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No matter how you spin things, potential scams are everywhere, just waiting to pounce on us. That’s just the reality of life. So, it falls to us—hard-working everyday consumers—to be wary of anyone trying to weasel our cash out of our wallets.
However, not all cash grabs are blatantly obvious. The savvy members of the r/AskReddit subreddit spilled the tea about all the products and services that they believe are “massive scams” that prey on a lot of victims. Scroll down for their advice—their tips might help you save your hard-earned bucks.
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
Commercials on premium TV channels. Don’t we pay to NOT have commercials? Isn’t that the purpose of paying for premium TV.
Falafal salad 3 months ago
Amazon Prime! I had paid for a year upfront then halfway through the year they announce that I’m now getting ads and if I don’t want to see ads I need to pay an additional subscription! Criminals!
RELATED:
#2
For-profit healthcare.
#3
Anything with the word.. DETOX in it.
Teas, herbs.. magic potions.. whatever .
My favorite are the foot pad things that suck the toxins from the soles of your feet.
Your Kidneys and liver are your detox. Doesn't matter what tea you drink.
ScamWatch, run by the Australian Government, warns people that scams are usually presented as amazing opportunities either to make or save money. They’re often portrayed as being extremely time-sensitive.
Meanwhile, you should be suspicious if someone you have never met suddenly asks you for your help. You should always be wary of any emails or text messages that have suspicious-looking links or attachments. And your alarm bells should be ringing if you’re asked to pay in unusual or extremely specific ways or you’re asked to set up any new accounts.
The best approach if you notice any red flags is to never give out any personal details or transfer any money. You should either hang up the phone or delete the spammy emails or messages. If the scammers are pretending to be a trusted organization or institution, you can always get in touch with them via their official contacts to double-check any suspicious-sounding requests.
#4
Scientology.
Justin Tyme 3 months ago
L. Ron Hubbard was a science fiction writer. He was quoted telling a science fiction convention in 1948: "Writing for a penny a word is ridiculous. If a man really wants to make a million dollars, the best way would be to start his own religion."
#6
Stanley cups. all this hysteria for an overpriced water bottle?
Everybody can fall prey to scams, no matter how educated they might be. Everyone can find themselves distracted and in a situation where they lack self-awareness. However, the more physically, socially, and financially vulnerable someone is, the more likely they are to be targeted by crooks.
However, this doesn’t mean that we can’t fight back against potential scams. Knowledge really is power. The more up-to-date we are about new types of scams, the more we can keep ourselves and our loved ones safe. Although, it’s a constant battle with no end in sight. For every scam you learn to avoid, new ones will pop up to take its place.
#7
That important, difficult jobs that we need more of (preschool teachers, custodial staff, care workers for the old or disabled, etc.) should pay dramatically less than important, difficult jobs we need fewer of (CEO).
#8
Credit monitoring. They setup a system where false information can ruin your life and then charge you to know when it happens so you can get on top of it before the damage is done. And, on top of that, when they leak the personal information of hundreds of millions of people because their security sucks, their "punishment" is to give you their service for a short period of time for free despite the fact that your information being out there means you'll need to pay for it after that free period ends.
It's a modern-day, digital version of the mob's, "It would be a shame if your house burned down, let us help protect it" extortion racket. They've convinced the world that our identities are being stolen rather than what it really is...financial institutions are being defrauded. And they've shifted the burden for their problem onto us.
Hmmm hmmmm 3 months ago
And the strangeness of the fact that checking your credit score can sometimes lower it , and on some apps you just press a button to "boost" it
#9
Crystals.
I love crystals.. in a geological way.
But they don’t heal s**t.
Jeff Gabrisl 3 months ago
That's just because you haven't found the right crystal. You need to find the flawed quartz crystals that are actually a crystal skull. Once you find one, you will know and be able to take over the world.
A very important rule of thumb when it comes to protecting yourself and your funds is to listen to your gut. When we’re in tune with our instincts, we can tell when something’s off. Broadly speaking, if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
For example, if you get a very tempting offer that promises you great riches for doing next to nothing, then it’s very likely that someone’s trying to scam you. Nobody gives away free money… (unless you bought a very lucky lottery ticket or you inherited something, but those situations are super rare).
#10
Diamonds.
Justin Tyme 3 months ago
They are great for sharpening knives. e.g. diamond sharpening stone: Diamond-St...5e72cd.jpg 
#11
Snake oil.
Sorry, I mean “essential” oil.
Jen Samara 3 months ago
I use essential oil to make stuff smell good...I know people who use it to cure diseases or whatever.
Slow down. Sit down. Ask yourself some basic, common sense questions about the offer. And then, get in touch with your family, friends, coworkers, or neighbors for their thoughts. There’s nothing like an outsider’s perspective to protect you from swindlers. If nobody’s available to talk, take some time to think about what the offer entails. Sleep on it.
Many scammers rely on pressure to get you to part with your hard-earned cash. So, any offers that are super duper urgent are probably attempts to get you into a mind frame where you’re easier to manipulate. Fairly good deals and sales happen all the time; there is absolutely no reason to rush. Ever!
#13
Those E-commerce guys that sell their guru courses on how to make $10K plus a month.
LaserBrain 3 months ago
How to make 10,000 per month: sell courses on how to make 10,000 per month
#14
Wedding dresses. You can buy an identical evening gown in a different colour for a few hundred, but make it white and call it a Wedding dress, you add a zero to the end of the price. So a £400 evening dress is £4000, because its white and in a bridal shop.
Justin Tyme 3 months ago
The last wedding I attended was in a public park (which had really nice scenery for wedding photos). The bride and groom wore nice clothes they already owned and had spent a couple hundred dollars on rings. Instead of bringing gifts, the guests brought food for a pitch-in lunch. After the ceremony and lunch, we all played fun games. It was the only wedding I really enjoyed attending - and the only one where I noticed that children were obviously having a good time.
#15
Plastic recycling is a scam sold to us by the oil companies (from which plastic is made), so we won't feel bad about using single-use plastic. It's not cost effective to sort plastics into the myriad recyclable categories, so your trash company is just throwing it all in the landfill with your trash.
https://www.npr.org/2020/09/11/897692090/how-big-oil-misled-the-public-into-believing-plastic-would-be-recycled.
Meanwhile, if someone asks you to divulge any private information, it’s also very likely that you’re in the process of getting scammed.
You should never ever give out any sensitive info, whether that’s your bank details, your account passwords, your address, or your and your loved ones’ names or dates of birth. Sure, some of your info is probably easily accessible and already ‘out there’ in the wilds of the internet, but you don’t want to give crooks any more ammunition.
#16
Not a product, but bots and fake comments online are a scam of people making robots pretending to be people - and they are everywhere.
Soooo many of the comments you read (and let influence you) are not people. Total scam.
Tucker Cahooter 3 months ago
I am not a bot, and my expertise at identifying the traffic lights in random pictures proves it
#17
Companies that sell stars or naming stars …. No one owns stars . You can’t own a star and there is no governing body who authorises the naming and ownership of stars . You my friend have just purchased a piece of paper for $200
Edit : after a chalenge from a few people on this here is the clarification after some googling
“The only body which can give names to astronomical objects is the International Astronomical Union (IAU). This hasn’t stopped commercial firms from ‘offering’ individuals the ‘opportunity’ to sponsor stars etc. These names will be recognised by no one and you will be wasting your money unfortunately.”.
Daniel Atkins 3 months ago
You know if they did recognize the names there would be one named starry mc starface
#18
Printers and printer ink.
Tucker Cahooter 3 months ago
Laser printers, as illustrated, offer much more bang for your buck. I only use my inkjet printer for its scanning capabilities
What’s the biggest scam that you know of that people keep buying into? Has anyone ever tried to scam you, dear Pandas? What advice would you give someone to help protect them from swindlers and crooks?
Share your advice in the comments! And if you have any warnings to share from your personal experience, we're all ears.
#20
US Healthcare System, Herbalife, Joel Osteen, BeachBody, Scentsy.
#21
For profit colleges & fully online courses for some jobs. For example, you can’t become a nurse by only taking online courses. I also heard about someone getting an online cosmetology program. So many students pay thousands of dollars for programs that are not accredited.
Justin Tyme 3 months ago
As a retired nurse, I can say I hope people will never be able to become nurses without doing clinical training.
#22
Cosmetics. We've convinced most women that they don't look presentable or professional without it. At its core, it preys upon insecurities. I wouldn't have nearly the same issue with it if it was truly more of an optional thing,.
Auntriarch 3 months ago (edited)
My mother never used it (allergy) and I grew up in a time and place where it wasn't universal. I'm lucky. I know people that would put full slap on whilst waiting for the ambulance...
#23
The remote closer ads/ influencers that claim they are making 10k a month. It's a MLM scheme and the authorities should take action against these people fooling desperate people online for their hard earned money.
#24
Medical insurance. I pay $100/month for insurance to tell me my regular appointment is now $73 instead of the base $75, and that my Epi-Pen is not covered at all. F**k medical insurance, from the bottom of my heart.
Justin Tyme 3 months ago
I have VA Healthcare. It was easy. All I had to do was give a few years of my life to the military, get into a helicopter crash (I was not the pilot), and have pain every day for the last 30 years.
#25
(Mobile phone) games with microtransactions.
Huddo's sister 3 months ago
I have only one game on my phone and I don't even have data on when I play it, so no video ads. When I first started playing it, there were no microtransactions offered but now there are lots. Not once have I considered buying any. If I can't pass a level without paying, I'm not going to play it. They give bonuses without paying every 10 stages or so, so even levels I haven't done so well on I can go back and use them on, so I don't understand why people fall for the cost. (Actually, it's the mentality of 'I need to win this now, to keep going. Why wait when I can pay to move on now?')
#26
Religion.
Jeff Gabrisl 3 months ago
Yes, as Voltaire once said: there will never be peace on earth until the last king is strangled to death by the entrails of the last priest
Urbangirlatl 3 months ago
Ricky Gervais talks about this frequently. He pointed out to a talk show host that there are a couple of thousand recorded references to deities, and the only difference between his beliefs and those of the host was that he didn't believe in one more deity than the host. https://youtu.be/P5ZOwNK6n9U
Michael Largey 3 months ago
As long as humans fear death, need guidance, and want answers to the big questions, religion will always be with us for some.
keyboardtek 3 months ago
So people want answers to big questions? Why not try science and logic instead of fairy tales and folklore? Maybe the appeal is because science does not have all the answers and religion claims to.
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Luke Branwen 3 months ago
Don't say "religion" when you mean "three weird flavors of Christianity and ultra-conservative Islam".
Tom Brincefield 3 months ago
There are no religions that don't have problems. Fanatics are capable of making anything destructive.
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Andy Pandy 3 months ago
Voltaire is right, politicians need to go too. Just because you went to a fancy 40,000 a year school doesn't mean you can run a country. Let the people run them
Science Nerd 3 months ago
I would have thought greed and seeking personal power were the major causes.
Load More Replies...
Caia Calabrese 3 months ago
Religion is cheap therapy. Instead of paying the biggest scam (psychological treatment), you pray to God and can forget about your problems for a while.
#27
Bottled water(unless your tap water isn't safe to drink).
Not the fancy kind, but your regular grocery store brands.
#28
Those bracelets with a sticker on them that claim to align your magnetic field or whatever.
#29
Political parties.
Michael Largey 3 months ago (edited)
A British commentator said "In America there are two political parties. The Republicans, which are like our Conservative Party. And the Democrats, which are like our Conservative Party."
#30
Insurance. I'm not talking medical, house, or vehicle insurance, but insurance on electronics, appliances, etc.
Mark Alibozek 3 months ago
I guess we should stop buying goods that offer "insurance" on such goods. If the sellers don't have confidence in the products why should we buy it?🤣
#31
Donut holes. The bakery steals the middle of your pastry and then sells it back to you.
#32
Ear candles.
Their wax looks like ear wax, so people believe the candle "sucked" it out of your ear.
But they look exactly the same if you just burn them in your hand.
FoxEcoLimaIndiaCharlieIndiAlfa 3 months ago
Wow, I've never seen these before and if I had an earwax problem, this would not be my first choice of an OTC remedy.
#33
Turbotax. Really, the entire tax industry. They've lobbied for years to keep the government from sending you the bill/refund that they already know about. Instead, literally everyone has to buy into it *(Ha! Intuit!)* unless you're going to file them on your own.
Michael Largey 3 months ago
I have a rather complicated financial portfolio - inherited from a relative. Despite being a former IRS employee, I couldn't know how to fill out my 1040 myself. But TurboTax has a feature where I can drop it all into my return in the proper places with a few mouse clicks.
#34
Homeopathic "medicine"
NFTs/digital collectibles.
Buying online/digital movies, tv series, music albums, etc. because it can always get taken away by Amazon, Apple and Google. Buy physical copies.
Scientology
Diamonds
Most "collectibles". Most stuff made to be collected won't be worth much decades from now, things made decades ago that were never meant to be collected are what's valuable today (an iPhone 1 still in the box sold for $63,000).
The Phantom Stranger 3 months ago
I have a friend who is one of the world's premier collectors of sci-fi memorabilia, and he used to give a seminar on collectibles at our Star Trek convention every year. His advice was always Buy something because it will bring you joy, not because you think it will be worth something in 30 years. Anything specifically marketed as a collectible will almost certainly not be."
#35
MLMs.
The Phantom Stranger 3 months ago
I prefer the days when we used to call these Pyramid Schemes. Hey you kids, GET OFF MY LAWN!
#36
Gambling. Spending a bunch of money to lose money. The promotional materials are insidious, especially for sports betting. Chances are you ain't hitting that 17-team parlay ticket that Draftkings just posted on its social media account.
The Phantom Stranger 3 months ago
I've bet in the horses when I was in Saratoga, and played a few hands of Blackjack in Las Vegas, just so I could say that I had, but I've never really understood the appeal of gambling. Fortunately, I've managed to avoid a lot of bad habits simply by being too cheap to invest in them.
#38
Cable TV.
Generations of families tricked into paying hundreds of dollars/ month for them to pump ads with just enough tempting content keep us watching.
It's a f*****g lobster trap. The whole, entire thing is a trick, and clearly, we're not smart enough to catch on.
Justin Tyme 3 months ago (edited)
I stopped watching television about 20 years ago. Hundreds of channels and nothing interesting to watch.
#39
Banking. You give them all your money, they use it to make themselves more money, charge you for the privilege, and if you want to take out large sums you have to give them notice because they dont actually “have” it.
Michael Largey 3 months ago
"Banks will only give you a loan if you can prove you don't need it." - Bob Hope
#40
Timeshare.
Boopsie 3 months ago
Oh yes they are a scam. You are conned into thinking that you need to vacation using their facilities, for an annual fee that is higher than if you planned your trip by yourself. And that annual fee that it seems you can never get out of. Just stop paying. Eventually they stop asking and your credit is fine. Took mine 3 years.
#41
Alkaline water. Your body will convert all water to alkaline.
#42
Laundry softener. Absolutely not necessary and actually makes your clothes worse. Use vinegar if you have to or just use nothing.
Huddo's sister 3 months ago
I remember telling my mum when I was in my early twenties that fabric softener makes towels less absorbent. She gave it up then and started using vinegar. I don't think I've ever even used that.
#43
Chiropractors.
Perfumista Perfumista 3 months ago (edited)
my back goes out, I visit. I can then walk without being bent over and can wipe my butt. Not a permanent cure, but helps me when I need it.
#45
Sudafed regular. You absolutely should be going to the RX counter and getting the non prescription but controlled version.
#46
Anything a YouTuber promotes. My golden rule is if a YouTuber is selling you something, it’s because it sucks and nobody with any real influence would promote it.
#47
Any of those stock tip subscription sites. The ones that offer you the “inside scoop” on stocks that are going to shoot up
Literally all of them are pump and dumps. All of them. The stock shoots up because all of the subscribers buy the stock at once, then the big guys sell at the top and the price crashes again leaving the subscribers bagholding some dirt company
Remember kids: no one, not even the best analysts in the world, know what the f**k any share or any investment product is going to do tomorrow.
Michael Largey 3 months ago
"Only buy stocks that will go up. If a stock isn't going to go up, don't buy it." - Will Rogers
#48
Smartphones these days are meant to barely last a few years.
Miliukov Oleksandr 3 months ago
Unlike those good old smartphones that were passed from our grand-grand-fathers to our grand-fathers
#49
Printer ink?
michael reid 3 months ago
Printer ink is a scam. As difficult as printers are to use sometimes, for home use we'd be better buying bulk ink and using a silkscreen 😂
#50
The US medical residency system.
What do you think ?
Bouche and Audi and Shyla, Oh My! 3 months ago
Soft can-openers are a huge scam! You hire them for opening cans and cleaning boxes, and the next thing you know, they want to hog the bed and tell you to stay off the counter! Then they go and steal your stash under the sofa! Terrible scam!
Mari 3 months ago
In acient times they were so much better; those old Egyptians were the best worshippers ever. Each year the quality of the soft can-openers is declining. Scam !
Load More Replies...
Michael Grant 3 months ago
Everyone realizes this post describes the entire American economic system right? Right? Scams+Addiction=Profit
Peter Miller 3 months ago
Sorry but who buys into this? "Everybody". Only scam I bought was clicking the article
RamiRudolph 3 months ago
While you convert the energy of your typing fingers into bullshít.
Load More Replies... Bouche and Audi and Shyla, Oh My! 3 months ago
Soft can-openers are a huge scam! You hire them for opening cans and cleaning boxes, and the next thing you know, they want to hog the bed and tell you to stay off the counter! Then they go and steal your stash under the sofa! Terrible scam!
Mari 3 months ago
In acient times they were so much better; those old Egyptians were the best worshippers ever. Each year the quality of the soft can-openers is declining. Scam !
Load More Replies... Michael Grant 3 months ago
Everyone realizes this post describes the entire American economic system right? Right? Scams+Addiction=Profit
Peter Miller 3 months ago
Sorry but who buys into this? "Everybody". Only scam I bought was clicking the article
RamiRudolph 3 months ago
While you convert the energy of your typing fingers into bullshít.
Load More Replies... You May Like “We Have Literally So Much Information Now”: 35 Massive Scams People Are Still Buying Into Folks Share 35 Things Spotted In People's Houses That Just Show They Were Dripping In Riches
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