This was an incredibly captivating story and film with cinematography that puts you in the moment and makes your heart race. The film shows multiple perspectives which really helps paint a full picture, and I could not help but side with one of them. I still cannot believe how this was all shot live and over the course of three years.
In terms of getting access to a story like this, I think one really has to live with the people before even finding out about this. Talking to and working with the locals, then eventually you will be connected to a story like this. Trust also has to be built, for them to take you everywhere and for their behavior to remain authentic. Not only that but as you live and interact with people you will find out about stories that you could not if you were on the outside, they are their own cultures and societies and you must be a part to access it (unlike in first world countries where everything is accessible online).
Personally I was most captivated by the mixture of the story with the shots of nature, which fit just so perfectly. As for the Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau people, it was truly inspirational how much they cared and took action. It was their whole lives, and for them their whole world to take care of their culture and their land,
Host Intro: In today’s day and age everyone utilizes their cell phones and other technology as means of communication, entertainment, and much more. What happens when something we depend on so much is used as a vehicle to attempt to trick and damage us? Leonard Melnik spoke with several individuals pertaining to their experiences with scam messages.
TRACK: I am sitting with Ben Hecker on the MTA, he is a game design major at NYU who has recently released his own video game and has been telling me about a really fun social game he deployed in his class. While the FCC warns that text scams are on the rise, that does not seem so to Ben.
ACT: BEN: Um ,scam texts I mean they are a thing. They aren’t a big deal for me at least, they are usually in the form of “Your venmo account got signed into recently, click this link to fix it”. But every time I get the message the phone number is different and the link is really sketchy looking.
TRACK: What Ben has just described is called smishing, it is a type of attack where the scammer will disguise themselves as a legitimate entity and try to trick the victim. According to BleepingComputer there has been an exponential rise in this type of attack.
TRACK: While he is very aware of scams and won’t fall for one easily, Ben also does not have a lot of public information that could be used in such scams.
ACT: BEN : But also I tend to be more careful on the internet and can imagine that other people who are less careful probably get a lot more scam stuff because their information is more out there.
TRACK: Now I am on Sheepshead Bay, speaking to Nicole who is a pre-med student. She shares a similar experience with Ben, and personally noticed a trend opposite to the FCC.
ACT: NICOLE: I actually noticed a decrease in scam messages when I purchased my new phone.
TRACK: While maybe her new phone is better at deducting scams, she also experienced Smishing attacks
ACT: NICOLE: Sometimes the messages tried to fake a company like AT&T
TRACK: When I asked her what the texts usually contained, she told me that they usually provide some sort of positive incentive.
ACT: NICOLE: It usually included a small paragraph like “Claim your prize now!” and then a link to some obscure website that I never clicked.
TRACK: While she had never clicked on one of the links, I asked her if she ever responded to the texts
ACT: NICOLE: No never, actually on one occasion I simply wrote “Shut up”.
TRACK: I am now sitting next to Massoud outside of his next class. He is pretty hungry but does not have time to run out and go get food between his classes. I was able to get a few words from him on any trends and what he has noticed about scam texts.
ACT: Massoud: I have seen them go up, a lot of people told me they have been getting more and shown me their scam text. I have gotten a lot of them so they have definitely gone up.
TRACK: When I asked him to give me an example of spam/scam texts. He brought up exactly what Nicole and Ben brought up, smishing.
ACT: Massoud: One example I have gotten is a lot of texts saying “Your account has been compromised” from Chase or Citibank. I’ve got TD so it’s definitely a total scam.
TRACK: When I asked him if he had ever responded to scam texts, he had an understandable response.
ACT: Massoud: No, no, don’t want to risk that.
OUTRO: While we may be warned about rising rates of scam texts and rising losses. The experience will vary from individual to individual, some may perceive these texts as a joke. Meanwhile for others it could scare them into taking false actions. Regardless it is important to keep up with modern threats to make sure you and your loved ones are safe online. In the meanwhile, we can laugh at funny texts together. This is Leonard Melnik, signing off.
Some of the script that didn’t make it to the final version..
While Ben and others may know better than to trust these messages, our elders may not be as aware. In 2021 it was estimated that scam texts cost Americans over 10 billion (86 million in 2020), and these are just the reported numbers. When I spoke to Nicole she told me how her family was almost tricked.
TRACK: Unfortunately I could not get an interview with anyone who had been directly scammed, even though I was able to speak with them off record. The common consensus seemed to be scare tactics and urgency, some of the scams would threaten their future if they did not take immediate action and in the moment were unable to think clearly.
TRACK: Some individuals have reported being scammed on AARP’s scam tracker tool, where they explained how someone texted them pretending to be an uncle who was in need of money, and that person lost over a thousand dollars.
Over the last week, the second largest crypto exchanged crashed and burned. They were allegedly involved in numerious illegal activities and fraud all the meanwhile their CEO was known as “the worlds kindest billionaire”. After FTX declared bankruptcy, they were allegedly hacked and the rest of users funds were stolen.
This was not the first case nor is it the last. Crypto has been notorious recently for having a lack of value yet everyone sees it as a goldmine opportunity. Most lose, but that’s not what people see, all they see are the rare winners and millionaires.
I would like to make a documentary speaking with individuals who have been impacted by the recent crashes in crypto. To shed a light on the damage that all this Mania causes to the everyday investor/person
In terms of sources I plan on using many reports regarding how much was stolen/lost from investors.
Finding a person might be hard, if I can’t find a person that has personally been affected then I will speak to an expert or someone who is familiar with economics. As I do more research the story is likely to change.
Host Intro: In today’s day and age everyone utilizes their cell phones and other technology as means of communication, entertainment, and much more. What happens when something we depend on so much is used as a vehicle to attempt to trick and damage us? Leonard Melnik spoke with several individuals pertaining to their experiences with scam messages.
AMBI: Sound of MTA train approaching on the tracks (FADE DOWN AS TRACK BEGINS)
TRACK: I am sitting with Ben Hecker on the MTA, he is a game design major at NYU who has recently released his own video game and has been telling me about a really fun social game he deployed in his class. While the FCC warns that text scams are on the rise, that does not seem so to Ben.
ACT: BEN: Um ,scam texts I mean they are a thing. They aren’t a big deal for me at least, they are usually in the form of “Your venmo account got signed into recently, click this link to fix it”. But every time I get the message the phone number is different and the link is really sketchy looking.
TRACK: What Ben has just described is called smishing, it is a type of attack where the scammer will disguise themselves as a legitimate entity and try to trick the victim. According to BleepingComputer there has been an exponential rise in this type of attack.
TRACK: While he is very aware of scams and won’t fall for one easily, Ben also does not have a lot of public information that could be used in such scams.
ACT: BEN : But also I tend to be more careful on the internet and can imagine that other people who are less careful probably get a lot more scam stuff because their information is more out there.
TRACK: Now I am on Sheepshead Bay, speaking to Nicole who is a pre-med student. She shares a similar experience with Ben, and personally noticed a trend opposite to the FCC.
ACT: NICOLE: I actually noticed a decrease in scam messages when I purchased my new phone.
TRACK: While maybe her new phone is better at deducting scams, she also experienced Smishing attacks
ACT: NICOLE: Sometimes the messages tried to fake a company like AT&T
TRACK: When I asked her what the texts usually contained, she told me that they usually provide some sort of positive incentive.
ACT: NICOLE: It usually included a small paragraph like “Claim your prize now!” and then a link to some obscure website that I never clicked.
TRACK: While she had never clicked on one of the links, I asked her if she ever responded to the texts ACT: NICOLE: No never, actually on one occasion I simply wrote “Shut up”.
With the pandemic forcing people to stay in their homes, we saw a great uptick in various collecting hobbies. Specifically related to trading cards. Leonard Melnik spoke to a fellow student at Baruch college to find out more about these hobbies.
Ambi: Sound of chatter of classroom and other students talking
Track: I am here with Jose Tirado in the Multimedia Journalism class. He mentions that he only recently started using computers, so I asked him what other hobbies he has.
ACT: Jose : Collecting Baseball cards is a hobby I have. I described it to a teacher one time as pokemon and Yu-Gi-Yo cards. I like the special inserts which aren’t worth a lot of money, I don’t go into cards for the money I go in for the rush of the pull.
Track: To “pull” is to open a card pack and see what you find. Much like buying a lottery ticket, the excitement and anticipation is worth the price to many consumers. Jose started collecting baseball cards from a very young age.
ACT: Jose: I started in 2009 when I was 8 years old. My dad bought a box from walmart. I don’t have those cards anymore, they are destroyed somewhere. I was not good at keeping them clean and stuff when I was younger
Track: Jose does not share interests with other friends/students, and since he just started using computers he has not been able to connect with communities that share the interest.
ACT: Jose: I literally don’t know a single person who likes baseball (cards).
Track: Jose’s favorite baseball card is a Mike Trout rookie card
ACT: Jose: He’s a really popular baseball player, and its a super expensive. Its like in the millions. There are a lot of copies like art, the baseball card is like a card but its actually a portrait.
Track: But baseball cards are not the only cards he collects
Act: Jose: In my past I usually connect Pokemon and Yu-gi-yo cards. My Yu-gi-yo adventuress started when a friend gave me a deck. I don’t play with Pokemon cards, I just collect them.
Track: Collecting cards continue to be a great hobby for many people, and their worth continues to grow. Whether they have intrinsic value or they are just worth a lot, that’s up to the beholder. For Baruch College, I am Leonard Melnik.
For now, I plan on reporting on the uptick of spam/scam text messages. Recently, there has been a surge of fake texts where the end goal of the scammer is to get the victim to invest in something. Historically scam calls have disproportionately affected those who are older.
For audio, I can have the bustling of the school as a background noise. Then while the interviewee is explaining what texts they got or what they responded I can have the tapping and sounds of a mobile keyboards.
I would like to ask the interviewee’s questions about the scams they have received. Such as was the scammer pretending to be a reliable company/person, or was a new identity.
Since this is just the draft pitch, I really want to find ways to make this into more of a “story” which I have never done before. In order to do this, I plan on mixing in statistics and information from existing reports about these scams and what they result in.