Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2018/01/11/crime-does-not-pay.html
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This situation inclines me toward the theory that somewhat shoddy scams(grammatically dubious phishing emails, particularly silly Nigerian prince stories, etc.) might actually be an adaptive strategy because, while they fool fewer people they disproportionately fail to fool the people who would be dangerously competent if seeking retribution for being scammed.
It’s hard to imagine a worse target pick than this one.
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OH wow - I have gotten letters like that. Multiple. This Popehat guy is a fucking monster if he somehow got the guy prison time.
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The best defense is self-reliance, healthy skepticism, involved communities, and public-spirited private investigation that can be broadcast far and wide through modern tools.
And then ya just make a citizen’s arrest, gosh darn it!
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A high-ranking member of an organized crime family or organization whose retribution doesn’t involve a seven year trip through the court system but something more expedient and more permanent.
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An excerpt from his opening email to the agent of the scammer who displeased him:
I live in hope, Mr. —-. I live in hope that this is all just a misunderstanding. Perhaps [Scammer], Inc. did render “preventative maintenance” to us, and we’ve lost the records and everyone is suffering from amnesia. Perhaps [Scammer], Inc. has pure motives and never intended to send out what appears to be a fraudulent invoice, but just needs some constructive criticism about invoice nomenclature. We’d be happy to meet with the folks from [Scammer], Inc. and brainstorm about this, Mr. —. I don’t know what kind of useful advice that former federal prosecutors and a ———— could offer to a company engaged in what skeptical or judgmental people might term a large-scale mail fraud scheme, but I’m sure we’ll think of something. Perhaps we could invite some friends of ours as well. We have many friends from our former jobs.
If you speak with the good people from [Scammer], Inc., Mr. ——, please give them my best regards. Tell them that I hope they will see us – or, perhaps, our friends – soon. Very soon.
I suspect that is a ‘consider my bowels loosened’ sort of response if you are just doing a bit of the old invoice fraud.
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As far as I’m concerned, Ken can wear whatever hat he wants to now.
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The govt DOES have the resources. We just choose to let them spend it on other things, for some mysterious reason.
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Gomer Pyle can show you how to do that. Also, somewhat sad my misreading of the headline (108 years) was incorrect.
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So, speaking of scammers, does anyone have any techniques for tracing spoofed calls? There are some folks I would dearly love to introduce to the FCC and my local small claims court.
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Got one of those today. An out of country or random # (too many digits for in country, even LD) and a robot voice that kicked in the moment my voicemail picked up, giving me no details (they were lost to my outgoing message, if there were any) other than an office number and a threat that if I didn’t respond, they would have a warrant issued for my arrest.
It used to be that they had the decency to issue their bogus threats using real people. Things are getting plain sad.
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Around 90% of the incoming calls I get are robots these days.
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Imagine if “Rachel from card services” turned state’s evidence…we could catch them all.
Come on Rachel, do the right thing!
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Yeah, I cannot believe how common the 800 calls from India call centers are nowadays, that seek to fix – that is, install – malware on your computer.
Brazenly illegal. Using the telephone so its a federal crime. On a mass scale. If you aren’t at home, they leave a message. At the very least, the Federal Trade Commission should have a number or a site that these 800 numbers can be documented and quickly shut down.
I cant imagine how many elderly and not-so-quick people are victimized by these “helpful” call center a-holes.
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Right?
Preaching bootstraperism when it comes to criminal justice? What blog am i reading again?
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You know Rachel, too?!? Small world.
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Here’s a long article about the people who work in scam call centres.
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I’m starting to think that saying “scam call center” is a bit redundant. It seems that anytime you are dealing with a call center, it’s a scam.
F*** you AT&T and the week it took me on the phone to not have my bill go up $12/month because your modem died and I dared to call in to try and get my service restored.
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So have I, and I’m a citizen.
I just say “go ahead. Do whatever you possibly can to deport me.”
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