I really and truly hate scammers. They prey on people that have the least amount to lose. If you’re going to steal from someone, go after the rich. Don’t hurt someone that is already struggling. People that kick others while they’re down are assholes.
A major point here is that this scam was made more possible due to the challenges of accessibility, such as screen readers not conveying some of the usual signs of a scammer (if they smooth out abnormalities like strange capitalization and spelling errors). Even if people miss this article due to the subscription pop-up, at least let this be another reminder that accessibility of online content matters and that any of us could depend on it.
The article really doesn’t say what happened after they found their fraudsters, and they don’t even say that they actually identified a real person. They suspect that it’s several people, but is it? They didn’t get the guys money back.
They gave the information to the police because that’s all they can do as citizens. He didn’t get his money back and the information they found on the fraudsters could very well be just money mules or also victims of hackers.
Paywall
It just shows pop up to subscribe. I can read the whole story.
The pop up blocks my whole screen except for a tiny part at the bottom. I guess I could read it by scrolling 1 line at a time but at that point, it’s a pay wall.
Right click, inspect element, select pop-up in DOM tree, delete it, read article in full screen. Actual paywalls only transmit a teaser of the article to the frontend.
Note I haven’t tested this in this case since I’m on mobile. But it works if the actual text is available in your browser and it sounds that’s the case.
Good idea!, thanks! that’s one of those, “Whack! I coulda’ had a V8” moments, won’t work for me here (I’m on a mobile as well).
Try 12ft.io
It just shows pop up to subscribe. I can read the whole story.
