The News

Meta has created the world’s most sophisticated scam targeting machine, and we’re all suckers

Meta knows it is making billions of dollars from scams every year on billions of scam ads it shows to users every day — and its answer is to deprioritise fighting scams, ignore complaints, focus on areas when it faces legal action and allow potential scammers to keep advertising as long as they pay extra. That’s what internal Meta documents obtained by Reuters’ Jeff Horowitz reveal in a truly bombshell investigation (Reuters).

The report looks at how the company’s employees came to terms with how much their platforms are being used by bad actors and how they tried to raise the alarm about the scale of the misuse. And, it appears, the response from above was that the company’s goal is to reduce scams — just as long as it didn’t disrupt their other work and helped them avoid consequences from politicians and the courts.

The Sizzle: There are a lot of good, normal people who work for big tech companies, and Meta is no exception. And I know these challenges are tough. But there is no way you can read stories like this or Horowitz’s reporting on Meta’s lack of safety for kids using AI earlier this year and not think that this company is rotten to the core. I mean, what else can you say when you read things like:

Meta has built an global system that lures people into the target zones for harm. And its actions suggest it does not see counteracting the damage that it facilitates as important as any of it other goals. We cannot trust this company to regulate itself. It only responds to external consequences and so we must make sure it faces them at every turn.

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Microsoft’s 365 AI refund email didn’t offer refund lmaoooo

When you publicly eat shit and offer millions in refunds as you face being dragged through the courts, you’d probably assume that this was rock bottom. But, as Microsoft showed, it can always get worse.

An email was sent to Australian Microsoft 365 customers offering a refund and a chance to opt-out of the more expensive AI plans. Seems fine, right?

Except, the email sent to 365 Family customers didn’t actually offer them the chance to downgrade their plan without the AI. Instead, it gave them the chance to downgrade to an AI-free plan but only for a personal account, not for a family account covering up to six users. It was like Microsoft was saying “sure you can get rid of AI but looks like everyone will have to stump up for their own subscription. Isn’t that a shame!”

This appears to have been an error and 365 Family subscribers were sent a follow up email offering the AI-free downgrade and refund for the family plan. But, still, not great!

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The Sizzler Say: 3D-printed retro TV, Gun Lady and the new Mac icons suck

As always, if you wanna get involved (or even be able to read what’s on Slack) you can join the Slack server and forum via these links.

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Leftovers

Australia:

Rest of the world:

Discuss these links in the Sizzle Slack or forum.

Oh, Also

It sure seems like a Redditor can track US's secret at-sea strikes

Full disclosure: this could be completely full of shit, but at least it’s compelling.

A Redditor says that he can use public NASA data to identify the Trump Administration’s at-sea, definitely legal, missile murders strikes. In a post on the open source intelligence subreddit, u/No_Plant_2335 shows how temperature hotspots that can be seen in real time using public feeds appear to line up with what we know about the US’s attacks on “narco-trafficking".

But don’t just take his word for it: he’s made a website so you can watch out for yourself. Please email in if you see an extrajudicial mass murder!

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Bargains

Electrical & Electronics

Computing

Mobile

The End

😎 The Sizzle is written by Cam Wilson and emailed every weekday. It was created by Anthony “decryption” Agius.

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The Sizzle is created on Gadigal land and acknowledges the traditional owners of country throughout Australia, recognising their continuing connection to land, water and community. I pay my respect to them and their cultures and to elders both past and present.