4 ms·

I am so happy to see some of these predators get caught. A former coworker, a very smart but also very naive network engineer from the middle east, was hooked

I am so happy to see some of these predators get caught. A former coworker, a very smart but also very naive network engineer from the middle east, was hooked by these people shortly after immigrating. They said they were the US government and that he would be immediately deported if he didn't cooperate. He ending up sending them $30,000 if I recall correctly. :(

Scoundreller 8y ago
The reality is that the world is complicated. Some calls asking for money are completely legitimate, and if you don't act, bad things will happen. Others are total scams. If you're new here, they both sound the same because they are: People asking money for stupid reasons. E.g. mis-applied payments, a "1st-world" banking system where payments take several days, lack of chip-and-PIN resulting in overdrafts and failed bill payments. In some places, if a reporter stops by your work to ask you questions, you'll lose your job if you don't answer them, because the newspaper is the government. In the USA, it's usually the opposite. It takes a while to sort it all out.
- viraptor 8y ago
  > Some calls asking for money are completely legitimate, and if you don't act, bad things will happen. Have you got some examples? I don't think I ever got a call asking me for money. Or at least not one that I needed to act on immediately - a call from letting agency to check my rent payment would be the closest, but it was both verified and done outside of the call.
  - JumpCrisscross 8y ago
    > I don't think I ever got a call asking me for money I have gotten fraud alert calls from my bank or card issuer. When I got those, I would thank them, hang up and dial the number on the back of my card. Usually legit, but once it was not.
    - viraptor 8y ago
      The fraud alerts don't really ask you for money though. They give you information to act on rather than ask you for anything.
      - JumpCrisscross 8y ago
        Fraud alert as in “did you do that? Because we froze your account in the meantime.” To lift the freeze, you have to tell them things.
        viraptor 8y ago
        That's interesting. I never got more than "did you make this transaction?" question, but I could imagine a scammer could start asking more detailed questions.
        deleted 8y ago
        [deleted]
      - actsasbuffoon 8y ago
        Not necessarily asking for money, but it can still lead to fraud. My wife got tripped up by one. A guy called claiming to be from our bank. He said there were suspicious transactions in our recent account history, and he had some information about us. He knew our names, address, phone numbers, and even the last 4 digits of our social security numbers. He asked her to confirm her debit card number, and she gave it to him. There's something surprising about a stranger having your personal information. It makes you think they're legitimate. My wife has a pile of degrees, and they still managed to trick her.
  - Scoundreller 8y ago
    I’m talking about not-north America. Where non-payment for something can lead to follow-up phone calls before it reaches the debt collection stage. Sure iTunes gift cards sound strange to you, but the idea of asking for a cheque is unbelievable for a lot of the modern and developing world. But in North America, I have gotten calls regarding payments from smaller vendors. My ISP likes money, so they’ve called me when my credit card expired. As has my dentist when a claim only went through 90%.
- yareally 8y ago
  The IRS will never call you if you owe them money. They send such information through the mail.
  - bluGill 8y ago
    The IRS won't, but there are others who will. It is not possible for a human to know all the entities in the world who they might owe money to and how they would contact you if you did owe them. The IRS is big and scary, but if you get a call from xyz inc saying you owe money and this is your last chance before it goes to court, that is scary, and it could be true.
  - Scoundreller 8y ago
    I have had the Canadian IRS call me because I didn’t respond to their letters that went to an old address.

Scoundreller 8y ago

The reality is that the world is complicated. Some calls asking for money are completely legitimate, and if you don't act, bad things will happen. Others are total scams. If you're new here, they both sound the same because they are: People asking money for stupid reasons. E.g. mis-applied payments, a "1st-world" banking system where payments take several days, lack of chip-and-PIN resulting in overdrafts and failed bill payments. In some places, if a reporter stops by your work to ask you questions, you'll lose your job if you don't answer them, because the newspaper is the government. In the USA, it's usually the opposite. It takes a while to sort it all out.

viraptor 8y ago
> Some calls asking for money are completely legitimate, and if you don't act, bad things will happen. Have you got some examples? I don't think I ever got a call asking me for money. Or at least not one that I needed to act on immediately - a call from letting agency to check my rent payment would be the closest, but it was both verified and done outside of the call.
- JumpCrisscross 8y ago
  > I don't think I ever got a call asking me for money I have gotten fraud alert calls from my bank or card issuer. When I got those, I would thank them, hang up and dial the number on the back of my card. Usually legit, but once it was not.
  - viraptor 8y ago
    The fraud alerts don't really ask you for money though. They give you information to act on rather than ask you for anything.
    - JumpCrisscross 8y ago
      Fraud alert as in “did you do that? Because we froze your account in the meantime.” To lift the freeze, you have to tell them things.
      - viraptor 8y ago
        That's interesting. I never got more than "did you make this transaction?" question, but I could imagine a scammer could start asking more detailed questions.
        deleted 8y ago
        [deleted]
    - actsasbuffoon 8y ago
      Not necessarily asking for money, but it can still lead to fraud. My wife got tripped up by one. A guy called claiming to be from our bank. He said there were suspicious transactions in our recent account history, and he had some information about us. He knew our names, address, phone numbers, and even the last 4 digits of our social security numbers. He asked her to confirm her debit card number, and she gave it to him. There's something surprising about a stranger having your personal information. It makes you think they're legitimate. My wife has a pile of degrees, and they still managed to trick her.
- Scoundreller 8y ago
  I’m talking about not-north America. Where non-payment for something can lead to follow-up phone calls before it reaches the debt collection stage. Sure iTunes gift cards sound strange to you, but the idea of asking for a cheque is unbelievable for a lot of the modern and developing world. But in North America, I have gotten calls regarding payments from smaller vendors. My ISP likes money, so they’ve called me when my credit card expired. As has my dentist when a claim only went through 90%.
yareally 8y ago
The IRS will never call you if you owe them money. They send such information through the mail.
- bluGill 8y ago
  The IRS won't, but there are others who will. It is not possible for a human to know all the entities in the world who they might owe money to and how they would contact you if you did owe them. The IRS is big and scary, but if you get a call from xyz inc saying you owe money and this is your last chance before it goes to court, that is scary, and it could be true.
- Scoundreller 8y ago
  I have had the Canadian IRS call me because I didn’t respond to their letters that went to an old address.