I'd hardly describe what they were doing as a "gag"
To me, a gag is a joke. This was a deliberate attempt to gain personal information for the purposes of fraud. I wish there was a good way to catch these bastards (and boil them in oil). Identity theft is one of the biggest and fastest growing types of crime in America, and some estimates put it at up to $50 BILLION a year. Hell, that's even more fraud than in the Medicare program!