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Idea

A Tik-Tok debt extortion gang

Image credit: Edinburghlive

Darko Savic

Darko Savic Sep 12, 2022

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A Robin Hood-like gang that posts Tik-Tok videos of themselves going after scammers whom the law can't prosecute.
Why?
Occasionally, I hear about scammers who don't mind scamming people under their real identities. Apparently, the law can't do anything about them. At the same time, I see various local gang members posting threats to each other on TikTok. So why not combine the two and do a good deed in the process? 
How it works
Based on the first-hand accounts from friends and acquaintances, some scammers take advantage of people with no regards for the consequences. The law lets them go with a "not enough evidence" explanation.
People on TikTok want attention so much so that some are willing to risk being prosecuted or hurt by rivals. I see local gang members publicly threaten each other. Nothing seems to happen to them (yet) either.
What if a gang specialized in going after scammers and getting the money returned to its rightful owners? I bet millions of people would watch/follow this on TikTok.

tik-tok viral marketing scamming videography

2

Creative contributions

Leave vigilantism to Batman

Miloš Stanković

Miloš Stanković Sep 19, 2022

Vigilantism isn't even allowed in superhero movies and for a reason. There is a severe risk in people taking justice into their own hands. Especially gang members. 
For instance, they won't have the burden of proof nor are they educated to find them. Their aggression can be misplaced by a manipulator who would use them to punish his own enemy. Not an actual scammer. If people can scam someone, they can also be fake scammed by someone. 
And make no mistake, there would have to be violence. There is no gang without it. 
Yes scamming someone is bad and unjustifiable, but it's also an injustice to have someone go to a cosy prison (Scandinavian countries' MO) for a murder, while the scammers would probably get beaten to near death by the gang members. As bad as scamming innocents is - it's not as bad as murder. So this would be effective but immoral on this level of consequences. It would also set a terrible precedent for people taking justice into their own hands for all matters they are disatisfied. 
I wouldn't expect gang members to reserve their actions to scamming only, once they've felt the power. It would be legalizing or decriminalizing racqueteering through the backdoor.  
I think the police lets the gang members threaten each other in hopes that they'll escalate reduce each other's numbers. Making their jobs easier. 
Better to use the TikTok clout into shaming the police into catching the scammers. Something like this but more aggressive and on a larger scale. 

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Parent proof your parents' digital purchases and online communications

Miloš Stanković

Miloš Stanković Sep 19, 2022

I think the backstory to this problem is that people who are not digitally literate are susceptible to scams. So basically baby boomers are in ways forced to be digital as everything around them is and they haven't developed the eye for these scams. 
So a more civil solution is to have a service - similar or in addition to the good faith stalkers ideas I had - that would provide a second line of defence for people's parents. Parent-proofing digital devices of sorts.
Have a company that would have online scam protection agents (in-house for security and liability reasons) that the parent would advise when looking to make a purchase on the internet. They would send the link of a website they intend to buy on or the screenshot of the message they've received from a potential scammer and the expert would tell them whether the transaction is legit or not. 
They could also educate the parents on what not to do. Once the kids were getting illustrated pamflets about not doing drugs, now the parents can get instructions on what they shouldn't do online: give people their passwords, CVV codes by phone, get fooled by false logos, profiles, URLs... What else? 
How else could one baby-boomer-proof internet security?

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General comments

Shubhankar Kulkarni

Shubhankar Kulkarni2 years ago

Could the extortion gang face legal charges for this?

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Darko Savic

Darko Savic2 years ago

Shubhankar Kulkarni they don't seem to care when going after each other publicly. It's a small shift from what they already do

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