alt Hacker NewsIntense. It's unfortunate so many are affected. Imagine "a senior uniformed figure like a general" messaging you and within a few days, asking for a $20k deposit. It feels like we've failed people as a whole to not light this kind of deception up like a torch. Perhaps it points to a deeper lack of connection within humanity as a whole.
What is enabling so many people to be like "oh, I got a random text from an unknown number, I guess I'll trust it and potentially marry this person and send my life savings to them"? That is a catastrophic failure and it must be commonplace enough to enable an entire industry to pursue it.
I think this is partly because past generations have too much of a baggage of high trust societies. We live in a new era where everything and anything is being wagered. Essentially, sharks have found a way to unlock the value.