Author Archives: bredemarket

Marketing and writing services.

GoFundMe? No, GoFund ME! Fraud Scams Targeting Fundraisers

On LinkedIn, the hashtag “#opentowork” isn’t the only magic phrase that attracts all sorts of people. I found this out Sunday morning when I reshared my September 26 “Graber Olives is in Foreclosure…But There’s a GoFundMe” post on Bredemarket’s Inland Empire LinkedIn page. 

You will recall that the post detailed Kelsey Graber’s fundraising efforts to keep the Graber Olive House from foreclosure. As of October 19 the GoFundMe fundraiser is still active at the https://www.gofundme.com/f/dont-let-ontario-lose-its-oldest-landmark URL.

Save Graber Olive House GoFundMe.

I should note this is Kelsey Graber’s GoFundMe. This is not my GoFundMe. 

Anyway, I reshared the post on LinkedIn…and got all sorts of reposts…with additional commentary. The commentary was not addressed to the GoFundMe fundraiser…but to me. (The resharers probably never read my original post; they just saw the word “GoFundMe” and jumped.) I’ve redacted the redirects to WhatsApp…a common fraud scam tactic.

The scammers’ what

Foone Berkeley:

“Hi, I came across your campaign, really impressive work. It reminded me of an independent group I’ve seen quietly helping project owners connect with private contributors who genuinely want to make a difference.

I’m not part of their team, but I’ve seen them support a few people in my circle. If you’re open to exploring new sources of backing, you can reach them directly here:

📞 WhatsApp: [REDACTED]

They usually prefer to speak one-on-one with campaign owners to understand their goals and see if there’s a good fit.

Wishing you continued success, your work truly deserves attention.”

Alex Mary:

“Hello 🌸 I just read your campaign, and it truly touched me. I know how tough fundraising can be, but there are genuine people out there who want to help. A trusted charity once helped me raise over $38,000 after I’d almost given up. If you’d like, you can message them on WhatsApp 👉 [REDACTED] they might be able to guide you too. 💙”

Olivia Williams:

“If you’re looking to grow your campaign donations fast, I truly recommend reaching out to Crowd. She’s an expert in GoFundMe promotions and helped me raise over $180,000 a few months ago! he knows exactly how to attract real donors and get results. You can contact her directly here [REDACTED]”

The scammers’ how

Let’s look at the red flags common to all three:

  • The person is touched by the fundraising effort, but doesn’t say anything specific about them. (And doesn’t acknowledge that this is someone else’s fundraiser, not mine.)
  • The person resharing is not the person who can provide help. It’s always someone else: an independent group, a trusted charity, or a woman (or man?) named Crowd.
  • The person wants to get you off LinkedIn as soon as possible. Private email, SMS, or an encrypted service like WhatsApp or Telegram.

The scammers’ goals

So why are these people so willing to recommend helpers who can assist desperate GoFundMe fundraisers? GoFundMe itself has addressed this:

“If someone you don’t know is reaching out to offer something that sounds too good to be true, we always recommend validating the individual before sharing any personal information. Donors and donor networks shouldn’t expect anything from you in return for their generosity.”

Two common tactics include:

  • Guarantee reaching your fundraising goal in exchange for a service fee or percentage of funds raised
  • Make a donation if you provide personal information such as email address, phone number, or banking information

There are other tactics, but the goal is the same. Instead of helping you raise money, the “helper” wants to get money from you.

Now there are legitimate companies that assist charities in their fundraising efforts…but they can be contacted via methods other than WhatsApp.

Today’s honeypot 

And now that I’ve written this warning, I’m going to conduct a little experiment.

I’m going to reshare THIS post on LinkedIn.

With quotes from the first and fourth paragraphs that include several mentions of the word “GoFundMe”…plus the additional honeypot word #opentowork. (I haven’t planted an opentowork honeypot in a while. Oh, and not that they’ll notice, but the words “fraud” and “scam” also appear.

Grok.

Let’s see what moths are attracted to the new flame.

And consider what YOU are doing to fight fraud.

Bredemarket specializes in helping anti-fraud firms market their products.

(Image sources: Gemini (still), GoFundMe, Grok (video). Only the GoFundMe is real.)

Remember Hygiene?

When I first worked with (then) MorphoTrak’s MorphoWave in the mid-2010s, speed and convenience were the selling points.

A few years later, hygiene was all the rage for (now) IDEMIA and other companies.

As COVID recedes (for now), speed and convenience take center stage again.

Grok.

Reminder to marketing leaders: if you need Bredemarket’s content-proposal-analysis help, book a meeting at https://bredemarket.com/mark/

A More Positive Update on the Apple Vision Pro

Earlier this year, I quoted sources that claimed that Apple “may have ceased production of its first-generation Vision Pro headset.”

But as is often true in the tech world, there is now a SECOND generation of the Vision Pro headset, featuring more power (via the M5 chip that Apple is introducing everywhere) and more comfort (via the new “Dual Knit Band”).

Source: Apple.

“M5 provides an even faster, smoother, and more responsive experience for Apple Vision Pro users, while introducing new opportunities for developers to create more advanced spatial and immersive experiences. Built using third-generation 3-nanometer technology, M5 on Vision Pro features an advanced 10-core CPU that delivers higher multithreaded performance, resulting in faster experiences throughout the system, including faster load times for apps and widgets and more responsive web browsing.”

Source: Apple.

“The Dual Knit Band delivers an even more comfortable fit for users. It features upper and lower straps that are 3D-knitted as a single piece to create a unique dual-rib structure that provides cushioning, breathability, and stretch. The lower strap features flexible fabric ribs embedded with tungsten inserts that provide a counterweight for additional comfort, balance, and stability. And the intuitive dual-function Fit Dial allows users to make fine-tuned adjustments to achieve their ideal fit. The new Dual Knit Band comes in small, medium, and large sizes; is available to purchase separately; and is compatible with the previous-generation Apple Vision Pro.”

For all the details of the new Apple Vision Pro, read the press release.

But it’s still pretty pricey, more niche than revolutionary event.

Oh, and “one more thing”…

I had to read the fine print in the press release, and this is what it says about Apple.

“Apple revolutionized personal technology with the introduction of the Macintosh in 1984. Today, Apple leads the world in innovation with iPhone, iPad, Mac, AirPods, Apple Watch, and Apple Vision Pro. Apple’s six software platforms — iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, visionOS, and tvOS — provide seamless experiences across all Apple devices and empower people with breakthrough services including the App Store, Apple Music, Apple Pay, iCloud, and Apple TV. Apple’s more than 150,000 employees are dedicated to making the best products on earth and to leaving the world better than we found it.”

All right and fine, but Apple (then Apple Computer) existed before 1984. And while the Macintosh changed everything, including the non-Apple computer that I’m typing on today, there never would have been a Macintosh if it hadn’t been for the Apple II. Remember the Apple II, Tim? Woz does.

And another thing

Reminder to marketing leaders: if you need Bredemarket’s content-proposal-analysis help, book a meeting at https://bredemarket.com/mark/

If You Can’t Develop a Product, Who Can?

Many people get ideas for products or services.

But if you have an idea for a software application, mobile app, or web solution and you don’t have the technical skills to create it yourself, how can you make your idea a reality?

One avenue is to engage with a product development firm that can perform all aspects of product development from concept to launch:

  • design
  • development
  • testing
  • launch
Google Gemini.

And if you engage with the right firm, you will receive expert handling of your development effort, an intuitive user-centered design for your solution, an agile and scalable product, and (most importantly) rapid time to market.

If you have product development needs, talk to Silicon Tech Solutions. Offering a complete suite of services (custom software development, digital transformation, product development, and IT outsourcing), Silicon Tech Solutions addresses multiple needs for small and mid-size businesses. With a team that has gained experience from employment at Amazon and Facebook and from multiple consulting projects, Silicon Tech Solutions is ready to help your firm.

Get more information from Silicon Tech Solutions by contacting them via Bredemarket at my Silicon Tech Solutions page.

Grok’s Not-so-deepfake Willie Nelson, Rapper

While the deepfake video generators that fraudsters use can be persuasive, the 6-second videos created by the free version of Grok haven’t reached that level of fakery. Yet.

In my experience, Grok is better at re-creating well-known people with more distinctive appearances. Good at Gene Simmons and Taylor Swift. Bad at Ace Frehley and Gerald Ford.

So I present…Willie Nelson. 

Grok.

Willie with two turntables and a microphone, and one of his buds watching.

  • If you thought “Stardust” was odd for him, listen to this. 
  • Once Grok created the video, I customized it to have Willie rap about bud. 
  • Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, it doesn’t sound like the real Willie.

And for the, um, record, Nelson appeared in Snoop’s “My Medicine” video.

As an added bonus, here’s Grok’s version of Cher, without audio customization. It doesn’t make me believe…

Grok.

Reminder to marketing leaders: if you need Bredemarket’s content-proposal-analysis help, book a meeting at https://bredemarket.com/mark/

Is the Quantum Security Threat Solved Before It Arrives? Probably Not.

I’ll confess: there is a cybersecurity threat so…um…threatening that I didn’t even want to think about it.

You know the drill. The bad people use technology to come up with some security threat, and then the good people use technology to thwart it.

That’s what happens with antivirus. That’s what happens with deepfakes.

But I kept on hearing rumblings about a threat that would make all this obsolete.

The quantum threat and the possible 2029 “Q Day”

Today’s Q word is “quantum.”

But with great power comes great irresponsibility. Gartner said it:

“By 2029, ‘advances in quantum computing will make conventional asymmetric cryptography unsafe to use,’ Gartner said in a study.”

Frankly, this frightened me. Think of the possibilities that come from calculation superpowers. Brute force generation of passcodes, passwords, fingerprints, faces, ID cards, or whatever is necessary to hack into a security system. A billion different combinations? No problem.

So much for your unbreakable security system.

Thales implementation of NIST FIPS 204

Unless Thales has started to solve the problem. This is what Thales said:

“The good news is that technology companies, governments and standards agencies are well aware of the deadline. They are working on defensive strategies to meet the challenge — inventing cryptographic algorithms that run not just on quantum computers but on today’s conventional components.

“This technology has a name: post-quantum cryptography.

“There have already been notable breakthroughs. In the last few days, Thales launched a quantum-resistant smartcard: MultiApp 5.2 Premium PQC. It is the first smartcard to be certified by ANSSI, France’s national cybersecurity agency.

“The product uses new generation cryptographic signatures to protect electronic ID cards, health cards, driving licences and more from attacks by quantum computers.”

So what’s so special about the technology in the MultiApp 5.2 Premium PQC?

Thales used the NIST “FIPS 204 standard to define a digital signature algorithm for a new quantum-resistant smartcard: MultiApp 5.2 Premium PQC.”

Google Gemini.

The NIST FIPS 204 standard, “Module-Lattice-Based Digital Signature Standard,” can be found here. This is the abstract:

“Digital signatures are used to detect unauthorized modifications to data and to authenticate the identity of the signatory. In addition, the recipient of signed data can use a digital signature as evidence in demonstrating to a third party that the signature was, in fact, generated by the claimed signatory. This is known as non-repudiation since the signatory cannot easily repudiate the signature at a later time. This standard specifies ML-DSA, a set of algorithms that can be used to generate and verify digital signatures. ML-DSA is believed to be secure, even against adversaries in possession of a large-scale quantum computer.”

ML-DSA stands for “Module-Lattice-Based Digital Signature Algorithm.”

Google Gemini.

Now I’ll admit I don’t know a lattice from a vertical fence post, especially when it comes to quantum computing, so I’ll have to take NIST’s word for it that modules and lattice are super-good security.

Certification, schmertification

The Thales technology was then tested by researchers to determine its Evaluation Assurance Level (EAL). The result? “Thales’ product won EAL6+ certification (the highest is EAL7).” (TechTarget explains the 7 evaluation assurance levels here.)

France’s national cybersecurity agency (ANSSI) then certified it.

However…

…remember that certifications mean squat.

For all we know, the fraudsters have already broken the protections in the FIPS 204 standard.

Google Gemini.

And the merry-go-round between fraudsters and fraud fighters continues.

If you need help spreading the word about YOUR anti-fraud solution, quantum or otherwise, schedule a free meeting with Bredemarket.

Multi-accounting: Not For Bean Counters

I just ran across a phrase I had never seen before: “multi-accounting.” But it has nothing to do with “cooking the books.”

Incognia used the phrase in its report “The State of Fraud in the Gig Economy” (available here), and the term refers to people fraudulently creating multiple accounts to evade bans. If Henry Kissinger is banned from creating an account at the Ho Chi Minh website, perhaps “Kenry Hissinger” will sign up for an account.

“One clear pattern emerges: multi-accounting and ban evasion are a key part of the engine behind many of these concerns. Abuse at scale—whether it’s stacking promos, exploiting refunds, or coordinating scams—typically depends on the ability to create and recycle accounts without getting caught. And collusion and cancellation abuse can rely on the same cycle.“

Incognia recommends that gig economy firms examine their upstream processes to “close the gaps that enable account recycling.”

However, some device ID, tamper detection, and location intelligence anti-fraud tools are flawed and easily circumvented.

I’m sure Incognia would be more than happy to help you find an anti-fraud solution. Its solution for ride-sharing firms is described here.