Just kidding…
I thought I would take some time to go over some of the scams (either loosely or tightly) related to AI that have begun to surface. In the dawn of this new and exciting age, scams will likely continue to be on the rise in new forms.
I’ll go over some of the different scams I’ve spotted across the web. If you’ve got any more to share, drop a comment below!
👆Upwork Scamming
🤖AI Proposals
In some cases, the lack of authenticity in the proposal may be especially [random adjective] when they use the AI equivalent of lorem ipsum in the text:
Bonus points if you also used an open-source image generation tool that contains all of the image generator prompts in the file name to make your attachments seem legit.
In another case, I was helping a client hire some UI help on Upwork to assist us with some design work. I usually have a pretty good knack for spotting good proposals, but this week really threw me for a loop.
The first sign to look for is checking the responses to questions that you post in the proposal. If they don’t respond to the answers well or use ChatGPT to generate responses, that’s a red flag to look for:
🔪Account Hijacking?
If the account is having issues, you won’t be able to see the profile of the contractor.
You can also spot potential issues if the account has been flagged if the contractor withdraws their proposal.
Lastly, when they come to the meeting, if their appearance doesn’t match the proposal, then you can be sure they are either a fake account, or the account has been compromised and they are fishing to pawn off a cheap project for a large amount:
Our conversation basically entailed an output that was NOT in spec with the proposal at all (I needed a simple automation setup using make.com or another glue tool, and they had obviously not read my proposal and were trying to sell an full-blown Application stack 😅
📺YouTube Scamming
While going over my home feed, a live stream with Elon Musk from OpenAI was airing! Curious to see what it was, I opened the video to find a QR in the corner that lead to a link that will allegedly change my life within minutes, according to a “screenshot” from Elon Musk overlaid on the video stream:
Let’s dig in, shall we?
- Compromised or fake YouTube account? ✅
- A single live stream with a relatively large amount of viewers? ✅
- Does QR Code lead to “Tesla bonus dot live” (really)? ✅
I’ve reported 3 of these to YouTube, and they’ve been taken down within roughly 45 minutes. Stay sharp y’all!
🔍tl;dr
- When hiring help on platforms like Upwork, it’s crucial to keep an eye out for red flags.
- Examine the responses to your proposal questions; if they seem off or AI-generated, be cautious.
- Watch for account hijacking signs, such as inaccessible profiles or withdrawn proposals.
- During meetings, ensure the contractor’s appearance matches their proposal.
- Watch out for fake live streams on YouTube. Check the authenticity of the channel for signs of account hijacking/bot views.
By staying vigilant, you can avoid falling prey to scammers seeking to profit from your hard-earned cash. 😎💼💡
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