Post 2 of 2

I would either like access to the old account, so that I may relocate it. Or if you wish, you can delete the old account @Linux@social.tchncs.de

@milan

Hello @milan per your e-mail. I am tagging you.

Who knew the war between Ukraine and Russia would be my saving grace?

I honestly did not see that coming. It certainly was not on my "bingo card."

I would like to thank the Ukrainian government for bombing Russia's digital infrastructure, and I have made a donation to Ukraine.

This is their government website. Please make donations directly to their government, and let us not repeat the previous mistakes of anonymous users claiming to be "verified."

https://u24.gov.ua/sky-defense

#Ukraine #Russia #GazaVerified #IsraelVerified #Spam #Scam #UkraineWar #Bots

If you missed it.

As you may know, for over a year now, I have been trying to warn people that Gaza "Verified" is a scam group.

Imagine this — you're new. You just made your first post. No one knows you. You didn't use any hashtags, so no one can easily find you either, since you follow no one and no one follows you.

But ironically, these same people like and boost the first post of everyone who creates a new account claiming to be from Gaza "Verified". They claim to support Ukraine, but wouldn't you know it, they're offline right now while Russia is having problems.

#GazaVerified #IsraelVerified #Spam #Scam #Fraud #MutualAidRequest #MutualAid #Russia #Bots #Ukraine #UkraineWar

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What makes their exploitation of these words (Gaza and Verified) so deeply manipulative is how it weaponizes human psychology.

By latching onto a devastating, high-profile geopolitical crisis, they deliberately bypass their targets' critical thinking, because in moments of intense human suffering, people feel a deep moral compulsion to act immediately. They use that tragedy not just to open wallets, but as a political shield: if anyone dares to question their finances, transparency, or aggressive tactics, these scammers instantly frame the inquiry as an attack on the cause itself.

At the same time, using the word "verified" acts as a Trojan horse.

On social media, that word carries a psychological weight of trust and safety, signaling to the brain that an authority has checked things out. By creating a hollow, closed-loop shell of self-verification, they manufacture a false halo of legitimacy that lowers people's natural digital guardrails. It is an entirely manufactured ecosystem of deception built on emotional hijacking, fake authority, and coordinated swarm tactics designed to fleece kind-hearted people and silence anyone who exposes the truth.

I am not opposed to so-called mutual aid requests. Life is hard, the world isn't perfect, and sometimes people need help. But these groups (Israel Verified and Gaza Verified) are not that — these are people who make this their job, every day, all day, with multiple accounts. This isn't some random person who has fallen on hard times, who previously talked about their life and shared the occasional rant, but rather individuals who made these accounts with a single purpose: to exploit people's emotions surrounding a large tragedy and take them for everything they're worth.

Post 2 of 2.

#GazaVerified #FediForGaza #ChildrenOfGaza #IsraelVerified #FediForIsrael #ChildrenOfIsrael #Gaza #Palestine #Israel #Spam #Scam #Fraud #MutualAidRequest #MutualAid

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Crisis scammers are predators. 😡

You have these anonymous accounts promoting themselves, supposedly investigating themselves and verifying themselves, finding nothing wrong with themselves with no independent oversight. It is the perfect manipulation tactic to exploit good people who want to help and wrongfully believe they're doing so.

They use the topic of Gaza because it is politically charged, while using the name "verified" to wrongfully imply some credibility. And like any scam group, they ruthlessly exploit the vulnerable, weak, and defenseless — specifically targeting the young, the elderly, and the disabled — and cynically use a massive human tragedy to promote their own financial interests. They rely on a sprawling network of hundreds of accounts and dummy accounts that spam and message people endlessly for financial gain, while instantly playing the victim and weaponizing sympathy whenever anyone dares to call them out.

Post 1 of 2

#GazaVerified #FediForGaza #ChildrenOfGaza #IsraelVerified #FediForIsrael #ChildrenOfIsrael #Gaza #Palestine #Israel #Spam #Scam #Fraud #MutualAidRequest #MutualAid

Let's take a moment to explore the concept of my block list.

"Billy Bob" is like:

> "I like child porn and share photos and videos of child porn."

So naturally, Billy Bob ends up on the block list. But along comes "Mary Sue," and she is like:

> "I support Billy Bob, and I am going to like, share, and boost Billy Bob's post."

So naturally, Mary Sue ends up on the block list. Then along comes "John Doe," and he is like:

> "It is completely unfair of you to add Mary Sue to your block list! Mary Sue is not Billy Bob — and so what if she is liking, sharing, and boosting Billy Bob's child porn post? I do not believe anyone should use your block list, and I insist that people should block you instead."

A wise person sees the problem and knows why all of these people are now on the block list, and why anyone who claims the block list is unfair should also be on the block list. No one should be defending child porn, nor the individuals who like, share, and boost child porn posts, nor should they come to the defense of such individuals while denouncing both the block list and its creator.

I am applying this exact same logic to spammers and scammers. It is not a hard concept to understand, and it is not unfair either — unless you are pro-spammer and pro-scammer.

(Speaking personally, I see scammers as just as bad as pedophiles, because they too often prey upon the weak, vulnerable, and defenseless. Scammers are known to target the young, the elderly, and the disabled.)

https://gitlab.com/Fediverse-Express/Fediverse/-/blob/main/block_spam_scam_users.csv?ref_type=heads&plain=1

#Spam #Scam #Fraud #FediAdmin #MastoAdmin #Pedophiles #pedophile #FediBlock #Fediverse #ActivityPub #BlockList

I am pro-women's rights, even though I am a man.

I am pro-LGBTQ+ rights, even though I am straight.

I am pro-trans rights, even though I identify with my birth gender.

You do not need to be part of a group to support people who are different from yourself. It is simply called being a human being — having genuine empathy, sympathy, compassion, understanding, and tolerance. If everyone practiced this, the world would be a better place.

Both modern capitalism and AI, have a theme song.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0oMEuyhBkRo

#Capitalism #AI #ArtificialIntelligence

The End of the Fediverse

It all comes down to money and availability.

You, whether you like it or not, are a valuable resource, and so is all your content and your users' content. There is no law preventing AI from combing through your site, and it will.

Meta's AI already makes micro-instances and uses Mozilla Firefox to browse sites, preventing people from blocking a user agent. Their AI can even register and join your community, and CAPTCHAs are not a problem. They are already exploring piggybacking off their apps — think Tor, but for Meta — and soon even consumer IPs will not be a safe bet.

Resistance is futile.

Locking down the Fediverse means people cannot know if your community is one where they will be welcomed until after they join — assuming you even have registration open.

If worse comes to worse, AI can simply launch their own Fedi site, joining the network, and scraping content by Federating. The very thing that makes the Fediverse, the Fediverse..

This is what killed community forums. We are seeing this now within the Fediverse.

It all came down to money and availability: who has it and who does not.

#Fediverse #ActivityPub #Mastodon #Misskey #PixelFed #PeerTube #AI #ArtificialIntelligence

Blocked domains really should mean blocked domains.

I don't want to see their post even boosted by someone else, and I do not want them to see mine either.

#Fediverse #ActivityPub #Mastodon #Misskey #Akkoma #GoToSocial

It is whack-a-mole.

I obtain creditable proof of their nonsense. I start to gain support.

They show up and bring their 300 friends, who have a financial incentive to denounce me, to claim everything I have is all nonsense.

Rinse and repeat.

The fact that finally — it took a while — some admins are starting to wise up... of course, they're going to push back. After all, there is money to be made if they can dismiss me.

The dumbest and most oxymoronic question you can ask a scammer is whether they're participating in a scam.

Do you honestly think they are going to say, "Yes"?

It would be amusing if they did, but let's be real here. They have no incentive to do so.

But since you've already made your position clear, your post is simply political theater.

I am wise to their little games. They go something like this:

"Oh, don't believe your own eyes and the mounting evidence. Just like the cartoon Avatar, where there is no war in Ba Sing Se (there was), there is no scam group on the Fediverse (there is), and this Linux dude is bad news (I'm not)!"

Followed by the next round of nonsense:

"Hey, Linux, um, so, yeah, I removed that post where I called you out. I am not going to backtrack anything I said. I just want you to accept that I bitch slapped you, and we'll just leave it at that. OK, buddy? And would you be so kind as to remove me from the list?"

Appeals are only earned by a true change in behavior. You don't get to have your cake and eat it too. That is to say, unless you remove that harmful post -- AND -- call out the scam group, just as you were so eager to wrongfully call me out, I don't buy the change of heart. All I see is you playing games.

Watching Canada making fun of Donald Trump is priceless. 🤣

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJ40g0KKQAM

#Canada #CBC #Humor #Trump

Post 3 of 3

For those who are curious — and before some vocal group attempts to twist facts and make things up (as they always do — they're trolls, it's what they do):

The thing I supposedly had done was commit some form of "ban evasion" simply by existing. No, really, they believe that if they successfully dogpile you someplace and the admin gives in, you have no right to belong on the Fediverse anywhere, ever.

That's not how any of this works, thankfully. There is no central authority for the Fediverse. Each Mastodon or Misskey site operates individually while being part of the greater community. And your personal dislike of someone does not mean they're not entitled to be a part of that greater community.

That is the whole point of the Fediverse.

Lastly, the little troll group created multiple usernames, and under one of their random new names, I followed, not knowing who this person was. They could have preemptively blocked me or even asked me to block them, and I would have done so happily. After all, like everyone, I cannot read minds and don't know who is behind a new anonymous username 12345.

Once the little vocal troll group won their so-called hard-fought victory and experienced their little lulz, they moved on. But so did I and my supporters, leaving the admin with the bill. Not exactly worth giving in to their nonsense, was it?

I don't think a few cheap laughs and a round of high fives from them has done you any good.

That all said, I do suggest people wait a minimum of 90 days (3 months) after joining any community before contributing financially. Because while watching the live feeds of any community may give you some insight, it never tells the whole story, and sometimes you have to take a chance and hope for the best. Usually, you learn how people really are after 90+ days. That is when you know if it is worth staying there, if you're truly welcome, and if they are worthy of your financial support.

Post 3 of 3.

Post 2 of 3

Having said all this, no, I do not think money entitles people to break rules or even bend them. And if I had truly done that, I would not be speaking up today.

But I also know that doing things for the lulz to impress others and pandering to the mob is never a good business decision, even if you believe yourself to be running a public service or a hobby. I speak from experience, since I myself once got caught up in trying to please people.

The problem with trying to please everyone is that you'll likely please few, if anyone. And sometimes, you need to do the right thing, even if it upsets a very vocal minority and does not win you popularity.

You upset the money.

I am watching an admin (not mine), once again, tell us that funding is a problem and ask if people would be generous enough to contribute.

You were on your way to being fully funded until you gave in to trolls.

In your defense, you always remained impartial — until things landed on your site, and you bought into their lies or used them as an excuse to take action. What you did may have given you clout among that vocal group, but that vocal group wasn't paying your bills.

Don't take this comment as an attack. I have not even named you. But those in the know will know, and if anything, this little comment of mine will likely rally that group to show you support and solve your little cash flow problem for a time. But I do suggest you close registration, because sadly, you cannot afford infinite growth.

This is the 3rd time in just a few weeks that rumors of Donald Trump's death have circulated on the internet.

I wish people would stop getting my hopes up.

#Facebook #Trump #DonaldTrump

"We the willing, led by the unknowing, are working for the ungrateful. We have done so much, for so long, with so little, that we are now qualified to do anything and everything with nothing."

-- Most people working for Corporate America.