I’m not sure if this preferences of mine holds for most people, but I think I’d be easier to threaten with real photos than with fake ones. There’s an element of guilt and shame in having taken and sent real photos to a stranger. I don’t think scammers would invest in generating fake pictures for a potential victim who may well just block after the first message. I think the deepfake-first strategy would be both less profitable and less enjoyable for these sick fucks than the “trick into sexting” strategy. Now if the victim selection / face acquisition / deepfake generation / victim first contact pipeline were to be automated, I can see things changing.
I agree with this. Its something about the guilt that makes this work. Also the sense that you went into it yourself somehow reshapes the perception.
I think the loan shark business model maybe follows the same logic. [If you are going to eventually get into a situation where the victim pays or else suffers violence, then why doesn’t the perpetrator just skip the costly loan step at the beginning and go in threat first? I assume that the existence of loan sharks (rather than just blackmailers) proves something about how if people feel like they made a bad choice or engaged willingly at some point they are more susceptible. Or maybe its frog boiling.]
I agree fake pictures are harder to threaten with. But consider that the deepfake method makes everyone a potential target, rather than only targeting the population who would fall for the relationship side of the scam.
There are other reasons I think it would be grimly effective, but I am not about to spell it out for team evil.
With the rise of deepfakes, the scammers can skip steps 1-3, and also more easily target girls.
I’m not sure if this preferences of mine holds for most people, but I think I’d be easier to threaten with real photos than with fake ones. There’s an element of guilt and shame in having taken and sent real photos to a stranger. I don’t think scammers would invest in generating fake pictures for a potential victim who may well just block after the first message. I think the deepfake-first strategy would be both less profitable and less enjoyable for these sick fucks than the “trick into sexting” strategy. Now if the victim selection / face acquisition / deepfake generation / victim first contact pipeline were to be automated, I can see things changing.
I agree with this. Its something about the guilt that makes this work. Also the sense that you went into it yourself somehow reshapes the perception.
I think the loan shark business model maybe follows the same logic. [If you are going to eventually get into a situation where the victim pays or else suffers violence, then why doesn’t the perpetrator just skip the costly loan step at the beginning and go in threat first? I assume that the existence of loan sharks (rather than just blackmailers) proves something about how if people feel like they made a bad choice or engaged willingly at some point they are more susceptible. Or maybe its frog boiling.]
I agree fake pictures are harder to threaten with. But consider that the deepfake method makes everyone a potential target, rather than only targeting the population who would fall for the relationship side of the scam.
There are other reasons I think it would be grimly effective, but I am not about to spell it out for team evil.