Page 49 - Computeractive - January 2, 2018 UK

in
inAaYa:Waf

Wha t ’s All t he Fuss Abou t ...
R e :sc a m Get your own b ack on
scammers f or wasting y our
time… by wasting t heirs instead
What is it?
It’s an artificially i ntelligent chatbot
that has b een s et up by New Zealand
security firm N etsafe ( www.netsafe.
org.nz) t o r eply t o s cam emails
automatically .
What’s the p oint of that?
The idea i s t hat t he chatbot’s r eplies
look like t hey’re coming from an
actual flesh-and-blood person –
complete with typing mistakes, l ame
jokes a nd so on – s tringing t he
scammers a long b y f ooling them
into thinking you’re falling f or their
con t rick. By wasting t heir time with
a s eries of back-and-forth emails that convincing, Re:scam will sometimes set
never g o a nywhere, the t heory is that the your email a side for a p eriod o f t ime
scammers h ave l ess t ime t o s pend on before replying.
scamming a ctual p eople. Plus, y ou’ll g et a Y o u c an read some b rilliantly f unny
a s atisfying sense of turning the t ables on example c onversations by clicking ‘Can
the b ad guys. you s how m e?’ at www.rescam.org.

How d oes i t w ork? Is it safe?
When you n ext r eceive a s uspicious email Y e s. We always a dvise n ever to reply t o
promising you a m iraculous a nd scam emails but, t echnically speaking, screenshot below l eft), which N etsafe
unexpected i nheritance or an unmissable you’re not the o ne replying – t he Re:scam estimates w ould equate to wasting
overseas investment opportunity (or chatbot i s. Y o ur personal email i s n ever around four and a h alf y ears’ w orth of
similar), forward i t t o me@rescam.org used to contact t he scammers – a ll scammers’ time. N etsafe a lso b elieves t hat
before dropping i t i nto y our j unk f older. communication is done v ia a p roxy by communicating with scammers, it can
The email w ill be analysed and, if it’s account. W hen y ou view t he email learn more about their a ctivities,
found t o b e a phishing scam, y ou’ll conversation online, you m ay see y our locations and m ethods.
receive a c onfirmation email, along w ith name, e mail address a nd your own
an invitation to view t he hilarious comments in the m essage thread, b ut all Can i t b e u sed t o c heck
conversation between t he chatbot a nd of this information is stripped from the whether an email is fake?
the s cammer. emails before Re:scam contacts the Re:scam doesn’t r ecommend t his,
Re:scam’s chatbot w ill then assume scammer. Y ou might s till see i t, but the admitting t hat i ts own s ystems a ren’t 1 00
one o f i ts human p ersonalities and b egin scammer can’t. per c ent f oolproof. I f y ou’re e ver i n a ny
communicating with the s cammer, u nder doubt a s t o w hether a n e mail you r eceive
the g uise o f s omeone that’s been d uped How e ffective is it? from your bank or any o ther service
by the p hishing e mail. I n o rder to seem Re:scam is never g oing to bring an end t o you’re registered w ith i s l egitimate, it’s
phishing scams, best to contact t he relevant company
but that’s not the directly .
intention. I t’s a ll
about sending t he Can I u nsubscribe?
scammers o n a Y o u d on’t need to sign up to use R e:scam,
wild goose c hase but if you f orward a s cam to the s ervice,
and d isrupting you w ill continue to receive e mails from
their o perations. it, u nless you o pt out. Th is is done b y
So far, Re:Scam’s clicking the U nsubscribe l ink a t t he
chatbots have sent bottom of the e mail. E ven a fter you’ve
almost half a unsubscribed, y ou can continue
million emails to forwarding p hishing e mails to the
scammers ( see service.

49