In a nutshell: people trained with American accents made calls to American taxpayers suggesting that they owed backtaxes and would be sued if they didn't pay up.
I got one of those calls and it sounded very credible. I called the number back and then I got a little nervous when the guy on the other end of the line seemed very uninterested and unprofessional. I don't how how far I would have gone if he had acted better.
> I called the number back and then I got a little nervous when the guy on the other end of the line seemed very uninterested and unprofessional.
Didn't you think you were calling a government office? They aren't exactly known for their customer service, whereas scammers are known for having a slick feel to their operation. Interesting that that was your tip off.
On one hand, it'a easy to see this as an educational and cultural failure. On the other hand, many of our policies treat screwing over foreigners more lightly than screwing over fellow Americans.
That is a fundamental part of being human. Anyone who thinks they or their culture is immune to it is deluding themselves. Anyone who thinks they or their culture is better at it than others needs to tread carefully, because the part of the very meme we're talking about here is about how your culture is better at things than others, so isn't it kinda convenient that one thinks so?
So true. it's turtles all the way down, too. Those liberals/conservatives aren't real Americans and don't have good values, like us conservatives/liberals. Those people in the city next door are all either snobs or criminals, lets try to keep them from coming to our town too much. That high school across town sucks and their students are assholes, we're better, let's go vandalize their school to show them. Our neighbors are horrible people, so it's okay that we're mean to them.
Heh, That's what i told the scammer, the scammer told me they had a refund from the IRS for me and they just needed a credit card number to "wire" it to.
But I am just so rich right now that I have no need for the extra money, maybe you could just "wire" it to some worthwhile charity. And of course take whatever you feel adequate for your efforts too. But yea really right now, I just got way too much money.
I'll get downvoted, but if I'm a father with no opportunity in rural India. This is exactly what I'd be doing. You might be a better man to allow your children starve in a pile of there own filth, but I'm not him.
I agree - if my only option to make money was to work for someplace like that, I'd take it - but at the same time, I have no love for someone trying to steal my money - which I'm using to feed my child and mostly keep her out of filthpiles.
I have to agree with you on this one. But not as a "father with no opportunity". While I am not advocating or condoning what scammers in India do, I do have to add the following:
1) 1 USD is around 66 INR, so almost everyone is ingrained that people in USA are richer. Furthermore, the fact that stuff is perceived as "cheaper" in USA has not helped (even those who earn minimum wage in USA, can afford the latest iPhone, can't say the same about those in India).
2) Scammers can't see the damage they cause.
3) Some scammers don't even know they are scammers. (Especially the ones in IT that try to sell you anti-virus software claiming that your computer is infected).
4) personal note: I wonder what the sentence would be, if say it were US scammers, scamming Indians.
If you work hard in India, it's still pretty likely you can feed your kids. It might not be good work, good food, or a good house, but being a scammer is not the only way to take care of your family.
I just saw an photo this week on the People of Nepal Facebook page, and it was of a man who wanted a better life for his kids so he slaved over a little tea shop in a small city/town, and was able to send his kids to school and he talks about how he can wear their expensive watches and mingle with people at parties. (https://www.facebook.com/StoriesNepal/photos/a.4783809322603...)
1 out of 10 workers in India are unemployed. They simply do no have the options we have in the first world. If you are offered a call center job, you take it. A single success story does not invalidate the data, India has a massive poverty problem.
You're on Hacker News, so I'll assume some degree of technical acumen, and have Internet access obviously. Is this the best opportunity you have? Is it more financially rewarding than low-end development work?
Leave the country? Don't have children if you can't legitimately take care of them? There's so many things a 'better man' father would have done before it got to this point.
> Are you possibly doing the same with this group?
Do you mind expanding your reasoning on that? I'm not sure how you came to that conclusion. The modifier "alleged" was even used, so I don't see much vilification going on.
Unfortunately it's not so much the 'rich' that fall for this, but the elderly.
Recently heard this story from my bartender, who had a family member lose some dough in this scam. The "rich American" part is just a weaselly justification for committing a crime, and doesn't deserve the prominence in the article it received.
As I read it, it's not that they are targeting rich Americans, but rather, they view America as a land of riches. Even our poor elderly, especially if they own a vehicle or property, would be considered rich by many standards.
> Nasreen Bano Iqbal Balesahib, 59; and her sons Nadeem Iqbal Balasaheb, 30, and Shain Iqbal Balasaheb, 25, were arrested on Wednesday evening as they were listed as the owners of MAC Outsourcing Services Private Limited - the company that ran Universal Outsourcing Solutions, which is one of the raided companies. Incidentally, the raided M Bale House belongs to the family.
Owned a company and the building which housed the company. That argument rings even more hollow.
I like to have fun with them. On more than one occasion, I strung them out for 15 or 20 minutes, and eventually ended the call on a nice satisfying note. I've even had them call me back angry for wasting their time :-)
This is like one of those ad games: If you press the button, you fix spam calls, but Twilio goes out of business. I couldn't press the button fast enough.
For the record, I like Twilio and I literally have their API open in another tab right now because I'm writing code against it. But if they can't do business in an environment that doesn't allow spam calls, they don't deserve to be in business.
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[ 2.9 ms ] story [ 123 ms ] threadYou americans. Sigh
Didn't you think you were calling a government office? They aren't exactly known for their customer service, whereas scammers are known for having a slick feel to their operation. Interesting that that was your tip off.
You probably would have figured it out as soon as they told you that you could settle your IRS debt with iTunes gift cards.
The real IRS will send you mail if you owe back taxes, and instruct you to call them.
So true. it's turtles all the way down, too. Those liberals/conservatives aren't real Americans and don't have good values, like us conservatives/liberals. Those people in the city next door are all either snobs or criminals, lets try to keep them from coming to our town too much. That high school across town sucks and their students are assholes, we're better, let's go vandalize their school to show them. Our neighbors are horrible people, so it's okay that we're mean to them.
But I am just so rich right now that I have no need for the extra money, maybe you could just "wire" it to some worthwhile charity. And of course take whatever you feel adequate for your efforts too. But yea really right now, I just got way too much money.
<scammer click>
"if I'm a father with no opportunity" suffices.
1) 1 USD is around 66 INR, so almost everyone is ingrained that people in USA are richer. Furthermore, the fact that stuff is perceived as "cheaper" in USA has not helped (even those who earn minimum wage in USA, can afford the latest iPhone, can't say the same about those in India).
2) Scammers can't see the damage they cause.
3) Some scammers don't even know they are scammers. (Especially the ones in IT that try to sell you anti-virus software claiming that your computer is infected).
4) personal note: I wonder what the sentence would be, if say it were US scammers, scamming Indians.
For some reason, a lot of people confuse the exchange rate with purchasing power, but these are distinct.
For example, 1 INR is 1.5 Yen, but the Japanese aren't 1.5 times as poor as the Indians (on average).
I just saw an photo this week on the People of Nepal Facebook page, and it was of a man who wanted a better life for his kids so he slaved over a little tea shop in a small city/town, and was able to send his kids to school and he talks about how he can wear their expensive watches and mingle with people at parties. (https://www.facebook.com/StoriesNepal/photos/a.4783809322603...)
[1] https://web.archive.org/web/20130112050503/http://www.cracke...
It's easy to vilify a group you truly know nothing about.
Do you mind expanding your reasoning on that? I'm not sure how you came to that conclusion. The modifier "alleged" was even used, so I don't see much vilification going on.
Recently heard this story from my bartender, who had a family member lose some dough in this scam. The "rich American" part is just a weaselly justification for committing a crime, and doesn't deserve the prominence in the article it received.
It is more for giving insight into an asian scamming culture.
> Nasreen Bano Iqbal Balesahib, 59; and her sons Nadeem Iqbal Balasaheb, 30, and Shain Iqbal Balasaheb, 25, were arrested on Wednesday evening as they were listed as the owners of MAC Outsourcing Services Private Limited - the company that ran Universal Outsourcing Solutions, which is one of the raided companies. Incidentally, the raided M Bale House belongs to the family.
Owned a company and the building which housed the company. That argument rings even more hollow.
I interpreted it not as rich Americans specifically, but rather that America as a whole is much richer than India.
But that won't happen because:
1. It would cost money.
2. A proper implementation would be encrypted, breaking ubiquitous surveillance.
This is like one of those ad games: If you press the button, you fix spam calls, but Twilio goes out of business. I couldn't press the button fast enough.
For the record, I like Twilio and I literally have their API open in another tab right now because I'm writing code against it. But if they can't do business in an environment that doesn't allow spam calls, they don't deserve to be in business.