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Foreign Scammers Use U.S. Banks to Fleece Americans

propublica.org

61–70 of 142 posts

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

#61
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.…

The reimbursing thing is quite new and at least one of the parties has to be UK resident to get UK compensation. That would leave the UK resident at risk of jail. Usually the scammers like to be somewhere well offshore.

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

#62

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…

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

#63
post #49
post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

_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?

> 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.

It is only large enough to you probably. India has been sanctioned by US in the 90s for doing reciprocal nuclear tests (after China detonated its bomb) and suffered billions of dollars in trade. US gained nothing from the sanctions except to push India into more poverty. It ended up being counter-productive. Even now Trump is threatening India with billions of dollars in trade sanctions that far outweighs anything caused by scams (if you take absolute numbers).

> What "mercenaries" are you referring to?

The CIA is currently fuelling and instigating Manipur riots in India by supplying arms and ammunitions to Kuki narco-terrorists. Prior to this we had USAID that was influencing electoral politics within India. Apart from that, we just witnessed regime change operations in Bangladesh where Pro-India Shiekh Hasina was toppled for a Pro-US Jihadi Muhammad Yunus. All of these run the US taxpayers in hundreds of billions of dollars. Far more than any scam conducted by Indian call centers.

For an average US citizen, sure it feels like a lot, since you guys are at the receiving end. But since you mentioned why US Government is not bringing this up, it is because it pales in comparison to what US Government has done to India over the past 7 decades. India can bring up a lot of counterpoints that will only cause US diplomats to shut up. We haven't even touched on killing of our nuclear scientists. Too many skeletons in their closet.

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

#64

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…

[dead]

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

#66

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…

Please help me to understand the urge to blame pig butchering on pigs rather than on butchers.

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

#67
post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, but the scammer could also just walk into the bank and pass the teller a note telling them to hand over all the money in the drawer. They'd do it! But it would be theft and the scammer would be arrested, just like if they did what you're suggesting.

It's cute if you really think that These days you can open bank accounts completely online with fraudulent info You can even open bank accounts from countries on the other side of the world. How will they arrest you, exactly?

They won't "reimburse scam victims" on the other side of the world. They are probably reluctant to reimburse at all unless you are some granny in Croydon making a fuss in the newspapers.

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

#68
post #7

>A huge portion of such fraud is transacted in cryptocurrency. Yet another reason to avoid cryptocurrency, until that is 100% fully regulated, I will always avoid it. One of the biggest reason is every tom, dick or harry is creating their own cryptocurrency these days. Including the dummy in charge of the US :)

A much bigger portion of the scam economy relies on gift cards than on crypto, yet we seem to be completely okay with gift cards.

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

#69
post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Gotta love anarcho tyranny

I had to look it up: The term "anarcho-tyranny" was coined by writer Sam Francis to describe a situation where a state oppresses citizens' lives but is unable or unwilling to enforce laws that protect them. Francis believed that anarcho-tyranny is built into the managerial system and cannot be solved by voting out incumbents or fighting corruption. He argued that the political left has dominated politics because of a…

The best defense to scams is to not fall for scams.

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

#70
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.…

Ummm, am I the only one who thinks if it was not an authorized payment, I expect 100% recompense, not limited to £85k.
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