this post was submitted on 21 Apr 2026
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Given what I assume is a typo, I don't know which way to take what you wrote. On the one hand, I agree they grifted the grifted. On the other hand, they could potentially be considered gifted. Gifted enough to understand that using AI this way could allow them to grift people ~~probe~~ prone to being grifted. Of course. If I take it that way I have to assume the second "gifted" is meant in a derogatory way to call them dumb.
I thought about this way too much.
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.