#Subscription Fraud

[foloosi]

Fraud Detection for Subscription Services: Proven Strategies to Secure Recurring Payment

Subscription fraud can be a serious issue for businesses, leading to financial losses and a broken trust with customers. Fraud prevention isn’t just about technology; it’s also about creating a secure, seamless experience for users. Here’s how subscription services can stay one step ahead with these seven proven strategies to prevent fraud.

Subscription services have become a go-to choice for businesses looking to create steady revenue, whether it’s for streaming services, software, or e-commerce platforms. With the subscription model, customers enjoy the convenience of automatic renewals, while businesses benefit from predictable income streams. However, this recurring payment model also brings significant challenges, particularly when it comes to fraud detection and prevention.

Fraudulent activities like account takeovers, chargebacks, and stolen payment details can harm both businesses and customers. For businesses, these issues can lead to revenue loss, damage to reputation, and even legal consequences. For customers, it may lead to unauthorized charges and data breaches.

The good news is that with the right fraud detection strategies, subscription businesses can secure their recurring payments and ensure a smooth experience for legitimate customers. In this blog, we’ll explore proven strategies for detecting and preventing fraud in subscription-based services, focusing on fintech-based solutions that can help protect businesses and their customers.

What Is Subscription Fraud?

Subscription fraud happens when someone signs up for a service using fake or stolen details. The aim? To get access to products or services without paying for them. This could mean using someone else's credit card, creating multiple fake accounts to exploit free trials, or providing false information to avoid paying fees.

Imagine a person signing up for a streaming service with fake emails every month just to avoid subscription fees. Or think of someone using a stolen credit card to access a premium service without the card owner's consent. These scenarios hurt both businesses and genuine customers in more ways than one.

Why Does Subscription Fraud Matter?

Here are some of the main reasons why subscription fraud is a big deal:

Revenue Loss: When users access a service for free through fraudulent methods, the business loses money. This might lead to higher prices for genuine users over time to cover losses.

Security Risks: Fraudulent accounts can lead to data breaches, putting user information at risk.

Impact on Genuine Customers: Businesses may limit trial offers or add extra verification steps, which can be frustrating for honest users.

Damage to Brand Reputation: Frequent fraud incidents can damage a company's reputation, leading users to lose trust in the platform.

7 Proven strategies to Detect and Prevent Fraud in Subscription Services

Subscription fraud can be a serious issue for businesses, leading to financial losses and a broken trust with customers. Fraud prevention isn’t just about technology; it’s also about creating a secure, seamless experience for users. Here’s how subscription services can stay one step ahead with these seven proven strategies to prevent fraud.

1. Strong Authentication Methods to Keep Out Fraudsters

The first step to stopping fraud is ensuring that only verified users can access accounts and make payments. Strong authentication methods, like Two-Factor Authentication (2FA), are crucial here. With 2FA, users confirm their identity by entering a code sent to their phone or email, even after entering their password. This extra layer makes it harder for anyone to access accounts without authorization. Another advanced option is biometric authentication, where users can log in using a fingerprint or facial recognition. For online card payments, 3D Secure (3DS) asks customers for a code from their card provider, adding an extra checkpoint for security. Together, these authentication methods make it much harder for fraudsters to access or abuse customer accounts.

Read more

[arrestelonmusk]

If FSD really saved lives, then every crash in a Tesla without it is one Musk chose not to prevent. The hardware's there. The cameras are on. Tax payer funded. The only thing missing? Elon’s permission.

[thejohnfleming]

AppleTV+ being mis-sold by a bunch of shysters in dodgy UK Apple Stores?

If you can’t use your own blog to whinge, what’s the point? I’m a great lover of Apple devices. Great devices and – normally – great service. Until now. Apple offered me 3 months of AppleTV+ at the reduced rate of £3.99 per month.  I accepted this because I specifically wanted to see their series “The Studio”. As part of my subscription – which Apple offered me – I could allow five friends to…

[netincomesource]

Is the AMDB Charge on Your Credit Card Legit? Here's What to Know

Wondering if the AMDB charge on your credit card is legit? Discover how to check your bank statement for potential fraud and ensure your account is secure. Hey If you’ve spotted an unfamiliar “AMDB” charge on your bank statements credit card or PayPal statement, it’s natural to feel concerned. This article will help you understand what the AMDB charge means, whether it’s legit, and what steps you…

[quickkflash]

FTC Distributes $2.8 Million in Refunds to Victims of Deceptive ‘Free Trial’ Scheme

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced the distribution of more than $2.8 million in refunds to individuals misled by a fraudulent “free trial” scheme orchestrated by Apex Capital Group and its associates. This initiative marks the culmination of a legal battle that commenced in 2018, targeting deceptive marketing practices in the personal care and dietary supplement sectors.

The FTC’s 2018 complaint against Apex Capital Group, alongside Phillip Peikos, David Barnett, and various affiliated entities, unveiled a complex operation exploiting online consumers. Marketed under the guise of “free trial” offers, the products were instead sold at full price, with consumers unknowingly enrolled in ongoing subscription plans. This deceptive practice ensnared countless individuals into unauthorized financial commitments, leveraging an intricate network of shell companies and straw owners both domestically and internationally to process payments.

The fraudulent operations, which began in early 2014, saw a range of personal care items and supplements pushed onto unsuspecting consumers. The scheme persisted until November 2018, when a court order, prompted by the FTC, effectively halted the deceptive activities.

In the aftermath of this legal victory, the FTC is dispatching 153,940 refund checks to affected consumers. Each recipient is advised to cash their checks within 90 days, as indicated. This refund process is a significant step in providing restitution to those impacted by Apex Capital’s unscrupulous business practices.

[agent4justice]

Scammers sophistication technique have reached a new apex, making Banking Fraud just like a walk in the park to this crime syndicates with richer background helter-skelters depositors and has been keeping most retirees that reinvested most of their retirement plan sleepless after words of the threat that swept the streets does not seem to have not weakened at all.

Masses are appealing for a more stringent countermeasure to be in place as soon as possible, such are adding more authentication request. Although retina scanner can slow down the process with the amount or rather the size of the data, but it also gives us an opportunity of having time to lockout perpetrators. The size of the data makes it at least 70% better than an iris scan and many more folds multiplied compared to a fingerprint.

Several years ago, I foresaw that the mCommerce (mobile commerce) would be ruled out as the mainstay of electronic processing for the sole reason that it is the most affordable business appliance that can serve the majority, representing the poor to medium class and the trending plot of global economic structure just like a triangle.

Having mCommerce | Mobile Technology as our economic transport offers the possibility of catering and adding the biggest chunk of our global population to pitch in the global trade for us to achieve having reserves and surplus will be more conceivable.

To make it a little impenetrable and globally under tighter scrutiny, I proposed that we adopt the universal identification system. We will integrate every other form of identity attached to it using our mobile number as the key index that will permanently our lifetime phone number. In the event of loss, the telco will make a SIM based on a secret code given to the subscriber upon the receipt of your subscription and issuance, which will be honored and will be service by other Telcos if subscriber opt to change carrier. The number coding of telcos should also compliment tracking effort, narrowed down within the radius and range of a few kilometers apart where the last signal was received or transmitted. The succeeding successful connection recorded by cell sites would enable us to speculate the linear direction as it trends.

We will enable the mobile technology to be a conduit of payment gateways or as a payment gateway itself. Our objective is to open the global trade and cover a larger scope and as far-reaching it could service most specially the marginalized poor a chance to lift their social status getting connected and finally be able to join our bandwagon to the brighter future. The fact can't be denied that they have been left without an adequate means to tap the convenience and business opportunity through eCommerce. Through the mobile payment gateway, even in the absence of a banking system in their region, they can now fulfill the checkout process by loading or charging it from your telco which is even less intricate than having a debit card or as to many known financial credibility.

#mobilepaymentgateway

#mobiletechnology

#mCommerce

#onlinefraud

#RetinaScan

Scammers sophistication technique have reached a new apex, making Banking Fraud just like a walk in the park to this crime syndicates with richer background helter-skelters depositors and has been keeping most retirees that reinvested most of their retirement plan sleepless after words of the threat that swept the streets does not seem to have not weakened at all.

Masses are appealing for a more stringent countermeasure to be in place as soon as possible, such are adding more authentication request. Although retina scanner can slow down the process with the amount or rather the size of the data, but it also gives us an opportunity of having time to lockout perpetrators. The size of the data makes it at least 70% better than an iris scan and many more folds multiplied compared to a fingerprint.

Several years ago, I foresaw that the mCommerce (mobile commerce) would be ruled out as the mainstay of electronic processing for the sole reason that it is the most affordable business appliance that can serve the majority, representing the poor to medium class and the trending plot of global economic structure just like a triangle.

Having mCommerce | Mobile Technology as our economic transport offers the possibility of catering and adding the biggest chunk of our global population to pitch in the global trade for us to achieve having reserves and surplus will be more conceivable.

To make it a little impenetrable and globally under tighter scrutiny, I proposed that we adopt the universal identification system. We will integrate every other form of identity attached to it using our mobile number as the key index that will permanently our lifetime phone number. In the event of loss, the telco will make a SIM based on a secret code given to the subscriber upon the receipt of your subscription and issuance, which will be honored and will be service by other Telcos if subscriber opt to change carrier. The number coding of telcos should also compliment tracking effort, narrowed down within the radius and range of a few kilometers apart where the last signal was received or transmitted. The succeeding successful connection recorded by cell sites would enable us to speculate the linear direction as it trends.

We will enable the mobile technology to be a conduit of payment gateways or as a payment gateway itself. Our objective is to open the global trade and cover a larger scope and as far-reaching it could service most specially the marginalized poor a chance to lift their social status getting connected and finally be able to join our bandwagon to the brighter future. The fact can't be denied that they have been left without an adequate means to tap the convenience and business opportunity through eCommerce. Through the mobile payment gateway, even in the absence of a banking system in their region, they can now fulfill the checkout process by loading or charging it from your telco which is even less intricate than having a debit card or as to many known financial credibility.

#mobilepaymentgateway

#mobiletechnology

#mCommerce

#onlinefraud

#RetinaScan

#FraudAlert

#FraudAlert

[iliothermia]

In case people weren’t aware, there seems to have been a massive issue throughout Patreon. People have had their subscriptions cancelled and many had their payments flagged as fraud with their bank. 150$ of my patronage disappeared, that’s 150$ a month as a disabled artist that took months to build that I’m unsure I’ll ever get back..Gone. It won’t allow me to message anyone whose payments were declined.I also had around 10 people’s payments flagged as fraud, some have had to re-patron. If you’re supporting Patreon creators I advise you look to see if at least the people you remember supporting are still there / that your payments aren’t marked as fraud, especially if you’re supporting for physical rewards you’re expecting. 

[treasure-mimic]

So, let me try and put everything together here, because I really do think it needs to be talked about.

Today, Unity announced that it intends to apply a fee to use its software. Then it got worse.

For those not in the know, Unity is the most popular free to use video game development tool, offering a basic version for individuals who want to learn how to create games or create independently alongside paid versions for corporations or people who want more features. It's decent enough at this job, has issues but for the price point I can't complain, and is the idea entry point into creating in this medium, it's a very important piece of software.

But speaking of tools, the CEO is a massive one. When he was the COO of EA, he advocated for using, what out and out sounds like emotional manipulation to coerce players into microtransactions.

"A consumer gets engaged in a property, they might spend 10, 20, 30, 50 hours on the game and then when they're deep into the game they're well invested in it. We're not gouging, but we're charging and at that point in time the commitment can be pretty high."

He also called game developers who don't discuss monetization early in the planning stages of development, quote, "fucking idiots".

So that sets the stage for what might be one of the most bald-faced greediest moves I've seen from a corporation in a minute. Most at least have the sense of self-preservation to hide it.

A few hours ago, Unity posted this announcement on the official blog.

Effective January 1, 2024, we will introduce a new Unity Runtime Fee that’s based on game installs. We will also add cloud-based asset storage, Unity DevOps tools, and AI at runtime at no extra cost to Unity subscription plans this November. We are introducing a Unity Runtime Fee that is based upon each time a qualifying game is downloaded by an end user. We chose this because each time a game is downloaded, the Unity Runtime is also installed. Also we believe that an initial install-based fee allows creators to keep the ongoing financial gains from player engagement, unlike a revenue share.

Now there are a few red flags to note in this pitch immediately.

Unity is planning on charging a fee on all games which use its engine.

This is a flat fee per number of installs.

They are using an always online runtime function to determine whether a game is downloaded.

There is just so many things wrong with this that it's hard to know where to start, not helped by this FAQ which doubled down on a lot of the major issues people had.

I guess let's start with what people noticed first. Because it's using a system baked into the software itself, Unity would not be differentiating between a "purchase" and a "download". If someone uninstalls and reinstalls a game, that's two downloads. If someone gets a new computer or a new console and downloads a game already purchased from their account, that's two download. If someone pirates the game, the studio will be asked to pay for that download.

Q: How are you going to collect installs? A: We leverage our own proprietary data model. We believe it gives an accurate determination of the number of times the runtime is distributed for a given project. Q: Is software made in unity going to be calling home to unity whenever it's ran, even for enterprice licenses? A: We use a composite model for counting runtime installs that collects data from numerous sources. The Unity Runtime Fee will use data in compliance with GDPR and CCPA. The data being requested is aggregated and is being used for billing purposes. Q: If a user reinstalls/redownloads a game / changes their hardware, will that count as multiple installs? A: Yes. The creator will need to pay for all future installs. The reason is that Unity doesn’t receive end-player information, just aggregate data. Q: What's going to stop us being charged for pirated copies of our games? A: We do already have fraud detection practices in our Ads technology which is solving a similar problem, so we will leverage that know-how as a starting point. We recognize that users will have concerns about this and we will make available a process for them to submit their concerns to our fraud compliance team.

This is potentially related to a new system that will require Unity Personal developers to go online at least once every three days.

Starting in November, Unity Personal users will get a new sign-in and online user experience. Users will need to be signed into the Hub with their Unity ID and connect to the internet to use Unity. If the internet connection is lost, users can continue using Unity for up to 3 days while offline. More details to come, when this change takes effect.

It's unclear whether this requirement will be attached to any and all Unity games, though it would explain how they're theoretically able to track "the number of installs", and why the methodology for tracking these installs is so shit, as we'll discuss later.

Unity claims that it will only leverage this fee to games which surpass a certain threshold of downloads and yearly revenue.

Only games that meet the following thresholds qualify for the Unity Runtime Fee: Unity Personal and Unity Plus: Those that have made $200,000 USD or more in the last 12 months AND have at least 200,000 lifetime game installs. Unity Pro and Unity Enterprise: Those that have made $1,000,000 USD or more in the last 12 months AND have at least 1,000,000 lifetime game installs.

They don't say how they're going to collect information on a game's revenue, likely this is just to say that they're only interested in squeezing larger products (games like Genshin Impact and Honkai: Star Rail, Fate Grand Order, Among Us, and Fall Guys) and not every 2 dollar puzzle platformer that drops on Steam. But also, these larger products have the easiest time porting off of Unity and the most incentives to, meaning realistically those heaviest impacted are going to be the ones who just barely meet this threshold, most of them indie developers.

Aggro Crab Games, one of the first to properly break this story, points out that systems like the Xbox Game Pass, which is already pretty predatory towards smaller developers, will quickly inflate their "lifetime game installs" meaning even skimming the threshold of that 200k revenue, will be asked to pay a fee per install, not a percentage on said revenue.

[IMAGE DESCRIPTION: Hey Gamers!

Today, Unity (the engine we use to make our games) announced that they'll soon be taking a fee from developers for every copy of the game installed over a certain threshold - regardless of how that copy was obtained.

Guess who has a somewhat highly anticipated game coming to Xbox Game Pass in 2024? That's right, it's us and a lot of other developers.

That means Another Crab's Treasure will be free to install for the 25 million Game Pass subscribers. If a fraction of those users download our game, Unity could take a fee that puts an enormous dent in our income and threatens the sustainability of our business.

And that's before we even think about sales on other platforms, or pirated installs of our game, or even multiple installs by the same user!!!

This decision puts us and countless other studios in a position where we might not be able to justify using Unity for our future titles. If these changes aren't rolled back, we'll be heavily considering abandoning our wealth of Unity expertise we've accumulated over the years and starting from scratch in a new engine. Which is really something we'd rather not do.

On behalf of the dev community, we're calling on Unity to reverse the latest in a string of shortsighted decisions that seem to prioritize shareholders over their product's actual users.

I fucking hate it here.

-Aggro Crab - END DESCRIPTION]

That fee, by the way, is a flat fee. Not a percentage, not a royalty. This means that any games made in Unity expecting any kind of success are heavily incentivized to cost as much as possible.

[IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A table listing the various fees by number of Installs over the Install Threshold vs. version of Unity used, ranging from $0.01 to $0.20 per install. END DESCRIPTION]

Basic elementary school math tells us that if a game comes out for $1.99, they will be paying, at maximum, 10% of their revenue to Unity, whereas jacking the price up to $59.99 lowers that percentage to something closer to 0.3%. Obviously any company, especially any company in financial desperation, which a sudden anchor on all your revenue is going to create, is going to choose the latter.

Furthermore, and following the trend of "fuck anyone who doesn't ask for money", Unity helpfully defines what an install is on their main site.

While I'm looking at this page as it exists now, it currently says

The installation and initialization of a game or app on an end user’s device as well as distribution via streaming is considered an “install.” Games or apps with substantially similar content may be counted as one project, with installs then aggregated to calculate the Unity Runtime Fee.

However, I saw a screenshot saying something different, and utilizing the Wayback Machine we can see that this phrasing was changed at some point in the few hours since this announcement went up. Instead, it reads:

The installation and initialization of a game or app on an end user’s device as well as distribution via streaming or web browser is considered an “install.” Games or apps with substantially similar content may be counted as one project, with installs then aggregated to calculate the Unity Runtime Fee.

Screenshot for posterity:

That would mean web browser games made in Unity would count towards this install threshold. You could legitimately drive the count up simply by continuously refreshing the page. The FAQ, again, doubles down.

Q: Does this affect WebGL and streamed games? A: Games on all platforms are eligible for the fee but will only incur costs if both the install and revenue thresholds are crossed. Installs - which involves initialization of the runtime on a client device - are counted on all platforms the same way (WebGL and streaming included).

And, what I personally consider to be the most suspect claim in this entire debacle, they claim that "lifetime installs" includes installs prior to this change going into effect.

Will this fee apply to games using Unity Runtime that are already on the market on January 1, 2024? Yes, the fee applies to eligible games currently in market that continue to distribute the runtime. We look at a game's lifetime installs to determine eligibility for the runtime fee. Then we bill the runtime fee based on all new installs that occur after January 1, 2024.

Again, again, doubled down in the FAQ.

Q: Are these fees going to apply to games which have been out for years already? If you met the threshold 2 years ago, you'll start owing for any installs monthly from January, no? (in theory). It says they'll use previous installs to determine threshold eligibility & then you'll start owing them for the new ones. A: Yes, assuming the game is eligible and distributing the Unity Runtime then runtime fees will apply. We look at a game's lifetime installs to determine eligibility for the runtime fee. Then we bill the runtime fee based on all new installs that occur after January 1, 2024.

That would involve billing companies for using their software before telling them of the existence of a bill. Holding their actions to a contract that they performed before the contract existed!

Okay. I think that's everything. So far.

There is one thing that I want to mention before ending this post, unfortunately it's a little conspiratorial, but it's so hard to believe that anyone genuinely thought this was a good idea that it's stuck in my brain as a significant possibility.

A few days ago it was reported that Unity's CEO sold 2,000 shares of his own company.

On September 6, 2023, John Riccitiello, President and CEO of Unity Software Inc (NYSE:U), sold 2,000 shares of the company. This move is part of a larger trend for the insider, who over the past year has sold a total of 50,610 shares and purchased none.

I would not be surprised if this decision gets reversed tomorrow, that it was literally only made for the CEO to short his own goddamn company, because I would sooner believe that this whole thing is some idiotic attempt at committing fraud than a real monetization strategy, even knowing how unfathomably greedy these people can be.

So, with all that said, what do we do now?

Well, in all likelihood you won't need to do anything. As I said, some of the biggest names in the industry would be directly affected by this change, and you can bet your bottom dollar that they're not just going to take it lying down. After all, the only way to stop a greedy CEO is with a greedier CEO, right?

(I fucking hate it here.)

And that's not mentioning the indie devs who are already talking about abandoning the engine.

[Links display tweets from the lead developer of Among Us saying it'd be less costly to hire people to move the game off of Unity and Cult of the Lamb's official twitter saying the game won't be available after January 1st in response to the news.]

That being said, I'm still shaken by all this. The fact that Unity is openly willing to go back and punish its developers for ever having used the engine in the past makes me question my relationship to it.

The news has given rise to the visibility of free, open source alternative Godot, which, if you're interested, is likely a better option than Unity at this point. Mostly, though, I just hope we can get out of this whole, fucking, environment where creatives are treated as an endless mill of free profits that's going to be continuously ratcheted up and up to drive unsustainable infinite corporate growth that our entire economy is based on for some fuckin reason.

Anyways, that's that, I find having these big posts that break everything down to be helpful.

[snippit-crickit]

✨ Félix Ambroise Delacroix le 3ème ✨

There I French-ified his name even more

I think I saw you mention he didn’t actually speak French though

So now I’m sad

I’m getting him a premium duolingo subscription

VERY DIGNIFIED YES

but yes hes a fraud bahdsh its part of the persona to look cool hes just culturaly appropriating sorry but i think its so funny that the accent varies and sometimes just fully drops and you get a jumpscare of him speaking normaly for 5 seconds

[military-newsboys]

Buck: I’m talking to my credit card company. I tried to get an online subscription to the New Yorker and they declined me. Apparently, based on my previous purchases, they assumed it was fraud. That’s crazy. I’m fancy. One time I had coffee-flavored ice cream.

[brehaaorgana]

ADHD money/budgeting system I'm currently using for my benefit is going well (I've been using it for like half a year now?), and I wanna recommend it.

You Need a Budget is EXCELLENT. 10/10 do recommend. Uhhh rambling about it and my generic disclaimers + gushing extensively under the cut but TL;DR I think it's great for ADHD ppl, I've used it for 6+ months now and I find it super SUPER helpful. also weirdly fun.

DISCLAIMERS:

Budgeting helps you understand/know your money, it can't make money appear where there is none.

Everyone should learn to budget even if you don't have much money (especially then)

This is NOT a magic trick solution. Just like everything else, it is an assistive tool. This is one of those adult things we can't simply opt out of without negative consequences, though.

My advice is based on something I am currently able to do. That is, I can spend an amount of money on this specific thing that works well for me. If you have no extra money to spend then previously I was tracking things in a notebook. So you can still do this.

I believe Dave Ramsey is a fundie fraud/hack and no one should listen to him about money.

DID YOU KNOW THEY CANCELLED MINT???

Okay? OKAY.

Ahem.

You Need a Budget is EXCELLENT.

It is called YNAB for short. The first 34 days are your free trial, and that is my referral link. If anyone uses it and then signs up for a subscription, we both get a month free. Also you can share a subscription with up to six people (account owner can see everything but individuals can pick and choose what they share amongst each other) so like...idk your whole polycule can be on one account. Or your kids. Whatever.

If you are a student, it's free for a year. If you aren't, a subscription is $99 for a year (paid all at once) or $14.99 monthly, which is equivalent to paying Amazon prime. Go cancel Prime and get this instead tbh.

They got a whole article just on ynab and ADHD. They also have like...a big variety of ways to access their info? They have a book, podcast episodes, YouTube videos, blog posts, q&A's, free live workshops you can join (you can request live captioning), emails they can send (if you want) a wiki, and so on. They got workshops on all kinds of topics!!

So whatever ends up working for your brain. It also has a matching app.

If you lost Mint this year they have a gajillion things for moving from Mint.

Also they have a "got five minutes?" Page which has a slider so you can decide how much attention/time you have before going on lol:

They only have 4 rules of the budget, they're simple and practical, and it doesn't get judgey or like...mean about your spending.

1. Give every dollar a job 2. Embrace your true expenses 3. Roll with the punches 4. Age your money.

THEN THEY BREAK THESE DOWN INTO SMALL STEPS FOR YOU! They even have a printable! Also these rules are great because there's built in expectations that things WILL HAPPEN and it's NOT all or nothing with a fear of total collapse into failure. Reality and The Plan don't always align, especially if you have ADHD. So it's directing our energy towards the true expenses and not clinging to The Plan!! over reality.

You can automate a lot of shit (you can sync with your bank accounts just like mint, but also automate tagging the categories of regular expenses/transactions). And if for whatever reason you accidentally do something that makes the budget look weird or wrong:

A) you can usually fix it somehow OR b) they have like, a button you can press that gives you a clean slate and archives the previous version of the budget for you.

So if you forget for a few weeks or months, or accidentally input something wildly wrong, or just don't want to look at a really terrible month anymore and feel like you need a fresh start you can usually either fix it or start fresh which is really nice.

The app also (for whatever reason) scratches my itch to have things like...have incentives or little game-like goals in a way mint never did? I don't know why. Filling up the bars or putting money into the categories to cover my expenses is satisfying lmao. You can also make a big wish expense category for all the fun shit you want, and fund it whenever you can and then you can see the little bar go up and that's fun.

Anyways I've been using it for like 6+ months now and I think it's really helped me when I use it.

[rockspider556]

💳🐻THE BEARNELLI FRAUD FILES: A TRAGICOMEDY IN FIVE ACTS 📱🚔

based on information from those two Fast and the Curious interviews

Act I: The Heist

okay so picture this: ollie and kimi. teen karting prodigies. menaces to society. for some reason they have access to ollie’s trainer’s credit card (???) and instead of doing literally anything else, they decide to swipe that thing like it’s Black Friday and they’re divorced wine aunts at a Sephora.
No hesitation. No guilt. Just ✨"what if we swiped it and didn't get caught?"✨

Act II: What did they even buy?

Excellent question. Both claim they “don’t remember”. According to the group chat, the shopping list probably included:

A full sim rig worth more than my rent

Headsets with ✨RGB lighting✨

A premium Crunchyroll subscription

Kimi’s body weight in Monster and protein bars from a petrol station at midnight

One (1) anime figurine that neither will confess to ordering

Matching Crocs. Jibbitz included.

Act III: “There Is No Escape”

Did they stop at fraud? Of Course Not. These little karting gremlins also stole their trainer’s ID card- meaning he couldn’t leave the track
This poor guy was literally being held hostage at a motorsport event by two teenagers with too much free time and no fear of God.

Ollie: “lol where’s your pass?”
Kimi: “we took it. stay.”

Act IV: Ollie the Security Breach

Funnily enough, the trainer no longer works with Ollie, instead working with Gabriel Bortoleto and, in a horrifying twist, OLLIE IS NOW VOLUNTARILY LEAKING HIS INFO.

Ollie, in an actual interview with The Fast and The Curious, with zero shame:

“I know his phone password (how???). I know where he keeps his ID. I’m gonna tell Gabriel.”
This is how crime syndicates start. Someone needs to check on their poor victim.

(It’s also important to note that this same interview involved Ollie literally calling Esteban Ocon boring because he wouldn’t commit white collar crimes with him)

Act V: Conclusion

This isn’t friendship. This is Bonnie and Clyde with matching helmets.

They didn’t just trauma-bond. They created a criminal organisation.

Gabriel doesn’t even know he’s the next chosen one.

Bearnelli is passing the torch. And the Crunchyroll login.

[squid-socks]

Shit that genuinely sucks and we need to stop calling “you sound like an old man” type problems. They are modern and actual issues:

AI phone operators. If they program that shit for 3 things and none of those things are what you need you just aren’t getting help.

Really hard to navigate “delete account” options with unclear outcomes. Even more so; “pause accounts” which look like “cancel account” and would confuse anyone whose tired or stressed and in a hurry. So suddenly payments come out in like a month bcs the account is unpaused??

Tiny and delayed x buttons on ads or “plus” versions of accounts🌝

Needing 10000 social media’s and apps a day accounts to have a normal running life. From socialising to work to food and savings. (I’m broke of course I have the fucking Tesco app with how they price gouge)

Everything’s an app now and all the websites suck. Why??? Idk. We’re in the bad place.

Everything comes per email and all things can be confirmed and adjusted online. This has its benefits - but having an option to say “only works in person with physical card” or something would help so many people manage all their online crap and avoid the constant threat of fraud!??

EVERYTHING NEEDS AN ACCOUNT EVERY WEBSITE EVEN GAMES YOU BUY ONLINE WANG SOME WEIRD ONLINE ACCOUNT UNRELATED TO THE GAME ITSELF???? It’s free but give us all your information that someone else will use to make certain things excessively more expensive on your phone. Which btw you can’t leave anywhere now as everything in your life HAS to be on it. And most things you need you will need to buy on it.

Always on that damn phone. Addiction. Eye problems. Back problems. Brain damage. Depression. The stupids. Anger issues. It’s a fucking problem.

Being a dick is just ok now?? Especially in the service industry. It actually is kind of a problem?? I don’t know how some of these people are genuinely still hired? Yes you can be underpaid and unnecessarily a dick. I’m not the one paying you. Nor am I the one abusing you - re-fucking-lax.

People who play music out loud in public??? I mean that’s just an asshole move???

People who work a trade related to fixing shoes and clothes are vanishing but also suck half the time???

Nowhere to walk anymore?? Nature is being swallowed up.

Food quality and flavour is in the toilet

No one mends or takes care of anything they own or buy anymore and consumerism is at a crazy high. We have no control over ourselves or the situation.

The “community” is dead. Ya know that thing that gave us the power to be informed and resolute and comforted by each others support - yeh that’s gone.

How expensive public transport has gotten. Fr tho.

Gum. No bcs actually it’s everywhere and it’s bad. We at least need more eco friendly hum or something. And some people need to learn to chew with their mouths closed!??

Having ads for plus versions of accounts or ads in general you can’t exit out of and only show “proceed” - that are a 50/50 shot; if you click that it will either THEN go to an exit ad page or automatically give you this subscription.

Having to close a whole app to get rid of an ad bcs there is no x button. And as a continuation to the previous bullet point; when you reopen the app and they insistently give you the ad each time and you STILL don’t know if it’s an automatic subscription or just to get to the “close ad” page.

Disinformation and misinformation actually being fucking believable. AI is good at deceit. Especially with rage bate and a high necessity for internet literacy (which needs to be updated basically daily). It’s easy to fall for something stupid and wrong. Even more so with genuine articles and news sources lying to your face or taking info from bad sources like tick tock. A busy person has 5min to read the news daily they can’t fact check literally everyone!??? (Also people under 30 where eating tide pods and putting their phones in microwaves so if grandma falls for a Facebook post I don’t wanna hear a single damn snicker you hypocrites 👀👀👀)

Sorry I’m gonna stop😅

[goldenraeofsun]

light you up like dynamite

“Stop whatever you’re doing,” Lois announces as soon as Clark opens the door to let her in. “This is more important, and I need all hands on deck.”

“Surely the deck can wait until –” Clark startles as he looks at his watch. “Gosh, Lois, it’s three in the morning!”

“Good reporters never sleep,” she crows as she makes a beeline for the coffee maker in the kitchen. She spins on her heel to face him, hands on her hips. “I’ve got the story of the century for you.”

“You are unbelievable.”

Lois beams. “Thank you.”

“That wasn’t a compliment.” He sighs. “I thought, after everything that happened last Tuesday –”

“Story - of - the - century,” Lois interrupts, punctuating each word with a little clap to get it through his thick, thick skull. 

“I’m pretty sure I’ve heard you say that at least five times before,” he says wearily. He rattles off, “Luthor’s election campaign scandal. Intergang’s money laundering racket. The governor’s fraud and abuse within the City Housing Authority. Luthor’s second election campaign scandal.”

Lois scowls as she grabs the bag of grounds from his cabinet and puts in a new filter. “That’s only four.”

Clark drums his fingers against the counter. “When Bernini’s closed, and you said your reporting would shake the very foundations of Metropolis.”

“Hey,” Lois protests, “You loved their chicken parm as much as I did!”

“Sure I did,” Clarks says reasonably, “but I didn’t put in print that their landlord was ‘a penny-pinching, corner-cutting bourgeois parasite and a prime example of why we should start using the guillotine’.” He pauses. “Not that you could spell guillotine if your life depended on it. ”

Lois grunts over the gurgling coffee. “I stand by that op-ed. I still dream about that chicken, I’ll have you know.”

“And,” Clark adds darkly, “who can forget ‘I Spent the Night with Superman’?”

Lois's lips purse. “That nearly won me the Pulitzer! It brought in 20,000 new subscriptions to The Planet in 24 hours. And you know Perry changed the headline on me fifteen minutes before he put the paper to bed.”

Clark frowns. “So you had fifteen minutes to change it back.”

Lois points a finger squarely at his face. “You’re just sore I got the interview first.”

Clark gapes at her. “You dangled yourself off Schuster Bridge!”

“And you didn’t, so that’s why I’m the better reporter, and you got scooped,” Lois says smartly. 

Clark rolls his eyes to the ceiling. “Lord have mercy.”

“He’s got nothing to do with it.”

Clark watches her beadily as she pours a cup of coffee, his bright blue eyes cataloging her every move. “Is everything okay?” he asks, his voice that kind of gentle-soft that makes her skin crawl. She has never needed to be treated with kid gloves in her life; she’s made of sterner stuff than that. And obviously she’s fucking fine. She found a lead that every journalist in a 50 mile radius missed – Clark very much included.

Lois unlocks her phone and shoves it in his face. 

He winces as the almost offensively bright glare hits his glasses. “The Star?” he asks once he can actually read it, his question dripping with skepticism. “You hate The Star.”

“Know thine enemy,” Lois says, grimacing as she watches Clark scroll. 

Clark exhales a slow breath through his nose as he scans the cover story. “Seriously?” he asks, exasperated. “‘50 Questions with Superman’? Lois this was from two months ago ”

“Go to question 38,” she says as she pours him a mug too because she is a Good Friend.

“‘What is Superman's favorite food?’” Clark reads dispassionately. He meets her eyes. “Are you drunk?”

“What? No!”

“High?”

“You’ve got to be joking.”

“Brainwashed?”

“Oh my god.” 

Clark adopts a supremely constipated look. “Normally, I wouldn’t ask a woman this, but you’re acting so strangely.” He inhales a sharp breath. “Is it your time of –”

“You finish that sentence, and you’re a dead man, Kent,” Lois growls.

“But –”

She flaps her free hand in his direction as she sips at her coffee. “Keep reading.”

He taps her phone back awake. “‘Superman: While I’ve eaten food from all over the world,’” he narrates, “my favorite has to be apple pie.’” Rolling his eyes, Clark says, “So Superman likes apple pie. What are we going to learn next, that his favorite sport is baseball, America’s pastime, and his favorite game show is Wheel of Fortune, America’s game? The guy has a very well-established theme.”

“Jesus Christ, and people think I’m the impatient one,” Lois says as she drains her coffee and reaches for Clark’s untouched mug. “Keep going.”

“Hey!” Clark grabs his coffee. “Get your own!”

Lois holds up both hands in a gesture of no harm. “Fine, fine, just keep reading.”

“‘There’s this bakery, Annette’s, in Dodge City, that makes the best pie I’ve ever eaten.’” Clark swallows. He sets down Lois’s phone on the counter. “What does this have to do with anything?”

“Superman has never officially been seen near Dodge City,” Lois says triumphantly. “The closest he has ever been recorded was Enid, Oklahoma, for tornado relief eighteen months ago.”

Clark blinks. “So?”

“It’s like you’re being deliberately obtuse,” Lois scolds as she helps herself to a refill of coffee. “So, I called Annette’s.”

Clark’s eyes go almost comically wide behind his glasses. “You did what? Why?”

“I called them,” Lois repeats, “to ask if Superman has ever stopped by for pie.”

Clark drags a hand down his face. “Of course you did,” he mutters. “And what did Annie tell you?”

Lois cocks her head, her mouth lifting into a too-wide smile. “So you know Annette’s too.” She taps her fingers eagerly against the edge of her mug. “I thought so. Dodge City is the closest ‘big city’ to Smallville, right?”

“Right,” Clark says, and by the look on his face, he can already tell where this is going.

“Annette said she’s never seen Superman in her life.” Lois’s grin widens. “So Superman must have visited in disguise.”

Clark's face twitches. “Oh – oh no, Lois.”

“I’ve booked us two tickets on the next flight to Topeka.” She lifts one shoulder in a half-shrug, half-apology. “No direct flights to Dodge City from Metropolis.”

Alarmed, Clark starts, “Lois, I can’t just up and leave –”

“Sure you can,” Lois interrupts. “Bring your laptop. You can write up your articles on the plane or in the rental. We’ll have plenty of downtime to work.”

“But Mrs. Hannigan –”

“We’ll be gone for 48 hours, tops,” Lois says as she grabs her phone. “I’m sure whatever your neighbor needs can wait.”

“Lois –”

“Pack light. I only budgeted carry-ons.”

“But –”

“Our flight is at 7:40, so I figure we should leave at 5:30 just to be safe.”

“I –”

“Come on,” Lois says, her own impatience growing. “This could be huge. If Superman can successfully disguise himself, he might have used it in other places too! He might have a whole civilian identity – I can’t believe I’ve never even considered it before!”

Clark just stares at her. 

“Well?” she demands. “What are you waiting for?”

“For you to come to your senses,” Clark says frankly. “This is crazy.”

“It’s a solid lead!” 

Clark’s expression turns… pitying, and a stone drops into the pit of Lois’s stomach. He starts, “Are you sure you’re alright? After Tuesday, even I expected you to take a day or two to recover.”

“Recover? Recover from what?” Lois crosses her arms over her chest, her stare steely. 

“Almost dying?” Clark says plainly. 

Lois makes a derisive noise in the back of her throat. “As if that doesn’t happen every Tuesday.” She casts him an appraising look. “And I didn’t need Superman, anyway. I had my best guy, Clark, to save the day.”

But instead of looking reassured, Clark looks even more troubled.

“What,” Lois says flatly. 

Clark shakes his head. “It’s nothing.”

“You’ve already called me crazy and implied I’m ejecting all my common sense along with the lining of my uterus,” Lois says dispassionately. “What’s one more offense?”

Clark’s shoulders slump, his spine bows, and he exhales an exhausted sigh. “You always do this.”

“Do what –”

“Run from strong emotions instead of confronting them.”

“Excuse me,” Lois interjects, her temper racing from 0 to 60 in a fraction of a second. “I have no fucking idea what gave you that bright idea –”

“Of course,” Clark cuts her off, eyes flashing behind his smudged lenses. “Who knows where I came up with that, when you’re so open and vulnerable at the best of times.”

Lois could slap him. So enraged she can barely get the words out, “I come to you – I thought –”

Clark reaches towards her, thinks better of it, and wraps his hand around his half empty mug instead. “Look, I’m not trying to make you mad –”

Lois says, “Great fucking job so far, really a stellar example of –”

“I’m just saying,” Clark says loudly, “you don’t have to be drunk or so sleep deprived you’re hallucinating to talk to me about what’s bothering you.”

“Nothing’s bothering me except you!” Lois snarls, her voice way too high, the words way too fast. “Jesus, Clark. Newsflash, I’ve had ten near-death experiences just this year, and it’s barely April! And I’m fine. Just because you freak out at the first sign things are going south doesn’t mean the rest of us can’t handle it.”

Clark nods once, his face shuttering.

The guilt hits her like a freight train. She – she didn’t mean any of that. It just came out, in the heat of the moment.

Clark has proven plenty of times that he’s no coward. 

“I see,” Clark says, and the contrast between her sharp tone and his defeated words couldn’t be starker. “In that case, I’ll probably head back to bed. You’re welcome to stay over until your flight tomorrow.”

She forces out past the lump in her throat, “You’re leaving?”

Clark inhales a slow breath. “No, Lois. As far as I see it, you’re leaving, for Kansas, of all places,” he barks a short, humorless laugh. He meets her eyes. “But, let me remind you, you don’t have to. Nobody is forcing you to get on that plane.” He starts to get up. 

“Clark, wait.”

Clark freezes, half sitting, half standing, hovering awkwardly over the bar stool. 

Lois rakes a hand through her hair, frizzing at her temples and curling at the ends. “I – I came here because I couldn’t handle being alone. I thought I’d have an easier time convincing you to go Kansas than anywhere else. I haven’t slept in three days. I blew through all three of my emergency smoke packs. I know I look like a trainwreck.”

“Lois,” Clark says as he slowly gets to his feet, “I mean this with all respect for you as a woman and a reporter, but I’ve definitely seen you look worse.” He circles the counter, arms already outstretched. 

“You’re such an ass,” Lois mumbles as he envelopes her in a firm hug.

“It’s been said before,” Clark rumbles in her ear. “Mostly by Ma when I eat the last slice of pie and don’t tell her.”

Lois chuckles a watery laugh. “Apple pie from Annette’s?”

“Of course.” He pulls back, smoothes down her hair and eyes her seriously. “You’re welcome to stay here as long as you need. Or I can camp out at your place – you have a better view than I do.”

“Mm hm,” she hums as she wipes at her eyes. 

“I’m not going anywhere,” Clark promises as he wraps her in another hug. 

“That’s what I thought about him,” Lois says into his shirt. 

Clark freezes. 

“And I know it’s irrational. I know it’s crazy. I know it’s probably my PMS talking. But he – he’s never not shown up. I waited,” she hiccups, “I waited for an hour after everything died down, and he never showed. He’s always apologized before. He’s always found the time. And I keep wondering – did I push him too far? Is he,” her breath hitches, “is he finally tired of everything I put him through? It’s been five years of this shit.”

“No, no, never,” Clark swears, hugging her tighter. 

“I wouldn’t blame him.”

“I would.”

Lois snorts. She draws back, horrified at the snot she sprayed all over Clark’s shirt. “Oh my god, I’m so sorry.”

“It’s just a shirt,” Clark says quickly. “Don’t worry about it.”

“But –”

He cuts her off with a swift kiss to her forehead. “It’s fine. I don’t care.”

She stares up at him, a strange, foreign heat curling deep in her belly the longer he stays there, not moving, leaving their mouths inches apart. 

She surges up on her tiptoes and kisses him. 

It takes her only a fraction of a second to realize he isn’t kissing her back. In fact, it’s quite like kissing a statue, which Lois once did on a dare on a 7th grade field trip to the Art Museum of Star City. He’s warm, unlike the marble, but that’s really her only saving grace.

God, her face feels like it’s on fire. She skitters back, looking anywhere but at Clark. “Right, um,” she says, and, Jesus Christ, what should she do with her hands? She plasters them to her thighs. No, that’s awkward. She shoves them in her pockets instead. “Sorry, I don’t know what came over me,” she says, the words nearly tripping over themselves in her haste to get them out. “It’s late. I’m a mess. You’re… too nice.”

In her peripheral vision, Clark just blinks, slack-jawed, at her.

“I think I’ll actually head home. Might be better for – well, I’m sorry.”

Clark swallows. “You already said that.”

“Sorry,” Lois says automatically before she snaps her jaw shut with an audible click. “Shit, now I’m sounding like you.” She backs out of the kitchen, awkwardly ambling blindly through the doorway with her hands still shoved in her pockets. “You apologize too much,” she brilliantly comes up with next, and, god, she could hit herself since Clark has not apologized once while she’s acting like a runner-up in the apology Olympics. She’s making no fucking sense, and Clark is going to leave, and she’s going to lose the best friend she ever had, the one who has always been there for her when it counted, because she has such shit impulse control –

“I think you need to sleep,” Clark says gently. He pushes his glasses back into place; they got knocked askew when she jumped him.

“Yeah, that sounds good,” she agrees quickly. “Where’s my purse? I think I –”

“Stay,” Clark says as he nudges her in the direction of his bedroom. “It’s too late to head back to your place.”

“I don’t want to make you uncom –”

“I insist,” Clark says. “If you’re going to leave, you’re going to have to go through me first.”

She tries again, “But –”

“You’re exhausted,” Clark points out. “And short – even in heels. You’re not going to win this.”

Lois grimaces. “This is ridiculous.”

“Sure is,” Clark says amiably. “But then again, you wouldn’t be Lois Lane if you gave up at the first sign of resistance. That said, I’m afraid you’re going to lose this battle.”

“You're serious,” she says as she pulls her hands out of hear pockets to twist them anxiously together. “You really want me here? After... I... did that?” She swallows. “This isn't just your midwestern manners talking?”

“No,” Clark says simply.

She shakes her head. “You’re still an ass for calling me short. I’ll stay. But,” she points a finger in his face, “I’m finally taking the couch.”

“I can’t let you sleep on the couch,” Clark says, scandalized.

“Sure you can,” Lois says as she holds up her hand. “Rock paper scissors.”

“Just take the bed,” he sighs. “You always have in the past.”

“Unless you’re going to bodily haul me over your shoulder like a caveman,” she says shrewdly, “I’m sleeping on the couch.”

Clark loses rock paper scissors. As she makes up the couch with his help (she couldn’t win that one), he says without meeting her eyes, “I think you might be onto something with the secret identity thing.”

Lois’s fingers tighten around the cushion in her hands. “Seriously?”

Clark smiles, but there’s something off about it. He’s nervous, maybe scared? They’ve already turned off most of the lights, she’s practically seeing double with exhaustion, and he’s half-turned away from her. 

She can’t get a read on him at all.

“Give me a few days.” He swallows. “I might take you up on that trip to Kansas after all.”

Read the next Part V here!

Head back to Part I here!

[mariacallous]

These days, when Nicole Yelland receives a meeting request from someone she doesn’t already know, she conducts a multi-step background check before deciding whether to accept. Yelland, who works in public relations for a Detroit-based non-profit, says she’ll run the person’s information through Spokeo, a personal data aggregator that she pays a monthly subscription fee to use. If the contact claims to speak Spanish, Yelland says, she will casually test their ability to understand and translate trickier phrases. If something doesn’t quite seem right, she’ll ask the person to join a Microsoft Teams call—with their camera on.

If Yelland sounds paranoid, that’s because she is. In January, before she started her current non-profit role, Yelland says she got roped into an elaborate scam targeting job seekers. “Now, I do the whole verification rigamarole any time someone reaches out to me,” she tells WIRED.

Digital imposter scams aren’t new; messaging platforms, social media sites, and dating apps have long been rife with fakery. In a time when remote work and distributed teams have become commonplace, professional communications channels are no longer safe, either. The same artificial intelligence tools that tech companies promise will boost worker productivity are also making it easier for criminals and fraudsters to construct fake personas in seconds.

On LinkedIn, it can be hard to distinguish a slightly touched-up headshot of a real person from a too-polished, AI-generated facsimile. Deepfake videos are getting so good that longtime email scammers are pivoting to impersonating people on live video calls. According to the US Federal Trade Commission, reports of job and employment related scams nearly tripled from 2020 to 2024, and actual losses from those scams have increased from $90 million to $500 million.

Yelland says the scammers that approached her back in January were impersonating a real company, one with a legitimate product. The “hiring manager” she corresponded with over email also seemed legit, even sharing a slide deck outlining the responsibilities of the role they were advertising. But during the first video interview, Yelland says, the scammers refused to turn their cameras on during a Microsoft Teams meeting and made unusual requests for detailed personal information, including her driver’s license number. Realizing she’d been duped, Yelland slammed her laptop shut.

These kinds of schemes have become so widespread that AI startups have emerged promising to detect other AI-enabled deepfakes, including GetReal Labs, and Reality Defender. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman also runs an identity-verification startup called Tools for Humanity, which makes eye-scanning devices that capture a person’s biometric data, create a unique identifier for their identity, and store that information on the blockchain. The whole idea behind it is proving “personhood,” or that someone is a real human. (Lots of people working on blockchain technology say that blockchain is the solution for identity verification.)

But some corporate professionals are turning instead to old-fashioned social engineering techniques to verify every fishy-seeming interaction they have. Welcome to the Age of Paranoia, when someone might ask you to send them an email while you’re mid-conversation on the phone, slide into your Instagram DMs to ensure the LinkedIn message you sent was really from you, or request you text a selfie with a timestamp, proving you are who you claim to be. Some colleagues say they even share code words with each other, so they have a way to ensure they’re not being misled if an encounter feels off.

“What’s funny is, the low-fi approach works,” says Daniel Goldman, a blockchain software engineer and former startup founder. Goldman says he began changing his own behavior after he heard a prominent figure in the crypto world had been convincingly deepfaked on a video call. “It put the fear of god in me,” he says. Afterwards, he warned his family and friends that even if they hear what they believe is his voice or see him on a video call asking for something concrete—like money or an internet password—they should hang up and email him first before doing anything.

Ken Schumacher, founder of the recruitment verification service Ropes, says he’s worked with hiring managers who ask job candidates rapid-fire questions about the city where they claim to live on their resume, such as their favorite coffee shops and places to hang out. If the applicant is actually based in that geographic region, Schumacher says, they should be able to respond quickly with accurate details.

Another verification tactic some people use, Schumacher says, is what he calls the “phone camera trick.” If someone suspects the person they’re talking to over video chat is being deceitful, they can ask them to hold up their phone camera to their laptop. The idea is to verify whether the individual may be running deepfake technology on their computer, obscuring their true identity or surroundings. But it’s safe to say this approach can also be off-putting: Honest job candidates may be hesitant to show off the inside of their homes or offices, or worry a hiring manager is trying to learn details about their personal lives.

“Everyone is on edge and wary of each other now,” Schumacher says.

While turning yourself into a human captcha may be a fairly effective approach to operational security, even the most paranoid admit these checks create an atmosphere of distrust before two parties have even had the chance to really connect. They can also be a huge time suck. “I feel like something’s gotta give,” Yelland says. “I’m wasting so much time at work just trying to figure out if people are real.”

Jessica Eise, an assistant professor studying climate change and social behavior at Indiana University-Bloomington, says that her research team has been forced to essentially become digital forensics experts, due to the amount of fraudsters who respond to ads for paid virtual surveys. (Scammers aren’t as interested in the unpaid surveys, unsurprisingly.) If the research project is federally funded, all of the online participants have to be over the age of 18 and living in the US.

“My team would check time stamps for when participants answered emails, and if the timing was suspicious, we could guess they might be in a different time zone,” Eise says. “Then we’d look for other clues we came to recognize, like certain formats of email address or incoherent demographic data.”

Eise says the amount of time her team spent screening people was “exorbitant,” and that they’ve now shrunk the size of the cohort for each study and have turned to “snowball sampling” or having recruiting people they know personally to join their studies. The researchers are also handing out more physical flyers to solicit participants in person. “We care a lot about making sure that our data has integrity, that we’re studying who we say we’re trying to study,” she says. “I don’t think there’s an easy solution to this.”

Barring any widespread technical solution, a little common sense can go a long way in spotting bad actors. Yelland shared with me the slide deck that she received as part of the fake job pitch. At first glance, it seemed like legit pitch, but when she looked at it again, a few details stood out. The job promised to pay substantially more than the average salary for a similar role in her location, and offered unlimited vacation time, generous paid parental leave, and fully-covered health care benefits. In today’s job environment, that might have been the biggest tipoff of all that it was a scam.