Cyber bots are the latest technology advanced militarily and commercially for deception. As such, ” scam bots ” must be outlawed much like heroin.

Sure bots can be useful. The well-crafted article by Bryan Lufkin published by Britain’s megaphone for MI6–the BBC–explains this well. Obviously, Western Intelligence wants you to consider the good and evil in this technology.

But the same mob’s predecessors-in-interest ruled similarly in the opium trade that prompted the Opium Wars. They didn’t give a shit millions of innocent Chinese victims were being damaged. Heroin (made from opium) has its advantages too. Especially for the Columbian-Mexican drug mob, or the Western alliance in Afghanistan. This cartel conceals as much as Lufkin about what’s really ongoing in that “Muslim Holy War.”

“We’re smack in the middle of the festive season,” Lufkin wrote to comfortably engage readers before Christmas 2017.  “Millions are combing online shopping sites for last-minute gifts, but some things are selling out in the blink of an eye.

“Increasingly though, it’s not always other people scrambling to nab the vanishing merchandise. The culprits may be computer programs that perform specific, repetitive tasks at breakneck speed, like buying things online en masse to be resold elsewhere at inflated prices.

“From online shopping, to ticket sales for concerts and events – and even fake identities that troll social media – these bots have made headlines in 2017. They’ll continue to seep into our lives in myriad ways next year, too. They can be a scourge. But can they also be a force for good?” Lufkin asks like the Cheshire cat in Alice’s Wonderland.

Shopper nightmare? No Unfair and Deceptive Trade by Inside Traitors in the Cyber-Intel Crime Family.

“One way bots have disrupted our lives – and wallets – has been in online shopping,” Lufkin continued giving us a case study in applied “military neuroscience” and psychological operations (“PSYOPS”) at MI6 and the BBC.

“Fingerlings” – tiny, brightly-coloured plastic baby monkeys that wrap around your finger – are one of the most sought-after toys of 2017. They usually cost $15 each. But US retailers have been selling out quickly, and those must-have mini monkeys end up on auction sites like eBay at large mark-ups – most going for around $20 to $60, but the New York Times reported one case of $5,000.”

“While there’s no sure-fire way to say with absolute certainty that a bot’s to blame for your go-to gift selling out, you can usually tell when a non-human ne’er-do-well is the culprit.” Gee, how reassuring.

In a mere second, a bot can scan retail sites hundreds of times, find a product and completely drain a retailer of its entire stock.

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“That’s because how bots work: in a mere second, a bot can scan retail sites hundreds of times, find a product, instantly enter information like size and payment details, and completely drain a retailer of its entire stock.”

“There is human involvement, though: a human programmer is required to predict URLs and product codes for sought-after sales items, so that the bot will have a head start over a human as soon the product goes live. Bots are constantly scanning for products to be relisted online, so the cycle can continue once stock is replenished,” Lufkin reported.

“It’s not all products, though. Bots only really target highly anticipated or popular products that their creators know have a very limited supply, that can be re-sold for much more, straight away, on third-party or auction sites. . . .”

Hogwash! That is not what scam bots “only really target.” They target people like me. They target human rights advocates and consumer protection activists. They target Big Pharma’s critics. They target multi-national corporation competition. They target alternative health practitioners and natural medicine companies. They target revolutionaries asserting their First Amendment freedom of speech. There is less and less freedom of speech when more and more bots and trolls squelch your online voice Google’s search engine no longer sees you. It targets all of these “Enemies of the Corporate State.” Here is my irrefutable evidence:

Lufkin explained “The new scalping”

“Bots also targeted the sale of concert and event tickets – the purchase of which is already a competitive and cutthroat process. In the UK, fans have seen tickets to shows . . . sell out in minutes and reappear for thousands of pounds on resale websites . . . .

“That’s why some of the biggest acts in the business are paying attention. Bruce Springsteen and Taylor Swift – two artists who boast some of the largest and most loyal fan bases – have taken action to fight scalpers and ticket bots. They know it’s become harder for real people to actually buy tickets, so they’ve turned to software that attempts to verify and vet actual human fans. . . .

“Governments are trying to keep up with the technology and protect consumers. In the UK and US, there have been efforts to crack down on ticket-grabbing bots, seeking to make illegal this type of use of AI.

“But bots don’t just interfere with your spending habits. You’ve likely encountered them elsewhere on the internet, too.

Lufkin addresses the “Social media takeover”

“Bots have also been blamed for their negative role in politics. Posing as real humans on Facebook or Twitter, bots are programmed to rapidly retweet political hashtags, for example, or to constantly post fake news stories that push certain agendas and propaganda. Most notably, it has been widely reported that social media bots were used to meddle with the 2016 US presidential election.”

“Political bots have snuck their way into our social media habits steadily since around 2012,” Lufkin continued quoting Lisa-Maria Neudert, a researcher at the University of Oxford’s Internet Institute. Neudert studies the social science of the internet, and how digital media intersects with politics and communication. She says that . . . bots [are] getting much savvier.

There could soon be “a bot that can be programmed to convince a person of a specific political opinion, behaving exactly like a human over social media,” she says. It could “give you specific arguments or basically present you with a counter argument – it could hold conversations with you potentially without you realising [you’re talking to a bot]. As AI grows more sophisticated, the likelihood of having a drawn-out argument with a bot over social media gets higher .”

“The AI used by bots . . . can be a help as well as a hindrance,” Lufkin concludes. His specious shift is not surprising given Lufkin’s employer’s use of “voice-activated assistants.” Comparing the scam bots with voice software, as Lufkin does to divert, is like comparing grapes to watermelons.

Then Lufkin pumps the whole industry by stating, “As bots get faster at completing tasks and better at making decisions, they could help us with our finances, too.”

“In my own work, I have always made it a high priority that the AI programs – sophisticated bots – that we build make the world a better place, not worse,” says Tuomas Sandholm via email, a professor of computer science at Carnegie Mellon University.”

“Earlier this year, an AI bot that Sandholm worked on pulled off a historic victory in a 20-day poker marathon against four of the world’s best poker players. Sandholm predicts that AI that can strategise and think critically could eventually lead to smart, helpful bots that could even negotiate the price of a new car.”

“The advantage that comes from the AI is not just speed, but primarily better decision-making than any human can accomplish,” Sandholm says.

“Neudert agrees it’s not all bad. Bots could help you change the way you spend money – they could be linked to a messaging app on your phone and engage in a conversation with you about your finances. They could track your spending over several months, advise you on ways to improve, and answer questions.”

“As for now, though, it’s a case of buyer beware this holiday season. Bots are here to stay, and while it’s up to lawmakers to crack down on just how much they’re allowed to infiltrate our lives… they’ve already been through Santa’s sleigh.”

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