People In The Developing World Thought They Were Buying Cheap Cellphones. They Were Also Getting Robbed. (buzzfeednews.com) 57
An anonymous reader shares a report: When Mxolosi saw a Tecno W2 smartphone in a store in Johannesburg, South Africa, he was attracted to its looks and functionality. But what really drew him in was the price, roughly $30 -- far less than comparable models from Samsung, Nokia, or Huawei, Africa's other top brands. [...] But its success can come at a price. Mxolosi, an unemployed 41-year-old, became frustrated with his Tecno W2. Pop-up ads interrupted his calls and chats. He'd wake up to find his prepaid data mysteriously used up and messages about paid subscriptions to apps he'd never asked for. He thought it might be his fault, but according to an investigation by Secure-D, a mobile security service, and BuzzFeed News, software embedded in his phone right out of the box was draining his data while trying to steal his money.
Mxolosi's Tecno W2 was infected with xHelper and Triada, malware that secretly downloaded apps and attempted to subscribe him to paid services without his knowledge. Secure-D's system, which mobile carriers use to protect their networks and customers against fraudulent transactions, blocked 844,000 transactions connected to preinstalled malware on Transsion phones between March and December 2019. Secure-D Managing Director Geoffrey Cleaves told BuzzFeed News that Mxolosi's data was used up by the malware as it attempted to subscribe him to paid services. "Imagine how quickly his data would disappear if the subscriptions were successful," he said. Along with South Africa, Tecno W2 phones in Ethiopia, Cameroon, Egypt, Ghana, Indonesia, and Myanmar were infected.
Mxolosi's Tecno W2 was infected with xHelper and Triada, malware that secretly downloaded apps and attempted to subscribe him to paid services without his knowledge. Secure-D's system, which mobile carriers use to protect their networks and customers against fraudulent transactions, blocked 844,000 transactions connected to preinstalled malware on Transsion phones between March and December 2019. Secure-D Managing Director Geoffrey Cleaves told BuzzFeed News that Mxolosi's data was used up by the malware as it attempted to subscribe him to paid services. "Imagine how quickly his data would disappear if the subscriptions were successful," he said. Along with South Africa, Tecno W2 phones in Ethiopia, Cameroon, Egypt, Ghana, Indonesia, and Myanmar were infected.
Re:Can we (Score:5, Funny)
Start a new trend and do away with clickbait headlines? You know these two part statements that start off with a premise and end with a zinger? Yeah that would be great.
I agree. Somewhere there's just got to be one weird trick to make that stop happening.
Re:Can we (Score:5, Funny)
Start a new trend and do away with clickbait headlines? You know these two part statements that start off with a premise and end with a zinger? Yeah that would be great.
I agree. Somewhere there's just got to be one weird trick to make that stop happening.
Don't worry, you won't believe what happens next!
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Don't worry, you won't believe what happens next!
You're right. I was shocked by #7.
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Don't worry, you won't believe what happens next!
You're right. I was shocked by #7.
I know. I never saw it being that celebrity doing that!
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Don't worry, you won't believe what happens next!
You're right. I was shocked by #7.
I know. I never saw it being that celebrity doing that!
Slashdot celebrities love this trendy new workout program.
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Editors HATE This One Weird Trick!
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Re: "I agree. Somewhere there's just got to be one weird trick to make that stop happening."
Bribe msmash to stop shitting up Slashdot?
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Here's a test to see if you're good at avoiding clickbait [imgur.com]
Re: Can we (Score:4, Insightful)
In the scheme of things, this isn't too bad. The headline actually contains several relevant facts and no misleading statements. The relevant bits that were left out (downloading apps and malware) were a bit too complicated to summarize in a headline, and the details were found right below in the summary. All-in-all, I'd say this isn't bad.
Re:Poor People (Score:5, Insightful)
For $30. And you have no fucking idea what he was going to do with it, like maybe get a job, or start a business, or, you know, participate in any way in the economy of the 21st century. Or for that matter just break the boredom and keep himself sane.
I mean, seriously, I'm a total out of touch asshole, and what I need right now is to show it off on Slashdot.
Re:Poor People (Score:5, Informative)
If it was the difference between getting a job or not, then yeah. It would.
Re: Poor People (Score:2)
lol ya that 30$ is going to magically turn his life around
Ever try to get a job without a phone number?
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Or an email address.
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You must be in a seriously privileged position in life to say that.
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Slashdot is trash now. These damn people couldn't reason their way out of a wet paper bag.
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Depends. Was your wet paper bag manufactured using Rust, Arduino, blockchain or 3D printing?
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... you have no fucking idea what he was going to do with it, .... or, you know, participate in any way in the economy of the 21st century.
Bombarded with marketing shit and being signed up underhand to subscriptions - if he was wanting to participate in the 21st century economy it sounds like he got there.
Re:Poor People (Score:5, Informative)
I mean seriously, Im 41 and unemployed, what I need right now is a brand new smartphone!
In a lot of developing states a smartphone is how a lot of banking and payment transactions are completed and are likely the only source of reliable internet access. So yes, smartphones are in fact a very important piece of technology to have, and quite likely would be their only source for media consumption.
Hell, as a side note I remember watching an episode of Bizarre Foods in I believe Cambodia (filmed in the early-mid 2000s) where the host visited a village that literally floated on a regularly flooded river out away from the city and subsisted primarily on fishing. Even they had cell phones (one of the fisherman's phone even rang while they were filming and the hos specifically mentioned they all had cell phones).
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Maybe you're unemployed because the one thing you didn't buy with your money a well-priced communication device.
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Half the frustration that angry poor people have is that they buy cheap stuff *on purpose* because they don't really value whatever the thing is to begin with and they're mad that it doesn't work right and extra mad because other people didn't make that same mistake.
My dad is like that -- he always bought the most low-quality stuff and then bitched that it didn't work right and then further bitched that he couldn't afford anything better. If he would have only bought 1/3 less stuff to begin with he would h
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Half the frustration that angry poor people have is that they buy cheap stuff *on purpose* because they don't really value whatever the thing is to begin with and they're mad that it doesn't work right and extra mad because other people didn't make that same mistake.
My dad is like that -- he always bought the most low-quality stuff and then bitched that it didn't work right and then further bitched that he couldn't afford anything better. If he would have only bought 1/3 less stuff to begin with he would have had some level of quality and not nearly as much anger and jealousy.
I think the previous post about poor people making poor decisions pretty much sums up what you're saying.
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I actually think it's two different phenomenon.
I think poor people make bad spending decisions for two reasons. One is coercion -- life circumstances require them to do or buy X and they are limited by resources (money, knowledge, time) to make better choices. The other is buying to satisfy an emotional desire, often because of the signaling value of the item allows them to project a more desirable image.
With my dad it was like pathological thrift, he bought stuff neither because of coercive forces nor for
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I live in South Africa. When cellphone networks took off in a lot of places in Africa, around the middle 1990's, they provided a lot of people with connectivity that the state-owned fixed-line telephone monopolies never provided. Many people went straight from no internet to cellphone-based internet, leapfrogging wired technology like dialup, ADSL etc. since they were never on offer.
That said, culturally there is a HUGE focus on personal presentation and conspicuous exhibition of wealth - quite a spectacle for a westerner to behold. Many people on minimal wages "invest" in brand name clothing and flagship mobile phones. Some higher salary earners often max out their pay package to "buy" the most expensive (albeit impractical) car the bank and debt laws will allow. Unfortunately the marketing industry doesn't help, by flogging the old trope for all it's worth of the good live if you just obtain the right stuff.
People pretty much do the same thing here, just in different ways. Unless you think everyone actually needs a 4000 sq. ft. house, a truck that seats six with 10,000 lbs towing capacity, and a new iPhone every year.
Re:Poor People (Score:4, Insightful)
I'm guessing the feature of the phone draining your bank account wasn't disclosed to the buyer. Similarly, pretty much every cell phone has undisclosed features designed solely to take your money - even the expensive phones favored by the rich. They just do it in more sophisticated, "civilized" ways to avoid hurting anyone's feelings. I'm not sure that makes it any better.
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Re:Poor People (Score:5, Insightful)
Poor People often do not have the resources to pick better decisions.
You are poor you need a cell phone, so you can communicate with people and businesses. Use it to get yourself work and keep informed with your workplace so you can keep your job.
The best decision would probably to buy a lower-mid tier cell phone around the $200-$300 range, as they have all the feature you will need for many years. However $200-$300 for a poor person is a lot of money, that will need to go towards food, shelter, healthcare. Such a purchase would have significant impact on your quality of life (which is still low). So you are going to pick the cheapest thing you can find, it will have nasty problems, and probably be more expensive over all to run than the mid-tier phone. But that is the best you can do, without affecting your current quality of life.
A long time ago, when the Boy Scouts was a respected institution. Working on my wilderness survival merit badge, where you are expected to survive with minimal equipment, and no help from others. You are truly self reliant. You spend the entire day on actives you need to survive. Building a hole in the ground or small Lean TO Getting wood, starting a fire without modern fire-starters. Being super careful that you don't injure yourself (a scrape or cut can get infected) finding clean water and boiling and filtering it. and if you have enough time try to get some food. When you don't have resources it is very difficult to plan further ahead, because you need to put all your effort in the here and now. Anything that can help you move from simple surviving to improving your life will require some luck, and the wisdom to take advantage of that luck.
Re:Poor People (Score:4, Insightful)
Poor People often do not have the resources to pick better decisions
The classic example used by economists is boots. Suppose you can buy a $10 pair of boots that will last for one year or a $20 pair of boots that will last for three years. Over time, it's more economical to buy the more expensive boots, but if your budget doesn't allow you to spend twice as much you'll buy a pair of cheap boots every year.
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Or, you know, eBay or Craigslist a pair. You have to wonder if economists ever considered the used market. Of course, you'd need a smartphone to be able to jump on the good deals, so ...
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So you buy a $5 pair of boots that lasts you 4 months and you get foot fungus.
The problem with buying already been used products and why economist don't consider them, is the fact they are hard to get on demand. Trying to get a good pair of used boots in winter may be difficult. Or getting that $50 used smartphone that doesn't have a dead battery.
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As Terry Pratchett wrote:
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Tend to make poor decisions, news at 11
Don't know if your parents where rich or poor. I do know they made one very wrong decision.
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Poor people in developed countries make poor decisions and sign up for payment plans for stuff they shouldn't be squandering money on like $1,000 iPhones. Poor people in developing countries try to be ultra frugal and buy $30 brand X phones so they can try to get an edge up by being able to communicate.
Poor People are targeted (Score:2)
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Go grab a xanax or something.
Re: Clickbait! !Are we really gonna act like Buzzf (Score:1)
It's supposed to be funny. Maybe it's you who needs some of those hard drugs.
And, do you think I can just buy hard drugs like Xanax at the corner store? What to you think this is? Some libertarian hellhole wasteland where people pop hard drugs like candy, like where you're from?
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What?
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They almost literally invented clickbait! It is so much their entire business model, that it is what their name means!
Ignoring this story, kill Buzzfeed with fire, put all its employees on prison, even the damn janitor, and ban and block all its sites, IP adresses and everything, everything, everything ... that exists, ... past, present and future, in all discovered and undiscovered dimensions! [youtu.be]
A simple "Please don't post Buzzfeed articles" would suffice.
Only going to get worse (Score:2)
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Are you sure? After all, depending on how you cut corners, you may end up with rounded corners and we all know how expensive iPhones can be.
Sent from my iPhone SE 2020.
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
A The only way to avoid this is for countries to improve their economies so people can afford normal phones.
Oh, is that all they have to do?
In all seriousness, South Africa is not a poor country. It is an *unequal* country. It has one of the highest rates of income inequality in the world. It is also by US standards relatively corrupt (as the US is relatively corrupt by Nordic country standards).
These things (corruption and endemic poverty amidst overall wealth) often go together, and breaking out of that trap is like pulling yourself up by your bootstraps. The people with the money run things, and when the c
Perfectly normal for smart phone (Score:2)
So in other words, it acts just like a regular "smart" phone. Sucking your wallet for everything you have.
A long time ago, the point of using "smart" phones was to get away from having to deal with malware and configuration found on desktop computers. Not so smart now, is it?
Haven't they met us? (Score:1)
We've been fucking them over for centuries!
If you want something done right, do it yourself!