a new identity theft fraud is doing the rounds

[miriam_e]

This one has the bastards phoning to tell you that you were called for jury duty and because you never showed there is a warrant out for your arrest.

Read about it on Snopes:
http://www.snopes.com/crime/fraud/juryduty.asp

There are truly some scum sucking bottom feeders among us.
Beware.

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I just thought of a way to nab these mongrels:

Act all upset and play along, doing the innocent victim act and pretending you've taken the bait, hook, line, and sinker. Tell them you'll give them all the info they ask for, but that you keep it online because you've previously lost it all in a fire. Tell them you'll dial up onto the service that keeps it all for you and phone them right back with all the info.

It is important to act scared and not very smart (but don't overplay it), and to convince them that you've taken the bait. Dangle the prospect of them being able to steal every last morsel of information from you, perhaps even letting drop that you have a lot of money in your bank account so the fine is no problem but that the shame of crossing the law is more than you could bear. Tell them that the information is kept on a secure site that only your computer can access because of a special cookie code (act all dumb) that is kept on your machine. Assure them that you will phone back immediately to give them all the info they want.

When they give you the number make sure they still think you are hooked so that they will wait by the phone. Phone the police and let them know all about it, telling them that the person is waiting by the phone right now. Suggest that a detective might like to ring them back and play the part of the identity theft victim's partner ringing to dutifully supply the needed info. Hopefully the bastards will get busted.

Comments

[patchworkkid.livejournal.com]

Great idea, but in my reasonably wide experience the odds of getting a cop that would act on that is infinitesimal. More likely you'll get a bored, passingly condescending bureacratic brushoff. I mean, in some Melbourne areas cops don't even have *e-mail*, and they all have to go cap-in-hand to Centrelink if they want info on someone or other, and wait ten days for them to get back to them. I've heard accounts of teenage rape victims being treated worse ("Yeah, wish I'd had a go.") Most cops, IME, act like bored public servants with guns and a small amount of social cache. They're not detectives, they're not investigators, they're not lateral, and most aren't even especially principled or empathic. They don't take initiative, many IME are repelled by the concept, and will gladly pass the buck to someone else's pigeon hole. The only thing I've ever seen a cop get immediately engaged by is the prospect of beat-up.

My faith in the police is just about non-existent.