Correct.

Someone dumb enough to scam, that’s the target.

It’s really interesting where that line is too. I’ve had people call me before terrified because of messages like this. They were juuuust smart enough to call the tech guy they know before sending money. One step dumber and they would’ve just sent it.

Here’s a story that really really hurts me to think about.

So, a mom brings me a laptop. Her son is sitting in the car with a blacked eye. She wanted me to to verify that what she was seeing on screen was legit before she called the police to have her son arrested. She literally beat the kid. She was crying, praying, it was insane.

So I turned the laptop on and the desktop was suddenly covered by an image like this one. It claimed to be an investigation conducted by EU authorities. It stated that illegal pornography had been downloaded and shared from the laptop. It claimed that the owner was going to be extradited to Europe for a trial and that the expenses needed to be covered in advance to avoid being arrested in America and put on trial in American courts first. It had a number to call to pay and unlock the laptop and begin the “legal process”.

I immediately calmed her down and told her it was fake, which sent her into another spiral about beating her teenage son. “You’ve got to understand. I thought he was hurting children. Oh my god he’ll never forgive me. Why didn’t I listen?”

What a mess.

Turns out he had downloaded what he thought was a pirated video game from a shady website. He tried to tell her that, but the message on screen convinced her and she lost her shit. She isn’t a stable woman any way.

Fuck those parasites.