Facebook woodturning imposter

[DON FRANK]

I follow a few turners on facebook to see what they post. One of the guys I follow is a friend and fellow turner in our club. Normally if we correspond between meetings it's by text but yesterday I got a facebook message at 6am. Here is the following discussion. Keep in mind that I found out today that none of this discussion is from him. What is troubling is that it seems to be from someone who has some woodturning experience because they respond with some of the correct answers. At the end he asks me to check out website but does not provide a link to click on. This is either a real person or someone with A.I. capabilities to carry on a discussion. I can only guess where the scam comes in. If it was to get a referral fee it seems like a lot of effort to get there.
My only reason to post this is that I'm curious if other turners are getting similar messages.

him
Hello, happy new year. How you been. Staying healthy I hope

Me
Doing pretty good Dave, ready for an end to the cold weather. Been turning a little but mainly other indoor projects

him
Glad to hear. I can imagine the cold weather turnings can be quite challenging. Turning projects and staying busy sound like great ways to pass the time

Me
I am hollowing a piece that I gave up on when it was green. Put it back on, trued it up and began hollowing only to find a piece of metal inside that doesn't show from the outside. Tough on tools

him
Sounds like quite a challenge with a hidden piece of metal blah blah blah and then more discussion about the issue

Him a little later

May the good lord continue to shower his blessings upon you. I was wondering if you have heard or gotten an email about the United Nation Care Service assistance (UNCS)

This is were things got really fishy with me and I texted the guy to see if he was messaging me. We all get theses texts, messages and emails that are obviously suspicious but I've never got one who did this good of job interacting.
Anyway, I blocked him and will proceed more cautiously in the future. I'm sure this is all brought to us by the people who think crypto currency and a cashless society is a good idea.

 

[John Dillon]

Thanks for the Public Service Announcement/Awareness heads-Up. Scary stuff looking into the future of AI.............

 

[Richard Coers]

Less and less of Facebook can be trusted. There must be millions of accounts that are using other peoples content. I get a lot of pictures of machinery and comics that are supplied by someone with a name that is likely the same as the old Nigerian Prince. When someone like me says they have been hacked, it just means someone in the world is trying to build a larger base of other accounts and stealing friends lists. Won't be long, the whole thing will be dishonest. Too bad for those of us sharing pictures with distant family.

 

[hockenbery]

Spam emails have been getting more personalized
Ai can take 30 years off an actor for a movie scene or be used in a deep fake to misportray a politician.

Computers can build a tree of the folks you communicate with and send tens of thousands of emails a day using
Doesn’t cost anything. If .01% respond….

 

[Kent Reisdorph]

This happens all the time. I barely use Facebook but I've had at least a dozen of these conversations. They almost always use terms like "have you heard the good news?" These are fake Facebook accounts, mimicking someone you know.

Check every invite you get. If the account is new and has a handful of friends, it's a fake account. Report it to Facebook (takes like 6 seconds) and let your friend know. The last one started in on "have you heard the news" and I said, "Hold on, I have to report you." He disappeared in a hurry.

 

[Brian Gustin]

Yup. what the scam would have turned out to be, if you heard of such and such a program, and how to get x amount of dollars , they try to pull you in and get your "greed" juices flowing , hoping you won't stop and think too hard about it, and then walk you to a website or payment site where you send money or deposit to release the funds, and/or they want to collect all your personal info, credit card info, etc. Much like those "too good to be true" offers you may see (Like a Laser Engraver on a one-day sale for $59.95 or some such) , and then there's the folks that message you or send you an email with offer to buy your item you listed in forum, then say they're sending a hauler to pick it up , and sending you a cashier's check to cover the selling price, plus enough to give to the hauler when they pick up the item, and you keep any extra... so you go and cash the check only to discover 2 or so weeks later from your bank that the check was fake, you'd be on the hook for the whole amount plus bank charges plus you lose the item...

Lots of scams going on everywhere, so I never fully trust any facebook messages with other folks, unless I know them real well in person and can contact them by other means.. (One time a next door neighbor got his account hacked, the guy was trying to convince me he needed $500 ASAP to cover a repair on his car... but I looked out the window and watched that very neighbor walking out to his pickup truck and going somewhere.... I will often play along with these guys and give them silly or made-up answers.... eventually they catch on that I'm just fooling with them and they'll never get anything out of me... )

 

[Gene Pitstick]

This reminds me of the earlier AI program called Eliza. This one is much betteer at faking it. Lets hope we can keep this type of stuff off the forum.

 

[Jim Holcombe]

If any of ya are on Pinterist, there’s a recurring ad for a mini metal lathe that pops up for 39.95. Nice video of unpacking it and setting it up. Did a small deep dive on reviews and there’s a bunch that have been taken. You want to say: you can’t buy the packing for 39.95!! And speaking of the Nigerian Prince or King, he’s been around long enough that he should be up around 10-15 Billion to give away! LOL

 

[Karl Best]

and then there's the folks that message you or send you an email with offer to buy your item you listed in forum, then say they're sending a hauler to pick it up , and sending you a cashier's check to cover the selling price, plus enough to give to the hauler when they pick up the item, and you keep any extra... so you go and cash the check only to discover 2 or so weeks later from your bank that the check was fake, you'd be on the hook for the whole amount plus bank charges plus you lose the item...

I've just about given up on trying to sell my motorcycle that I rarely ride because all of the responses are along these lines.

 

[Aaron Harris]

Yeah, I don't do Fakebook, but this kind of scam is all over Instagram. My 1st time, I almost fell for sharing my Paypal with an "artist" who was supposedly very interested in buying some of my bowls-I almost fell for the flattery. Never again. I HATE a damn worthless con artist/thief (same thing). Report and block is about all you can do. It's a shame what we've sunk to. I know y'all are mostly all old-school. I'm here to tell you that I work very hard to instill honor and integrity in my high school students, but we are fighting against a world in which the whole concept is almost gone.

 

[odie]

I have been trying to get a duplicate faceplate of one I already have in the wanted section of this forum. Someone contacted me and wanted payment. I asked for a photograph of the faceplate, and never heard back. I believe that was a scam.

I'm here to tell you that I work very hard to instill honor and integrity in my high school students, but we are fighting against a world in which the whole concept is almost gone.

My thoughts on the latest generation, is they feel it's ok to do something illegal, as long as you don't get caught.....there is a clear conscience.

-o-

 

[Dean Center]

My thoughts on the latest generation, is they feel it's ok to do something illegal, as long as you don't get caught.....there is a clear conscience.
-o-

Odie, that's the definition of sociopath. Probably not fair to paint a whole generation with that brush. My personal experience is that many young people are very concerned about others and how they're treated, about climate change and other things going on in the world. Not all, but not all 60 year olds are either.

 

[odie]

Odie, that's the definition of sociopath. Probably not fair to paint a whole generation with that brush. My personal experience is that many young people are very concerned about others and how they're treated, about climate change and other things going on in the world. Not all, but not all 60 year olds are either.

I don't mean to say all of them, but much more so than previous generations, there is a disconnect between having, or not having a good moral compass. This has at its foundational core, the general lack of the Judeo-Christian values our country was founded upon......or, more so than at any previous time in our country's history. Of course, there is goodness to be found in all generations, but the current one is more confused about basic, previously unquestioned beliefs concerning biology, philosophy, even mathematics, etc, than ever before.

We could discuss this further, but we'd likely be entering an area that is not allowed to be discussed on these forums.....but, with the above statement, you probably have a general idea of where I stand on the issue.

-o-

 

[Rick Urban]

Looks like I'll post the only dissenting opinion.

Most of the AI generated text I've read has better command of grammar and syntax. This sounds more like the responses I get from a craigslist post where they just want to harvest emails or phone numbers... usually from someone for whom English is far from their first language.

Every now and then I think about doing Facebook or some other social media, but I usually get over the idea in a minute or two. I have to deal with enough s**t from my one fox hound.

 

[Gerald Lawrence]

There are several scams related UN . Got curious and looked it up:

Fraud Alert​

Beware of scams implying association with the United Nations​

The United Nations has been made aware of various correspondences, being circulated via e-mail, from Internet web sites, text messages and via regular mail or facsimile, falsely stating that they are issued by, or in association with the United Nations and/or its officials. These scams, which may seek to obtain money and/or in many cases personal details from the recipients of such correspondence, are fraudulent.
The United Nations wishes to warn the public at large about these fraudulent activities being perpetrated purportedly in the name of the Organisation, and/or its officials, through different fraud schemes.

• The United Nations does not charge a fee at any stage of its recruitment process (application, interview, processing, training) or other fee, or request information on applicants’ bank accounts. To apply for a job go to careers.un.org and click on Vacancies. See more on employment-related fraud.
• The United Nations does not charge a fee at any stage of its procurement process (supplier registration, bids submission) or other fee. Visit the Procurement Division to see the latest business opportunities with the United Nations.
• The United Nations does not request any information related to bank accounts or other private information.
• The United Nations does not offer prizes, awards, funds, certificates, automated teller machine (ATM) cards, compensation for Internet fraud, or scholarships, or conduct lotteries.
• The United Nations does not approve military vacations or pensions, or release packages in exchange for a fee.

The United Nations strongly recommends that the recipients of solicitations, such as those described above exercise extreme caution in respect of such solicitations. Financial loss and identity theft could result from the transfer of money or personal information to those issuing such fraudulent correspondence. Victims of such scams may also report them to their local law enforcement authorities for appropriate action.
Not an official document. For information only.

That said I can see both good and bad in AI. Just as always buyer beware. The days of picking up hitch hikers on the road are gone, and if it looks too good to be true it probably is.