There's a lot of it because it works and it appears to be risk free. Seeking the person out in real life and asking about their connection with the scam network sounds like it would jeopardize a...
Bjørnar Skogstad reported the scam to the police, who closed the case without an investigation. – It would require too many resources, given the low severity of the case, to attempt to identify the perpetrator, says Elin Norgård Strand, head of prosecution in Troms Police District. [...] If the bank had responded immediately when I called, I could have avoided the scam, says Skogstad.
There's a lot of it because it works and it appears to be risk free.
We ask Ken if he works with x66. / – I am self-employed and have my own company.
Seeking the person out in real life and asking about their connection with the scam network sounds like it would jeopardize a police investigation doesnt it. Then again, there is no active police investigation, sadly. That's why Kris and Ken are so free with "go run to the cops". I also feel like contacting Magic Cat's devs directly completely gave away everything they had and allowed the company to find out what they know and evade investigation. But again, there's probably no investigation.
It makes me wonder what the police are really doing. Do we have such big problems in society that they can only work on the most serious cases?
No. The easiest cases. Tax fraud investigation same thing: audit some poor couple or little old lady for pennies instead of going after corporate tax evasion.
Regional police trying to help a population targeted by the world, hiding behind different countries, seems to be an outdated model completely. It makes the police feel stupid and unhelpful and useless, no doubt. Until police are using their overfunded war chests to pay for cyber security experts, whenever they're instead buying "big boy toys", I'm going to think they're stupid and unhelpful and useless too.
I hope we look back upon the first quarter of this century very soon, and go, man that was an idiotic time and I'm so glad we have Interpol / whatever now.
I think it's worth mentioning that those "big boy toys" that police forces are using are often sold to them for pennies on the dollar due to them being military surplus and/or purchased second...
I think it's worth mentioning that those "big boy toys" that police forces are using are often sold to them for pennies on the dollar due to them being military surplus and/or purchased second hand from other police forces that no longer need them. For an example close to home for both of us Canadians, last year the Guelph police purchased their Terradyne Gurkha LAPV (light-armored patrol vehicle) for $20k from the Waterloo police, when it would have ordinarily cost $650k brand new. And $20k for something that will potentially last the force decades is not a lot, especially compared to them hiring their own in-house cyber security expert that would likely cost them $100k+/yr.
p.s. It's not unusual for police to hire outside experts to assist them in their investigations for aspects that fall outside their own areas of expertise. E.g. I have actually done some data recovery and computer forensics work in the UK for a few local constabularies, when I lived/worked in the UK. So I wouldn't be surprised to learn that they did similar for cyber security related investigations too, if they felt an investigation was actually justifiable/warranted.
I stand by my previous assessment of it being a Big Boy Toy: at best a utter and complete waste of tax dollars , at worst deployed against civilians inconvenience to those in power.
That is very very unlikely, IMO. The Waterloo police also most likely bought them at a very steep discount, or were even outright given them as part of a military surplus aid package from the...
And they bought it from Waterloo police, which presumably paid for it brand new
That is very very unlikely, IMO. The Waterloo police also most likely bought them at a very steep discount, or were even outright given them as part of a military surplus aid package from the Federal government. So the Federal government undoubtedly paid more for them at some point, but even they likely negotiated a bulk contract so didn't pay full "retail" price. And if I had to guess further, they were probably originally intended for Ukraine but didn't end up being delivered there for whatever reason... probably because the government opted to send something else perhaps better suited to the combat/logistics situation there instead, like the 200+ Roshel Senator APCs we sent them.
And also worth noting, the Guelph police do actually have a Tactics and Rescue unit (US SWAT equivalent) so it's not like regular beat cops are going to be driving around in the LAPV.
NP. And don't get me wrong, I totally understand the cynicism about wasteful spending and your concern about militarizing the police... but in the case of T&R units, they unfortunately actually do...
NP. And don't get me wrong, I totally understand the cynicism about wasteful spending and your concern about militarizing the police... but in the case of T&R units, they unfortunately actually do need that heavy-duty shit on occasion. Especially since organized crime gangs have been getting more and more brazen in the GTA and surrounding areas over the last few years. E.g. The jewelry store beside our condo got robbed in the middle of the day just a few weeks ago. And that robbery easily could have turned into a hostage situation where a T&R unit might have been required had things gone wrong for the thieves, which was a distinct possibility because there is a Tim Hortons about 200ft away from it in the same plaza where cops are often parked. :/
I remain highly skeptical, but I recognize I'm highly biased. I grew up in 90s HK where we had AK47 armed robberies for a while, and gang wars of hacking people on the streets. Armoured vehicles...
I remain highly skeptical, but I recognize I'm highly biased.
I grew up in 90s HK where we had AK47 armed robberies for a while, and gang wars of hacking people on the streets. Armoured vehicles would have been useless in all of those situations. What would they do, ram folks with AKs? How do they rescue anyone, by ramming the hostage along with the perp? I just struggle to imagine what these vehicles could possibly do that, say, a concrete building can't do. What if they just rented Brink cars for the odd time needed.
But. Trying to stand outside of my bias here for a minute. Having heavily armed police presence feels important for the community perhaps? If this vehicle was driving up and down the street all day every day maybe the robbery would move to a different town? If there was a hostage maybe they'll let them go and flee instead of trying a stand off? It's all about the optics right? Like the way that I'm unhappy with the police looking like they're not doing anything about cyber crime, citizens feel unsafe that the police aren't doing anything, when robberies happen, so in general they feel better when they see the police outside in a tank?
I'm trying very hard to remember a time when I felt that way about police presence. Back to the time when I would walk my toddler over to a parked police vehicle (not in active investigation) to say hello to the officers and the K9, and to point out vehicles and tell my kid they're here to help etc. Probably, at the time I would have been thrilled the police "only" spend 20k for batmobile for the good guys.
My family was in a hostage situation one time, I don't to give out more details, but absolutely an armoured vehicle turning up would have been utterly unhelpful.
If they'd have taken casino money laundering seriously, if they would have taken small time citizen complaints seriously, if tax evasion didn't steal so much of our money, we'd have less violent crime on the streets. But, how I feel is not typical. It is more typical for people to feel hopeful and protected when they see officers highly visibly well armed.
Edit: and I would also imagine that all the negative emotions I have about this is exactly the point because that's how bad guys with guns feel too. That it does serve a preventative good for the community
Your opinions and concerns are totally understandable, especially given your own experiences in HK, and I want to thank you for sharing them! And in the same spirit of sharing, it's probably worth...
Your opinions and concerns are totally understandable, especially given your own experiences in HK, and I want to thank you for sharing them! And in the same spirit of sharing, it's probably worth me openly admitting that my own opinions are likely biased too, but perhaps a bit in the opposite direction. As I mentioned, I have actually worked with law enforcement before in the UK (albeit in a very limited capacity). But beyond that, I also have quite a few law enforcement members in my extended family and broader social circle up here in Canada too. My "cousin" (godfather's daughter-in-law) is a 911 operator, her brother is a Sergeant with the OPP, my BIL's best friend is a Superintendent in the RCMP, and they (as well as many of their law enforcement friends/coworkers) are usually present at all our extended family gatherings (Thanksgiving, Easter, Christmas, etc). And my old neighbor of 12 years was also a Sergeant in the Toronto Police too. So I have had a fair amount of exposure to law enforcement members over the years, and know quite a few of them personally.
Despite that, I am also still somewhat wary of law enforcement too though, which is why I genuinely do understand where you're coming from. And as a student of history and a bit of a news junky, I also understand the maltreatment and systemic injustices that minorities (and environmental activists) often face up here in Canada (especially when it comes to the RCMP). However, I think we also need to be careful not to conflate US policing and justice system issues with Canadian ones. Our police and justice system are far from perfect, they undeniably have their own issues, and a history full of problematic actions and controversies as well... but on the whole, we don't have nearly the same level of problems as the US, IMO, nor is police accountability completely lacking up here like it is in the US. And so I honestly do suspect that a lot of the strongly negative feelings that some Canadians seem to hold towards Canadian law enforcement largely stems from US media bleeding into ours, or from people's negative experiences with law enforcement in their native countries affecting how they view law enforcement here too. I admittedly could be totally wrong about that though.
No, no, you're absolutely right that world policing definitely bleed into how I view Canadian police. And even more unfairly, not even individual types of Canadian police, just all police. Eg, in...
No, no, you're absolutely right that world policing definitely bleed into how I view Canadian police. And even more unfairly, not even individual types of Canadian police, just all police.
Eg, in 2007 when the RCMP tasered Robert Dziekański to death, I had fully expected nobody to be held accountable. In fact, in 2010 the RCMP issued an official apology to his poor widowed mom; in 2013 BC Coroners ruled it homicide; and in 2017 two of the four officers' perjury conviction appeals have finally been dismissed. I might be a little salty that it took 10 years to settle, but I still need to acknowledge that I was wrong about there being any sort of justice possible.
I don't want to say that we're better to the degree where police don't need to be watched, but I will agree that things aren't super bad either. And hopefully, each unfortunate incident will actually spur change which allow good police officers a safer and healthier work environment, not just for our sake but for theirs too.
Thanks for taking the time, and being so patient with me. When I feel really frustrated and angry about policing, because I'm scared of them, I'll try to remember that my good internet friend cfabbro knows a bunch of good cops. ✨
Yeah, accountability is often painfully slow, but at least it does still happen. Another more recent example is the killing of Sammy Yatim where the officer in question, James Forcillo, was found...
Yeah, accountability is often painfully slow, but at least it does still happen. Another more recent example is the killing of Sammy Yatim where the officer in question, James Forcillo, was found guilty of attempted murder and sentenced to 6 years in prison. He served a full 21 months, and is currently out on day parole (he still has to return to the correctional facility every night).
I don't want to say that we're better to the degree where police don't need to be watched
100% agree. But one major thing that helps with that, and I am glad we have up here, is independent review boards. Unlike in the US where Internal Affairs (cops "investigating" other cops) are often the arbiter, independent review boards up here are much more objective about it. There is no incestuous "thin blue line" bullshit going on behind the scenes like with Internal Affairs, and so they usually do eventually hold police accountable for their misdeeds.
Thanks for taking the time, and being so patient with me. When I feel really frustrated and angry about policing, because I'm scared of them, I'll try to remember that my good internet friend cfabbro knows a bunch of good cops.
YVW! ❤️:) And if it helps any further, I think it's worth trying to remember that cops are just people. And if you take any random sample of people, some will be dicks, some will be truly amazing human beings, and most will fall somewhere in between. But IME there are actually far more cops here in Canada who got into it because they genuinely wanted to help other people, unlike in the US where a significant portion of them seem like the "peaked in high school", bullying types. :/
I guess in this case, what use does a local police force have for a light armored vehicle? Independent of the purchase being a good deal, I believe these kinds of purchases are a waste of money....
I guess in this case, what use does a local police force have for a light armored vehicle? Independent of the purchase being a good deal, I believe these kinds of purchases are a waste of money. The role of a police force in a community should be community law enforcement, not military role play.
All of what I'm about to say is noise to the original post. I would argue I would rather have the cyber security expert for 100k/yr, considering it's not like cyber crime is going to poof out of...
All of what I'm about to say is noise to the original post.
And $20k for something that will potentially last the force decades is not a lot, especially compared to them hiring their own in-house cyber security expert that would likely cost them $100k+/yr.
I would argue I would rather have the cyber security expert for 100k/yr, considering it's not like cyber crime is going to poof out of existence suddenly. I'd also like to de-militarize the police, not encourage them to continue propping up the war machine. The car itself is 20k, how much are the salaries of these people? "There are 14 members on the tactics team, and each of them will be able to operate the vehicle." Specialized tactical vehicle operators? All for, 30 cases spread out over several years? ("Over the last few years, Davis said at least 30 high risk warrants have been executed by the tactics and rescue team."). These are all resources I would rather go to cyber security.
Lastly, purchasing vehicles like this, just furthers the divide between the community thinking of the police as as a trusted non-threatening group of people vs. whatever tactical SWAT cosplay they are doing instead.
I understand your position, but TBH I think it's a bit naive. SWAT units are one of those things that feels useless and like a waste of money until suddenly it isn't, and without them you...
I understand your position, but TBH I think it's a bit naive. SWAT units are one of those things that feels useless and like a waste of money until suddenly it isn't, and without them you potentially have deaths on your hands that might have been prevented had you kept the SWAT team on the payroll. So it's pretty damn hard for local politicians to justify cutting them from the budget, and it's totally understandable why.
Don't get me wrong though, in an ideal world I would much rather have no need for SWAT and instead have every police station be staffed with their own in-house cyber security and computer forensics people too. But we unfortunately don't live in an ideal world. And also unfortunately when it comes to policing in the GTA and surrounds these days, T&R teams are becoming more critical than ever thanks to organized crime gangs getting a hell of a lot more brazen over the last few years. See my comment above about the jewelry store that I can quite literally look down on from my balcony getting robbed just a few weeks ago. And sadly that isn't an isolated indecent either. :/
Part 2: The Hunt for Darcula Norwegian version: På innsiden av svindelsentralen French article from Le Monde: Ces SMS frauduleux se sont inscrits dans notre quotidien. German article from...
It ends in such an anti-climatic way! Not complaining, as I find it refreshing that the article did all the leg work and ends basically saying, "this is all we can really do, until someone else...
It ends in such an anti-climatic way!
New Version of Magic Cat
As this story is published, there is no indication that Magic Cat has been shut down.
Instead, a new version of Magic Cat has recently been released.
It is more advanced and makes it even easier to deceive people and take their money
Not complaining, as I find it refreshing that the article did all the leg work and ends basically saying, "this is all we can really do, until someone else with actual power steps in to do something."
I don't know what the solutions are for multi-national scams. Honestly, it just seems like the internet has no police or policing. But it seems like we have known this for -- as long as the internet has been created. Where there is change/uncertainty, there will always be scamming/grifting.
All efforts to stop scamming are always on the victim side, "stop falling for scams", which is better than nothing, but it is still victim blaming/putting the onus on the victim. We should do both, punish scammers heavily (this is the part we cannot figure out), as well as teach people how to be aware a scam is being committed.
The only other area we could work on is holding companies accountable for providing more security through their devices and cards(examples, it is easier to lock your credit card down these days after a scam has occurred, automatic detection of fraudulent behavior, adopting chip/tap to pay, etc.). I'm an amateur in this space, so I don't know what that looks like or what is feasible. Are we in a David and Goliath situation? Or really more of a hydra situation? Someone with more knowledge will have to speak on this.
Random information
[Thelma](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thelma_(2024_film) is an interesting movie about scams, for anyone interested. I think it does a good job of showing all the sides of the scam from diverse perspectives.
The confidence game - a book about why we fall for scams, grifting in general.
Oh that last point, Abagnale is a fraudster who never did end up working for law enforcement, nor did his fake cheques amounted to much, nor did he actually ever fly as a PanAm pilot. Our family...
Oh that last point, Abagnale is a fraudster who never did end up working for law enforcement, nor did his fake cheques amounted to much, nor did he actually ever fly as a PanAm pilot. Our family was reading the book and greatly entertained, having already loved Leo's movie, and then greatly disappointed to find out he is a fraud.
I didn't find out till last year: hence, probably not well known by at least half [citation needed]. And bravo, jerkface got Leo and Tom Hanks to star in that splendid movie.
I didn't find out till last year: hence, probably not well known by at least half [citation needed]. And bravo, jerkface got Leo and Tom Hanks to star in that splendid movie.
I was a teen girl when I watched it, c'mon! Tom Hanks could have been a talking chair and the movie would have still been great. As an old adult, though, it's creepy that Leo was playing a teen...
I was a teen girl when I watched it, c'mon! Tom Hanks could have been a talking chair and the movie would have still been great.
As an old adult, though, it's creepy that Leo was playing a teen dating young adult flight attendants, and now he's an way too old adult still dating women the same age. -..-
And I can now appreciate Tom Hanks' character as Frank's emotional anchor and instrumental to Frank growing up.
That was a great read for this morning! Thanks for sharing. If anyone else has an interest in some of the technical details behind Magic Cat, the report they linked at the end of the second...
That was a great read for this morning! Thanks for sharing.
If anyone else has an interest in some of the technical details behind Magic Cat, the report they linked at the end of the second article is pretty cool.
Scamming seems to have really popped off as a topic lately, especially on YouTube with the explosion of anti-scam YouTubers (Jim Browning, Kitboga, and so on). Has there been a noticeable increase in scam activity or is this an overdue response?
I believe the collapse of the Myanmar government has enabled human trafficking victims to be coerced into pulling romance and pig butchering scams on a larger than historical scale. The person who...
I believe the collapse of the Myanmar government has enabled human trafficking victims to be coerced into pulling romance and pig butchering scams on a larger than historical scale. The person who steals people's life savings may be beaten to death if they fail to meet the scam quota. Horrific all the way down.
If you liked the hunt, you may also be interested in Long Distance by the Reply-All Podcast team. Also, ofc, "Don't F**k with Cats" - Netflix. There is something so compelling about investigative...
If you liked the hunt, you may also be interested in Long Distance by the Reply-All Podcast team.
Also, ofc, "Don't F**k with Cats" - Netflix.
There is something so compelling about investigative journalism, but it's really painful to see that police and law enforcement dgaf, so this is what we must resort to.
There's a lot of it because it works and it appears to be risk free.
Seeking the person out in real life and asking about their connection with the scam network sounds like it would jeopardize a police investigation doesnt it. Then again, there is no active police investigation, sadly. That's why Kris and Ken are so free with "go run to the cops". I also feel like contacting Magic Cat's devs directly completely gave away everything they had and allowed the company to find out what they know and evade investigation. But again, there's probably no investigation.
No. The easiest cases. Tax fraud investigation same thing: audit some poor couple or little old lady for pennies instead of going after corporate tax evasion.
Regional police trying to help a population targeted by the world, hiding behind different countries, seems to be an outdated model completely. It makes the police feel stupid and unhelpful and useless, no doubt. Until police are using their overfunded war chests to pay for cyber security experts, whenever they're instead buying "big boy toys", I'm going to think they're stupid and unhelpful and useless too.
I hope we look back upon the first quarter of this century very soon, and go, man that was an idiotic time and I'm so glad we have Interpol / whatever now.
I think it's worth mentioning that those "big boy toys" that police forces are using are often sold to them for pennies on the dollar due to them being military surplus and/or purchased second hand from other police forces that no longer need them. For an example close to home for both of us Canadians, last year the Guelph police purchased their Terradyne Gurkha LAPV (light-armored patrol vehicle) for $20k from the Waterloo police, when it would have ordinarily cost $650k brand new. And $20k for something that will potentially last the force decades is not a lot, especially compared to them hiring their own in-house cyber security expert that would likely cost them $100k+/yr.
p.s. It's not unusual for police to hire outside experts to assist them in their investigations for aspects that fall outside their own areas of expertise. E.g. I have actually done some data recovery and computer forensics work in the UK for a few local constabularies, when I lived/worked in the UK. So I wouldn't be surprised to learn that they did similar for cyber security related investigations too, if they felt an investigation was actually justifiable/warranted.
And they bought it from Waterloo police, which presumably paid for it brand new. Several years of use as a concrete barrier "just in case©" but not proactively. Before maintenance and training costs and etc.
I stand by my previous assessment of it being a Big Boy Toy: at best a utter and complete waste of tax dollars , at worst deployed against civilians inconvenience to those in power.
That is very very unlikely, IMO. The Waterloo police also most likely bought them at a very steep discount, or were even outright given them as part of a military surplus aid package from the Federal government. So the Federal government undoubtedly paid more for them at some point, but even they likely negotiated a bulk contract so didn't pay full "retail" price. And if I had to guess further, they were probably originally intended for Ukraine but didn't end up being delivered there for whatever reason... probably because the government opted to send something else perhaps better suited to the combat/logistics situation there instead, like the 200+ Roshel Senator APCs we sent them.
And also worth noting, the Guelph police do actually have a Tactics and Rescue unit (US SWAT equivalent) so it's not like regular beat cops are going to be driving around in the LAPV.
Thanks for looking into that, it makes more sense if they can "share" a swat for a larger regions kinda thing
NP. And don't get me wrong, I totally understand the cynicism about wasteful spending and your concern about militarizing the police... but in the case of T&R units, they unfortunately actually do need that heavy-duty shit on occasion. Especially since organized crime gangs have been getting more and more brazen in the GTA and surrounding areas over the last few years. E.g. The jewelry store beside our condo got robbed in the middle of the day just a few weeks ago. And that robbery easily could have turned into a hostage situation where a T&R unit might have been required had things gone wrong for the thieves, which was a distinct possibility because there is a Tim Hortons about 200ft away from it in the same plaza where cops are often parked. :/
I remain highly skeptical, but I recognize I'm highly biased.
I grew up in 90s HK where we had AK47 armed robberies for a while, and gang wars of hacking people on the streets. Armoured vehicles would have been useless in all of those situations. What would they do, ram folks with AKs? How do they rescue anyone, by ramming the hostage along with the perp? I just struggle to imagine what these vehicles could possibly do that, say, a concrete building can't do. What if they just rented Brink cars for the odd time needed.
But. Trying to stand outside of my bias here for a minute. Having heavily armed police presence feels important for the community perhaps? If this vehicle was driving up and down the street all day every day maybe the robbery would move to a different town? If there was a hostage maybe they'll let them go and flee instead of trying a stand off? It's all about the optics right? Like the way that I'm unhappy with the police looking like they're not doing anything about cyber crime, citizens feel unsafe that the police aren't doing anything, when robberies happen, so in general they feel better when they see the police outside in a tank?
I'm trying very hard to remember a time when I felt that way about police presence. Back to the time when I would walk my toddler over to a parked police vehicle (not in active investigation) to say hello to the officers and the K9, and to point out vehicles and tell my kid they're here to help etc. Probably, at the time I would have been thrilled the police "only" spend 20k for batmobile for the good guys.
These days, I can only imagine it'd be used to kill indigenous protesters / environmental / labour citizen protesters faster.
My family was in a hostage situation one time, I don't to give out more details, but absolutely an armoured vehicle turning up would have been utterly unhelpful.
If they'd have taken casino money laundering seriously, if they would have taken small time citizen complaints seriously, if tax evasion didn't steal so much of our money, we'd have less violent crime on the streets. But, how I feel is not typical. It is more typical for people to feel hopeful and protected when they see officers highly visibly well armed.
Edit: and I would also imagine that all the negative emotions I have about this is exactly the point because that's how bad guys with guns feel too. That it does serve a preventative good for the community
Your opinions and concerns are totally understandable, especially given your own experiences in HK, and I want to thank you for sharing them! And in the same spirit of sharing, it's probably worth me openly admitting that my own opinions are likely biased too, but perhaps a bit in the opposite direction. As I mentioned, I have actually worked with law enforcement before in the UK (albeit in a very limited capacity). But beyond that, I also have quite a few law enforcement members in my extended family and broader social circle up here in Canada too. My "cousin" (godfather's daughter-in-law) is a 911 operator, her brother is a Sergeant with the OPP, my BIL's best friend is a Superintendent in the RCMP, and they (as well as many of their law enforcement friends/coworkers) are usually present at all our extended family gatherings (Thanksgiving, Easter, Christmas, etc). And my old neighbor of 12 years was also a Sergeant in the Toronto Police too. So I have had a fair amount of exposure to law enforcement members over the years, and know quite a few of them personally.
Despite that, I am also still somewhat wary of law enforcement too though, which is why I genuinely do understand where you're coming from. And as a student of history and a bit of a news junky, I also understand the maltreatment and systemic injustices that minorities (and environmental activists) often face up here in Canada (especially when it comes to the RCMP). However, I think we also need to be careful not to conflate US policing and justice system issues with Canadian ones. Our police and justice system are far from perfect, they undeniably have their own issues, and a history full of problematic actions and controversies as well... but on the whole, we don't have nearly the same level of problems as the US, IMO, nor is police accountability completely lacking up here like it is in the US. And so I honestly do suspect that a lot of the strongly negative feelings that some Canadians seem to hold towards Canadian law enforcement largely stems from US media bleeding into ours, or from people's negative experiences with law enforcement in their native countries affecting how they view law enforcement here too. I admittedly could be totally wrong about that though.
No, no, you're absolutely right that world policing definitely bleed into how I view Canadian police. And even more unfairly, not even individual types of Canadian police, just all police.
Eg, in 2007 when the RCMP tasered Robert Dziekański to death, I had fully expected nobody to be held accountable. In fact, in 2010 the RCMP issued an official apology to his poor widowed mom; in 2013 BC Coroners ruled it homicide; and in 2017 two of the four officers' perjury conviction appeals have finally been dismissed. I might be a little salty that it took 10 years to settle, but I still need to acknowledge that I was wrong about there being any sort of justice possible.
I don't want to say that we're better to the degree where police don't need to be watched, but I will agree that things aren't super bad either. And hopefully, each unfortunate incident will actually spur change which allow good police officers a safer and healthier work environment, not just for our sake but for theirs too.
Thanks for taking the time, and being so patient with me. When I feel really frustrated and angry about policing, because I'm scared of them, I'll try to remember that my good internet friend cfabbro knows a bunch of good cops. ✨
Yeah, accountability is often painfully slow, but at least it does still happen. Another more recent example is the killing of Sammy Yatim where the officer in question, James Forcillo, was found guilty of attempted murder and sentenced to 6 years in prison. He served a full 21 months, and is currently out on day parole (he still has to return to the correctional facility every night).
100% agree. But one major thing that helps with that, and I am glad we have up here, is independent review boards. Unlike in the US where Internal Affairs (cops "investigating" other cops) are often the arbiter, independent review boards up here are much more objective about it. There is no incestuous "thin blue line" bullshit going on behind the scenes like with Internal Affairs, and so they usually do eventually hold police accountable for their misdeeds.
YVW! ❤️:) And if it helps any further, I think it's worth trying to remember that cops are just people. And if you take any random sample of people, some will be dicks, some will be truly amazing human beings, and most will fall somewhere in between. But IME there are actually far more cops here in Canada who got into it because they genuinely wanted to help other people, unlike in the US where a significant portion of them seem like the "peaked in high school", bullying types. :/
I guess in this case, what use does a local police force have for a light armored vehicle? Independent of the purchase being a good deal, I believe these kinds of purchases are a waste of money. The role of a police force in a community should be community law enforcement, not military role play.
The Guelph police has a Tactics and Rescue unit (US SWAT equivalent) so it's not like regular beat cops are going to be driving around in the LAPV.
All of what I'm about to say is noise to the original post.
I would argue I would rather have the cyber security expert for 100k/yr, considering it's not like cyber crime is going to poof out of existence suddenly. I'd also like to de-militarize the police, not encourage them to continue propping up the war machine. The car itself is 20k, how much are the salaries of these people? "There are 14 members on the tactics team, and each of them will be able to operate the vehicle." Specialized tactical vehicle operators? All for, 30 cases spread out over several years? ("Over the last few years, Davis said at least 30 high risk warrants have been executed by the tactics and rescue team."). These are all resources I would rather go to cyber security.
Lastly, purchasing vehicles like this, just furthers the divide between the community thinking of the police as as a trusted non-threatening group of people vs. whatever tactical SWAT cosplay they are doing instead.
I understand your position, but TBH I think it's a bit naive. SWAT units are one of those things that feels useless and like a waste of money until suddenly it isn't, and without them you potentially have deaths on your hands that might have been prevented had you kept the SWAT team on the payroll. So it's pretty damn hard for local politicians to justify cutting them from the budget, and it's totally understandable why.
Don't get me wrong though, in an ideal world I would much rather have no need for SWAT and instead have every police station be staffed with their own in-house cyber security and computer forensics people too. But we unfortunately don't live in an ideal world. And also unfortunately when it comes to policing in the GTA and surrounds these days, T&R teams are becoming more critical than ever thanks to organized crime gangs getting a hell of a lot more brazen over the last few years. See my comment above about the jewelry store that I can quite literally look down on from my balcony getting robbed just a few weeks ago. And sadly that isn't an isolated indecent either. :/
Part 2:
The Hunt for Darcula
Norwegian version:
På innsiden av svindelsentralen
French article from Le Monde:
Ces SMS frauduleux se sont inscrits dans notre quotidien.
German article from Bayerische Rundfunk:
Falsche DHL-Nachrichten: Wer dahinter steckt
It ends in such an anti-climatic way!
Not complaining, as I find it refreshing that the article did all the leg work and ends basically saying, "this is all we can really do, until someone else with actual power steps in to do something."
I don't know what the solutions are for multi-national scams. Honestly, it just seems like the internet has no police or policing. But it seems like we have known this for -- as long as the internet has been created. Where there is change/uncertainty, there will always be scamming/grifting.
All efforts to stop scamming are always on the victim side, "stop falling for scams", which is better than nothing, but it is still victim blaming/putting the onus on the victim. We should do both, punish scammers heavily (this is the part we cannot figure out), as well as teach people how to be aware a scam is being committed.
The only other area we could work on is holding companies accountable for providing more security through their devices and cards(examples, it is easier to lock your credit card down these days after a scam has occurred, automatic detection of fraudulent behavior, adopting chip/tap to pay, etc.). I'm an amateur in this space, so I don't know what that looks like or what is feasible. Are we in a David and Goliath situation? Or really more of a hydra situation? Someone with more knowledge will have to speak on this.
Random information
[Thelma](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thelma_(2024_film) is an interesting movie about scams, for anyone interested. I think it does a good job of showing all the sides of the scam from diverse perspectives.
The confidence game - a book about why we fall for scams, grifting in general.
The real life person that "Catch me if you can" is based on said, "I always tell people what I did 50 years ago as a teenager is now 4,000 times easier to do today than when I did it. Technology breeds crime—it always has and it always will. There’s always going to be people willing to use technology in a negative, self-serving way. So today it’s much easier, whether it’s forging checks or getting information," Abagnale told the Wall Street Journal."
Oh that last point, Abagnale is a fraudster who never did end up working for law enforcement, nor did his fake cheques amounted to much, nor did he actually ever fly as a PanAm pilot. Our family was reading the book and greatly entertained, having already loved Leo's movie, and then greatly disappointed to find out he is a fraud.
WHAT?! Well now I feel doubly duped lol god damn it. This is why we can't have nice things.
Isn’t it well known now that his real fraud was convincing people that he actually did and succeeded with all these elaborate scams?
I didn't find out till last year: hence, probably not well known by at least half [citation needed]. And bravo, jerkface got Leo and Tom Hanks to star in that splendid movie.
Well, it did give us a nice movie, so there's that.
Also, @chocobean I take great offense to calling it Leo's movie and not Tom's movie.
I was a teen girl when I watched it, c'mon! Tom Hanks could have been a talking chair and the movie would have still been great.
As an old adult, though, it's creepy that Leo was playing a teen dating young adult flight attendants, and now he's an way too old adult still dating women the same age. -..-
And I can now appreciate Tom Hanks' character as Frank's emotional anchor and instrumental to Frank growing up.
They actually went and found this guy haha thats amazing. Wish the police would do something.
That was a great read for this morning! Thanks for sharing.
If anyone else has an interest in some of the technical details behind Magic Cat, the report they linked at the end of the second article is pretty cool.
Scamming seems to have really popped off as a topic lately, especially on YouTube with the explosion of anti-scam YouTubers (Jim Browning, Kitboga, and so on). Has there been a noticeable increase in scam activity or is this an overdue response?
I believe the collapse of the Myanmar government has enabled human trafficking victims to be coerced into pulling romance and pig butchering scams on a larger than historical scale. The person who steals people's life savings may be beaten to death if they fail to meet the scam quota. Horrific all the way down.
If you liked the hunt, you may also be interested in Long Distance by the Reply-All Podcast team.
Also, ofc, "Don't F**k with Cats" - Netflix.
There is something so compelling about investigative journalism, but it's really painful to see that police and law enforcement dgaf, so this is what we must resort to.