this post was submitted on 28 May 2026
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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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[–] SnotFlickerman@lemmy.blahaj.zone 229 points 3 months ago (11 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 77 points 3 months ago

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

[–] Prove_your_argument@piefed.social 52 points 3 months 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.

[–] No1@aussie.zone 19 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

I used to always add one incorrect tile and skip one correct tile.(It would still pass)

I thiught I was such a rebel lol

Then I figured, they'd be stupid if they didn't show the same image to multiple people...

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[–] Corngood@lemmy.ml 24 points 3 months ago

You don't have to drink a verification can, but you do need to buy a verification phone.

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[–] DeuxChevaux@lemmy.world 120 points 3 months ago (1 children)

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

[–] Prove_your_argument@piefed.social 44 points 3 months ago (2 children)

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.

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[–] bravesilvernest@lemmy.ml 94 points 3 months 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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[–] RobotToaster@mander.xyz 74 points 3 months ago (2 children)

There's no way this is ADA compliant.

[–] SnotFlickerman@lemmy.blahaj.zone 39 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

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

[–] K3LOE@lemmy.radio 32 points 3 months ago (3 children)

Clicking the headphone icon to hear the audio option is the way to bypass this if you get one.

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[–] uriel238@lemmy.blahaj.zone 67 points 3 months ago (13 children)

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

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[–] Renat@szmer.info 63 points 3 months ago (3 children)

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

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[–] tjoa@feddit.org 58 points 3 months 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 34 points 3 months ago (4 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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[–] gladflag@lemmy.ml 19 points 3 months ago

It’s not for your security :(((

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[–] RodgeGrabTheCat@sh.itjust.works 57 points 3 months 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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[–] antonim@lemmy.world 54 points 3 months 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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[–] BradleyUffner@lemmy.world 47 points 3 months 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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[–] spicehoarder@lemmy.zip 45 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (3 children)

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

[–] BlueberryWalnut@sopuli.xyz 25 points 3 months ago (2 children)

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

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[–] Reverendender@sh.itjust.works 44 points 3 months ago (1 children)

One more reason to not use google anything

[–] comrade_twisty@feddit.org 32 points 3 months ago

This will be used on sites like Experian, Chase, IRS, DMV, etc. It's a way to track and deanonymize everyone.

[–] eleijeep@piefed.social 41 points 3 months ago (3 children)

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

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[–] Adderbox76@lemmy.ca 41 points 3 months ago (5 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 21 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months 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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[–] Sir_Kevin@lemmy.dbzer0.com 40 points 3 months ago (1 children)
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[–] pwxd@lemmy.zip 34 points 3 months ago (1 children)

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

[–] wizardbeard@lemmy.dbzer0.com 19 points 3 months ago

More importantly, to link multiple device fingerprints to a single identity.

[–] Etterra@discuss.online 32 points 3 months ago
[–] birdwing@lemmy.blahaj.zone 32 points 3 months ago (10 children)
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[–] 0_o7@lemmy.dbzer0.com 31 points 3 months 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.

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[–] the_riviera_kid@lemmy.world 29 points 3 months ago

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

[–] RagingNerdoholic@lemmy.ca 29 points 3 months ago

Fuck absolutely everything about this.

[–] DFX4509B@lemmy.wtf 26 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

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

[–] akilou@sh.itjust.works 26 points 3 months ago (9 children)

Many humans don't have smart phones

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[–] themeatbridge@lemmy.world 24 points 3 months ago
[–] Melobol@lemmy.ml 23 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Is an android emulator able to bypass this? Just curious - I haven't started the degoogle process.

[–] cypherpunks@lemmy.ml 30 points 3 months ago (1 children)

I would guess not, given the other recent news about degoogled Android devices also being unable to pass reCAPTCHA.

[–] comrade_twisty@feddit.org 27 points 3 months ago (2 children)

Yeah, it requires a phone that Google can positively identify and connect to a real name / google account somehow.

Graphene OS won't work, so this is a non starter for me. Any website using this will simply cease to exist in my eyes.

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[–] Thordros@hexbear.net 22 points 3 months ago

Can I just drink the Verification Can, or do I need to stand up and shout, "MCDONALD'S®!"

[–] perdidonavida@mstdn.party 20 points 3 months ago

@cypherpunks the mere idea of requiring a device to use another is absurd. This should be illegal

[–] osanna@lemmy.vg 19 points 3 months ago (2 children)
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[–] Zerush@lemmy.ml 18 points 3 months ago

A good way to force the user to use by Google controlled devices and to download Google services for more control by Google. Also a good way that the user show the middle finger to Google, using alternatives.

[–] ef9357@lemmy.world 18 points 3 months ago

Just another reason to not use Google.

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