Every few weeks we hear about another hack and theft of our personal data in the news. It was reported in the news a few days ago that an astonishing 2.7 billion people were exposed in the latest hack, this time Social Security numbers were stolen. Based on the frequency of these hacks it seems like no one is able to keep our data safe. Unfortunately, this situation will only become more volatile with the advent of AI and quantum computing. I, personally, get about two or three spam calls a day.
Often the biggest target of these hacks and scams are the most vulnerable among us like the poor and the elderly. Thankfully there are teams of white-hat hackers who’re fighting back against the scores of scammers throughout the world looking to profit off the misfortune of others.
The YouTube channel Scammer Payback does a great job of taking their viewers right into the heat of this battle between good and evil.
It seems like this is like a continuous game of whack a mole. When one operation is shut down a new one pops up or they reopen under another name and in a different location. Some of these scammers are even protected from prosecution by their local governments because they provide kickbacks to crooked local politicians.
These videos are a great window into a huge war that’s being fought every day. Karma is real though sometimes the results are immediate and sometimes it takes a while. It's so satisfying to see some of these hackers and scammers brought to justice in real-time. This Scammer Payback channel is also an education in protecting yourself from these unscrupulous scammers.
There’s Nothing New Under the Sun
Most of us have heard some version of this quote from writer and philosopher George Santayana, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”
I’ve been doing an extraordinary amount of reading this summer and one of the books I’m devouring is The Lessons of History. One thing I’ve learned is there’s truly nothing new under the sun.
Even though it feels like we’re in uniquely strange and volatile times, we’re really not. Humans of the past, for the most part, behaved just like us. Civilizations have gone through countless divisive periods throughout the course of history and really the only thing different in our modern world is our technology. This was oddly comforting and allowed me to breathe just a little easier. This is a very short read, about a hundred pages, and I can’t recommend this book enough if you want to ground yourself a little more in this crazy world of ours. Knowledge is definitely power.
All for now.
Be well and make the most of this day. Thank you for reading!
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