Comment by cogman10

7 hours ago

> The problem described in the article is unsolvable

Well, not completely unsolvable. But nobody would like the solution.

What all these scams rely on is a way to transfer money in an irrevocable fashion. Restrict that in meaningful ways and you end a lot of the abilities for these scams to operate.

You could, for example, outlaw gift cards as a start. You could force the likes of Western Union to have a holding period before releasing money. Crypto would be hard as any regulation against it is pretty easily circumvented, but you could outlaw crypto currency exchanges (I'd worry less about crypto though as it's pretty hard for grandma to reliably setup).

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cogman10

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loumf  7 hours ago

Also cash? Scammers will (and do) send a mule to your house to pick up boxes of cash.

  • cogman10  7 hours ago

    You certainly could.

    There's a reason scammers rely heavily on things like gift cards, it's because hiring mules is expensive and creates a trail police can follow back to the scammers. It requires them to be in the same locale as the person they are scamming. Mailing cash is also pretty dicey for the scammers because you have to send the mail to a valid address. That becomes something police can trace.

    If you wanted to completely eliminate scams then yeah, you'd also outlaw cash.

fhdkweig  6 hours ago

> (I'd worry less about crypto though as it's pretty hard for grandma to reliably setup).

Difficulty in setting up a money transfer is not a hindrance. I have heard stories of scammers walking someone through the entire process to getting a mortgage on a house on the A&E Intervention episode of Greg. If they think you have money and they think you are gullible, they will devote time and effort to getting it.

SoftTalker  6 hours ago

Also education. No court or attorney is going to demand payment of any fines or bail in gift cards or send a courier to pick up cash.

High schools should teach how to spot a scam. As others have observed, this is not a new one, it's just gotten more high-tech and convincing. This is one of many practical things our schools should teach about that they just don't.

  • cogman10  1 hour ago

    Education can only do so much. And, really unfortunately, as people age their brains don't work as well as they once did in their youth.

    That's the primary reason why so many scammers target old people. It's less to do with education and more to do with the fact that as people age they become naturally more trusting.

natebc  6 hours ago

> (I'd worry less about crypto though as it's pretty hard for grandma to reliably setup)

These scumbags send grandma to a Bitcoin ATM.

  • trollbridge  5 hours ago

    Most usage of Bitcoin ATMs (they're actually "reverse ATMs"0 in America is for these scams. Eliminating them would be a great start; they really have no legitimate purpose.

    A while ago, some police department simply seized them and the cash inside and reimbursed victims with the proceeds thereof.