this post was submitted on 16 Dec 2025
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cross-posted from: https://reddthat.com/post/56223456

George Hendricks, a 69-year-old from Leesburg, a suburb of Orlando, told ClickOrlando he lost $45,000 after a scammer targeted him with a deepfake video of Musk. Deepfakes are digitally-altered videos often used to impersonate notable public figures.

Now, Hendricks tells the outlet that his wife “wants to get a divorce” over the scam.

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[–] ExtremeDullard@piefed.social 74 points 21 hours ago* (last edited 20 hours ago) (28 children)

She's right: she lives with a dumbass.

I've never understood this "old people are vulnerable" thing (not to mention that 69 ain't that old): even if the scam is really good, at some point the mark is asked to make a large amount of money flow out of their bank account: anybody with the good sense the good lord gave to donkeys would have alarm bells ringing loudly between their ears. Everybody I've met in my life reacts like that.

I might understand if the scanner impersonates a close family member really well - although if one of my children started asking me large sums of money, I would get suspicious because... well, they just don't. But Elon Musk? That guy ain't a victim, he's a moron.

[–] tgcoldrockn@lemmy.world 85 points 20 hours ago (18 children)

You might be surprised about this, but as people age, so do their brains. They do not function as well and sometimes develop serious issues. Stop assuming everyone has the same resources to work with. Protect the vulnerable from bad actors.

[–] Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world 17 points 20 hours ago (3 children)

As of the time of this reply, 3 people have downvoted you. I cannot fathom reading your message and thinking "Well this guy is clearly wrong! Everybody should be judged equally!"

How they came to the conclusion to downvote you, I'll never know.

[–] SeductiveTortoise@piefed.social 12 points 19 hours ago (1 children)

It's quick, it's easy and it's free, just like pouring river water into your socks!

[–] Serinus@lemmy.world 7 points 18 hours ago (2 children)

Why would I pour river water into my socks?

[–] aramis87@fedia.io 16 points 17 hours ago (1 children)

Because it's quick, it's easy, and it's free!

[–] echodot@feddit.uk 6 points 16 hours ago (2 children)

It's not that quick, the nearest river is about a 25 minute walk from me, I wouldn't call that convenient. Also it's raining , so I can't go now or I'll get wet.

[–] aramis87@fedia.io 4 points 16 hours ago

Also it's raining , so I can't go now or I'll get wet.

Lol

[–] Monument@lemmy.sdf.org 1 points 12 hours ago

You could possibly DoorDash some river water to your home. (I don’t know how DoorDash works.)

But then it won’t be free. Hm. Foiled by capitalism!

[–] SaveTheTuaHawk@lemmy.ca 1 points 4 hours ago

Millions of Facebook users fought off COVID with apple cider vinegar and onion slices in their sleeping socks.

[–] echodot@feddit.uk 3 points 16 hours ago* (last edited 16 hours ago)

I haven't down voted them but I was strongly inclined to do so.

It's an argumentative comment that adds nothing to the conversation. Of course we should protect vulnerable people, but we actually already do do that. At some point someone has to take responsibility for their own susceptibility to manipulation, such as recognise you can no longer make sound financial decisions and give power of attorney to someone else. Otherwise it is their fault they're getting manipulated.

Just because of victim is over the age of 40 doesn't mean that they're mentally infeebled. This attitude ignores the underlying issue which is that quite a lot of people are just quite stupid.

[–] Zamboni_Driver@lemmy.ca 3 points 17 hours ago

I only downvoted them because I got the idea from your comment.

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