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Indeed, mostly the elderly or the gullable.

Soccerdude did not seem to fit that profile though :-)

I just wanted to be sure that any comparison between our tax institutions and IRS may not be fully valid in terms of their practices in approaching individuals.

The scam seemed so obvious to my european ears, that it may still be that for an American it could be perceived differently, especially if the scam is executed well and there is already a pre-installed fear of the IRS resorting to such questionable measures.

     
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subbi - 29 July 2014 08:40 AM

Indeed, mostly the elderly or the gullable.

Soccerdude did not seem to fit that profile though :-)

I just wanted to be sure that any comparison between our tax institutions and IRS may not be fully valid in terms of their practices in approaching individuals.

The scam seemed so obvious to my european ears, that it may still be that for an American it could be perceived differently, especially if the scam is executed well and there is already a pre-installed fear of the IRS resorting to such questionable measures.

Well to be honest, I have never been audited by the IRS, so I had no preconceived notion of how it was done. All I have heard from some acquaintances was how scary the IRS can be and how it can ruin your life. It is very easy to screw up the income taxes in the US, because it can get very complicated especially if you have income from sources other than salary(like stocks). Albert Einstein was quoted as saying “The hardest thing in the world to understand is the income tax”. I also had my own side business at the time and was doing the taxes myself so I thought I must have screwed up something royally.

I believe it is like Europe here, where they send you any mistakes you make by mail.

The scammers did tell me there were paperwork coming in the mail, and that I would end up paying at a local IRS location after getting an electronic tax voucher from somewhere. After picking the cash, when that somewhere turned out to be a national drugs chain, and the means of paying was a gift card lookalike, that’s when things just sounded too ludicrous for me. But the fact that they got that far with me (someone who thought was beyond their gullible schemes), and the fact that they have scammed many other people before, shows how shrewd and cunning these people are.

     
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tsa - 29 July 2014 03:07 AM

Wow what a story. Did you call the police?

I don’t think the police can do much in this case, since it is beyond their means to find these people. The real IRS agent I called said that there is an IRS fraud phone line I can call. I did Google the scam afterwards though, and found many warnings on news sites like CBS and by NYPD
http://www.nyc.gov/html/nypd/downloads/pdf/crime_prevention/greendot.pdf

so I’m pretty sure the FBI knows of this and that these people are probably on their radar. From their accents though, sounds like their base of operation is in another country.

     
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That sounds a lot like an online fraud they have going around now where a) you get a popup that can’t be closed or b) (the worse option) a virus that locks your computer, that says that there has been illegal material (either pirated stuff or child pornography) detected on your computer and that the police has locked it, and that you need to go purchase a paycard to pay a fine and unlock again (and at least with the virus there’s something about it scrambling all or some of the files on your computer).

Also, it uses localized imagery, so they use local police logos and stuff like that. I mean, if you know anything about these things you’ll realize that it’s fake, but it’s still convincingly enough done that people who don’t quite get internet can get scared by it and actually buy it.

     
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The IRS will let you know by mail if they’re going to audit you and will set up a face-to-face appointment to look over your records.  Even if you’ve make a mistake and end up owing them money, you can pay it off like any other bill. 

I had a phone scam a couple of days ago.  A man with a heavy accent said he was from such-and-such company and had to talk to me about my computer.  I told him there was no need to talk about my computer, and his angry reply was, “Yes there is because your computer is going to f*** you.”  I promptly hung up.  It was probably one of those Microsoft update scams.  Usually I don’t bother to pick up if I see a number I don’t recognize, but I thought it might be a friend from another state calling.

     

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UPtimist - 29 July 2014 03:51 PM

That sounds a lot like an online fraud they have going around now where a) you get a popup that can’t be closed or b) (the worse option) a virus that locks your computer, that says that there has been illegal material (either pirated stuff or child pornography) detected on your computer and that the police has locked it, and that you need to go purchase a paycard to pay a fine and unlock again (and at least with the virus there’s something about it scrambling all or some of the files on your computer).

Also, it uses localized imagery, so they use local police logos and stuff like that. I mean, if you know anything about these things you’ll realize that it’s fake, but it’s still convincingly enough done that people who don’t quite get internet can get scared by it and actually buy it.

Wow that sounds really similar to what happened except that this one is using the internet rather than phone calls. I wonder if it is the same people pulling both scams. That Green Dot Money Pak product should be banned, since it gives scammers and con artists a very easy way to siphon money without any trace. They wouldn’t be able to pull that off with credit cards or bank account transfers.

     
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Lady Kestrel - 29 July 2014 09:29 PM

I had a phone scam a couple of days ago.  A man with a heavy accent said he was from such-and-such company and had to talk to me about my computer.  I told him there was no need to talk about my computer, and his angry reply was, “Yes there is because your computer is going to f*** you.”  I promptly hung up.  It was probably one of those Microsoft update scams.  Usually I don’t bother to pick up if I see a number I don’t recognize, but I thought it might be a friend from another state calling.

My husband was contacted by telephone by a man saying he was from Microsoft and asked if my husband was in front of his computer. The answer was yes. Then he proceeded by telling that my husband’s PC was under attack from hackers. And would my husband please give him all the log in details in order for this man to remove the threat! Do you take me for a compltete idiot! my husband yelled. And then he told the man to f**k off and not call again. And by the way he added I’m in front of a Macintosh!

Tongue

     

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Jelena - 30 July 2014 11:23 AM
Lady Kestrel - 29 July 2014 09:29 PM

I had a phone scam a couple of days ago.  A man with a heavy accent said he was from such-and-such company and had to talk to me about my computer.  I told him there was no need to talk about my computer, and his angry reply was, “Yes there is because your computer is going to f*** you.”  I promptly hung up.  It was probably one of those Microsoft update scams.  Usually I don’t bother to pick up if I see a number I don’t recognize, but I thought it might be a friend from another state calling.

My husband was contacted by telephone by a man saying he was from Microsoft and asked if my husband was in front of his computer. The answer was yes. Then he proceeded by telling that my husband’s PC was under attack from hackers. And would my husband please give him all the log in details in order for this man to remove the threat! Do you take me for a compltete idiot! my husband yelled. And then he told the man to f**k off and not call again. And by the way he added I’m in front of a Macintosh!

Tongue

Wouldn’t it be fun to ask the man to help you take the hackers off you Mac?

     
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tsa - 30 July 2014 01:39 PM

Wouldn’t it be fun to ask the man to help you take the hackers off you Mac?

Scambaiting!

Annoys the crap out of them. Naughty

     

The truth can’t hurt you, it’s just like the dark: it scares you witless but in time you see things clear and stark. - Elvis Costello
Maybe this time I can be strong, but since I know who I am, I’m probably wrong. Maybe this time I can go far, but thinking about where I’ve been ain’t helping me start. - Michael Kiwanuka

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TimovieMan - 30 July 2014 07:19 PM
tsa - 30 July 2014 01:39 PM

Wouldn’t it be fun to ask the man to help you take the hackers off you Mac?

Scambaiting!

Annoys the crap out of them. Naughty

Oh man, I was hoping that site would be “for a monthly fee of only ...$ we will bait the scammers for you…” Wink

     
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UPtimist - 31 July 2014 03:35 AM

Oh man, I was hoping that site would be “for a monthly fee of only ...$ we will bait the scammers for you…” Wink

“We heard you have problems with broken windows. We can help you with that.”
Smile

     
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Seems like Green Dot is phasing out their MoneyPak silently.

http://www.cleveland.com/consumeraffairs/index.ssf/2014/07/green_dot_jettisons_moneypak_a.html

I hope they get hit by a class action lawsuit for all the poor folk who got scammed out of their money, and the lack of action from the company to stop such scams by providing consumer protection and money tracing.

     
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In response to the spammer that just posted a thread called “simple” with a bunch of spam links in it:
completely nuking an account and all posts made with it is only a three-click process for us mods.
Simple. Cool

     

The truth can’t hurt you, it’s just like the dark: it scares you witless but in time you see things clear and stark. - Elvis Costello
Maybe this time I can be strong, but since I know who I am, I’m probably wrong. Maybe this time I can go far, but thinking about where I’ve been ain’t helping me start. - Michael Kiwanuka

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TimovieMan - 06 August 2014 08:41 AM

In response to the spammer that just posted a thread called “simple” with a bunch of spam links in it:
completely nuking an account and all posts made with it is only a three-click process for us mods.
Simple. Cool

By the Power of GreySkull! Timovieman has the Power!

     
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TimovieMan - 06 August 2014 08:41 AM

In response to the spammer that just posted a thread called “simple” with a bunch of spam links in it:
completely nuking an account and all posts made with it is only a three-click process for us mods.
Simple. Cool


Fix some post restrictions to open new threads, posts like minimum 30
before they can open threads, will keep them away.

     

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