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Comment by cupcake-unicorn | Hacker News Reader

Wow, that admittedly had a lot of effort going into it. I'd like to say that I wouldn't have fallen for it, but I'm not so sure. I think I wouldn't have physically given them the card, though. Something about the whole thing just seems really odd they'd go so much out of their way for one victim.

But is this something more common in the UK, perhaps? The only scams I run into are these laughable phone calls I get from time to time - recorded messages like, "This is card services from (fake phone static). Your card has been compromised. Please call us back." I never called the number back but from looking up online it seems that pretty much straight off the bat they ask you for your SSN, and I'm guessing they wouldn't have any personal info about you.

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The OP said he woke up "hungover, sitting on the sofa trying to piece together the night before." I have to wonder if the scammers were aware of that and were using that fact to catch him in a disoriented state.

It's a pretty convincing scam for sure - especially if they get you to think that you called your own bank.

I wouldn't be surprised if they got this information from a receipt or something rather than following him home though. As he said, it would be easier to just mug the guy in that case. Following somebody home seems like a lot of investment and risk for a scam that only works on certain percentages of the victims.

Mugging:

- Less effort but requires willingness to use force.

- Doesn't require any knowledge of the phone system or victim's details beforehand

- High risk, since violent crimes can go bad.

- Police care more (although depending on jurisdiction they may take a report and be unable to do anything unless you get lucky and there are leads for them to follow).

Con game:

- Requires more preparation and knowledge

- Allows more time to abuse the card because the victim doesn't know anything's wrong for days.

- Virtually zero risk during the acquisition of the card

- Police care less... these crimes are more difficult to solve/clear.

I shouldn't have mentioned mugging because that wasn't really my point - and I usually know better than to provide ammunition for arguing a tangential point!

Anyway, I was trying to muse that spying and following somebody to their home is a lot of work and carries the risk of being noticed and/or caught on camera, getting attacked by their dog, or at the very least consuming your entire evening. Who knows if the victim is going to drive 10 miles out of town or stay at the bar until 4am. Maybe they'll go to their girlfriends place instead leaving you with a bogus address. Maybe they'll notice you from the bar and wonder what the fuck you're doing following them..? It just seems impractical just to get your address.

Whereas getting info from a receipt could be safe & easy and you don't have to get physically close to a victim until you have them on the hook. You could pre filter. You probably don't even need to be at any particular location. Just go through a pile of receipts in the comfort of your own home.

But then again what do I know? Maybe it's ridiculously easy to find a mark and then follow them home.

Not really, actually mugging someone would be a lot of risk for unknown and surely lower return. What these guys are doing won't work all the time, but when it does the return is very high as they can steal money you don't even have if they get a credit card. They also wouldn't have to deal with any issues like getting caught by CCTV, a group of well wishers or the ever elusive police patrol.

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