Social Engineering

[iago]

http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/display.php?id=34552

A good, although very long story about a social engineer.

[Chavo]

I read about half of the article until I got sick of the story's horrible twist.  The tone suggested that having a baby and not wanting to live with your mom is a good reason to steal.

[iago]

That makes me think of one line that really stood out to me:

“I’m not going to say I thought it was right, but I will say you have these…places where people are making over $500,000, and myself who is intelligent, with no job,” she says. “Sometimes I would see people’s bank account receipts, and I would cry. A hundred dollars kept me and my children in my apartment for another month. And it’s what they spent on a nice dinner out.”

Take that how you want it, but I think that's an important thing for people to realize.

[Falcon]

The story seems to suggest that what she did was alright because the money was for a good purpose. Thats bullshit, yesterday I read this article: http://abcnews.go.com/Business/Economy/story?id=4298321&page=1. The guy started out with just $25 dollars and ended up making a living for himself in a relatively short amount of time. If Her husband isn't going to grow up and get a job then she needs to find someone else, using the excuse of "Love" to steal is just wrong. If she is as intelligent as she claims, I don't see why she couldn't find a stable job other than pure laziness.

[Krazed]

Haha, I've been sick as shit so I watched a lot of TV yesterday. On Dr. Phil, he was talking about how before you get married, you should always discuss money and how the other persons credit/finances look like.

[iago]

Incidentally, if you get past whether you agree with her morals or not, it's an interesting story. Look at how simple it was for her to bypass security checks in major buildings -- it takes virtually no skill to break into a facility if you're simply able to talk. You don't even have to be very good at talking.

I've heard stories in government (where I work) where somebody will walk into an office, say they're there for a pickup, and rattle off some names that they've obviously researched. Some people are really good, and it's really hard to catch them.

[Joe]

For an example of someone who's not good at talking, or spelling, see my post in AV's email thread.

I was actually talking with a few friends of mine about what would happen if we walked into Walmart and grabbed the biggest thing we could and then shoplifted it in plain sight. We concluded that they would figure nobody would "shoplift" like that and we had a good reason to take it, but due to the chance we were wrong, we're not going to try.

[iago]

Well, there is a story (that may or may not be true, but I've heard it from several people) that some people once stole a boat from a store downtown without getting caught. They got caught when they went back for the paddles. Dunno if that's true, but eh?

[Explicit]

Although I applaud her successfulness, she as well as her boyfriend could have easily gotten a job, as low-end as it may have been. Taking turns working days and evenings would have allowed for them to take care of their child. I don't see why they'd dish out the extra couple of bucks for the amenities in a hotel when they could just as easily have gotten an apartment for months at a time at a fraction of the cost.

There's no doubt that she's intelligent and witty, but it's a shame that she didn't put her sharpness to better use.

[deadly7]

I don't see why she couldn't find a stable job other than pure laziness.

That is such a false statement I don't even know where to begin.