IRS scammer using bitcoin to recieve payment

[acroman08]

has anyone seen this raw video about a guy who got scammed by a fake IRS that are asking for the payment to be sent through bitcoin ATM?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uz50_cntFiU if you want to skip, go-to 5-minute mark(but it would be better if you watch the whole video), that is where the uber driver asks how the guy paid the scammer.

it has a part two but it is mostly about his response about the first video he made. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xf5qB7EkbIE

[1715498195]

1715498195

[AB de Royse777]

has anyone seen this raw video about a guy who got scammed by a fake IRS that are asking for the payment to be sent through bitcoin ATM?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uz50_cntFiU if you want to skip, go-to 5-minute mark(but it would be better if you watch the whole video), that is where the uber driver asks how the guy paid the scammer.

it has a part two but it is mostly about his response about the first video he made. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xf5qB7EkbIE

I just watched the full video. There were red flags to spot this that it was a scam like:
- The accent
- The way arrogantly the guy was taking over the phone
- IRS guy will never ask to pay in Bitcoin
- IRS guy will never tell not to share with anyone etc

Anyway, he lost $3k and was nearly losing more $3k if the YouTube channel guy (the driver) was not coincidentally met the poor guy. Thanks to the Uber driver that he was human enough to step in and help the passenger.

[stsfi]

Please Mention IRS -> USA Tax Authorities , world is way bigger than united states of America.

I personally had to google it

[alani123]

The gist is that no public service, authority or really anyone you owe money to will ever ask you to pay over the phone.

You should NEVER trust incoming calls. They can be spoofed and it's very easy to enter a fake called ID when calling anyone. It only requires some basic VOIP knowledge and there are even services that will offer that for a fee.
So even if a number looks like your bank's number, it's very possible that it could have been spoofed. The only secure way is to call them back. This way you know that the party you intended to contact is the one on the other end of the line.

Most banks, public services and even debt collector agencies allow anyone to call back and be connected with the same operator.

And to comment on the OP. The title of the commentary video is a bit misleading. The cabbie saved the victim from further loses, but in reality the BTC  he sent over is never going to be returned. It's sad that scammers have realized crypto can be used this way and started utilizing it. Perhaps bitcoin ATM owners could put up some warnings as a forewarning to potential scam victims. It's certainly not nice to be introduced to BTC this way.

[Lucius]

It’s an already old and proven trick that still works, especially in countries where is a high concentration of crypto ATMs, but also naive people, mostly immigrants who are threatened with deportation if they do not pay taxes in BTC via crypto ATMs.

For example, we can take the case from Australia which is at least 2 years old, or this cases from Canada1 & Canada2. Fraudsters are obviously choosing targets when it comes to who they will try to deceive, and those who do not know the law and regulations, and may have entered the country illegally, seem to be the first to choose.

Cryptocurrency is unfortunately interesting to criminals as much as it is interesting to honest people, but still none of the above would have become a victim if they had just contacted competent tax service and ask "Do I need to pay tax in Bitcoin via ATM?"

[Steamtyme]

Please Mention IRS -> USA Tax Authorities , world is way bigger than united states of America.
I personally had to google it

Not really necessary as you said, you only had to google it.

This isn't really new sadly. It's been going on in Canada for years, likely the US as well. When it was getting really bad most of the ATM's I knew of had signage all around specifically debunking this and other scams demanding BTC payment. The worst was when they were calling from the government asking for gift cards.

You would think after all of this they would send out a leaflet or something that specifically states, we do not accept <Insert scammers preferred currencies> - We only take payments via bank or whatever.  

For example, we can take the case from Australia which is at least 2 years old, or this cases from Canada1 & Canada2. Fraudsters are obviously choosing targets when it comes to who they will try to deceive, and those who do not know the law and regulations, and may have entered the country illegally, seem to be the first to choose.

I think it's more like a scatter shot and see what sticks. Most people do not understand the laws. They think we have come so far along with technology that governments must be on the cutting edge. Crypto has become fairly mainstream and people have been hearing about it long enough they just assume it's plausible.