooks cannot legally put that 'penalty for private use' stuff on the outside of envelope but the law doesn't cover what you can see through the window. They're very clever. They fool a lot of people into thinking that they are required to buy this. It's not good coverage and the price they quote is triple what you can get if you really want it. They'll will probably go out of business as soon as they cash enough checks."

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Wednesday, April 01, 2026 - 02:53 pm: Edit

Peace Time: Scam Centers Of Southeast Asia
March 6, 2026: Earlier this year Thai troops advanced further into Cambodia and seized a compound that had housed several thousand people engaged in scams carried out via audio and video communications. The compound contained a six story building where most of the employees and several hundred slave laborers worked. There were also studios decorated to look like the interior of police stations or banks in various Asian countries as well as Australia and Brazil. The volunteer or enslaved workers use scripts and coerce people to pay fines or extortion for non-existent offenses. The scripts were designed to deceive the victims and worked often enough to keep this scam center in business for years. Those in charge of the operation bribed local officials to ignore foreign demands to shut down the operation from countries, including the United States, where the victims lived.
Similar scam centers also exist in Thailand, Myanmar, Laos, and the Philippines. Chinese gangsters operate these scam centers. Thai military forces had recently moved into this part of Cambodia, forcing several hundred civilians out of their homes temporarily. Several dozen civilians were killed or wounded.
While the scams are directed at individuals in more prosperous nations, the scammers also exploit wealthy and middle class individuals in nations they are operating in. In 2024 thousands of Thailand residents were swindled out of more than $17 billion. That’s 3.4 percent of the national GDP that year.
The scammers also kidnap local women and children to work in the scam centers or be forced into prostitution or as slave labor on fishing trawlers. For several decades local and international law enforcement organizations have been trying to suppress these criminal organizations. There has been some success, but there is apparently an endless supply of Chinese gangsters and greedy locals willing to cooperate in keeping scam operations going.
FYEO