Pig Butchering scams typically would rely on an app for the the “investing” portion of the scam. They use apps that are in the google play store, because that comes with a belief of some level of (completely false) security and legitimacy for people that don’t know better which makes people more likely to believe it is a real investing app and not a trap.
doleo@lemmy.one [bot] 18 hours ago
“Scammers rely on manufactured urgency, so this breaks their spell and gives you time to think.” - Are these scams actually a real thing? I’ve never heard of such a thing happening, but I’m not well connected to things like people and their experiences.
it strikes me as another manufactured concern, to justify their malignent ambitions
Crozekiel@lemmy.zip 16 hours ago
jello@programming.dev 18 hours ago
It definitely is a thing, especially for the elderly. I’m not sure what percentage of scams are done that way, but it’s much easier to scam someone if they don’t have a chance to think much about what’s happening.
That being said, most of the scams I know of that do this don’t ask you to install an app on your phone. They just ask personal questions or for login details or something like that
doleo@lemmy.one [bot] 17 hours ago
ok, so what has blocking ‘unverified’ developers got to do with protecting people from scams, then? To be clear, I’m not asking if scams exist, I’m asking if scams that ask people to install dodgy apps exist. I’m extremely sceptical about this part!
gnuthing@lemmygrad.ml 17 hours ago
On PC they’ll have the user install TeamViewer. I’m assuming there’s some scammers that might do this for phone
Crozekiel@lemmy.zip 16 hours ago
Even if they did, TeamViewer isn’t a sketchy app only distributed through back-alley websites…