Bogus IRS calls

[operabuff]

I haven't received one of these in years, but I particularly enjoyed the one I received while sitting in my office at the main IRS building on Constitution Ave in DC. As I recall, the caller didn't take my constructive criticism very well.

[Famspear]

I haven't received one of these in years, but I particularly enjoyed the one I received while sitting in my office at the main IRS building on Constitution Ave in DC. As I recall, the caller didn't take my constructive criticism very well.

I wonder whether you scared the heck out of the dirt bag caller!

.....Speaking of these scam calls, I received yet another call today (Wed., April 25) -- consisting of the same recorded message I have been receiving over the past few weeks.

[Famspear]

Getting back to the U.S. Federal criminal case against 61 defendants (referenced earlier in this thread).

The case is still open: United States v. Sunny Joshi, et al., case no. 16-cr-00385, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas (Houston Division). The indictment was handed down on August 31, 2016.

I believe that this is case that involved the telephone call center near Mumbai (Bombay), India. Many of the defendants are in U.S. Federal prisons now. Examples:

Sunny Joshi
sentence: 151 months
inmate # 18500-479
projected release date: July 20, 2027

Hardik Arvindbhai Patel
sentence: 188 months
inmate # 51657-424
projected release date: March 4, 2030

Ashvinbhai Chaudhari
sentence: 87 months
inmate # 81501-380
projected release date: Feb. 17, 2023

[notorial dissent]

Sucks to be them, but then I'm not sure what ring of hell should be reserved for scam and spam callers.

[Pottapaug1938]

Sucks to be them, but then I'm not sure what ring of hell should be reserved for scam and spam callers.

One in which they are confined to a house where the phone does not go for more than 5 minutes without some spammer calling to sell time shares, precious metals, annuities, "performance" preparations, and so on. They cannot ignore the calls, or the voice mails which follow. Of course, their Internet forays lead them only to scam/spam web sites.

[The Observer]

Sucks to be them, but then I'm not sure what ring of hell should be reserved for scam and spam callers.

According to Dante, the 8th circle of hell is reserved for fraudsters.

[notorial dissent]

Sucks to be them, but then I'm not sure what ring of hell should be reserved for scam and spam callers.

According to Dante, the 8th circle of hell is reserved for fraudsters.

Maybe there is a subset set aside just for them. I'm sure Dante wouldn't mind, and who knows, maybe hell is dynamic and grows and adjusts to fit the times. Lucifer Morningstar would approve.

[The Observer]

Maybe there is a subset set aside just for them.

The 8th circle does have subsets in the form of bolgias or ditches where the different types of fraudsters are separated. None of these, of course, relate to spammers, since the technology of the 14th century didn't lend itself to e-mail.

The closest that any of these ditches come to being set aside for scam artists and/or spammers, in my opinion (from the list in Wikipedia):

(1) Bolgia Five: Grafters (speculators, extortionists, blackmailers and unscrupulous businessmen: sinners who used their positions in life to gain personal wealth or other advantages for themselves) are punished by being thrown into a river of boiling pitch and tar. In addition, should any of the grafters try to escape the pitch, a horde of demons ("Malebranche", meaning "evil claws") armed with grappling hooks and barbs stands guard over them, ready to tear them to pieces.

(2) Bolgia Seven: This bolgia houses the souls of thieves. This bolgia is also filled with serpents, dragons and other vengeful reptiles that torture the thieves endlessly. The bites of some of the snakes cause the thieves to spontaneously combust, only to regenerate their bodies for further torment in a few moments. They are pursued by the monstrous fiery Cacus. Other thieves are denied human forms and appear as reptiles themselves, and can only assume their true shape if they steal a human shape from another sinner; this involves a very painful transformation for both souls involved.

(3) Bolgia Eight: In this trench, the souls of deceivers who gave false or corrupted advice to others for personal benefit are punished. They are constantly ablaze, appearing as nothing so much as living, speaking tongues of flame. The Ancient Greeks Ulysses and Diomedes are here.

(3) Bolgia Ten: Falsifiers, those who attempted to alter things through lies or alchemy, or those who tried to pass off false things as real things, such as counterfeiters of coins, are punished here. This bolgia has four subdivisions where specific classes of falsifiers (alchemists, impostors, counterfeiters, and liars) endure different degrees of punishment based on horrible, consumptive diseases such as rashes, dropsy, leprosy and consumption. Among them is Myrrha, who suffers from insanity after she seduced her father.

As you can see, plenty of options (and room) for the scammer that particularly interests you.

[Arthur Rubin]

I'm sure Hell changes to make room for new types of sinners. In Niven & Pournelle's _Inferno_ (and sequels), he's found places for a number of famous people.

The only one I recall at the moment is Carl Sagan as a falsifier, for his role in the TTAPS paper.

[notorial dissent]

I'm kind of partial to Lucifer's definition of what Hell really is and how it works. The ironic ultimate punishment.

[Famspear]

[ . . . ] Carl Sagan as a falsifier, for his role in the TTAPS paper.

TTAPS? What is "TTAPS"?

[Famspear]

I found this:

Although never openly acknowledged by the multi-disciplinary team who authored the most popular 1980s TTAPS model, in 2011 the American Institute of Physics states that the TTAPS team (named for its participants, who had all previously worked on the phenomenon of dust storms on Mars, or in the area of asteroid impact events: Richard P. Turco, Owen Toon, Thomas P. Ackerman, James B. Pollack and Carl Sagan) announcement of their results in 1983 "was with the explicit aim of promoting international arms control".[91] However, "the computer models were so simplified, and the data on smoke and other aerosols were still so poor, that the scientists could say nothing for certain [ . . . ]

--from the Wikipedia article on "Nuclear winter", at

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_winter#1983

[notorial dissent]

I think I see where that is going, but none the less I still has a serious confuzzed........ Considering when that, particularly when, that report was issued, it was better listed in the realm of bad science fantasy. I still remember the utter and complete nonsense that was charitably called "scientific speculation" about getting in to outer space, getting to the moon, landing on the moon, etc, and then getting to Mars was even sillier. The only things they seemed to manage to get correct were the respective gravities and atmospheres, or lack thereof, and I'm still not sure if that was purely by accident.