this post was submitted on 28 May 2026
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Privacy

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cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/47972724

i encountered this for the first time today while attempting to read something on archive.today.

i confirmed that decoding the qrcode using a computer and following the URL it contains is insufficient; the error it gave directed me here which is what the linked screenshot is of.

the old type of captcha remains available too, for now:

screenshot of text: Important: Mobile verification for Google Cloud Fraud Defense is an experimental challenge type in Preview. Visual and audio challenges are available as alternatives for users who can't complete mobile verification. To use them, click the Visual  or Audio  buttons.

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[–] WhyDoYouThinkThat@lemmy.world 11 points 1 day ago (1 children)

to prove you're human, enter your credit card number

[–] ghodawalaaman@programming.dev 3 points 23 hours ago

your pin, cvv and expiry date too, which confirms you are actually human

[–] Renat@szmer.info 45 points 2 days ago (1 children)

I once saw fake captcha scam that reuired scaning QR code to infect device. It looks exactly like that.

[–] lemmylump@lemmy.world 7 points 1 day ago (2 children)

I once made QR code stickers that placed people on a website warning them to stop trusting QR codes.

I spent a year traveling and everywhere I saw a QR code my sticker QR code went over it.

You target the right locations and spoof the website and you can get credit card, phone, email, address. Svan this QR code for 20% off blah blah blah.

Do use them.

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[–] the_riviera_kid@lemmy.world 17 points 1 day ago

LOL, fuck off. How about instead I move on to somewhere less hostile toward the user instead?

[–] 0_o7@lemmy.dbzer0.com 21 points 1 day ago (1 children)

We are making side loading harder because scammers are using "these" tactics to install malware on your devices.

It's totally fine when we use the same tactics to install malware on your device.

[–] Quill7513@slrpnk.net 6 points 1 day ago

malware is bytecode Google didn't approve of. when google spies on you, that's just "legitimate interest"

I got one of these. They had accessibility options so I just did the auditory one. It says a couple words, you write them out, and you're done. Like hell am I using a Phone for this shit.

[–] SnotFlickerman@lemmy.blahaj.zone 169 points 2 days ago (13 children)
  1. People without a mobile device are fucked out of being able to pass a captcha

  2. As if this isn't a way for them to associate multiple sessions on multiple specific devices with one another, this is just another avenue for data collection, period. Hidden under the guise of "more secure."

[–] Chulk@lemmy.ml 56 points 2 days ago

I imagine scammers are already thinking of ways to use this for phishing too

[–] Prove_your_argument@piefed.social 41 points 2 days ago (4 children)

Captcha has been one of the greatest google acquisitions ever.

They acquired it under the guise of improving OCR and have since morphed it into an AI data farm (how else is google lens gonna know what objects are what?) and now total insight into a users every single action from desktop to mobile, tying it all together into a surveillance nightmare.

I can guess the permissions that the recaptcha app needs now. Probably something akin to root access with all datapoints and considerations you could think of.

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[–] MrKoyun@lemmy.world 7 points 1 day ago (2 children)

It really should be illegal to build systems that require a user's access to any unrelated technology. You shouldn't be forced to have a phone to pay a parking fee or to get on the bus. You shouldn't need an app to charge your car. You shouldn't need to use proprietary software from one spesific company to pass a captcha on a random site.

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[–] umbrella@lemmy.ml 27 points 2 days ago (3 children)

notably, this kills any alternative to android.

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[–] uriel238@lemmy.blahaj.zone 41 points 2 days ago (10 children)

Verifying you have a phone doesn't verify that you're human.

[–] IratePirate@feddit.org 9 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Just like Recaptchas haven't been a challenge to bots for a long time. Still, we had to deal with this shit. Makes you wonder if it's just a stupid fucking pretext... 🤔

[–] AfricanExpansionist@lemmy.ml 12 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Isn't it training for AI and automated cars?

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[–] ef9357@lemmy.world 12 points 1 day ago

Just another reason to not use Google.

[–] osanna@lemmy.vg 12 points 1 day ago (2 children)
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[–] antonim@lemmy.world 37 points 2 days ago (2 children)
  1. Hype up AI.

  2. Everyone starts scraping the internet to obtain training data for their AI.

  3. To block the scrapers, countless sites implement stricter bot detection tools.

  4. The owners of the bot detection tools now effectively hold all of the internet by its throat, deciding who can access what and extorting more and more data from you to verify you're human.

Fucking genius.

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[–] BillCheddar@lemmy.world 4 points 1 day ago (1 children)

...just use a different website?

[–] calmblue75@lemmy.ml 1 points 22 hours ago

As easy as eating cake.

[–] motruck@lemmy.zip 4 points 1 day ago

Everyone needs to fail the test over and over again until they fall back to their non-we want to fuck everyone over even more world.

[–] DarrinBrunner@lemmy.world 6 points 1 day ago

I still won't order online from a store that won't show me shipping cost without a full address and phone number. I'll give them the zip code, that's all they need, that's all they get before I decide.

[–] MalReynolds@slrpnk.net 6 points 1 day ago

FWIW I've found passing it through my local SearxNG usually gives me a clean path to the content. But it's seriously worrying that some of the blocked content is publically available science (e.g. PMC Bioinformatics). But that should not be necessary, at this point a search engine should be a public resource. Fuck Google.

[–] DeuxChevaux@lemmy.world 81 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Looks like a very good way to shoo actual humans off of your website.

Sorry, my faith in users is basically zero. These dummies will go to websites that tell them to copy code and run it with win+r. They're morons and will do anything if a website promises them something.

[–] Etterra@discuss.online 22 points 2 days ago
[–] tjoa@feddit.org 41 points 2 days ago (4 children)

I know it has been said already but how stupid is it to teach users the pattern of randomly scanning QR codes. So ironic given that reCaptcha is for security in some sense.

[–] freedickpics@lemmy.ml 24 points 2 days ago (2 children)

It's the same with ID verification. For your safety you need to start giving random websites your drivers license or passport..

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[–] Adderbox76@lemmy.ca 36 points 2 days ago (4 children)

Any website that chooses to use this service will simply not get my traffic. If enough people feel the same, those websites will lose clicks and eventually tell Google to pound sand.

Imagine the utter hubris on these fuckers to think that people will get a google device just to access a website.

Or to think that an average user sitting at home would run to another room to grab their phone so they can verify themselves on the desktop just to visit blackcougar.com

[–] DFX4509B@lemmy.wtf 16 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (2 children)

They're using the fact that everyone else both already owns a Google or iOS device, and does everything on those devices, to punish desktop and alt mobile OS users.

The fact that this is going on right as AluminumOS is down the pipes, and right as rigged parts prices threaten to kill desktops as an option to begin with makes this especially sus.

The way things are going right now, I won't be surprised if we see a computing future where you're either on a Google or Apple-controlled device, or you're on a thin client tied to a cloud subscription, and you won't own your tech anymore.

Bezos' 'Give up your PC and rent from our cloud' threat is sounding less and less like a threat and more and more likely to become reality.

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[–] bravesilvernest@lemmy.ml 64 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Nice captcha. Would be a shame if someone intentionally injected malicious code that had users scan a QR code under the guise of security.

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[–] spicehoarder@lemmy.zip 30 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (3 children)

That's it. JavaScript was a mistake. Time to go back to HTML only pages

[–] BlueberryWalnut@sopuli.xyz 18 points 2 days ago (2 children)

This? This is the JavaScript straw that broke your back?

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[–] BradleyUffner@lemmy.world 29 points 2 days ago (1 children)

No malicious site would ever fake this kind of flow in order to get someone to scan a dangerous QR code. Nope, that would never happen.

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[–] SCmSTR@lemmy.blahaj.zone 4 points 1 day ago

Nah. Block all fingerprinting. You don't need any of this crap.

[–] RagingNerdoholic@lemmy.ca 21 points 2 days ago

Fuck absolutely everything about this.

[–] RobotToaster@mander.xyz 47 points 2 days ago (5 children)

There's no way this is ADA compliant.

[–] SnotFlickerman@lemmy.blahaj.zone 27 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

With the way the Trump admin is going I'm surprised they haven't totally dismantled the ADA already.

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[–] Sir_Kevin@lemmy.dbzer0.com 28 points 2 days ago (1 children)
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[–] RodgeGrabTheCat@sh.itjust.works 35 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Without a google account there will be many sites I can't visit. I'll look at such sites the same way as I look at paywalled sites.

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[–] eleijeep@piefed.social 28 points 2 days ago (3 children)

If you haven’t already divested from Google and its related services then now is the time.

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[–] Reverendender@sh.itjust.works 34 points 2 days ago (1 children)

One more reason to not use google anything

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[–] pwxd@lemmy.zip 29 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Oh boy! Another way to fingerprint your devices! Scammer are sleeping good tonight with these new verifications

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[–] formlessoedon@lemmy.ml 9 points 2 days ago

On the bright side, this means they are really worried about privacy practices such as those popular among the Lemmy crowd can make their surveillance expensive or maybe even impractical at scale, rather than profitable

[–] DFX4509B@lemmy.wtf 16 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

How soon before reCAPTCHA-encumbered sites are blocked on desktops entirely unless you're on ChromeOS or the upcoming AluminumOS?

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