Few days ago I was waiting in car at a traffic signal. A young woman came running to me and pledged for help. She said she needed a ride to nearest bank branch. It was very cold weather and she was shivering without wearing any winter jacket etc. Looking at her face I sensed something was wrong. I just asked and she told me in a low voice that she was going to pay someone $9000 to avoid a potential arrest. She was still on call with the scammer as he asked her to keep talking to him on way to bank. It took me lot of time to convince her to hang up the phone. After that I dropped her back at her home. I am still thinking how many like her are being scammed everyday and what can we do to help.
Years ago I helped a guy clean malware off his system. While looking through his configuration, I saw some oddly-named device drivers, and he insisted that they were part of his music hardware and could not be deleted. I told him to at least keep an eye on it.<p>A week later, he asked me again to clean malware off his system. I asked him how it got back on there, and he told me Microsoft called and said his system was infected, and thus began the tech-support scam. I said "Um, did you forget you already paid me to remove that shit? You just invited that guy to put it back!"<p>I looked at his config and more "drivers" with similar names appeared in the list that weren't there before. Finally he was convinced the other ones weren't part of his music hardware install and that I should delete them.<p>While doing this, he confided in me that he had just lost $1500, because a girl he met online from overseas was supposed to visit him, and whatever happened so she had to borrow money from him for the ticket. But gee golly, she never showed up. He was surprised, because she sounded so nice.<p>After that, I refused to do any more work on his computers. Although I did tell him if he continues to feel like throwing money around indiscriminately at every scam that shows up, I'll gladly quote him for fake services just to keep him happy and broke.<p>For the first time ever, he declined.
Just can't figure out the enduring appeal of these IRS scams. Is the IRS the scariest bogeyman people can think of? Seems like "I'm a violent criminal and I'll kill you if you don't pay" would be scarier. But then I guess it lacks legal authority, which the IRS has, so maybe that's scarier or more persuasive?<p>Anyway I note that a misspent youth of getting into minor legal trouble and tax-dodging can actually be beneficial, in that you learn how these agencies actually work and what constitutes a legitimate government action. Is it on paper? Was it (preferably) served to you at the front door by a uniformed deputy?<p>What is the difficulty/cost/risk level of making a phone call anywhere in the world vs. outfitting someone in a convincing-looking police uniform of that area? Type of thing. I know I'm preaching to the choir...<p>Maybe if I get one of these calls I'll tell them "Just go ahead and send a deputy like usual." Except no, because if they're especially spiteful they might S.W.A.T. me.
I tell everyone I know to talk to anyone in their family about this, especially elders who are more gullible or vulnerable to such scams. IRS does not and will not call you directly on phone demanding money, EVER.
IRS scams mostly originate from India, I get one a day from “John Huntington” with a thick Indian accent from IRS enforcement desk. I can see how old ladies can get scammed easily.
The government can shut it down now, all it needs is a legislation to require VOIP to POTS terminators to require the billing address and ownership information of each phone number they terminate. Game over.
Banks should introduce a policy that elderly people should not be allowed to withdraw large sums from ATM and need to come to the bank for the same. And when they do come to the branch to withdraw large amounts, the banks should do their best to determine that the withdrawal is not related to any scams.
Ah, question, would a veto by people you named reliable on any large scale move, after your decision has been proofen impaired once, be a acceptable solution for society?