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Foreign Scammers Use U.S. Banks to Fleece Americans

propublica.org

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Re: Foreign Scammers Use U.S. Banks to Fleece Americans

#41

Post by keutoi »

_zagj wrote: post #34
mschuster91 wrote: post #6

I've said it before here, I'll say it again: it is high time that our governments follow the money and the scammers. Sanction the source countries of these scams to hell and beyond until they clean up their act and pray in front of us on their knees for forgiveness. And yes, I'd like particularly Narendra Modi to kneel - it's hard to wish anything else after watching more than two Scammer Payback videos. Obviously In…

It's strange how some of these countries don't take action on their own behalf, if only to preserve their international reputation and the reputation of their citizens abroad. India is a great example. Do Indians not realize how much damage they've done to their reputation by allowing scam call centers to flourish? Are they not aware of > DO NOT REDEEM Imagine Americans living in small towns with few to no Indians, a…

_Allowing scam call centers to flourish_.

How much control does an average citizen have over these criminal enterprises? Does an average US citizen know/care/take-action when mercenaries from their country topple governments of other countries? As long as the crime is not visible, they just enjoy fruits of their crimes.

Re: Foreign Scammers Use U.S. Banks to Fleece Americans

#42

Post by pjc50 »

csense wrote: post #9

> In October, the U.K. began requiring banks to reimburse scam victims up to £85,000, or about $116,000, per claim when they make a fraudulent payment on behalf of their customers, even if the customers authorized the transfer. How does the bank verify the scammer and the "victim" aren't colluding? I.e. Mal opens a bank account with $100k, it gets cleaned out when he's "scammed" by Eve, then Mal is reimbursed $100k.…

Like the real scams, this does require that Mal be overseas in some place where they can't easily be traced. And of course if the money ever comes back to Eve's bank account, someone might notice. So this requires quite a complicated setup which is hard to achieve between people in different countries because .. one might scam the other.

Re: Foreign Scammers Use U.S. Banks to Fleece Americans

#43

Post by saltcured »

schmookeeg wrote: post #31
os2warpman wrote: post #23

This is an earnest request. Please help me understand the mindset of people who fall for pig butchering scams. The thought of giving money to a stranger who I met via a dating app or other social media platform who shifted the conversation to WeChat and asked me to wire money to a bank account is so incomprehensible to me that the mind of someone who would do that is entirely different to how mine is constructed phys…

The Economist has an interesting podcast about this phenomenon called Scam Inc. You need to be a subscriber to hear more than the first few eps, but they were interesting and went into this situation in detail. Worth a listen to understand this crime and its nuance a little better.

Hah, this is too close to the joke that popped into my head:

Sure, we can explain how this works, you just need to subscribe to our educational series on the topic...

It's all about framing the con in a way that gets past the defense mechanisms the OP assumes. Whether this is done with synthetic intimacy, urgency, exclusivity, high-mindedness, etc. depends on the target victim profile.

But, it's always social engineering. The only 100% defense is to assume a deeply untrusting posture that makes social living nearly impossible.

Re: Foreign Scammers Use U.S. Banks to Fleece Americans

#45

Post by [deleted] »

coredog64 wrote: post #12
mschuster91 wrote: post #6

I've said it before here, I'll say it again: it is high time that our governments follow the money and the scammers. Sanction the source countries of these scams to hell and beyond until they clean up their act and pray in front of us on their knees for forgiveness. And yes, I'd like particularly Narendra Modi to kneel - it's hard to wish anything else after watching more than two Scammer Payback videos. Obviously In…

Every dollar in scam damages verified by the FBI is one fewer work visa for anyone from that country. India is now in a hole of 1 billion (or 10,000 lakhs) work visas, and the latter are more valuable than scams.

[deleted]

Re: Foreign Scammers Use U.S. Banks to Fleece Americans

#46

Post by lesuorac »

os2warpman wrote: post #23

This is an earnest request. Please help me understand the mindset of people who fall for pig butchering scams. The thought of giving money to a stranger who I met via a dating app or other social media platform who shifted the conversation to WeChat and asked me to wire money to a bank account is so incomprehensible to me that the mind of someone who would do that is entirely different to how mine is constructed phys…

> The thought of giving money to a stranger who I met via a dating app or other social media platform

The thought of telling somebody your real name to somebody online used to be considered a poor decision.

The bar has really moved for what people need for trust.

Re: Foreign Scammers Use U.S. Banks to Fleece Americans

#47

Post by seatac76 »

_zagj wrote: post #34
mschuster91 wrote: post #6

I've said it before here, I'll say it again: it is high time that our governments follow the money and the scammers. Sanction the source countries of these scams to hell and beyond until they clean up their act and pray in front of us on their knees for forgiveness. And yes, I'd like particularly Narendra Modi to kneel - it's hard to wish anything else after watching more than two Scammer Payback videos. Obviously In…

It's strange how some of these countries don't take action on their own behalf, if only to preserve their international reputation and the reputation of their citizens abroad. India is a great example. Do Indians not realize how much damage they've done to their reputation by allowing scam call centers to flourish? Are they not aware of > DO NOT REDEEM Imagine Americans living in small towns with few to no Indians, a…

[dead]

Re: Foreign Scammers Use U.S. Banks to Fleece Americans

#49

Post by _zagj »

keutoi wrote: post #41
_zagj wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's strange how some of these countries don't take action on their own behalf, if only to preserve their international reputation and the reputation of their citizens abroad. India is a great example. Do Indians not realize how much damage they've done to their reputation by allowing scam call centers to flourish? Are they not aware of > DO NOT REDEEM Imagine Americans living in small towns with few to no Indians, a…

_Allowing scam call centers to flourish_. How much control does an average citizen have over these criminal enterprises? Does an average US citizen know/care/take-action when mercenaries from their country topple governments of other countries? As long as the crime is not visible, they just enjoy fruits of their crimes.

> How much control does an average citizen have over these criminal enterprises?

My point was about the government. This phenomenon is large enough that I'm shocked it hasn't openly caused a diplomatic rift between the US and India, and New Delhi should have a vested interested in combating it.

> when mercenaries from their country topple governments of other countries

What "mercenaries" are you referring to?

Re: Foreign Scammers Use U.S. Banks to Fleece Americans

#50

Post by fragmede »

rightbyte wrote: post #38
os2warpman wrote: post #23

This is an earnest request. Please help me understand the mindset of people who fall for pig butchering scams. The thought of giving money to a stranger who I met via a dating app or other social media platform who shifted the conversation to WeChat and asked me to wire money to a bank account is so incomprehensible to me that the mind of someone who would do that is entirely different to how mine is constructed phys…

I think you are looking at it from the wrong direction. The scammers are calling everyone. Of those you have met, who would be at risk of falling for such scams? I know about maybe two. And the combination of being both susceptible and not chronic broke is quite rare. Both those I know about who I guess fall for this stuff are broke.

To be fair, if Troy Hunt, who's made his career in cybersecurity can get scammed, thinking you're too smart to ever fall for a scam is just pure hubris.
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