[continued from previous message]

for telephone calls. The other was to be used for WhatsApp conversations.
The inclusion of WhatsApp is interesting. Subsequent to Gloria's death, I reassigned the number on Gloria's phone and found that WhatsApp continued to receive messages from original groups set up prior to Gloria's death and
using her original phone number, but also received messages to the same
groups from the same people when the new number was used. WhatsApp has some intriguing addressing going on.

In addition we did some searching on the phone numbers provided. One
number seems to have been registered in the Cayman Islands. And, of
course, we all know how much fraud there is associated with the Cayman
Islands. The other number popped up some rather interesting results, indicating a connection to Russian criminals. In any case, the fraudster
was pretty clearly identified as such by the use of these numbers. In addition, the fraudster's story of both his own position in relation to personnel associated with the death, and the conspiracy that was supposedly associated with the death, are fairly clearly, and demonstrably, untrue. However, they are not completely improbable and, for someone who was not a professional paranoid, no one would think to check that these situations
were questionable.

I do not know how the fraudster obtained information about the family. I do have some suspicions, given some of the mistakes that the fraudster made in identifying the family. The fraudster initially contacted someone in a
place where the family had been, but no longer resided. When the fraudster then contacted the family directly, the fraudster did claim to be local to
the area. (This seems to be an attempt to appear trustworthy due to proximity.) Although not too terribly local. No really detailed
information was provided. In any case the phone numbers provided definitely did not match the supposed location of the fraudster.

I do not know how much information above the actual death the fraudster had, although I'm sure that information was not difficult to come by. (Probably
a basic newspaper obituary would provide most details.) However, I am reasonably certain that the family did, unwittingly, provide information to
the fraudster on specific details of the death, and their unhappiness with
the investigation. The fraudster of course, used this further information
to refine their social engineering approach to the family. (I hope that I wouldn't be gullible enough to betray information to a fraudster, but, being
a bereaved widower and therefore having questionable judgment in any case,
as well as being sleep deprived, and therefore having my judgment denigrated even further. It is likely that I might provide such information. It
certainly would not be beyond the bounds of possibility.)

As I said, I was involved only peripherally. Hopefully I provided some
advice in the situation, and hopefully helped the family to come to a
decision. In the end, the decision seems to have been to turn to the
police, and not engage the fraudster anymore. I believe this to be the
correct decision. But I understand the difficulty in coming to that
decision.

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 19 May 2022 13:30:22 -0700
From: Lauren Weinstein <lauren@vortex.com>
Subject: ACM makes back archives available for free

ACM (Association for Computing Machinery) makes their archive from
1951 to 2000 available for free

Very cool to see this big chunk of the ACM archive no longer being
paywalled. It seems quite comprehensive -- I've already located a number of CACM articles I authored or coauthored during this period, including both serious ones and from my series of April Fool's Day CACM columns. Long time since I've seen those in their original form!

ACM announcement:

https://associationsnow.com/2022/05/the-way-things-were-why-open-access-to-the-acm-digital-library-matters/

ACM library search:

https://dl.acm.org/

Bonus: Ken and Dennis discuss UNIX (1973):

https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/800009.808045

[Also the first 10 years of *Inside Risks* -- 126 monthly articles,
many of which are now old-hat, but some of which represent RISKS issues
that are still problematic. PGN]

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 26 May 2022 14:41:18 -0400
From: Gabe Goldberg <gabe@gabegold.com>
Subject: Cybercriminals target metaverse investors with phishing scams
(CNBC)

The metaverse, the new digital frontier where users can attend virtual
concerts or purchase digital assets like land, has been hit with fraud.

Cybercriminals use phishing links that imitate the legitimate metaverse platforms to drain investors' digital wallets of assets.

While metaverse platforms are increasing their security measures and
educating consumers about fraud prevention, they say they're not responsible for refunding money to phishing scam victims.

A nurse in rural Maine. A fitness instructor in Colorado. A venture
capitalist in Florida. All three invested in the metaverse, buying land they say they thought was a solid investment.

"I was really excited about it," said Kasha Desrosiers, a long-term care
nurse. "And hopeful for, you know, whatever projects that would come out of it."

But in just days or months, all their virtual land was gone. And each of
them says that there was simply no way to get it back.

Investors across the country told CNBC that hackers stole their land in the metaverse by tricking them into clicking on links they believed were genuine portals to the virtual universe, but which turned out to be phishing sites designed to steal user credentials. What they wanted was a piece of the metaverse — a new, blockchain-based virtual set of platforms that has recently come to prominence because of significant involvement from celebrities, fashion shows and investors.

Instead, they say they got a lesson in the dangers of high-risk investing.

https://www.cnbc.com/2022/05/26/cybercriminals-target-metaverse-investors-with-phishing-scams.html

I think they mean, "investing".

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 20 May 2022 13:19:52 -0400
From: Gabe Goldberg <gabe@gabegold.com>
Subject: 'Elon Musk's Crash Course' shows the tragic cost of his leadership
(NPR)

Just as his effort to buy Twitter has led the world to focus on Elon Musk's management style and business strategies, FX and The New York Times have stepped up with a documentary taking a close look at how Musk responded to crashes involving the Autopilot function in cars from his company, Tesla.

For those watching Musk's fitful attempt to buy Twitter, the film also
serves as a pointed comparison; showing how his penchant for bold moves and provocative statements can lead fans to see what they want in his words – regardless of whether what he says is actually possible.

As part of FX's The New York Times Presents documentary series, Elon Musk's Crash Course suggests that Musk oversold the cars' self-driving
capabilities, leading to public confusion over what it could actually
do. And when federal authorities began an investigation into a fatal crash involving the technology, the program says Musk pressured officials to curb
the investigation.

https://www.npr.org/2022/05/20/1100022168/elon-musks-crash-course-new-york-times-fx-hulu-twitter-tesla-self-driving-cars

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 20 May 2022 10:43:42 +0800
From: Richard Stein <rmstein@ieee.org>
Subject: Re: ACM, Ethics, and Corporate Behavior (RISKS-33.20)

Via private communication, Prof. Moshe Vardi notified me about his essay: "Artificial Intelligence: Ethics Versus Public Policy" (01APR2022) https://sinews.siam.org/Details-Page/artificial-intelligence-ethics-versus-public-policy,

Prof. Vardi argues that legislation and regulation, aka public policy, is an appropriate measure to deter deployment of exploitative AI applications endangering public health, safety and privacy interests.

Ethical restraints have failed to slow AI product introductions that
jeopardize public interests. Ethics, it appears, no longer concern professionals from contributing their skills and energies to create and
deploy hazardous AI products and services. As aphorisms that once guided responsible professional action, ethics are diminished by corporate
governance directives that demand organizational behavior compliance.

A brand outrage incident can arise from corporate employee ethics
breach. These occurrences are often excused under the "better to ask forgiveness than to get permission" expedient when profit flows from their outcome. No matter the merit and justification, ethical protests by brave technology professionals seldom prevent for-profit deployment of product
that jeopardizes public wellbeing.

Regulations, historically, are cautiously introduced to improve public
safety outcomes. Vehicle head and taillights, mirrors, seat belts, air bags, turn signals, and horns exemplify the benefits of regulation that strengthen public safety and health interests without detriment to corporations or products.

Enacting and enforcing regulations that penalize rapacious AI deployments
will establish corporate accountability for their public health, safety, and privacy consequences. Reminding CxOs and boards of directors that
exploitation of public data entitled by commercial impunity claimed with product indemnification and terms of service exposes their governance
decisions to personal legal jeopardy.

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 1 Aug 2020 11:11:11 -0800
From: RISKS-request@csl.sri.com
Subject: Abridged info on RISKS (comp.risks)

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End of RISKS-FORUM Digest 33.23
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