IRS/Tech Support Scams -Why they're not discussed here

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Posted: Mon Aug 06, 2018 1:17 am

Recently we've had a number of members asking about IRS/Techsupport/Card Services scams. At 419eater we do not deal with this type of fraud, however, as there have been questions, here is a quick post outlining why we do not bait or discuss those scams here.

We deal with Advance Fee Fraud (often referred to as 419 based on the Nigerian Criminal Code regulating this). These Tech Support (and IRS) scams are not AFF.
These types of scams almost always begin with the scammer calling their victims, making it impossible to bait safe at the entry level. We preach safety to the nth degree here. A call to a number connected to real life throws this right out the window.
These lads love their revenge, too! See:

https://consumerist.com/2016/02/11/diabolical-irs-phone-scammers-call-swat-team-tell-victim-theyre-there-to-collect/
http://wjla.com/news/crime/irs-scammers-swatting-against-people-who-discover-their-phone-schemes-114088
http://wavy.com/2014/09/16/police-irs-scammers-responsible-for-hoax-swat-call/
http://www.postbulletin.com/news/crime/scammer-gets-revenge-with-bomb-threat/article_b6f83e37-4adf-52be-8327-9bf366f23089.html
We wouldn't consider this "baiting" as we define it. It's much more akin to one-off harassment. Sure, you might be able to get them into long conversations but it's a total dead-end in the normal baiting sense. If it does go anywhere, and you invite the scammer into your computer/VM (again, remember that safety issue?), these lead to illegal activities we do not advocate. Period.
The calls lead to few baitable places and generally educate the caller instead of the psychological manipulation we prefer.
It is virtually impossible to trace these callers since they use Voice Over Internet Protocol numbers. When not using temporary VOIP numbers, they tend to clone legitimate numbers from the target country. This means, even if you were to copy the number you see calling in and dial it back from a safe number, you would likely just be ringing either a dead line or an unsuspecting third party not involved with the scam.
There are a ton of other places that would be happy to discuss this. We don't need to be one of them as we have our hands full already.

If you are new here (or new to hearing about these scams) and you've spent your time reading this post wondering, "What the heck are IRS / Techsupport scams?", here are links to sites giving an overview and also containing links to where you can safely report these scams.

FTC (USA)
https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0346-tech-support-scams
Action Fraud (UK)
https://www.actionfraud.police.uk/fraud-az-microsoft-frauds

As we do not deal with this sort of scammers, 419eater is not an appropriate forum to discuss this. Meaning, do not start threads talking about IRS/Techsupport scammers, do not post links to youtube/discord/etc. channels and sites where these scammers are baited, do not seek advice here on how to bait them, technology needed, where to find them, other communities discussing them, etc. Any such threads and posts will be locked.

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