Greg's Corner

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  Geebo 8:00 am on September 17, 2021 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: armed robbery ( 2 ), OfferUp ( 23 ), robbery ( 11 ), Safety ( 45 ), Seattle   

  String of armed robberies plague OfferUp users 

  

  By Greg Collier

  Too many people seem to think that marketplace app isn’t as dangerous as Craigslist just because it’s a modern looking app. While OfferUp doesn’t have the body count that Craigslist does, that only means that OfferUp hasn’t been around as long as Craigslist has. OfferUp has had its share of murders as well, but again, nowhere near the numbers that Craigslist. That’s not to say that OfferUp won’t catch up to Craigslist, given enough time. At least anecdotally, Craigslist related homicides seem to be on the way down, while OfferUp seems to be picking up the slack.

  The majority of OfferUp related homicides start out as armed robberies, then for some reason or another, the bullets start flying. These armed robberies have become such a problem that the police force of a major metropolitan city has issued a warning to its citizens. In Seattle, the police department has issued a warning to residents after a string of victims were robbed at gunpoint at what the victims thought were car sales.

  This is an old tactic that goes back to the Craigslist days. Thieves will post an ad for a car being for sale. Some thieves will use expensive cars as the lure, while others will offer a more affordable car being offered at a below-market price. The goal is to get the victims to bring large amounts of cash with them to the exchange. Victims are then robbed of this cash along with other valuables, including sometimes the car itself. As we stated previously, too many times these robberies easily can turn into murders.

  Most people will tell you that you’ll be safe if you just meet in a public place during the day. Those rules don’t apply anymore. People have been robbed and killed in broad daylight on busy streets. The best way to make any in-person marketplace exchange is at a local police department. While it’s not 100% effective, it goes a long way in discouraging bad actors from trying to get the jump on you. Many police departments even have areas set up for just such exchanges. Every ad on Geebo.com has a link to SafeTrade Stations, where you can find a police station near you.

  We also understand that there are segments of the population who may not feel comfortable going to a police station to make their exchanges. We understand your hesitation. For extra security and safety, we recommend still going to the police station, but take someone with you who can record the transaction on their phone.

  We wish the world wasn’t like this, that we could just go to a shopping center parking lot and make our exchanges. Unfortunately, too many people look to take advantage of the civility of their victims.

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  Geebo 8:00 am on August 24, 2021 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: movers ( 8 ), moving ( 6 ), Scams ( 1,386 ), Seattle, Washington ( 11 )   

  New moving scam dumps your belongings 

  

  By Greg Collier

  It wasn’t too long ago that we discussed a moving scam that was taking place in Charlotte, North Carolina. In that scam, illegal moving companies would pack up a person’s belongings, but instead of delivering them to their destination, the con artists would hold the belongings hostage under the pretense of needing additional fees. Now, a similar scam has appeared in the Seattle area, but it seems that the scammers are more interested in quick cash than a long con.

  A woman in King County, Washington was recently taken in one of these scams. She was moving some of her items to another property in Austin, Texas. She had enlisted the services of a moving broker, bur right as she was about to board her flight to Austin, the broker switched to a new moving company. The woman had previously paid the movers with a cashier’s check. The woman arrived in Austin, but her belongings never did. Both the movers and the broker would give excuses before cutting off all contact with her.

  King County Sheriffs believe that her belongings may have been abandoned in a storage unit somewhere in the area. This gives the thieves the opportunity to dump their cargo, so they can immediately move on to another victim. Rather than extortion or trying to sell stolen goods, the illegal movers seem to be more interested in getting the payment more than anything. They tend to ask for payment in cash or cashier’s checks, so the money is virtually untraceable.

  Moving brokers may offer convenience in helping find a moving company, but they can also be just another fly-by-night company. If you’re going to use a broker, make sure they’re registered with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, which is part of the US Department of Transportation. Also, you should only use movers that are also registered with the FMCSA.

  If a company gives you an estimate sight unseen, they may also be trying to scam you. Always get at least three estimates from three different movers and get them in writing. Never make payment in full upfront, and make sure that the movers provide full-value protection insurance. Lastly, if anything feels out of the ordinary with your movers, don’t be afraid to go with another company.

   
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  Geebo 8:00 am on May 29, 2019 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: getaway cars, Lime, LimePod, ride sharing ( 6 ), Seattle   

  Follow that Lime! 

  

  When you first hear the concept of LimePod it sounds like a great alternative to other rideshare platforms and public transportation. With the Lime app, you can unlock a car called a LimePod for $1.00 that you can drive around town for $.40 a minute. Right now, the program is only available in the Seattle area but if history is any indicator it will soon be coming to other cities as Lime has their motorized scooters for use in many locations. However, it seems that Seattle can’t have nice things as the LimePods are being used for illegal actions.

  [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91U4j5fBMLc%5D

  According to reports from King County in Washington State, the LimePods are allegedly being used as getaway vehicles in porch and mail thefts. In order to use a LimePod, a user has to submit a copy of their driver’s license before they can use the service but if someone were to gain access to a stolen phone it wouldn’t take much to bypass security measures if that phone’s LimePod account had already been approved.

  Sadly, this seems to be a recurring trend as even rental scooters have been used as getaway vehicles in even such crimes like bank robbery. When someone comes up with an idea to help those around them there are always those who will look to take advantage of that assistance. Unfortunately, for a platform like LimePod to truly work without hiccups, it seems that even more stringent security measures are needed.

   
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  Geebo 9:01 am on May 21, 2018 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: apps ( 15 ), homeless ( 5 ), Samaritan, Seattle, startup ( 4 )   

  Startup app hopes to better connect homeless to the public 

  

  Most startup apps hope to accomplish one of two things. The first is to try to innovate some new social trend that existing social platforms haven’t thought of yet. In the crowded social space, those innovative ideas are few and far between. The other things most startup apps try to do to is to be bought out by a larger company like Facebook, Google, or Twitter in hopes of making a quick fortune. Rarely do we hear about a startup app that’s trying to help those less fortunate in society, but now a startup app out of Seattle is trying to help one of society’s most marginalized people.

  The way the Samaritan app works is that someone who is homeless can get a Bluetooth beacon from any one of Samaritan’s outreach partners. This beacon allows its holder to share their story through their app so they’re not just a faceless person holding a cardboard sign. Many of us have reasons why we don’t give money to homeless people. Some of us don’t carry cash while others have social anxieties that prevent them from talking to people they don’t know, and of course, there are some of us that don’t believe some of those needing help are truly homeless. The Samaritan app helps with a lot of those problems as money can be donated directly to a homeless person in your area who the app notifies you about. Once you receive a notification on the app, you can donate money to that person directly electronically. Users of the beacon can then use the money to get foods and services at many partnered locations, however, alcohol cannot be bought using the Samaritan service.

  So far, the app is available for both iOS and Android devices, but currently, the program is only running in Seattle. They hope to expand into 100 cities within the year. So far, the results in Seattle have been nothing short of amazing, helping people not only to get money to find food but others have been able to find housing and employment through the program. Startup culture and angel investors need to start cultivating more apps like Samaritan and fewer apps that are highlighted by some form of Kardashian.

   
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  Geebo 10:29 am on February 7, 2018 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Election ( 21 ), Facebook ( 180 ), Seattle   

  Has Facebook been caught in the ballot box again? 

  

  Facebook’s shady political ad practices have been in the news ever since the 2016 Presidential election when it was discovered the platform accepted foreign money for ads that were disguised as American political ads. They’ve been called before Congress multiple times without ever giving a satisfactory answer as to whether or not they will or can stop this practice. Now, Facebook has run afoul of an election law and has yet to give those seeking answers any pertinent information.

  The city of Seattle has asked Facebook to provide information about campaign ads on the social network that were displayed during last year’s city elections. Seattle has a law in place that states those who pay for political campaign ads in the city must be revealed or face a potential $5,000 per ad penalty. Facebook claims they’ve sent Seattle the necessary information, however, the Seattle Ethics and Elections Commission say that Facebook has not “come close to meeting their public obligation.”

  What makes matters worse is that Facebook could easily pay these penalties with the change found in Mark Zuckerberg’s couch cushions. Facebook is far from lacking in the funding department which in turn could have undue influence on just about any election that an ad buyer wishes to undermine while Facebook allegedly hides their identity. This is the true threat to Democracy in our country.

   
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  Geebo 10:27 am on January 22, 2018 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Amazon ( 108 ), Amazon Go ( 8 ), retail ( 49 ), Seattle   

  Amazon to unveil new cashier-less store today 

  

  For a little more than a year, Amazon has been developing their highly touted store without cashiers known as Amazon Go. Later today, Amazon will finally unveil Amazon Go to the public in Seattle. The original concept of the store was to have a store that would be fully automated, however, it seems the reality of situation means there will in fact be human employees in the store.

  According to Tech Crunch there will be several human employees in the store such as someone checking for IDs in the beer and wine section, and a person standing by for any assistance needed with the app used for shopping at the store. There are also stockers and chefs who prepare sandwiches and meal kits.

  While the videos of the store seem to give the appearance of a slick and seamless shopping experience, one has to wonder if that will be the reality of the situation. Often times in tech, what tested perfect in the lab can often fail in the real world. For example, one of the problems Amazon Go had in its testing phase is the store would come to a halt if there were too many people in the store. Plus in real life there are always situations that arise that no one can account for until they happen. It will be interesting to see how Amazon Go will handle such a situation.

  So will Amazon Go be the future of brick and mortar retailing, or will it be just another retailing fad that refuses to take hold? Today, just may hold some of those answers.

   
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  Geebo 10:01 am on December 26, 2017 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Amazon ( 108 ), Human trafficking ( 98 ), Microsoft ( 21 ), Newsweek, Seattle   

  Do tech companies foster a culture of human trafficking? 

  

  Before being lambasted by Congress for their alleged roles in the Russian ad scandal, many tech giants like Google opposed an amendment to the Communications Decency Act of 1996 that would allow the prosecution of websites that hosted obvious ads for sex trafficking. After their PR disaster in Congress, many tech firms reversed their position and supported the amendment, but why did they oppose it in the first place?

  A number of arguments against the amendment from tech companies was because they felt they might get caught up unfairly in prosecution. Could another reason be that some of these companies foster a culture where sex trafficking is not only tolerated but encouraged? Now, it’s not being said that the heads of these companies have some kind of unspoken rule where they will look the other way if their employees are caught engaging in sec trafficking, however there does seem to be a belief among the male employees of many of these companies that sex trafficking is not only acceptable but they also allegedly get together to compare notes about it.

  Newsweek recently broke a story where they allege that in the Seattle area many employees of both Amazon and Microsoft were caught allegedly engaging in behavior at local illegal brothels where Asian women were being trafficked. Some of these employees were said to have spent anywhere from $30,000 to $50,000 a year in these brothels. The employees were even said to have communicated with these brothels while using their company emails.

  While both Amazon and Microsoft condemn these activities, if there is this cavalier attitude towards the trafficking of women in these companies who’s to say there aren’t similar attitudes in other tech companies in other regions of the country? With the slew of accusations of sexual harassment in Silicon Valley recently, could there also be an environment where brothels are frequented where women who can barely speak English are being kept against their wills. If the Seattle allegations are any indication then the answer seems to be yes.

   
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  Geebo 10:00 am on November 27, 2017 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: chatbot, Human trafficking ( 98 ), Seattle   

  Using chatbots to fight human trafficking 

  

  Chatbots are computer programs that are designed to converse like humans through messaging apps. They are mostly used by companies as a customer service alternative. However, a Seattle-based advocacy group is using this technology to try to discourage people from soliciting from underage victims of human trafficking.

  Seattle Against Slavery places ads on certain classifieds sites that appear to be for prostitution. When someone responds to the ad, the chatbot engages with them in conversation. The chatbot then tells the responder that it’s a 15-year-old girl. If the response the chatbot receives about being underage is positive, it responds with “buying sex is a crime that harms women the world over.” According to SAS, the chat bot is designed to make someone think twice before engaging in such harmful behavior. While it’s currently not being used for prosecution purposes, SAS says that is a possibility in the future.

  SAS also says that when they post one of their fake ads they get over 250 responses within the first hour. They’ve also said that the chatbot was able to relay the message in at least 1500 instances in the testing phase alone. This, among many other number of data points, shows just how widespread the problem of human trafficking has become. The greatest hurdle with trying to curtail trafficking is the fact that it’s assisted by a few large classifieds sites that do nothing to dissuade this modern-day slavery from persisting.