Wool Over Our Eyes

Internet access was finally restored to my workplace today at around 11 am (albeit intermittently). As I scrolled through the many posts on PPS, I found with a shock that a score of users at the popular geek-spot LowYat.net had been conned out of approximately RM 70 000 in cash, courtesy of a repeat online fraudster. To make a long story short, the conman promised a bulk import of high end graphics cards to some of the forum users, with cash up front. The cards never arrived, but the perpetrator disappeared with the money.

As of the time of writing, there were some disturbing comments made on Jeff Ooi's blog. Some readers put the blame wholly on the buyers for being too gullible. Others twisted the topic around to blame (what else?) video games. One "astute" reader even suggested a link from video games to Mohamad Farid's death recently, which honestly disgusted me. I'd love to rant about this, but it's not the issue at hand today (I'll get round to this one day).

Right now, the victims of this hoax are scrambling all their resources (including private investigation firms and bounty hunters) in order to apprehend this fraudster. They have not only lost their money but also their dignity and standing as technophiles in Malaysia. I for one, cannot totally blame them. Having been a victim of a similar hoax before, I can understand how convincing some of these people can get. Everything makes sense, no matter how outlandish the hoaxers' claims seem to be after the fact. As they say, hindsight is always 20-20. These victims have paid the price for their folly, and I don't see the point of rubbing any more salt in their wounds. Which brings me to my point, I guess..

In my observations in the past year or so, I've seen several internet communities blossom in our country (including PPS). These communities (like LowYat.net) usually spring out of a common goal or shared interests among its members. As it expands and grows, they learn to communicate freely, and trust begins to form. It's not unusual for people who have never met each other in real life to have strong and concrete faith in their fellow members. I see it as an unavoidable social dynamic as society embraces the internet. Look at eBay and other succesful online trade forums. One of the most important factors in any of their transactions is how reliable or trustworthy a particular seller is. Those who cheat or do not deliver will usually be shunned and slowly fade away. It's nearly impossible to police these traders, so in the end, good word of mouth is all that a trader can hope for.

I fear that this unfortunate incident may scar the landscape of our internet communities for some time to come. The members of LowYat.net are angry and aggrieved. Their relationships within the ecosystem will take time to recover. And perhaps worse yet, incidents like these give ammo to detractors of these new ways of communication and entertainment. On the plus side, we now learn to be more careful and vigilant. I don't blame the poor users who got cheated. They were just doing what anyone else might have done under the circumstances. By labelling them as stupid and naive, we're forgetting that no one is invincible from these fraudsters and parasites. Who knows what form they may take when they decide to hit you? Are you THAT prepared? Will you be able to see right through it?

To the victims, I am truly sorry to hear of your loss. Though it may be of little consolation, at least the worst damage suffered was to the wallet (and perhaps to a certain degree, your reputations). You made it with your lives, and with enough information that I truly hope will lead to the arrest of this filth.

I wondered aloud today, what kind of stupid, ignorant fool would risk pissing off almost a hundred geeks from so many walks of life and with so many means at their disposal? I'm no vigilante, but I have a feeling if he's caught, Mr Shahrilwan will be in for a long night.

I can't wait.