Re: [LUG] Fwd: Microsoft scam man is sentenced

To: list@xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Subject: Re: [LUG] Fwd: Microsoft scam man is sentenced

From: Julian Hall <linux@xxxxxxxxxxxx>

Date: Tue, 01 Apr 2014 10:43:13 +0100

Delivered-to: dclug@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

On 01/04/14 09:23, Kevin Peat wrote:

On 1 April 2014 06:08:38 GMT+01:00, Simon Waters <simon@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

On 31/03/14 21:33, Kevin Peat wrote:
 
 While I am sure his victims are a bit p*ssed off at being conned, and he
 certainly deserved to be prosecuted, he didn't really hurt anyone and
 the money amounts involved are small so his sentence seems fair.

Don't be fooled into thinking that because each individual only loses a
small amount this is not serious crime.

Just go see how many people are seeing the same scam being worked.

Personally never been called, and fairly sure there is a fair bit of
targeting to identify the most gullible, since some more gullible
friends seem to get a lot of such calls.

As Bad Apple suggests if the punishment doesn't actually deter, then
they won't even stop doing it. Much as I dislike jail time since it
costs t!
 ax payer
money to keep people in jail, I think either jail time,
or simply asset recover programme, and leave the person basically
penniless. We need to make sure fraud doesn't pay.

This isn't a serious crime. It's a fairly minor fraud at the end of the day.

In a practical sense what this guy did isn't much different to PC World selling people crap like Norton etc. with a new PC, which then acts like a bit of malware when you want to get rid of it.

Kevin

I don't think you can equate a deliberate criminal fraud with a bit of pre-installed software. You may think it's a victimless crime and/or it's a small amount of money but that ignores the emotional cost to the victim. Just after my Dad died my Mum was deliberately lied to by the salesman of one of the energy companies - I know it was deliberate because when I subsequently called them he 'no longer worked for them' - and as a result of believing the lies Mum lost all confidence in her ability to deal with people like that and it took a long time to rebuild it. I know for a /certainty/ that if she had fallen for a con like this the effect would have been similar, and she is not alone in that. How many hundreds, or thousands will this scammer have affected in this way?

Julian