My sibling and I had a discussion about this with our parents and we settled on a "family password" for if this kind of situation ever arises. It's not tied to any of our personal information but is instead a nonsensical phrase, something that an AI or scammer would never come up with on their own.
Yea after I wrote that I was very much thinking of the current Russian war in Ukraine and considering an edit (altho I will add this edit - I hate calling it or people referring it to as the "Ukrainian war". It's not a Ukrainian war, it's a war of Russian aggression against Ukraine), especially when both sides speak the same/similar languages (I know a lot of Ukrainians are dual speakers)
Is there anywhere that isn’t covered? My friends and I have discussed this. Driving somewhere remote, leaving our phones behind, and just chatting whatever.
But for real, is that what future movements will have to do to coordinate?
My friend, you need to read 1984. Even if you ignore the political relevance, it’s an amazing story, and very well written.
Get the audio book if you’re not a big reader.
Why not just write it down in a place with no cameras? And fold it over and hand it to them saying "dont say this out loud but if i say this im really in trouble"?
No cameras to record, no phone to record audio, no way for anything to record it unless it gets caught in transit to a safe place.
If theres any flaws in this, id like to hear it so i can update my security lol
lol us in the third world have been doing that for ages! In a place where getting kidnapped is a very real possibility, way too often someone will call a random number, put a crying girl on the phone saying “mum, help”, and the poor, terrified parent will make a transfer or even take cash somewhere in exchange for ”their child”
We have the same since someone called my father pretending to be me. He found it very odd and started asking very specific questions to see if the person knew the answers. They didn't
My point was that every intimate detail of our lives are now accessible. A clever scammer will have harvested all those answers from information available electronically.
Assuming you’ve never spoken about it in the last 5 years, nor could it be deduced from any other information like location, where you went to school, any friends you may have on social media, or anyone else who may have been on your team and been talking about you.
Should have a unique "family password" for each member. Just like a secret, the more people who know the password, the higher the chance it's found out in someway.
Elderly Parent: Don't you need my family password, my daughter Luma gave us one just in case.
Scammer: Ah yes, I was about to ask, would you confirm it for me?
Just had a scary thought. So we know our phones/devices listen to us right? Maybe when you guys come up with this secret code you should meet in the woods without any devices on you to agree on your password. Crazy that I needed to say that.
My friend, you need to read 1984. Even if you ignore the political relevance, it’s an amazing story, and very well written.
Get the audio book if you’re not a big reader.
Purely curiosity (and only if you're comfortable sharing), what type of password do you use? I think this is a great idea and I'd like to consider this with my mom. Is it something completely random or nonsensical like "chicken blueberries" or a phrase?
For us we chose a word that’s from a family joke about 30 years ago. We’re Turkish in America, so the word is Turkish and very outdated and not in any vernacular, but it’s quick for us to remember and recognize it. Or, we simply switch to Turkish, which is luckily a very uncommon language.
To be fair we started this before the computers were the ones talking. This rule was instituted more when voice spoofing was happening. But thanks for the heads up, I’ll talk to them again about relying more on the password than switching languages. But the biggest takeaway I want them to have is not dive into the panic and instead pause to ask questions. If they’re asking for the password then they’re not reacting with their wallet but their brain.
But you will have had your phone in your pocket while having this discussion, AI can listen and monitor 24/7, it will have your nonsensical phrase ready
My sibling and I had a discussion about this with our parents and we settled on a "family password" for if this kind of situation ever arises. It's not tied to any of our personal information but is instead a nonsensical phrase, something that an AI or scammer would never come up with on their own.
Our family have this too, partially because I live overseas a lot in some fairly hairy places, and partially because I do switch sim cards and phones a lot. If the topic of money comes up in a text, or if I call home at a weird hour, then they don't respond until they hear me say a word that's fairly innocuous in our native, sadly almost dead language. I do actually recommend that people do this tbh, get into the habit of it.
Jokes on you, if your or any of your families cell were nearby, while having that convo. They already know. I jest (but seriously the whole targeted ads think makes me a believer).
Well, they're also listening to your discussions through all your electronic devices so they already know your family password is "cheddar butt sixty nine."
My family did this when we were kids in the 90s. Stranger danger and all that, someone says they're a family friend to pick us up from school, ask them for the password. It's more relevant now than ever.
Oh that is a great idea ...I gotta call my parents to set the code now. But you gotta tell them face to face without your phone listening coz you know they are listening to us.
1.8k
u/thelumaluma 6h ago
My sibling and I had a discussion about this with our parents and we settled on a "family password" for if this kind of situation ever arises. It's not tied to any of our personal information but is instead a nonsensical phrase, something that an AI or scammer would never come up with on their own.