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Dozens Charged with Scamming 15,000 Victims Through Fake IRS Calls
- fabiandesimone 10y agoHere's a video of said calls: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CuVFcizDwqw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CuVFcizDwqw
- bdrool 10y agoAnother one, where they tried to scam a tax professional: https://youtu.be/poFAzDCGLrI?t=36s https://youtu.be/poFAzDCGLrI?t=36s
- chillingeffect 10y agoI'm so glad. I was one of the people they tried to target. I tried to keep them on the line and extract as much info as I could and reported it to the IRS. I feel bad for the people they actually got money from and I hope they get it back.
- buckbova 10y agoI honestly haven't met anyone that WASN'T called with an IRS scam this year. It's amazing how they were able to call so many numbers and it lasted so long.
- algorithmsRcool 10y agoI also got a call too, I knew it was a scam as soon as he asked for my name and address. I tried to string him on and get some information but he hung up on me. I called back and he answered "Hello IRS" and hung up a moment later. I had no idea this scamming was so prevalent. I feel like I should check with my mother to see if she got any strange calls.
- happy-go-lucky 10y agoYou may want to check this out, too: http://www.npr.org/sections/alltechconsidered/2016/04/11/473847620/a-real-life-tax-scam-this-is-what-irs-phone-fraud-sounds-like http://www.npr.org/sections/alltechconsidered/2016/04/11/473...
- jug5 10y agoWhy do we want to prevent the gullible from being scammed?
- pavel_lishin 10y ago$300 million? Hot damn. I wonder if they would have gotten away with it if they'd stopped when they were merely wealthy instead of millionaires.
- clifanatic 10y agoI'm not normally a fan of the death penalty, but in this case...
- ninv 10y ago"The scammers have "done their research" using publicly available information, including sites like Facebook, he said. They identify vulnerabilities to exploit." Stop posting personal info on Facebook, Instagram and Linkedin. Best way to keep in touch is Whatsapp and any other personal messenger app.
- duskwuff 10y ago> Best way to keep in touch is Whatsapp… …which is owned by Facebook, and shares account information with the Facebook Platform? http://www.theverge.com/2016/8/25/12638698/whatsapp-to-start-sharing-user-data-with-facebook http://www.theverge.com/2016/8/25/12638698/whatsapp-to-start...
- logicuce 10y agoBut that information is not available to a random stalker
- ninv 10y agoExactly that's my point. They were targeting single women and elderly people and looking up this information on Facebook. Checkout this case http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-37735369 http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-37735369 In this case the scammer recorded the video and threatened to distribute video to facebook contacts. A half hour later I get a message on Facebook. "Listen," it says, "I'm a man, and I recorded a video of you masturbating. Do you want to see it?" He sends me the video. It's about five minutes of me masturbating. "I have a list of your friends and family from Facebook - your mum, your sister, your cousins," he says. "You have one week to send me to send me 5,000 euros (£4,450), or I'll send them the video." Keep everything private! I do not understand why i am getting downvote for this suggestion.
- rdtsc 10y agoAre you suggesting these people work for Whatsapp? You could make the news with that kind of info.
- deleted 10y ago[deleted]
- aresant 10y agoHere's the source complaint & indictment https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdtx/file/905837/download https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdtx/file/905837/download
- jasondc 10y agoIt's a pretty effective scam for a few reasons: -You call THEM back, which immediately establishes trust (since you called them!) and makes it easier for you to fork over information/payment -It's pretty scary to hear that the IRS is suing you, since almost everyone thinks they may have done something on a past tax filing that wasn't completely correct
- danieltillett 10y agoIt is effective because nobody ever knows if they own the IRS money or not. When you have a tax system like the USA it is impossible to know what you owe.
- excitom 10y agoI received several of these annoying calls. I knew it was a scam but I was amazed at their brazenness; how can they get away with claiming to be from the IRS and demand money? Good to hear they have been charged.
- trprog 10y ago>how can they get away with claiming to be from the IRS and demand money? I feel like these sorts of scams increasingly involve calling/emailing people in one country from a different country. This is presumably because enforcement within any single country is becoming more and more effective. By targeting people in other countries you create a situation where multiple police forces need to cooperate which presumably means you are able to operate for longer before arrests start happening.
- nradov 10y agoSimilar scams are also going on with utility companies and the level of activity has definitely increased this year. The spammers spoof Caller ID for a utility company such as PG&E, then tell the mark that their electricity and gas will be cut off unless they pay a past-due bill. They try to hit me at least once a week. https://www.pge.com/en/about/newsroom/newsdetails/index.page?title=20160407_pge_warns_customers_of_increased_scams_during_tax_and_election_season https://www.pge.com/en/about/newsroom/newsdetails/index.page...
- techsupporter 10y ago> The spammers spoof Caller ID for a utility company such as PG&E, then tell the mark that their electricity and gas will be cut off unless they pay a past-due bill. This is one of the myriad of times where being poor is expensive. I know this scam wouldn't work on me today. Why? My utility bills are paid automatically through credit card charges made by the utility. I get e-mails every month or two when the charges are made. If I don't see an e-mail around the usual time, I can log in and investigate before the bill is past due. Even if the charge messes up for some reason, I have the money handy to pay both the utility charge and the late payment fee if it's my error. Someone who doesn't have as much doesn't have those choices. I remember when I made far less than I do now and, yes, it's entirely plausible that I would get a call from the light company demanding payment or they'll have the person standing next to my meter go ahead with the disconnection. So I would have fallen for that scam in the past because it was plausible. It sucks that scammers prey on people who are in these kinds of vulnerable positions.
- WalterBright 10y agoI get these calls now and then, and I always say I'll mail a check. A legitimate call will say ok, the illegit ones will demand payment over the phone.
- bluedino 10y agoLol. The IRS doesn't call you when they demand money, they just empty your bank account or come to your house and take all your shit.
- ourmandave 10y agoScam Phone Calls Continue; IRS Identifies Five Easy Ways to Spot Suspicious Calls https://www.irs.gov/uac/newsroom/scam-phone-calls-continue-irs-identifies-five-easy-ways-to-spot-suspicious-calls https://www.irs.gov/uac/newsroom/scam-phone-calls-continue-i... Things the IRS will never do: 1. Call to demand immediate payment, nor will we call about taxes owed without first having mailed you a bill.. 2. Demand that you pay taxes without giving you the opportunity to question or appeal the amount they say you owe. 3. Require you to use a specific payment method for your taxes, such as a prepaid debit card. 4. Ask for credit or debit card numbers over the phone. 5. Threaten to bring in local police or other law-enforcement groups to have you arrested for not paying.
- ben_jones 10y agoHowever the IRS will soon be contracting private debt collection agencies [1] which may use some of those methods. [1]:https://www.irs.gov/uac/newsroom/new-private-debt-collection-program-to-begin-next-spring-irs-to-contract-with-four-agencies-taxpayer-rights-protected https://www.irs.gov/uac/newsroom/new-private-debt-collection...
- deleted 10y ago[deleted]
- sandGorgon 10y agoSo the story leaves out a lot of the interesting details.. but has been in thr headlines in India. It was a massive, coordinated operation by the Mumbai police teams who discovered this by accident. Almost 200 policemen took part in the exercise, but most of them didnt know about the mission (to prevent leaks). Almost an Infernal Affairs like operation - http://m.rediff.com/news/special/how-the-rs-500-crore-scam-was-busted/20161014.htm http://m.rediff.com/news/special/how-the-rs-500-crore-scam-w...
- happy-go-lucky 10y agoThank you for the link. Disgusting people!
- happy-go-lucky 10y agoA company of 700 people that are morally corrupt and seemingly unapologetic.
- outericky 10y agoI got several of these calls. Transcript of the voicemail. It's comical. Sad that some fell for it. I'm just glad the local cops didn't show up and take me into custody. >>>>> Mission team of IRS we have just received a notification regarding your tax filings from the headquarters which will get expired in the next 24 working hours and once again expired after that you will be taken under custody by the local cops as there are for serious allegations pressed on your name at this moment we would request you to get back to us so that we can discuss about this case before taking any legal action against you
- afandian 10y agoThat sounds like deliberate word salad. Maybe the effect is to hit with you as many words as possible and effect some kind of change in brain state like whatever it it is that Derren Brown [0] does. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derren_Brown https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derren_Brown
- Justin_K 10y agoCouldn't we spend less than $300M on our telco infrastructure to prevent shit like this? Black listing rented phone numbers, preventing caller ID spoofing, etc...
- reddytowns 10y agoYea, let's perpetrate a scam like this to raise money to prevent scams like this from occurring. Or do you think the money is going to come from somewhere else? Why should I have to pay for the ever increasing coddling of the American public?
- Justin_K 10y agoTroll
- reddytowns 10y agoNo, just someone with a different opinion than you.
- tmaly 10y agoI am still waiting for them to prosecute the fake business loan scams. I get calls daily with the message that I have been approved for a 250K business loan.