Internet scams are on the rise, even those that are obvious to any sane person.

One of the many such scams is when someone claims to have a “problem” with their credit card and asks complete strangers for “temporary assistance” of a few hundred euros and a promise to “immediately return it.”

We don’t know how many people may be “offended” by such appeals, but the interest in the subsequent dialogue is not an attempt at fraud per se, all Internet users have received strange e-mails. What is impressive is the persistence of the scammer who appeared in my email as “TD”.

First, a few observations. The dialogue is in Greek, which seems to be layered, but there are many expressions that show that the conversation is taking place through Google Translate. For example. The name “reach out” is a rough translation of the word “reach out”, which also means “stretch out hands”, “help”. Or “Thank you for your concern”, that is, “thank you for your concern”, where care is translated as “concern”, but also “interest”.

What is interesting is that the one who answers gets around the intentional spelling mistakes of the author (even in English), which shows that, despite the mistakes, he understands what I said and answers. But on the other hand, he doesn’t seem to understand that I’m laughing at him.

TD

Sorry to bother you, do you order from Amazon?

I’m waiting for your answer!

Thank you

EVENINGS

Good morning,

Many years ago..

TD

Nice to hear from you. Actually, I need to get an Amazon E gift card for a friend who has liver cancer, it’s her birthday today. I tried to buy them myself, but my card refused. I contacted my bank and they said it would take a few days to sort it out and all the shops here are sold out. You can get them from Amazon and send them to her email address for delivery.Hm? I will refund your money as soon as my bank resolves the issue. I’m just trying to make her smile during these difficult times. Let me know to give you her email address and the required amount in them.

Thank you

EVENINGS

Yes, to send me…

TD

Thank you for your concern, the required amount is a £250 Amazon gift card.

Email: —

Name: Anita

Message: Happy Birthday with lots of love!

Leave the delivery date as it is now.

From:

Please let me know when you order it.

Thank you

Dosios

TD

I would like to know how soon you will do this for me

Thank you

EVENINGS

I did it!

TD

Can you send me his photo

Thank you

EVENINGS

What picture;

TD

Amazon card you order

EVENINGS

And where can I find it?

TD

I told you to send this to her email –

EVENINGS

Oh. I made a mistake in the email. What to do now;

TD

Call Amazon or check if it has already been delivered successfully

EVENINGS

Where should I call Amazon? in Britain;

TD

Here is the current email

—

Thank you

EVENINGS

Yes, but what if someone else took it? What are we doing now;

TD

Could you please do this to the correct email address, I will refund all the money as soon as I sort out the problems

Thank you

TD

let me know as soon as it is completed successfully

Thank you very much

EVENINGS

Do it. But what’s your girlfriend’s last name so I can write it down too so if I make a mistake I can easily correct it?

Without a last name, I’m unlikely to be able to claim my money back in the unlikely event that I type the wrong email address again. We must pay attention to these issues. Don’t you think;

TD

Blessings – just

EVENINGS

Blessings is an adjective?

TD

Anita Blessing is her name

Her email —

EVENINGS

I am doing it now

EVENINGS

I did this, but it gives me a non-existent account

TD

Have you successfully purchased the card?

EVENINGS

No. It gives me a non-existent account

TD

You filled in details like this £250 Amazon gift card.

Email: —

Name: Anita Blessing-Just

Message: Happy Birthday with lots of love!

Leave the delivery date as it is now.

From:

Please let me know when you order it.

Thank you

Loyal

Here is the link below https://www…

EVENINGS

I did but now it says the account is suspended

TD

You can get a physical card from any store near you.

EVENINGS

Which store?

TD

walmart

EVENINGS

There is no WalMart in Greece. Where are you from;

EVENINGS

You did not answer. What should I do, I’m worried about your girlfriend…

TD

You can just wait a few hours and try again in your Amazon account.

Thank you

The fraud was obvious from the very beginning. But the most interesting thing about this conversation was the persistence of the swindler, who, under normal circumstances, should have guessed that I was working for him. And the question is simple: did I talk to a person or some machine like ChatGTP?

The other big question is what will we do when (not if) AI algorithms start being used in this kind of scam…