Mutual aid spam is becoming a problem on the Fediverse.
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Mutual aid spam is becoming a problem on the Fediverse.
And to be sure, I'm not against mutual aid. What I am against is spam.
This person has not verified who she is -- or even if the profile picture is hers. Additional research on her name states she is a scammer with a record of grifting. I am therefore skeptical that any donations will help anyone in need.
Folks, please be cautious with mutual aid requests. Yes, people sometimes need help. But people also lie.
"Mutual aid"? Is that what scammers are calling it now? What exactly is "mutual" about this interaction?
I don't think there's anything wrong with creating a community where people who are struggling financially can ask for help or plug their GoFundMe or whatever, but allowing these guys to essentially cold call individuals with DMs/Mentions is unacceptable.
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Mutual aid spam is becoming a problem on the Fediverse.
And to be sure, I'm not against mutual aid. What I am against is spam.
This person has not verified who she is -- or even if the profile picture is hers. Additional research on her name states she is a scammer with a record of grifting. I am therefore skeptical that any donations will help anyone in need.
Folks, please be cautious with mutual aid requests. Yes, people sometimes need help. But people also lie.
I see a lot of people asking for mutual aid, and it's often "I've had a hard day and just want some McDonalds, please help"
OK, that's not mutual aid, and you shouldn't be asking for that under that hashtag. if you need help paying your rent, or with gas money so you don't lose your job, that's something that appropriate for mutual aid. asking for money for vices should be something you do off the hashtag, or on your OF or something. mutual aid is for people helping where they can, when they can, for problems that are serious and life-altering. and nothing else.
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I just mute all of them.
It may be my "3rd world syndrome" but to me, someone with internet access and a social media account who post regularly, is not in poverty. More likely a spambot.
My local beggar, in contrast, is a sincere person who tells me that he just want some cheap boxed wine or something to smoke. Refuses food or any kind of help. Cash only.
it may be like that in the "third world", but in western countries at least, if you don't have a cell phone you are pretty much actively discriminated against. many government programs, not to mention utilities, require the use of a smartphone app. for example, my electric company requires one, as does my internet company. you can't even begin service with my ISP if you don't have an app.
if you live in the US, you'll find it very difficult to even find a job without a cell phone, as most unemployment programs or job listings are done through apps these days. so the first thing any homeless person needs to acquire, is internet access and social media.
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@[email protected] No, this account is from Akkoma. I can submit a post to Lemmy by mentioning the community handle in my post. Such is the magic of the Fediverse.
I can submit a post to Lemmy by mentioning the community handle in my post
That's why I thought you came from Mastodon; they have the same feature.
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Mutual aid spam is becoming a problem on the Fediverse.
And to be sure, I'm not against mutual aid. What I am against is spam.
This person has not verified who she is -- or even if the profile picture is hers. Additional research on her name states she is a scammer with a record of grifting. I am therefore skeptical that any donations will help anyone in need.
Folks, please be cautious with mutual aid requests. Yes, people sometimes need help. But people also lie.
At the beginning of the pan, someone was selling nudes to cover expenses. I think I sent twenty bucks because I could and she was cute and whatever. But then the person started messaging me about trying to get more money (for her and her sister) and it just felt like a scam and I became very cynical about it.
Btw, I slept funny last night and I have a neck cramp. Please send money. /s
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"Email solved the spam problem by becoming centralizing" yeah most of the span I get is from gmail or has a reply-to header with gmail address
That's just the spam that gets through! On my ancient ISP-provided email it's primarily distributed via compromised accounts from the same provider. And what I see targeting the corporate world tends to come from newly setup email servers or newly setup accounts on paid email providers
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When I was homeless, I had a cell phone. It's pretty hard to find work without one. And I don't know if it's still the case, but at that time if you are on any sort of government assistance you could get a phone paid for.
As it is really difficult to get out of poverty without one.
That sad, I don't hand out money on lemmy. There are folks in my community I know need help too.
I mean, I know phones can be cheap or donated. And I also know that homeless people may have possessions that some consider "expensive". It's not that uncommon.
But constant internet connection needs monthly payments that, in my very personal and particular mindset, are not really compatible with "I'm a beggar. I need help".
Having knowledge of the Fediverse it's too niche for me, and the stories like "I can't pay groceries!" almost every week are unlikely in a place where most of folks are tech workers. My spam-meter says that probably some people out there found the #mutualaid hashtag and are making some fake profiles and fake stories.
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Mutual aid spam is becoming a problem on the Fediverse.
And to be sure, I'm not against mutual aid. What I am against is spam.
This person has not verified who she is -- or even if the profile picture is hers. Additional research on her name states she is a scammer with a record of grifting. I am therefore skeptical that any donations will help anyone in need.
Folks, please be cautious with mutual aid requests. Yes, people sometimes need help. But people also lie.
Yeah, the other day I saw a lot of posts like
"I am from palestine, my home is destroyed please donate to help"...
Spam is probably the significant problem on fedi -
I first heard it in 2019 or 2020 from the queer community but I have a feeling it has deeper roots
Originally a concept by late 19th century anarchist Peter Kropotkin:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mutual_Aid:_A_Factor_of_Evolution
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I mean, I know phones can be cheap or donated. And I also know that homeless people may have possessions that some consider "expensive". It's not that uncommon.
But constant internet connection needs monthly payments that, in my very personal and particular mindset, are not really compatible with "I'm a beggar. I need help".
Having knowledge of the Fediverse it's too niche for me, and the stories like "I can't pay groceries!" almost every week are unlikely in a place where most of folks are tech workers. My spam-meter says that probably some people out there found the #mutualaid hashtag and are making some fake profiles and fake stories.
you can find plans for $15/mo. it's not unreasonable for homeless people today to have a cell phone. even homies in prison have tiktoks.
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I mean, I know phones can be cheap or donated. And I also know that homeless people may have possessions that some consider "expensive". It's not that uncommon.
But constant internet connection needs monthly payments that, in my very personal and particular mindset, are not really compatible with "I'm a beggar. I need help".
Having knowledge of the Fediverse it's too niche for me, and the stories like "I can't pay groceries!" almost every week are unlikely in a place where most of folks are tech workers. My spam-meter says that probably some people out there found the #mutualaid hashtag and are making some fake profiles and fake stories.
Again, the phone and the service, at least, when I was homeless in 2019, was covered along with other social services such as SNAP and Medicaid.
And again, I completely agree about not handing money out online. Just disagreeing about homeless folks having accessibility to a phone or the internet. And Public libraries or anywhere with wifi (if you have a phone) are other options.
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I see a lot of people asking for mutual aid, and it's often "I've had a hard day and just want some McDonalds, please help"
OK, that's not mutual aid, and you shouldn't be asking for that under that hashtag. if you need help paying your rent, or with gas money so you don't lose your job, that's something that appropriate for mutual aid. asking for money for vices should be something you do off the hashtag, or on your OF or something. mutual aid is for people helping where they can, when they can, for problems that are serious and life-altering. and nothing else.
Mutual Aid is not charity. Mutual aid is beneficial fir both parties.
Mutual aid for rent would be to join a tenants union so that people can get organized and perform a rent strike.
https://www.dissentmagazine.org/online_articles/tenant-unions-for-the-future/
Mutual Aid for food would be something like Food Not Bombs.
(It's an http site so only sign up if you're comfortable with that.)http://foodnotbombs.net/new_site/
Charity is not mutual aid.
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I can submit a post to Lemmy by mentioning the community handle in my post
That's why I thought you came from Mastodon; they have the same feature.
@Feathercrown Actually, you can do that with any Fediverse service, not just Mastodon. -
What we really need (and have always needed) is an update to the legal frameworks that classify what networks are and what protections are in place for users to ensure interoperability. The Internet has been the wild west for too bloody long, and the extractors and their monopolies need to be put away. That's why they have been so happy to jump in with Donny Diaper at this point, because he's letting them not only continue with impunity, but bring back company scrip.
That's why I think the history of the U.S. phone system is so important. AT&T had to be dragged into interoperability by government regulation nearly every step of the way, but ended up needing to invent and publish the technical standards that made federation/interoperability possible, after government agencies started mandating them. The technical infeasibility of opening up a proprietary network has been overcome before, with much more complexity at the lower OSI layers, including defining new open standards regarding the physical layer of actual copper lines and switches.
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I mean, I know phones can be cheap or donated. And I also know that homeless people may have possessions that some consider "expensive". It's not that uncommon.
But constant internet connection needs monthly payments that, in my very personal and particular mindset, are not really compatible with "I'm a beggar. I need help".
Having knowledge of the Fediverse it's too niche for me, and the stories like "I can't pay groceries!" almost every week are unlikely in a place where most of folks are tech workers. My spam-meter says that probably some people out there found the #mutualaid hashtag and are making some fake profiles and fake stories.
The plans can be super cheap compared to food and housing. A pretty poor person can still have consistent Internet now.
It's not the affordability that makes these things almost certainly a scam, but they pretty much are almost certainly a scam anyway.
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Mutual aid spam is becoming a problem on the Fediverse.
And to be sure, I'm not against mutual aid. What I am against is spam.
This person has not verified who she is -- or even if the profile picture is hers. Additional research on her name states she is a scammer with a record of grifting. I am therefore skeptical that any donations will help anyone in need.
Folks, please be cautious with mutual aid requests. Yes, people sometimes need help. But people also lie.
POLICE! POLICE! PLEASE HELP!
I SAW A HOMELESS PERSON!!! THEY WERE ASKING FOR MONEY
PLEASE REMOVE THESE EYESORES
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Mutual aid spam is becoming a problem on the Fediverse.
And to be sure, I'm not against mutual aid. What I am against is spam.
This person has not verified who she is -- or even if the profile picture is hers. Additional research on her name states she is a scammer with a record of grifting. I am therefore skeptical that any donations will help anyone in need.
Folks, please be cautious with mutual aid requests. Yes, people sometimes need help. But people also lie.
There are needs and needs, I refuse to help a money begger unless is a close friend which I can control how is the best I can do for him, money being the last resource. Instead I always demand for social programs and services sustained by taxes to support those in real need (survival needs) unconditionally.
I would sleep much better if part of my tax contribution (together that of anybody in function of their resources) goes to grant the minimum for a "dignity survival" to any human being regardless of their returned contribution, with programs for reinsertion and mental support so they have the best chances to reach eventually a "dignity life".
And, if still they cannot but just "survive" for the rest of their lives, I still want to fund it and give them the security to do it with dignity until the very end.
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Mutual aid spam is becoming a problem on the Fediverse.
And to be sure, I'm not against mutual aid. What I am against is spam.
This person has not verified who she is -- or even if the profile picture is hers. Additional research on her name states she is a scammer with a record of grifting. I am therefore skeptical that any donations will help anyone in need.
Folks, please be cautious with mutual aid requests. Yes, people sometimes need help. But people also lie.
Donate those that provide something meaningful.
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It's not ignoring the topic. Mutual aid is an organized operation. Literally says it the link. This is not mutual aid. The topic is about "mutual aid spam" which this is not at all an example of "mutual aid". This is just begging or panhandling or scamming.
Read the link title - "Mutual Aid SOCIETY" - that's the organization part. Mutual aid is the helping other members part. Anyway, the topic is about these pleas for help becoming a problem on lemmy.
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Mutual aid spam is becoming a problem on the Fediverse.
And to be sure, I'm not against mutual aid. What I am against is spam.
This person has not verified who she is -- or even if the profile picture is hers. Additional research on her name states she is a scammer with a record of grifting. I am therefore skeptical that any donations will help anyone in need.
Folks, please be cautious with mutual aid requests. Yes, people sometimes need help. But people also lie.
Lol, comments in this thread forgot the 'mutual' part of 'mutual aid' and miss the point of this post (scams in mutual aid groups)
If you think mutual aid is a one-way street (/ don't benefit from it), is not for you, block and move on
