News for hackers. Stuff that matters.

A comment on AI fuels more than half of cybercrime in Africa as scams surge – Interpol. Parent comment

Re:AI fuels more than half of cybercrime in Africa as scams ... by normie3000 on Wednesday August 05, 2026 @01:17AM (#49178830)
Great if that works for you.

Asking for money is common over voice or whatsapp in some countries for things like medical care, funerals, weddings, police "fines", school fees etc.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:AI fuels more than half of cybercrime in Africa as scams ... by BLKNSLVR on Wednesday August 05, 2026 @01:39AM (#49178966)
Yeah, fair point, it's pretty well outside normal for me (there's a world outside of my lived experience? Nah!)
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:AI fuels more than half of cybercrime in Africa as scams ... by seanmcdirmid on Wednesday August 05, 2026 @02:53AM (#49179431)
The scams have to be culturally relevant to be effective, which is why they set out wide bets looking to see what sticks with a fairly small target audience.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:AI fuels more than half of cybercrime in Africa as scams ... by otikik on Wednesday August 05, 2026 @04:19AM (#49179995)
Wow. Well those people are going to be scammed. A LOT
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:AI fuels more than half of cybercrime in Africa as scams ... by normie3000 on Thursday August 06, 2026 @12:53PM (#49199236)
Yeah they do. Now add mobile money to the equation.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:AI fuels more than half of cybercrime in Africa as scams ... by close04 on Wednesday August 05, 2026 @05:15AM (#49180406)
An addendum is don't give money when you're called by a "legitimate contact", call them back first. The scammer is remote so they can pretend to be the "legitimate contact" but not so easy to block the real legitimate contact from being contacted for validation.
[ Parent | on HN ]