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Can anyone with an understanding of cash transfers work explain how this is possible? I cannot fathom how scammers get away with this. The police have the QR

Can anyone with an understanding of cash transfers work explain how this is possible? I cannot fathom how scammers get away with this. The police have the QR code, the URL, and the cash going out of one account into another. How is it possible that these people don't get caught and locked up immediately?

kyletns 5y ago
If they set up payments through a provider outside the US I don't see how a local police force is going to be able to track those payments.
- Too 5y ago
  Wouldn't that prompt the 3d-secure on payment? This would quickly raise some eyebrows.
colinmhayes 5y ago
The website is probably in Russia I guess. Unless they catch someone putting the qr sticker on there's no link to the US.
heywire 5y ago
Why wouldn’t they just capture the card number and sell it?
- bredren 5y ago
  Depending on the implementation, it could be they are doing that. And the stripe charges are just to keep the scheme going longer.
Findecanor 5y ago
Identity theft. Accounts that receive money transfers for criminals have often been hijacked, or set up using hijacked credentials.
Nextgrid 5y ago
In some locations law enforcement is overwhelmed/incompetent/doesn't care. I've seen much more money than that being stolen, reported to LE by the bank and end up being returned as LE didn't even bother responding.
micromacrofoot 5y ago
They live in a country that won't extradite them and signed up for everything with a stolen identity.
- bhelkey 5y ago
  Someone put the QR code on the parking sign.
  - sokoloff 5y ago
    “Earn $25/hr working in your city. Easy work, get started next week; you get paid the same day.” “We’re a contractor for the city and need to update the signage on parking meters to add these QR codes.” I bet you could get plenty of marks to do the sticker work.
    - micromacrofoot 5y ago
      This is how political campaigns get people standing around with their signs around election time, anyway. They're getting like $20 to stand around during rush hour. Door-to-door campaigners, protestors, petition signers, there's a massive shadow labor force of unnamed people getting paid cash for work no one wants to get caught paying for.
disillusioned 5y ago
There's a burgeoning market for enough KYC data to open a US-based bank account at a bank that doesn't look all that closely. People were running PPP scams doing the same: KYC a US-based bank account, KYC a Coinbase account, exfiltrate to crypto, done.
munk-a 5y ago
Money laundering is the key here - you have it going out of one account to another one... registered in Micronesia that just happens to have been emptied yesterday and closed. The QR code and URL (essentially the same piece of information) point to a server somewhere that could be some idiot running it on their personal real-name AWS account but is probably a dead end of the server host either being shifty/ignorant and accepting cash with no contact details or having given the server out to someone with entirely fraudulent contact details. It's possible if they're greedy the money trail will be easy to follow, but if they're willing to lose a large proportion of their earnings passing it through some people that can launder money well then they'll probably get off scot free.
avianlyric 5y ago
Simple, most police forces don’t have the skills or the interest in pursuing these types of crime. The lack of physical theft or injury, and the requirement to chase individuals by requesting digital evidence from banks etc, plus the small value of each individual crime (probably only $20), even if the aggregate amount stolen is large, and finally the fact the criminal is probably out of their physical jurisdiction, means police just don’t care. As a result, if you’re stealing funds in a purely digital fashion, you can generally expect to be able to steal millions before anyone investigates you. You need to operating at a level where the FBI or, more likely, Secret Service takes an interest. QR codes on parking signs just doesn’t cut it.

kyletns 5y ago

If they set up payments through a provider outside the US I don't see how a local police force is going to be able to track those payments.

Too 5y ago
Wouldn't that prompt the 3d-secure on payment? This would quickly raise some eyebrows.

colinmhayes 5y ago

The website is probably in Russia I guess. Unless they catch someone putting the qr sticker on there's no link to the US.

heywire 5y ago

Why wouldn’t they just capture the card number and sell it?

bredren 5y ago
Depending on the implementation, it could be they are doing that. And the stripe charges are just to keep the scheme going longer.

Findecanor 5y ago

Identity theft. Accounts that receive money transfers for criminals have often been hijacked, or set up using hijacked credentials.

Nextgrid 5y ago

In some locations law enforcement is overwhelmed/incompetent/doesn't care. I've seen much more money than that being stolen, reported to LE by the bank and end up being returned as LE didn't even bother responding.

micromacrofoot 5y ago

They live in a country that won't extradite them and signed up for everything with a stolen identity.

bhelkey 5y ago
Someone put the QR code on the parking sign.
- sokoloff 5y ago
  “Earn $25/hr working in your city. Easy work, get started next week; you get paid the same day.” “We’re a contractor for the city and need to update the signage on parking meters to add these QR codes.” I bet you could get plenty of marks to do the sticker work.
  - micromacrofoot 5y ago
    This is how political campaigns get people standing around with their signs around election time, anyway. They're getting like $20 to stand around during rush hour. Door-to-door campaigners, protestors, petition signers, there's a massive shadow labor force of unnamed people getting paid cash for work no one wants to get caught paying for.

disillusioned 5y ago

There's a burgeoning market for enough KYC data to open a US-based bank account at a bank that doesn't look all that closely. People were running PPP scams doing the same: KYC a US-based bank account, KYC a Coinbase account, exfiltrate to crypto, done.

munk-a 5y ago

Money laundering is the key here - you have it going out of one account to another one... registered in Micronesia that just happens to have been emptied yesterday and closed. The QR code and URL (essentially the same piece of information) point to a server somewhere that could be some idiot running it on their personal real-name AWS account but is probably a dead end of the server host either being shifty/ignorant and accepting cash with no contact details or having given the server out to someone with entirely fraudulent contact details. It's possible if they're greedy the money trail will be easy to follow, but if they're willing to lose a large proportion of their earnings passing it through some people that can launder money well then they'll probably get off scot free.

avianlyric 5y ago

Simple, most police forces don’t have the skills or the interest in pursuing these types of crime. The lack of physical theft or injury, and the requirement to chase individuals by requesting digital evidence from banks etc, plus the small value of each individual crime (probably only $20), even if the aggregate amount stolen is large, and finally the fact the criminal is probably out of their physical jurisdiction, means police just don’t care. As a result, if you’re stealing funds in a purely digital fashion, you can generally expect to be able to steal millions before anyone investigates you. You need to operating at a level where the FBI or, more likely, Secret Service takes an interest. QR codes on parking signs just doesn’t cut it.