• EDITORIAL/COMMENTARY Archives

Synthetic Pornography – A Growing Danger To The World – A SCARS Editorial 2023

Synthetic Pornography – A Growing Danger To The World A SCARS Editorial Author: • SCARS Editorial Team – Society of Citizens Against Relationship Scams Inc. Photo Credit: Mark Pohlmann Synthetic Pornography Is Revolutionizing What People Of Particular Tastes Can Have Now, All Through Generative AI Synthetic porn, also known as deepfake porn, is a type of manipulated media that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to create non-consensual pornography. It typically involves superimposing the face of a non-consenting person onto the body of someone else in a pornographic video, but it can be Read More ...

SCARS Editorial Team2023-11-25T19:23:10-05:00November 25th, 2023|Categories: • EDITORIAL/COMMENTARY, • NEW TECHNOLOGY / AI, 2023, SCARS Editorial Team|Tags: Deepfake Porn, DeepFakes, SCARS Editorial, Synthetic porn|

Facebook Says It Is Trying To Do Better!

Facebook Says It Is Trying To Do Better! An Editorial By Tim McGuinness, Ph.D. – Anthropologist, Scientist, Director of the Society of Citizens Against Relationship Scams Inc., portions by Meta and Yahoo News Meta Raising Online Defenses Through Transparency and Collaboration – So They Say! Facebook and Meta’s Failure to Control Harmful Content Facebook and Meta, the parent company of Facebook, have been under fire for years for their failure to control harmful content on their platforms. This includes fake news, hate speech, disinformation, and online criminals. Read More Read More ...

SCARS Editorial Team2023-09-02T16:51:35-04:00September 2nd, 2023|Categories: • SOCIAL MEDIA & TECH PLATFORMS, • EDITORIAL/COMMENTARY, 2023|Tags: Digital Services Act, Facebook, Meta, Social Media|

Scam Victims & Mental Health Blaming

Scam Victims & Mental Health Blaming By Tim McGuinness, Ph.D. – Anthropologist, Scientist, Director of the Society of Citizens Against Relationship Scams Inc. Mental Health Blaming For Scam Victims Is An Insidious Undermining Of Those Struggling To Heal And Recover Let’s be clear, we are not talking about mental health conditions such as psychopathy or narcissism. We are talking about the vastly common depression and anxiety disorders that may affect as many as half of our population and other debilitating disorders that prevent normal people from living their best lives. Read More ...

SCARS Editorial Team2023-07-09T17:07:52-04:00July 9th, 2023|Categories: • VICTIMS & VICTIMOLOGY, • EDITORIAL/COMMENTARY, ♣ FEATURED ARTICLES, 2023|Tags: Anxiety, Depression, Mental Disorders, Mental Health, Mental Health Blaming, Mental Illness, Scam Victims|

Cybersecurity Failure Is Inevitable – Plan For It

Cybersecurity Failure Is Inevitable – Plan For It By Tim McGuinness, Ph.D. – Anthropologist, Scientist, Director of the Society of Citizens Against Relationship Scams Inc. The Saying NEVER SAY NEVER Is More Applicable In Cybersecurity & Online Safety Than Ever Businesses are aware they need to plan for their cybersecurity, but they don’t know they also need to plan for their failure! All cybersecurity is ultimately dependent on people, and people fail. In fact, people almost always fail – not every day, but eventually, someone will make a mistake. Cybersecurity must Read More ...

SCARS Editorial Team2023-06-25T18:33:49-04:00June 25th, 2023|Categories: • CYBERSECURITY, • EDITORIAL/COMMENTARY, • ONLINE SAFETY, ♣ FEATURED ARTICLES, 2023|Tags: Business Victims, Cyber Failure, Cyber Safety, Cybersecurity, Stay Safe Online|

Police Chiefs & Sheriffs: Use GoFundMe To Raise Money To Fight Cybercrime, Scams, And Fraud

Police Chiefs & Sheriffs: Use GoFundMe To Raise Money To Fight Cybercrime, Scams, And Fraud – And Obtain Tools & Training By Tim McGuinness, Ph.D. – Anthropologist, Scientist, Director of the Society of Citizens Against Relationship Scams Inc. The Fight Against Cybercrime Is As Much A Local Fight As a National Or International Fight Local police & sheriff departments are the first responders for their citizens, but in the war against cybercrime, most of them have thrown up their hands and told their citizens there is nothing they can do! But Read More ...

SCARS Editorial Team2023-06-25T18:40:09-04:00June 25th, 2023|Categories: • POLICE/LAW ENFORCEMENT, • EDITORIAL/COMMENTARY, ♣ FEATURED ARTICLES, 2023|Tags: Cybercrime, Fraud, Fund Raising, Funding Cybercrime Tools, Funding Cybercrime Training, GoFundMe, Police, Police Chiefs, Scams, Sheriffs|

Dear Police Officers: Write An Email

Dear Police Officers: Write An Email Make The Extra Effort For Your Transnational Scam/Fraud Victims By Tim McGuinness, Ph.D. – Anthropologist, Scientist, Director of the Society of Citizens Against Relationship Scams Inc. Attention Police Officers & Leadership Concerned With Fraud As a local police officer, you probably never considered this, but YOU CAN send a local victim’s complaint to police agencies in other countries on behalf of your local victims! Read More …

SCARS Editorial Team2023-06-25T21:43:23-04:00June 23rd, 2023|Categories: • POLICE/LAW ENFORCEMENT, • CRIMINAL JUSTICE, • EDITORIAL/COMMENTARY, ♣ FEATURED ARTICLES, 2023|Tags: Fraud, Investigators, Law Enforcement, Local Police, Police Officers, Scam Victims, Scams, Transnational Crime|

The Subtle Sabotage Of Blame In Cybersecurity & Online Safety

The Subtle Sabotage Of Blame In Cybersecurity & Online Safety By Tim McGuinness, Ph.D. – Anthropologist, Scientist, Director of the Society of Citizens Against Relationship Scams Inc. Blame in Cybersecurity & Online Safety is Rampant! We all do it, we all blame someone for something. Sometimes blame is justified, sometimes there is cause, and it is very hard to remove it from your vocabulary – but it is always destructive. I recently heard a cybersecurity training professional tell a story about motivating a corporate team to do better with cybersecurity. It Read More ...

SCARS Editorial Team2023-06-25T21:44:36-04:00June 22nd, 2023|Categories: • CYBERSECURITY, • EDITORIAL/COMMENTARY, • ONLINE SAFETY, • PYSCHOLOGY OF SCAMS, ♣ FEATURED ARTICLES, 2023|Tags: Blame, Blaming, Corporate Victims, Psychology of Scams, Scam Victims, Tim McGuinness Ph.D.|

The Cost Of Global Cybercrime

The Cost Of Global Cybercrime By Tim McGuinness, Ph.D. – Anthropologist, Scientist, Director of the Society of Citizens Against Relationship Scams Inc. Cybercrime is Costing Every Person on this Planet $750 per Year! CONSIDER: Global Cybercrime Is Above USD$6 Trillion Dollars Per Year Now! That Is $6 Trillion Dollars A Year in costs just from cybercrime! It Will Soon Pass $8 Trillion (According To Some Estimates). Cybercrime is costing more than the GDP (Gross Domestic Product) of 8 of the top 10 economies in the world! Read More …

SCARS Editorial Team2023-06-25T21:50:49-04:00June 22nd, 2023|Categories: ♣ FEATURED ARTICLES, • CRIMINOLOGY, • EDITORIAL/COMMENTARY, 2023|Tags: Cost of Scams, Cybercrime, Fraud, Scams, Tim McGuinness Ph.D.|

Cybercrime/Cybersecurity Training Has Failed!

Cybercrime/Cybersecurity Training Has Failed! A commentary on the state of cybercrime/cybersecurity training and helping victims avoid scams/fraud/cybercrime. By Tim McGuinness, Ph.D. – Anthropologist, Scientist, Director of the Society of Citizens Against Relationship Scams Inc. Cybercrime/Cybersecurity training does not work? Cybercrime training, also known as cybersecurity training, is a form of education that aims to teach individuals and organizations how to protect themselves against cyberattacks and other forms of online threats. But it mostly has failed. Read More …

SCARS Editorial Team2023-06-25T21:51:24-04:00June 22nd, 2023|Categories: • CYBERSECURITY, • EDITORIAL/COMMENTARY, ♣ FEATURED ARTICLES, 2023|Tags: Avoidance, Avoiding Cybercrime, Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, Tim McGuinness Ph.D., Training|

The Value of Slowness

The Power of Slowness: Navigating Cyber Threats with Deliberation A new approach to personal & corporate cybercrime avoidance – slowness! By Tim McGuinness, Ph.D. – Anthropologist, Scientist, Managing Director – Society of Citizens Against Relationship Scams Inc. Is Slowness the Answer? Let’s admit the truth. Almost all cyber & online safety training is failing! Read More …

SCARS Editorial Team2023-06-25T21:52:38-04:00June 21st, 2023|Categories: • ONLINE SAFETY, • EDITORIAL/COMMENTARY, ♣ FEATURED ARTICLES, 2023|Tags: Avoiding Cybercrime, Avoiding Fraud, Avoiding Scams, Cyber Threats, Good Decisions, Slowness, Tim McGuinness Ph.D.|

The Importance Of Taxonomies

The Importance Of Taxonomies Taxonomies allow for agreement on the terms that define the work of many. In every aspect of criminology, cybersecurity, fraud prevention, and law enforcement having a unified agreed-upon taxonomy is vital! By: Tim McGuinness, Ph.D., Anthropologist, Scientist, Managing Director, Society of Citizens AgainstRelationship Scams Inc. The Role Of Taxonomies Taxonomies play a crucial role in criminology by providing a systematic framework for categorizing and classifying criminal behaviors and activities. Read More …

SCARS Editorial Team2023-06-25T21:58:24-04:00June 20th, 2023|Categories: • EDITORIAL/COMMENTARY, • CRIMINOLOGY, • SCAMS & FRAUD - CRIMES, • STANDARDS/BEST PRACTICES, ♣ FEATURED ARTICLES, 2023|Tags: Criminology, Editorial, Standardized Terms, Taxonomies, Taxonomy, Tim McGuinness Ph.D.|

FTC Victim Predators

Attn: Federal Trade Commission

There is a WAR going on against scam victims!

A war where for-profit companies are exploiting and deceiving the victims of scams and financial fraud!

WE ASK THE FTC TO STOP EXPLOITATION OF SCAM VICTIMS NOW!

This war is being led by predatory for-profit companies that want more of these desperate and panicked crime victims\' money or to lead them away from legitimate support!

These companies claim they can get the victim\'s money back or that they will investigate the crime and have the criminals arrested - neither they can do. The victim usually receives a document or two and nothing more for the thousands of dollars they pay in advance for these services. Services that within the United States these companies must be licensed as private investigators to even provide any crime investigations or money recovery services, yet almost all of these companies lack state licenses.

There are cryptocurrency tracing companies that use automated tools to generate a paper report and charging scam victims thousands of dollars in advance for this service! These victims are desperate for help and looking for answers, and instead of sending them to real victims\' assistance providers they are pulling them in and costing them more of the precious little money they have left! What the scammers do is bad enough, but these real companies are exploiting victims one more time!

We call on the Federal Trade Commission to begin exploring this exploitation of crime victims - specifically scam or financial fraud victims by private investigating, money recovery, and other for-profit companies service companies!

We believe that this falls under the Commission\'s authority to regulate deceptive trade practices.

This is despicable and deceptive trade practice that should be banned in the United States without proper state licensing and full and complete disclosure about what they can and cannot do. We also believe the companies and their principals operating without proper legal licenses now should be banned from these activities permanently.

Please do what YOU can to bring this to the attention of the FTC Chair and staff!

Thank you!

Vianey Goes and Tim McGuinness, Ph.D., Directors,
Society of Citizens Against Relationship Scams Inc.
A crime victims\' assistance & crime prevention nonprofit supporting scam victims worldwide for free!
contact@againstscams.org

**your signature**