
Mumbai call centre scam: ‘Nothing's wrong in duping rich Americans’ - giis
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/nothings-wrong-in-duping-rich-americans/articleshow/54729514.cms
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leecarraher
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._

<scammer click>

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strict9
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.

~~~
bdcravens
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.

~~~
strict9
From the article:

> 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.

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JumpCrisscross
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.

~~~
jerf
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?

~~~
kbenson
> That is a fundamental part of being human.

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.

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plandis
This seems like a case where none of the alleged criminals have probably ever
interacted with Americans.

It's easy to vilify a group you truly know nothing about.

~~~
slumberlust
Are you possibly doing the same with this group? Would you be willing to prey
on Russians if it meant your family could eat this week?

~~~
kbenson
> 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.

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verroq
A classic case of the monkey sphere [1].

[1]
[https://web.archive.org/web/20130112050503/http://www.cracke...](https://web.archive.org/web/20130112050503/http://www.cracked.com/article_14990_what-
monkeysphere.html)

~~~
steanne
[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunbar%27s_number](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunbar%27s_number)

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imagist
This could be fixed by fixing the broken telephone protocol so that phone
numbers can't be spoofed so easily, and then implementing adblockers.

But that won't happen because:

1\. It would cost money.

2\. A proper implementation would be encrypted, breaking ubiquitous
surveillance.

~~~
bdcravens
Twilio has built up their business around the current phone system.

~~~
imagist
I'm not sure what you're trying to say here.

~~~
bdcravens
The very things identified as problems when it comes to scam calls have
enabled tons of startups and software.

~~~
imagist
Okay, true, but why should I care?

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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ungzd
Nothing wrong in duping rich Americans, but using adblocker is real crime,
says this website.

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bdcravens
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 :-)

~~~
nashashmi
I talked in a heavy voice with calm sort of arrogance, and they go <click>. My
attempts at gaming them into wasting time didn't work for too long. :(

~~~
bdcravens
I just play dumb.

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samfisher83
The article doesn't mention what was the scam they did? Anyone know?

~~~
eganist
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.

~~~
maxxxxx
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.

~~~
x1798DE
> 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.

~~~
maxxxxx
I have talked to the IRS before and they were always very courteous and well-
informed. I wouldn't call them slick but very efficient and clear.

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codeisawesome
I don't think the website is trying to justify the criminals, only quoting
what they said.

~~~
giis
Yes, that's correct. Its criminals statement not view of the news editor.

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slake
Isn't there an angle here to how scared people are of the IRS though? Isn't
their image a bit related to why this scam was possible.

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cmdrfred
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.

~~~
kylehotchkiss
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...](https://www.facebook.com/StoriesNepal/photos/a.478380932260397.1073741826.478371942261296/1033831160048702/?type=3&theater))

~~~
cmdrfred
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.

