A med student says he’s made thousands of dollars selling photos and videos of a young conservative woman he created using generative tools. He’s not alone.
The individuals exploited by this attack had already been influenced by prior messaging that relied on fear, misinformation, and manipulative tactics. This made them more vulnerable to being targeted again by unrelated scammers who look for the same types of susceptible individuals.
In this situation, the people affected are not directly attempting to deceive anyone themselves — they are victims of two separate schemes that both exploit the same vulnerabilities.
I don’t feel sympathy for them, because the hostility and resentment they embraced played a major role in making them vulnerable to this situation. Their own engagement with harmful narratives set the stage for how they ended up being exploited.
Yes that was a typo thank you.
The individuals exploited by this attack had already been influenced by prior messaging that relied on fear, misinformation, and manipulative tactics. This made them more vulnerable to being targeted again by unrelated scammers who look for the same types of susceptible individuals.
In this situation, the people affected are not directly attempting to deceive anyone themselves — they are victims of two separate schemes that both exploit the same vulnerabilities.
I don’t feel sympathy for them, because the hostility and resentment they embraced played a major role in making them vulnerable to this situation. Their own engagement with harmful narratives set the stage for how they ended up being exploited.