211–220 of 227 posts
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Same with Robocallers... Also call them what they are. Call them terrorist and you block off the countries enabling these terrorist groups. Sanction them too
Hang on, how are robocallers terrorists?
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How will you prosecute them? Not only most scammers are nameless, but most are from countries where government needs to fix lot of things before they are effective against scammers.
That's easy. Those scams operate because the countries/players have access to the US financial system. You provide the incentives to the countries to fix their problem by cutting them completely off. If someone using a bank in Cyprus did it, you tell Cyprus government that in 48 hours the Fed will block all transactions with that bank and you block it. They move to another bank, you repeat it. Eventually Cyprus gover…
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My first attempt, “tv license”, brings back a form-filling service above the real one too. I think Google has really increased the number of in-search ads recently. It used to be that they were obvious and at the top/side, now they look like regular results and often fill up the whole first page. IMO they know they are dominant enough in the market now that they can get away with providing garbage results for some sh…
I tried driving licence (at least the ones who popped up for me made it very clear they aren't government affiliated) and national insurance number. The national insurance one was pretty much an outright scam. It took me to https://nino.org.uk/ which claims "All employers and universities in the UK will require you to have this number so apply for your NI Number NOW." That is a total lie - if you don't work during yo…
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The problem is that it's hard to draw a clear line between legitimate consulting, and fraud. If the government forms are byzantine and you go to a lawyer and pay them $250 to fill them for you, you aren't being scammed. If you visit a web site that clearly tells you that it's a third party website, you can waste your time with the horrible government site, or you can pay 10 bucks and use their optimized form, you're…
I'd still think you're being scammed if it takes 250 to fill out a form. Those companies are scamming you through the government, like they do with taxes
But let's not nitpick. The example number for a non-scam full-disclosure website was $10. That seems legitimate to me.
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As long as they actually provide the service they're advertising, it doesn't sound quite as bad as an actual scam. Reselling something at a markup but with better advertising is common in commerce. Up to the customer to decide if the price is what they're willing to pay. It's only government services that have a kind of aura of "don't be a dick" around them, maybe because people feel they can trust them not to be pro…
It's definitely a scam. They do not "provide a service", they mislead you into thinking you are dealing with a government office and that you are paying an official fee. This is not "better advertising", it's just a scam.
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> This stuff needs to be regulated, Regulated? Fraud is illegal. It needs to be PROSECUTED.
The problem is that it's hard to draw a clear line between legitimate consulting, and fraud. If the government forms are byzantine and you go to a lawyer and pay them $250 to fill them for you, you aren't being scammed. If you visit a web site that clearly tells you that it's a third party website, you can waste your time with the horrible government site, or you can pay 10 bucks and use their optimized form, you're…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
How will you prosecute them? Not only most scammers are nameless, but most are from countries where government needs to fix lot of things before they are effective against scammers.
That's easy. Those scams operate because the countries/players have access to the US financial system. You provide the incentives to the countries to fix their problem by cutting them completely off. If someone using a bank in Cyprus did it, you tell Cyprus government that in 48 hours the Fed will block all transactions with that bank and you block it. They move to another bank, you repeat it. Eventually Cyprus gover…