topic Re: IRS Scammers Arrested in Community Chat

IRS Scammers Arrested

Kachina624 — Wed, 25 May 2016 04:11:54 GMT

Re: IRS Scammers Arrested

sparklestar — Wed, 25 May 2016 04:17:05 GMT

Wow, people really are out of touch or gullible or just plain dumb.

Re: IRS Scammers Arrested

Kachina624 — Wed, 25 May 2016 04:31:58 GMT

Remember all the phone calls people complained of receiving from the IRS ddemanding money? That's this group of crooks. I imagine most of the victims were elderly and/or ignorant. We had posters asking what they should do. Nice to know the calls will cease. @sparklestar

Re: IRS Scammers Arrested

chrystaltree — Wed, 25 May 2016 04:32:10 GMT

Good but anyone gullible enough to fall fall for a scam like that deserves to lose their money. There are times when blaming the victim is appropriately. We had a case locally, a woman was boo hoo hooing on tv. She was about 60 and didnt appesr to be developmentally challenged. She didn't think she owed tax money but when she got a call telling her she owed $10,000 to the IRS, she followed the instructiins. She put the money on gift cards and mailed them to a PO box.....twice...lol. And called herself a victim....lol

Re: IRS Scammers Arrested

Kachina624 — Wed, 25 May 2016 04:40:13 GMT

There is a generation of people who are honest, law-abiding citizens who trust every word their doctor tells them and thinks the government will do no wrong and it's their duty to obey when told to do something. I wouldn't say they deserved to be scammed; they're gullible honest citizens doing their best to do the right thing. The scumbags in Florida took advantage of their gullibility and exploited them.

Re: IRS Scammers Arrested

Noel7 — Wed, 25 May 2016 04:42:16 GMT

Wow, people, they targeted the elderly, many od whom deal with medical issues, ate on strong medication or may be suffering from cognitive decline.

Many also deal with fear often, including what would one do if the other was in jail in this case and they were left alone.

* Please excuse the typos due to iPad trouble. The glitch is not allowing me to correct.

Re: IRS Scammers Arrested

Noel7 — Wed, 25 May 2016 04:55:20 GMT

A lot of people in cognitive decline may seem perfectly normal for awhile. It does not mean they are always capable of reasoned judgement.

And that is the reason they are targeted, they are vulnerable. They are easy marks.

Re: IRS Scammers Arrested

chrystaltree — Wed, 25 May 2016 05:08:36 GMT

@Kachina624 wrote:
There is a generation of people who are honest, law-abiding citizens who trust every word their doctor tells them and thinks the government will do no wrong and it's their duty to obey when told to do something. I wouldn't say they deserved to be scammed; they're gullible honest citizens doing their best to do the right thing. The scumbags in Florida took advantage of their gullibility and exploited them.

Why do you assume that only elderly are clueless? Thr case here involved a midfle aged working woman, who had reveived a tax refund. And she stll fell for some ridiculous phone call. The fact is some people are just stupid and it spans all generstions. IRS scams are more likely to target people who are still working and filing tax returns, not the elderly.

Re: IRS Scammers Arrested

Noel7 — Wed, 25 May 2016 05:19:45 GMT

Senior citizens are the group targeted in this area. But it's true people of other ages can fall for it. They can have their own issues.

Or, as you say, the can be less than very bright. They are either born that way or there's another reason, none of which means the got what they deserved.

Re: IRS Scammers Arrested

Kachina624 — Wed, 25 May 2016 05:24:10 GMT

I SAID most of the victims were elderly/ignorant. They have determined MOST were elderly. Your right, some people are just plain stupid to the point where they'd believe an anonymous phone caller. So it's okay to scam stupid people? Most elderly people file tax returns. They wouldn't likely be concerned if they knew they owed no tax.

Re: IRS Scammers Arrested

jackiejenny — Wed, 25 May 2016 06:17:18 GMT

I have an uncle who comes to mind when I read this. He is college educated, was an executive with Meade Paper Company for many years, then he retired.

He was not only educated, but loaded with common sense...sometimes one isn't blessed with both!

He fell for a scam that 5 years ago he would have seen clearly for what it was. But, age and retirement has bought a form of dementia and his good judgement has suffered.

It's a cruel fate that happens far too frequently to the elderly and scammers are keenly aware of it.

Re: IRS Scammers Arrested

Nataliesgramma — Wed, 25 May 2016 10:42:56 GMT

I am glad they got the scammers....Even though I KNEW the call was a scam...it was unnerving......

Re: IRS Scammers Arrested

PINKdogWOOD — Wed, 25 May 2016 11:49:58 GMT

@sparklestar These types of callers put the fear of God into (at least) the elderly that they target. It's a very sad situation.

My Sister actually heard from one of these IRS hackers. Of course she knew exactly what was going on and played right into his hand. She told me she 'begged' him to not send her to jail, she even pretended to cry him a river. He got so frustrated with her HE HUNG UP ON HER!!!!! She laughed outloud at what she had done to him - he cried like a baby...

Re: IRS Scammers Arrested

millieshops — Wed, 25 May 2016 12:55:46 GMT

For those who have loved ones who might be targets - the Miami 5 are most likely not the only scammers. From personal experiemce within my own extended family, I can tell you a person can go from 100% capable to a mentally question state faster than you'd think. Even relatively simple financial tasks become challenging, let alone calls from scammers. Be aware and wary.

Re: IRS Scammers Arrested

NickNack — Wed, 25 May 2016 13:07:48 GMT

I got one of those calls. I didn't answer the phone, and they left a message. I knew it was a scam and immediately blocked the number from my phone. There is a college student in town who fell for the scheme. She sent the money without telling her parents at the time. I was so surprised that she fell for it.

Re: IRS Scammers Arrested

kdgn — Wed, 25 May 2016 13:29:12 GMT

It's unfair to call those who fell for this scam as dumb or gullible. The scammers were/are targeting senior citizens. This scam hadn't received the publicity when I received the first call a few years ago. It was a recorded message stating it was from the IRS, etc. At first I was taken aback-while I knew we didn't owe, it was still startling to hear the first sentence. After that I knew it had to be a scam because of the stilted language, poor sentence structure, heavily accented voice.

But they were determined. Two calls a day, spaced about two hours apart, for a couple of days, then they stopped. I've been getting the calls for the last four years. Each script has been slightly different, different voices on the recorded messages, both men and women. They have come around tax time.

Not all seniors are computer savy-meaning they've read about this online. Not all seniors take a newspaper subscription. Not all news stations have reported on this, not in the beginning.

Just hearing that the call is from the IRS strikes fear in many hearts, that's the whole idea behind the scam. The power of the IRS and all that.........

Re: IRS Scammers Arrested

Suziepeach — Wed, 25 May 2016 13:33:59 GMT

I am very glad they were arrested. How on earth would they know what targets were elderly/seniors? Even the head IRS guy in Atlanta said he got one of the calls & he isn't a senior.

Re: IRS Scammers Arrested

Lipstickdiva — Wed, 25 May 2016 13:57:45 GMT

I'd like to know where it has been stated that these calls targeted the senior citizens. i've not seen that mentioned at all and I personally don't know one senior citizen who got this phone call but I know plenty of others who did.

I rec'd this phone call at least 3 times and I'm not a senior citizen. We received the call twice in 1 day. First they called and spoke to me and then that evening they called back asking for my husband.

I would all but guarantee there are more than 5 people involved in this scam and yes they shut this down but I bet the calls will keep coming.

Re: IRS Scammers Arrested

MaRina — Wed, 25 May 2016 14:05:27 GMT

They are very relentless. I got two calls told him in so many words to STOP. This jerk called again the next day at 6am I was livid words came out of my mouth that must have scared him because he never called back

Re: IRS Scammers Arrested

karlam — Wed, 25 May 2016 14:05:55 GMT

I just received one of those phone calls last week. It came in through a local area code. I didn't answer the phone and of course was left a voice message. I noticed recently most of our telemarketing calls come in with a local area code or a cell phone number.