this post was submitted on 01 Jul 2026
467 points (99.0% liked)

Technology

88329 readers
4016 users here now

This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.


Our Rules


  1. Follow the lemmy.world rules.
  2. Only tech related news or articles.
  3. Be excellent to each other!
  4. Mod approved content bots can post up to 10 articles per day.
  5. Threads asking for personal tech support may be deleted.
  6. Politics threads may be removed.
  7. No memes allowed as posts, OK to post as comments.
  8. Only approved bots from the list below, this includes using AI responses and summaries. To ask if your bot can be added please contact a mod.
  9. Check for duplicates before posting, duplicates may be removed
  10. Accounts 7 days and younger will have their posts automatically removed.

Approved Bots


founded 3 years ago
MODERATORS
top 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] notsosure@sh.itjust.works 89 points 3 months ago (2 children)
[–] Tim_Bisley@piefed.social 41 points 3 months ago (2 children)

Who knew AI would be useful for running scams......

[–] VieuxQueb@lemmy.ca 10 points 3 months ago

Are you saying that the thing that is only good at lying and creating fake images/videos is good at scamming ? I am shocked !

[–] phutatorius@lemmy.zip 2 points 3 months ago

LLMs are truthiness generators.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] cmbabul@slrpnk.net 70 points 3 months ago (3 children)

I wish I didn’t have ethics more often than I am proud of, I could’ve been scamming people for years and made a very comfy life for myself

[–] CyberChicken@whatcom.social 71 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (3 children)

Does cat face orchid bonsai sound like a scam to you?!?

[–] cmbabul@slrpnk.net 17 points 3 months ago (3 children)

Well I will make an exception for them as they look very polite

[–] diabetic_porcupine@lemmy.world 7 points 3 months ago

Kindly give me your credit card information

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] atrielienz@lemmy.world 11 points 3 months ago (1 children)

It sounds like a fever nightmare.

[–] justaman123@lemmy.world 5 points 3 months ago

They catch moths

load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments (2 replies)
[–] muhyb@programming.dev 36 points 3 months ago

I'm selling this sunflower seed. !!! Only 50 sun !!!

[–] TheBannedLemming@lemmy.world 18 points 2 months ago (2 children)

Those flowers are sending off some form of primitive flight or fight response in my brain. Their appearance is unnatural and unsettling.

[–] brsrklf@jlai.lu 3 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

To be fair some real flowers look very weird, but those fake ones look like muppets.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] crunchy@lemmy.dbzer0.com 17 points 3 months ago (2 children)

If someone needs to use generative AI to market a product, then that product doesn't exist.

[–] 9point6@lemmy.world 15 points 3 months ago (1 children)

I don't think the product actually existing is something scammers are typically concerned about

[–] crunchy@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 points 3 months ago

But it's a good rule of thumb for consumers. or at least for us to tell our parents.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] Sabata11792@ani.social 15 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Back in my day you got ripped off buying seeds from scammers good at Photoshop.

[–] Duamerthrax@lemmy.world 24 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (3 children)
[–] Sabata11792@ani.social 5 points 3 months ago

A slightly different shade of a flower is not THAT unreasonable.

load more comments (2 replies)
[–] The_v@lemmy.world 12 points 3 months ago

FYI the bottom right in the picture is a real sunflower call Sun Gold.

https://www.applewoodseed.com/product/sunflower-dwarf-sungold/

Of course only comes in yellow.

[–] Mouselemming@sh.itjust.works 11 points 3 months ago

Yet another reason to plant seeds of species that are native to your region, and purchase them from reputable sources

[–] Dvixen@lemmy.world 9 points 3 months ago

Used to buy succulent seeds online, and sadly there were a fair number of scammers selling seeds for what appeared to be gorgeous, but non-existent photoshopped succulents.

Scammers gotta scam, and AI makes it easy.

[–] NottaLottaOcelot@lemmy.ca 9 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Don’t buy seeds on Amazon, eBay, Etsy, etc - they are so full of scammers that it is impossible to weed out the legitimate sellers from the fake. And if you get fake ones, you may get invasive species that are harmful to the environment around you.

Most places have some great local sellers. But if you’re buying online I would recommend dedicated places like Canada’s Vesey’s Seeds, West Coast Seeds, or the US’s Prairie Moon

[–] Sprinks@lemmy.world 2 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Someone gifted me a bonsai kit off amazon that i cant use because every single seed packet is an invasive plant in my area. Unless the person who gifted it to me looked up every plant type, which is a big ask for them ability-wise, there was no way for them to have known from the product listing.

[–] Appoxo@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 points 2 months ago

If you don't let it propagate or put it in the ground, how is it being invasive hindering you from growing it as a bonsai.
It's literally potted and pruned and brought up as a house plant.

[–] IAmNorRealTakeYourMeds@lemmy.world 7 points 3 months ago (5 children)

At some level of stupidity, I think we should let the scammer win.

like, that's just a stupid tax, they deserve to be scammed.

[–] BehindTheBarrier@programming.dev 18 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

Honestly there's so many weird flowers out there it can be hard to tell truth from fiction. Yeah these are AI generated, but look at all the other flowers that are real:

  • Lambs ear
  • Sea holly
  • Teddy Bear sunflowers are real even
  • Protea "Little Prince"
  • Hoya Multiflora

Lots of very interesting flowers out there.

[–] Evil_Incarnate@sopuli.xyz 8 points 3 months ago (7 children)

When your mother starts buying this shit and spending big $$$ on stupid scams, you'll want them stopped.

[–] Hawke@lemmy.world 3 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Are you saying his mother is stupid?

[–] phutatorius@lemmy.zip 4 points 3 months ago

She must be, based on some of the things I got her to do.

load more comments (6 replies)
[–] phutatorius@lemmy.zip 4 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Yeah, caveat emptor has always worked so well in the past. Let's not regulate anything.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] lebkuchen@feddit.org 3 points 3 months ago

It's not really stupidity. Just think about stuff that you may buy without having the expertise to really judge the quality or if it is even possible. You might think that people are stupid when they do not know every plant. But do you know every tool, every tech gadget, every type of clothing and so on?

[–] TronBronson@lemmy.world 2 points 3 months ago

No lmao these things are being sold on ETSY and Amazon and a bunch of businesses that need to protect their market participants lmfaoooo. the responsibility is on who ever is hosting these scams, I report them all the time.

[–] Zephorah@discuss.online 7 points 3 months ago

Even before AI, this was a scam. Photoshopped pics. Fake seeds for legit plants, like wasabi, that are harder to find. And so on.

[–] Brewchin@lemmy.world 3 points 3 months ago

"Ah, yes... a 2m tall flower would look great next to my Day of the Triffids merch! Oh, and a starz-n-stripes container plant would be ideal for my shouty, flag-waving neighbour... Take my money!"

We are so doomed as a society.

[–] Malyca@lemmy.zip 3 points 3 months ago

They look like boobs

[–] SocialMediaRefugee@lemmy.world 3 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

These free-for-all marketplaces are just going to suffocate under a barrage of scams. Ebay is already the world's biggest stolen goods fence.

[–] Reygle@lemmy.world 2 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Also accurate, if cold, shadenfreude title:
A fool and their money are soon parted

[–] Trail@lemmy.world 3 points 3 months ago (1 children)

I prefer gparted over parted.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] Tollana1234567@lemmy.today 2 points 3 months ago

funny how its mostly flowers that are either sunflowers, or daisies, are moslty in the asteracae family, not any other. succulents are mostly propagated by cuttings, or offshoots, rather than seeds because succulent from seeds takes a very long time to grow.

[–] Kellenved@sh.itjust.works 2 points 3 months ago

Dr Seuss ahh flowers

load more comments
view more: next ›