# Major IRS scam phone call center busted in Mumbai **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 6, 2016, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-irs-scam-phone-call-center-busted-in-mumbai/767798 "2016-10-06T20:33:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2016, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-irs-scam-phone-call-center-busted-in-mumbai/767798/41 "2016-10-07T17:21:33Z")
> [@Drunky\_Smurf](#): > > Total lefty bullshittery. As a leftist bullshitter, I’m offended. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2016, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-irs-scam-phone-call-center-busted-in-mumbai/767798/42 "2016-10-07T17:30:54Z")
They won’t call a Canadian number, but I get calls from “Microsoft” all the time. I ask them: “Does your mother know you’re a thief?” That makes them hang up immediately. Maybe I should try stringing them on for a while, but that is no fun for me. ---
**Author:** ![Karen\_Lingel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karen_lingel/32/18649_2.png) [@Karen\_Lingel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Karen_Lingel)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2016, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-irs-scam-phone-call-center-busted-in-mumbai/767798/43 "2016-10-07T18:22:00Z")
I’m glad these jerks got caught (and that’s probably why I stopped getting 4 calls a day from the “IRS”). I’ve been answering my phone “Telemarketer Hotline, Karen speaking, how may I refuse your call?” This seems to convince the robo-callers that I am a business, and they don’t call back. And human telemarketers hang up. And it amuses me. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2016, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-irs-scam-phone-call-center-busted-in-mumbai/767798/44 "2016-10-07T18:22:54Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > They won’t call a Canadian number, but I get calls from “Microsoft” all the time. I ask them: “Does your mother know you’re a thief?” That makes them hang up immediately. Maybe I should try stringing them on for a while, but that is no fun for me. I’ve gotten some of them very angry saying the same thing. Pretty amusing. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2016, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-irs-scam-phone-call-center-busted-in-mumbai/767798/45 "2016-10-07T18:28:03Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > American airlines all charge $200, just to change the date on your plane ticket – $400 if it’s international. Now who’s ripping us off? (British Airways charges nothing for that, and Emirates, Air France and Turkish only a small fraction of it.) Southwest doesn’t. And while nearly everyone hates airlines these days, the fees are spelled out in advance. If you can’t tell the difference between charging fees you don’t like and threatening, you need to take an ethics class. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2016, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-irs-scam-phone-call-center-busted-in-mumbai/767798/46 "2016-10-07T19:02:43Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > Jerkwads in India,Nigeria, etc. are ordinary working stiffs trying to support their families in a country where decent jobs are hard, if not impossible, to come by. I can at least have a little sympathy for them. Imagine that – some other country exploiting America, instead of the other way around. Oh, the horror. Some people have lost their entire savings, their homes, everything because of scammers like these. Fuck 'em. Just because they’re foreign doesn’t mean they’re incapable of being sociopathic sleazebags. I have no sympathy for them. “Oh the horror” indeed. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2016, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-irs-scam-phone-call-center-busted-in-mumbai/767798/47 "2016-10-08T18:23:18Z")
> [@thirdname](#): > > I’ve received several calls from Indian scammers claiming to be with Microsoft tech support. There aren’t even any Windows boxes in this household. I told them off each time. I got them to stop calling after they said they found problems with all our computers. “Including the really old ones with no Internet access?” asked I. “Sorry for bothering you,” replied the “Windows” manager. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2016, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-irs-scam-phone-call-center-busted-in-mumbai/767798/48 "2016-10-08T18:33:21Z")
Two words - drone strikes. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2016, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-irs-scam-phone-call-center-busted-in-mumbai/767798/49 "2016-10-08T20:03:49Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > Some people have\*\*\* lost their entire savings\*\*\*, their homes, everything because of scammers like these. Fuck 'em. Just because they’re foreign doesn’t mean they’re incapable of being sociopathic sleazebags. I have no sympathy for them. > > “Oh the horror” indeed. So have people who bought insurance or used cars from their neighbors who live right down the street and are well known to them, with no consequences to the sellers who knew they were sellng something worthless. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_Bowe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df788c/32.png) [@Doug\_Bowe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_Bowe)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2016, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-irs-scam-phone-call-center-busted-in-mumbai/767798/50 "2016-10-08T23:26:25Z")
> [@teela\_brown](#): > > Apparently the IRS phone scam thing is profitable enough to employ a lot of people in large call centers in India. > > [Story](http://www.wsj.com/articles/indian-police-detain-workers-over-possible-irs-phone-scam-1475674691). > > Has anyone here received a call from these jerkwads? They left messages on my home phone with threats. I knew if the IRS contacts you it would be by snail mail and deleted the messages. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2016, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-irs-scam-phone-call-center-busted-in-mumbai/767798/51 "2016-10-08T23:42:21Z")
> [@Doug\_Bowe](#): > > They left messages on my home phone with threats. I knew if the IRS contacts you it would be by snail mail and deleted the messages. Are you saying throwing away those letters was a _bad_ thing? ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2016, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-irs-scam-phone-call-center-busted-in-mumbai/767798/52 "2016-10-09T04:24:54Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > Two words - drone strikes. Yeah. For one of them I said stay on the line - waited for a minute, then told him this was the NSA, we had traced his call, and the Indian government had authorized a drone strike so he had better leave. Asking him which OS I run makes them hang up fast also. But insulting their mothers is a lot more fun. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2016, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-irs-scam-phone-call-center-busted-in-mumbai/767798/53 "2016-10-09T04:27:00Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > So have people who bought insurance or used cars from their neighbors who live right down the street and are well known to them, with no consequences to the sellers who knew they were sellng something worthless. Who buys insurance from a neighbor? Who loses their life savings from buying a used car - not to mention you can always take it to a mechanic. So I don’t think yout can equate this with these scumbags. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2016, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-irs-scam-phone-call-center-busted-in-mumbai/767798/54 "2016-10-09T14:33:56Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > Who buys insurance from a neighbor? Who loses their life savings from buying a used car - not to mention you can always take it to a mechanic. So I don’t think yout can equate this with these scumbags. To a mechanic who charges $100 an hour shop labor? Mechanics in India charge maybe 2 or 3 bucks an hour. Who’s the scumbag? I know people whose life savings is what they have in their pockets at the end of the month. They cannot afford to lose it any more than anybody else, but here in the USA, these are the people who are preyed upon by payday loans and furniture rentals. Who operate with perfect immunity to both the law and public opinion, because they are the practitioners of the free enterprise system that we are taught to worship. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2016, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-irs-scam-phone-call-center-busted-in-mumbai/767798/55 "2016-10-09T14:39:43Z")
How \*dare \*someone who has a business operate it at a _profit_!!! They should only be able to make ends meet and pay their employees minimum wage and if they’re not doing pro-bono work for the less fortunate, they are scum. yeah. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2016, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-irs-scam-phone-call-center-busted-in-mumbai/767798/56 "2016-10-09T14:44:20Z")
> [@FairyChatMom](#): > > How \*dare \*someone who has a business operate it at a _profit_!!! They should only be able to make ends meet and pay their employees minimum wage and if they’re not doing pro-bono work for the less fortunate, they are scum. > > yeah. Only in America. In India, yes, they must work, even hard labor, for a few rupees a day, for corporations owned by shaeholders in rich countries.. How dare they try to use free enerprise to make a profit. yeah. I’ve heard that India doesn’t even allow McDonalds in there, to sell little pieces of potato for $25 a pound. Talk about ungrateful. ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2016, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-irs-scam-phone-call-center-busted-in-mumbai/767798/57 "2016-10-09T14:58:42Z")
**jtur88** - What’s your phone number? I’m sure many hard-working third-world residents would love to call you and let you donate to their local economy. StG ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2016, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-irs-scam-phone-call-center-busted-in-mumbai/767798/58 "2016-10-09T15:03:39Z")
> [@StGermain](#): > > **jtur88** - What’s your phone number? I’m sure many hard-working third-world residents would love to call you and let you donate to their local economy. > > StG I already get so many, that they are getting a message that says "Due to an unexpectedly heavy voluime of calls . . . " I’ve spent 12 weeks in the past 15 months in the third world, so don’t worry about whether any of my money has been donated to their local economy. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2016, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-irs-scam-phone-call-center-busted-in-mumbai/767798/59 "2016-10-09T15:26:13Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > > [@Voyager](#): > > > > Who buys insurance from a neighbor? Who loses their life savings from buying a used car - not to mention you can always take it to a mechanic. So I don’t think yout can equate this with these scumbags. > > To a mechanic who charges $100 an hour shop labor? Mechanics in India charge maybe 2 or 3 bucks an hour. Who’s the scumbag? Um, what? What does the cost of a mechanic in India have to do with the cost of a mechanic in the US? It’s not as if I can outsource my tune up or my oil change to some mechanic in Kolkata. I’m not sure what argument you’re attempting to make here, but you’re being nonsensical. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2016, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-irs-scam-phone-call-center-busted-in-mumbai/767798/60 "2016-10-09T17:22:40Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > Jerkwads in India,Nigeria, etc. are ordinary working stiffs trying to support their families in a country where decent jobs are hard, if not impossible, to come by. I can at least have a little sympathy for them. Imagine that – some other country exploiting America, instead of the other way around. Oh, the horror. [Here](http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/mumbai-call-centre-scam-nothings-wrong-in-duping-rich-americans/articleshow/54729514.cms)’s an article from The Times of India about this case. A brief quote, “Inspector Ravindra Daundkar [of the Anti Corruption Bureau in Thane, employed by the Maharashtra Police] said, ‘She [Nasreen Bano Iqbal Balesahib, one of the suspects] told us that they were doing nothing wrong by cheating Americans who were rich anyway. She obviously knew what was going on.’” Perhaps **jtur88** would like to join the defense team? [Another article](http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/thane/Thane-call-centre-racket-claims-life-of-US-woman/articleshow/54751953.cms) says that an elderly American woman suffered a stroke and died as a result of these threatening calls. So do you still think that the suspects did nothing wrong here? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-irs-scam-phone-call-center-busted-in-mumbai/767798.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-irs-scam-phone-call-center-busted-in-mumbai/767798.md?page=4)