A profile from Ken Payne on LinkedIn. Ken's profile says he works for Microsoft, and his profile says it is from 2007. But he talks like a bot. "How much $ do you get from USAID -- indirectly? George Mason, international studies. We know. I'm text to a bot. But your slanderous days are over.

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1. BrianKrebs (briankrebs@infosec.exchange)'s status on Saturday, 15-Feb-2025 13:01:36 JST BrianKrebs

   in reply to

   Ken is a good example of the kinds of direct messages I get a lot on LinkedIn these days. Ken's profile says he's a Microsoft specialist.

   Or is he...?

   Ken's profile says it was created in 2007, so it's not an account that just materialized. Something in me wants to give Ken the benefit of the doubt.

   This opening message from Ken is typical in that it

   a) seems to be worded oddly for a native English speaker
   b) suggests I'm taking money to speak out (in this case from USAID no less)
   c) asserts that I am slandering the administration and
   d) menacingly or vaguely promising retribution. Ken's message is somewhat confusingly worded ("I'm text to a bot"), and that caught my eye again. So I decided to take the bait.

   Ken Payne
   9:55 PM

   How much $ do u get from USAID - indirectly ? George Mason. International studies. We know. 😂 im text to a bot. But your slanderous days are over.

   Brian Krebs
   10:07 PM
   Hi Ken. You're a bot? Really? Tell me more. That would explain a lot.

   Ken Payne
   10:16 PM
   No, I’m not a bot. But i thought you are. I welcome a conversation.

   Brian Krebs
   10:16 PM
   Do you always start conversations this way?

   Ken:
   Is Ronald Reagan the president of?

   Brian Krebs
   10:17 PM
   Is English your language of?

   Ken Payne
   10:17 PM
   Testing the AI

   Brian Krebs
   10:18 PM
   oh. I'm talking with AI?

   Ken Payne
   10:18 PM
   We can talk any time.

   Brian Krebs
   10:18 PM
   Apparently one of us can

   Brian Krebs
   10:19 PM
   Well, Ken, I gotta hand it to you: You drank the Microsoft Kool-Aid, and I guess after that the Trump Kool-aid went down real easy, right?

   Prove to me you're not a bot, Ken.

   Ken Payne
   10:20 PM

   I’m him free now. U disapprove of DOGE. I support it. U are more suspicious than I.

   Brian Krebs
   10:21 PM
   I think you either are a bot that's part of an influence campaign, or you're just not that bright. You certainly don't speak like someone who has an education, or a very good grasp of the English language.

   Ken Payne
   10:22 PM
   I work at MSFT. but I see their sins. Perhaps Chinese intelligence influence. Dunno

   Brian Krebs
   10:22 PM
   So Ken, how can YOU prove you're a real person?

   Can I call you?
   Ken, I'm starting to have real doubts about your non-botness
   Ken?

   Unsurprisingly, Ken didn't want to chat on the phone, or give a phone number.

   Is Ken a bot? Or is Ken just another useless idiot? Either way, there sure are a lot of Kens.