Quote:
Originally Posted by Hitch
Apparently, the newest "thang" is that they scan the file, and then embed the pages--sideways--into eBooks at the least and both at the worst (eBooks+Print);
|
As in an EPUB that is only sideways images?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hitch
Have you lads seen the latest and greatest piracy stunts, going on, in KDP-land?
It's horrifying.
|
Is this new(?) wave much different than previous years?
The Digital Reader has been writing some stuff about this for a while:
And I definitely know I've been following stuff on the algorithmic pricing (where they sell "used copies" for hundreds and hundreds of dollars).
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hitch
So, what the hell is the point? WHY are they doing this?
[...]
I'm at a loss to understand the gist there. Unless it's some sort of brute-force testing for something else...but WHAT?
|
Krebs on Security is an absolutely fantastic journalist who writes about computer security + spam:
2018: "Money Laundering Via Author Impersonation on Amazon?"
He also explains the background + how such things work.
Note: I've had his website on my MUST READ list for ~10 years.
* * *
Recently, I also stumbled across this fantastic podcast, "Darknet Diaries":
https://darknetdiaries.com/
In
Episode 85: "Cam the Carder", he interviews a guy who was sucked into credit card skimming operations, and how it expanded from there. (Also explaining details on how/why.)
Here's a snippet of the transcript:
Quote:
|
A credit card dump is the digital information stored in the credit card like name, expiration date, card number, and the bank info. This by itself can sometimes be used to make purchases but some people will buy card writers and actually turn a blank credit card into a stolen credit card. Then they try to buy things like gift cards at stores to convert the stolen money into something more legal. You can buy credit card dumps anywhere from one dollar to $40 each depending on where you live and how much info you get with it. But you’ve got to be careful. Some cards you buy might be old, expired, or already cancelled due to someone else using it, or it being reported stolen. You really need to find a good vendor that you can trust. As you can imagine some vendors are better than others. They have a high success rate like 60%, 80%, and they have a big inventory.
|
I'm betting an Amazon is a trustworthy brand + very likely for such bogus ebook purchases to slip by if buried between other credit card purchases.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hitch
I honestly don't understand what's happening there, unless it's money-laundering, but that doesn't make any sense, either. One lousy alert, one copyright violation notice, one complaining customer and the book will be yanked and no royalties will be paid.
|
If it's fully automated + enough of a % slip through...
Similar to spam emails, the tiniest of tiny percentage actually goes through... but some sucker out there is buying those "male enhancement" pills.
But definitely read Krebs on Security. He'll teach you all!
* * *
Side Note: And get prepped for another massive influx of garbage. There were some absolutely massive leaks the past few months:
500+ million Facebook accounts.
Prepare for even more mountains of spam phone calls + emails + hacked accounts.
If you also want to see how this info can be used against you, listen to
Darknet Diaries #87: "Guild of the Grumpy Old Hackers".
Back in 2016, they used the massive 2012 LinkedIn breach (also 500+ million accounts), in order to get into Trump's Twitter account.
Quote:
Originally Posted by salamanderjuice
Well if you ask the people who uploaded the book I'm sure they'll say it's legit. How do check that a book is legit? Check every single publisher and ask if it's theirs for every book uploaded? Publishing rights can change between countries and languages and formats too. I imagine it's a giant mess.
|
I assume Amazon already does similar, but implementing a "plagarism checker"/fingerprinter.
If they check the text against previously uploaded ebooks, calculate a % match.
So if 98% of your ebook is similar to a previous ebook, maybe look more deeply into it.
... but this just makes the scammers push the edge slightly further to see what they can get away with. And with "AI" getting much better now—like the ones that condense news articles—you can run the text through algorithms to slightly change the wording throughout the book.
* * *
But Amazon has a few other enormous problem with physical goods as well.
Comingled Inventory
2020: Reddit.com: "YSK that Amazon has a serious problem with counterfeit products, and it's all because of something called "commingled inventory."
- Amazon begins selling Device X.
- Person A become an Amazon-approved seller, and sends Device X to Amazon's warehouse.
- Amazon tosses it on the pile.
- Scammer becomes an Amazon-approved seller, sends "knockoff Device X" to Amazon's warehouse.
- Amazon tosses it on the pile.
Then 2 scenarios can happen:
- You purchase Device X "from Person A".
- Amazon reaches into their bin, sends you Scammer's knockoff instead.
- People leave horrible reviews for Person A.
or:
- You purchase Device X from Scammer
- They probably set price a few cents cheaper.
- Amazon reaches into their bin, sends you Person A's legitimate version.
- Scammer pockets the money.
This problem has been swelling to epic proportions, and now it's gotten so bad that I refuse to purchase many tech products from Amazon (and have told many friends to ramp down as well).
Last year, I decided to upgrade my webcam.
I had to reorder the fracking thing 5 times. 5 times!
Amazon kept sending me the completely wrong webcam (Chinese-variant) each time.
Finally, after months of frustration, I purchased from Best Buy, where at least there was some semblance of inventory quality control.
Hijacking ASIN
2020: ArsTechnica.com: "Amazon still hasn’t fixed its problem with bait-and-switch reviews"
What happens is:
- A listing goes dormant for a while
- Hijackers swoop in and take it over, tricking Amazon into merging the new item with the old listing
- All the old ratings/reviews carry over.
The Amazon identification number (ASIN) is the same, the URL is the same, but it points to a completely different item.
You've probably seen this if you try to repurchase something OR if you find incredibly odd reviews (trying to order a charging cable, but the reviews are talking about honey).
Again, last year, I went to repurchase a high quality USB charger (Anker, absolutely fantastic brand)...
But when I clicked on the ol' link in my history, instead of being lead to the same object I purchased, the Amazon page lead me to a completely hijacked scam.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hitch
Nyah, I don't see it. What Amazon REALLY needs to do (run, this is a hot-button topic with me) is charge a minimal upload fee, say, $10 or $25, which can be recovered, by the author, through sales. [...] That would put a cold stop to a lot of this piracy nonsense, of all kinds.
|
No.
See Google Play (apps) + Steam (video games).
* * *
Anyway, I think this is really straying far from the original topic at hand...
But KFX and all this JSON-server-fed-fixed-format nonsense... rotten, absolutely rotten.