Seraph Secure: anti-scam software co-founded by Kitboga
seraphsecure.com
seraphsecure.com
The $2 / mo pricing is beyond reasonable if you're trying to protect your grandparents or non-tech savvy parents from getting scammed.
Honestly doesn't feel like much more than a celebrity endorsement.
Did he literally write every last line of code? Yeah I don't know but that sounds unlikely. Is it probably the case that he has some sort of financial stake in launching this, given his position and reputation? Yeah I think so. It doesn't seem remotely plausible that somebody hit him up like a week ago and offered him so much money that he'd be willing to risk the good thing he's already got going by shilling for some product he knows nothing about and has no control over. He is probably reasonably sure that he can influence the direction of the product of he is willing to place some of his own reputation on the line as it appears is happening.
If nothing else, they sure do know the VC space: Using AI powered technology, fake virus pop-ups are identified and a warning message will be displayed. https://archive.is/5uG3f
I'll be interested to look at it when the macOS and iOS versions ship.
Perhaps there should be some warning that is required before a gift card purchase that warns the purchaser of scams. I know some stores are doing this now when they see someone buying a bunch of gift cards, and sometimes preventing victimization. But perhaps legislation is needed here due to the scale of loss. I am not in favor of a nanny state, but sometimes people need to be told things.
Why? Because often the scammer already has remote access to their computer and has threatened to lock it permanently, or take over their bank account, or whatever else. Maybe they’ve already used the infamous Inspect Element to ‘zero’ their bank account. Scam or not, the victim believes that they’ve already lost.
You would need a cashier to have, essentially, Kitboga-level knowledge of current scams so they could accurately explain why the victim shouldn’t buy the cards, explain that their bank account is actually safe, and also ideally provide instructions on how to the scammer off their computer. That probably goes beyond the scope of most cashiers.
All the ones I get are things like fake package deliveries or nonexistent tax debts, which I don't see this as protecting against.
Thinking about it, though, I wonder if there would be a market for a more premium service where all calls/texts from unknown numbers are routed through a call centre in the Philippines and the spam/scams are filtered out.
Ultra common. My mother in law fell for one: only 350 EUR but still...
I confiscated her Windows laptop and had her buy a Chromebook.
Most private Windows installations are security nightmare where a single click on "Yes" installs malware with admin rights: some things just never change and that's why so many people get scammed.
A Chromebook with the DNS set to 1.1.1.3 [1] goes a long way to protecting grandma...
[1] 1.1.1.3 is CloudFlare's anti-malware+anti-porn DNS: I know, I know, it's CloudFlare and some here don't like them... But I actually like CloudFlare, especially their stock I bought @ 48 USD so now I root for them!
It's hardly that much more effort to type sudo and enter a password, the problem is and has always been the users. By that I mean the vast majority of Windows users haven't got a clue what they are doing.
Linux is more secure not due necessarily to any active interest in security. If anything, we are vastly more skeptical of the security industry than the average windows admin in a traditional company. The design of the operating system really has very little to do with practical security these days, it's all down to the users.
It's also the case that a lot of non-malware on Windows behaves like malware. Microsoft supports and enables in various ways what are essentially backdoors for vendors to install rootkit esque junk in enterprise managed computers.
Linux kernel devs aren't going to be nearly as receptive to do such a thing because of the obvious problem of attack surface enlargement. Microsoft is not concerned at all about the actual security of their computers, they are concerned with looking like they care about security to their business partners that have a massive financial interest involved in ensuring that their biggest cash cow platform and set of users cannot ever stop paying protection money. And they'll make sure to feed your data to their AI models behind your back while they are at it.
The security industry is the only industry I'm aware of that can have worse and worse results year over year yet continually maintain a positive reputation and receive more and more investment and funding without any demands ever being placed on them to deliver measurable, permanent security improvements. The whole thing, from top to bottom, is itself a kind of scam.
> The domain is “young” • Has a low reputation • Has unsecured connections • The user has mistyped a common website URL
Don't hang up! "Just hangup" is a government conspiracy to increase scammers effectiveness.
I've found the strategy of just responding "yes" to every question to be a good balance between time wasted and expended cognitive effort. Obviously, you'll want to be careful to not engage in any contract, but when they're calling to reduce the interest rate on my visa/mastercard or amex debit card (uhhhhhh), it works.
An old example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfOQsOOyRmw&pp=ygUNc2NhbSBjY...
Also works for emails: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gq1uiinNM_Y
You'll end up on a blacklist (as a timewaster!). But a good one to be on.