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I saw some text in Russian recently which talked about phishing attacks. It described one as designed for "mammoths" (мамонтов).

I am interested to learn more about this term. I can guess it means something like "big/desirable target" but I am not sure if that is correct or if there is any nuance missing.

Here is the quote where I saw the term used:

Сегодня в тг получил сообщение, девушка предлагает встретиться в театре, купить билет. После анализа сайта, понял что он рассчитан на "мамонтов"

(emphasis added)

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This is a reference to the Russian proverb лох не мамонт, лох не вымрет "suckers are not mammoths, suckers won't go extinct", meaning that there will never be a shortage of suckers to fall for con schemes.

Лох is Russian for "a sucker, a mark, a gullible person prone to falling for con schemes". А popular metaphor for it is немамонт "non-mammoth", but мамонт can be used as well.

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  • Wouldn't немамонт be a euphemism in this case?
    – Dan M.
    Commented Oct 23 at 14:29
  • @DanM: "euphemism" and "metaphor" are orthogonal concepts. Depending on the context, it probably could be a euphemism as well.
    – Quassnoi ♦
    Commented Oct 23 at 16:11
  • it just doesn't feel like it's a metaphor to me since there is no implied similarity between the terms. It alludes to a proverb there the difference is specifically pointed out.
    – Dan M.
    Commented Oct 24 at 15:44
  • @DanM. the dictionary definition of metaphor is "a figure of speech in which a word or phrase literally denoting one kind of object or idea is used in place of another to suggest a likeness or analogy between them (as in drowning in money)" (MW). In this case, the word немамонт (the "vehicle") can be directly used to replace лох (the "tenor"), with the implied meaning of "that which will never go extinct" (the common thing between the two concepts, or the "ground"). In English, it would be most probably referred to as "the proverbial non-mammoth", a thing which I wish existed in Russian.
    – Quassnoi ♦
    Commented Oct 24 at 17:31
  • The fact that it can be directly substituted with "лох" and not lose any meaning makes me not think of it as a metaphor. "Немамонт" doesn't denote any kind of object or idea by itself that is disconnected from the original proverb.
    – Dan M.
    Commented Oct 25 at 13:56
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Russian-speaking fraudsters of all kinds have a well-known proverb: "Лох - не мамонт, не вымрет" ("A patsy is not a mammoth, it will not die out"), which means that it will always be easy to find a victim for a new fraud.

Thanks to this proverb, the word "mammoth" in the context of various illegal actions is used in the meaning of "future naive victim".

In this case, it's about a future victim of a phishing attack, someone not professional enough to defend against them.

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Мамонт is ancient animal, like a wooly elephant. Elephants are slow. So when it's said the website is "рассчитан на мамонтов" it mean it is for someone old/slow in a sense not quick witted to recognize a scam.

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    The word in question is widely used to designate a potential victim of a fraud. This is not related to age or level of computer literacy. So this version is misleading. The word in question is used in the context of information security, e.g. by Group IB facct.ru/media-center/press-releases/fake-courier or
    – Dima Chubarov
    Commented Oct 23 at 15:13
  • @DimaChubarov according to who? to you and to a random website? i don't think so. neither you nor they are anyone who should be listened to. you want to provide an answer -- go ahead. but no one is interested in your corrections, especially when they aren't based on anything authoritative.
    – max
    Commented Oct 23 at 16:09
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    @max: on Stack Exchange, it is considered polite to explain why a downvote was given, which is exactly what the comment is doing. Please refrain from generalizations like "no one is interested in your corrections". Pointing to perceived flaws in answers is a valid use of the comment section. Thank you.
    – Quassnoi ♦
    Commented Oct 23 at 16:21
  • While being completely agree with @quassnoi comment, I upvoted the answer. When I read the question, my immediate impression was that it's about older guys who assumingly are not used to modern online phishing attacks.
    – TT_ stands with Russia
    Commented Oct 23 at 23:29

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