“We Have Literally So Much Information Now”: 35 Massive Scams People Are Still Buying Into

I have a huge business opportunity that you’re going to love! You’ll be earning six figures, have flexible hours and be able to work from anywhere in the world. All you have to do is invest $5,000 up front, and I guarantee that you’ll earn it back in no time!

If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is. But unfortunately, plenty of people fall for scams every single day. Whether it’s a “Nigerian prince” sliding into their DMs or a grandchild begging Nana to cover their hospital bills, scams are running rampant all over the globe. To raise awareness for some of these schemes, Redditors have recently been discussing common scams people fall victim to, as well as things that are absolute wastes of money. Enjoy scrolling through this list, and be sure to upvote the things you would never give a dollar to!

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“We Have Literally So Much Information Now”: 35 Massive Scams People Are Still Buying Into Prosperity Gospel Preachers.

Battarray:

Specifically Joel Osteen and his ilk. They're why we should be taxing performative mega-churches like they live off of.

UnrealisticPersona , Joel Osteen/Youtube Report

113points

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“We Have Literally So Much Information Now”: 35 Massive Scams People Are Still Buying Into Religion.

JoboosMojo , Karolina Grabowska/Unsplsh (not the actual photo) Report

87points

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Scientology.

dwsinpdx Report

84points

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To find out how this conversation started in the first place, we reached out to HurtHurtsMe, the Reddit user who posed the question, "What do you consider to be the biggest scam?” They were kind enough to have a chat with Bored Panda and explain what inspired them to start this thread.

"With the holiday season and change in weather, it’s hard seeing clothing prices jump around," the author shared. "A jacket could be $50 original price but on sale for $22. Then the next day, it’s the lowest price of the season sale! 50% off. Same jacket is marked back to $50 with 50% off to equal $25. If you are not actively stalking pricing, you could get scammed into what you think is a good deal based on retail messaging."

“We Have Literally So Much Information Now”: 35 Massive Scams People Are Still Buying Into Health insurance in America. Paying $400 monthly only to still have a $5000 deductible and argue with insurance companies about 'in-network' doctors. It's basically paying for the privilege of paying more.

Desirable-Sweetheart , Ave Calvar/Unsplash (not the actual photo) Report

83points

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“We Have Literally So Much Information Now”: 35 Massive Scams People Are Still Buying Into Funerals, weddings, and pretty much every other thing we blindly accept have to be insanely expensive without even thinking about it.

pinkxsorbet , Kateryna Hliznitsova/Unsplash (not the actual photo) Report

80points

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“We Have Literally So Much Information Now”: 35 Massive Scams People Are Still Buying Into Tipping and tip workers, tip shame, tip expectations.

THE_Lena:

This! Their income should be paid by their employer not the customer.

FletchWazzle , Lala Azizli/Unsplash (not the actual photo) Report

75points

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When it comes to what the OP considers to be the biggest scam, they shared, "Higher Education costs are outrageous."

On average, it costs students in the United States $108,584 to attend college for 4 years, and they can spend even more if they go to school outside of their home state or at a private university.

The wealth is going to "trickle down".

mtv1243 Report

72points

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“We Have Literally So Much Information Now”: 35 Massive Scams People Are Still Buying Into Having to pay for daily parking at your place of employment.

bought_high_sold_low , Getty Images/Unsplash (not the actual photo) Report

71points

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“We Have Literally So Much Information Now”: 35 Massive Scams People Are Still Buying Into "Detoxing" your gut/armpits/body. Your body does it for you if you're a healthy individual. Most of the bacteria in your gut is beneficial and necessary.

Squishymalloe , Curated Lifestyle/Unsplash (not the actual photo) Report

69points

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We were also curious what the author thought of the replies to their post. "I agree that eye glasses costs are a scam," HurtHurtsMe said.

And as far as avoiding scams, the OP recommends that consumers do their own research "and not take things at face value."

#10

“We Have Literally So Much Information Now”: 35 Massive Scams People Are Still Buying Into "Grandma? I'm calling from the police/hospital. Can you send me money?

KathAlMyPal , Getty Images/Unsplash (not the actual photo) Report

68points

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#11

“We Have Literally So Much Information Now”: 35 Massive Scams People Are Still Buying Into I think unrealistic beauty standards pushed by media are the biggest scam.

CozyThynara , Peter Kalonji/Unsplash (not the actual photo) Report

66points

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#12

“We Have Literally So Much Information Now”: 35 Massive Scams People Are Still Buying Into Organic food in the U.S.

The regulations have been so watered down as to be meaningless….

Leading_Preparation6:

Happy to see this. It was my thesis topic and it’s definitely not what people think it is. Buy the “cheaper” version or grow your own because the USDA organic label means next to nothing.

Dapper-Condition6041 , Annie Spratt/Unsplash (not the actual photo) Report

60points

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#13

“We Have Literally So Much Information Now”: 35 Massive Scams People Are Still Buying Into The Mormon "Church" - check out the r/exmormon subreddit for more details.

It is a real estate and securities hedge fund masquerading as a church in order to maintain tax exemption.

Jumpy_Cobbler7783 , Bailey Burton/Unsplash (not the actual photo) Report

59points

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#14

“We Have Literally So Much Information Now”: 35 Massive Scams People Are Still Buying Into Printer ink. My printer cost $50 but replacing all the cartridges costs $75. Make it make sense.

CurvyFlowerzx , Mahrous Houses/Unsplash (not the actual photo) Report

54points

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#15

“We Have Literally So Much Information Now”: 35 Massive Scams People Are Still Buying Into Multi level marketing schemes. We have literally so much information now about how they are predatory. It’s disgusting how a lot of them target low income mothers who feel guilty about spending time away from home to work and earn a living.

life-love:

Not gonna lie, I attended one of those pyramid scheme meetings at my friend's insistence and man it was filled with low-income people and the whole thing was clearly targeted at them. Felt really bad seeing how they were being sold dreams of earning a lot of money and stuff. Such a scam.

Confident-Guess4638 , Curated Lifestyle/Unsplash (not the actual photo) Report

53points

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#16

“We Have Literally So Much Information Now”: 35 Massive Scams People Are Still Buying Into My stepfather texted me a year ago saying "your mom and I won a lottery, we just need to go to the store to get some cards to pay for the taxes". Like cmon man, I know you are smarter than this. Thankfully enough all I had to do is ask him why would they make you use gift cards to pay taxes instead of just paying the IRS? He immediately connected the dots.

charlesthefish , Sincerely Media/Unsplash (not the actual photo) Report

46points

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#17

“We Have Literally So Much Information Now”: 35 Massive Scams People Are Still Buying Into Fake, RICH celebrities on Facebook begging for money.

cbostwick94:

The number of times "Vin Diesel" has confessed his love to my mother on Facebook is wild. Man has a LOT of accounts

lysistrata3000 , Austin Distel/Unsplash (not the actual photo) Report

45points

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#18

“We Have Literally So Much Information Now”: 35 Massive Scams People Are Still Buying Into The email/text “this is the United Postal Service, your package has been delayed, we need you to verify name, address, and card information for delivery” gotten those dozens of times when I don’t have any packages on the way, but a ton of friends have fallen for it.

Belial_plz , Firmbee.com/Unsplash (not the actual photo) Report

45points

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#19

Payday loans. The interest rates are atrocious. They prey on the poor.

Major-Check-1953 Report

41points

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#20

“We Have Literally So Much Information Now”: 35 Massive Scams People Are Still Buying Into That one where you get a random “wrong number” text from a gorgeous woman who wants to get to know you. I promise no actual women want to get to know a random stranger they accidentally texted.

raccoonhippopotamus , Hannah Busing/Unsplash (not the actual photo) Report

38points

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#21

“We Have Literally So Much Information Now”: 35 Massive Scams People Are Still Buying Into Amway, Herbalife and any pseudo-pharma-sounding c**p.

KazakiriKaoru , Eduardo Francisco Vazquez Murillo/Flickr (not the actual photo) Report

38points

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#22

“We Have Literally So Much Information Now”: 35 Massive Scams People Are Still Buying Into Paying money to the “IRS” in the form of Apple gift cards.

anon , Miguelangel Miquelena/Unsplash (not the actual photo) Report

37points

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#23

Literally anything related to the slimy Kenneth Copeland Ministries. That guy is one of the biggest con artists, if not THE biggest, to ever exist in this country.

sneak_tee Report

37points

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#24

Ticketmaster.

GrumpyCoo:

Ticketmaster is one of the primary reasons I stopped going to concerts...

Megnuggets Report

36points

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#25

“We Have Literally So Much Information Now”: 35 Massive Scams People Are Still Buying Into “Contractors” that show up to your door unsolicited telling you they’ll do work on your house for super cheap. *Especially* those “working in the area.”

Do your homework on anyone working on your house. Make sure they’re licensed, insured, permitted to work in your state etc.

perpetual_student , Samuel Cruz/Unsplash (not the actual photo) Report

34points

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Nikole 2 days ago

This happens?

7points

Remi (He/Him) 2 days ago

Scammers like that have tried my parents more than once. Luckily my mom is more than willing to tell them off, but they can be quite insistent. They usually target older people

5points

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Bob Brooce 1 day ago

Just happened to somebody I know. "We're doing a job around the corner and I noticed that you're roof is in bad shape ..." Years ago a friend fell for the "We're paving your neighbors driveway and have extra material so we could do yours for a big discount." Here's a hint: if they're that bad at estimating how much material they need they're not the paving contractors you want. Also, a lot of places have a cooling off period that gives you (typically) 3 days to cancel if you sign a contract at your home. I forget what happened with y friend (other than her husband being *really* pissed at her) but it would almost certainly have been legal to refuse payment.

3points

WubiDubi 1 day ago

Very common in UK.

3points

Lew k 1 day ago

I get one like twice a month. The last one was multiple groups, from different companies, telling me they want to use my house as a show property for their windows and would install them at wholesale with no install cost. My house is fairly nice but show property it is not. That said windows are expensive regardless of labor cost and I'm not giving 10-20k to some no name company/brand that randomly knocks at my door.

3points

Bat cat in a hat 17 hours ago

Yep, luckily we just fell for ones doing "garden landscaping". Shítty work, left so much rubbish behind and costed a lot of money. At least the garden recovered, no structural damage.

1point

Kelly Scott 1 day ago (edited)

They're called "travellers". They used to be called gypsies - they're not Roma, at least most of them aren't - but these are the tricks gypsies used to use. Basically, if you're not greedy, you won't fall for any of these tricks. The travellers use your greed against you, making you think you'll get something for nothing, like in any other kind of business, I guess. Go to https://pluto.tv/us/on- demand/series/653c1990a61c2a001b912e3d/season/1 and watch Episode 11, The Year of the Locusts, on The Streets of San Francisco. It may be a little overdone, but the essence of what the travellers do is there. There is also a movie Bill Paxton starred in called Traveller that explores this a little more and of course, there's tons of stuff on the internet about them as well.

1point

BookFanatic 1 day ago

Yes. Especially if you've had severe weather lately. They go around and offer to check your roof/siding/windows for "storm damage" which, of course, they're happy to fix for you.

1point

Lorrie Crabtree 11 hours ago

Here in the US, it's especially bad after a natural disaster, and in neighborhoods primarily populated by older people.

0points

April Pickett 1 day ago

The "I was in the neighborhood finishing up a project and I noticed...."

1point

Boo 1 day ago

If I need work done on the house, I will do my research and call the company I choose. I don't care if you're in the neighbourhood..... I've lived for over 20 years with the draughty windows, uneven paving slabs etc. Just go away and give me peace.

1point

Kathy L 11 hours ago

Best comment.

0points

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Jessica SpeLangm 1 day ago

Anyone showing up at my door (internet, energy company, pest company, etc) saying "I can give your whole street a good discount/deal if you sign up with us". Nope.

1point

Der Kommissar 1 day ago

Offering to pave your driveway/parking area for a very low price is also a common scam.

1point

Dog Mom to Zoe 1 day ago

Do research. Find a reputable, licensed and bonded contractor. This way you do have a recourse if something goes wrong.

1point

Verfin22 1 day ago

Mother got duped into a $30,000 paint job for whole house when just the garage needed some work. It was shoddy work too.

1point

Gabby M 1 day ago

"The Travelers"

0points

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#26

“We Have Literally So Much Information Now”: 35 Massive Scams People Are Still Buying Into Chiropractors. I’ve personally cared for two patients with vertebral artery dissections from chiro adjustments. I’ve known one other outside of work.

RN-B , Getty Images/Unsplash (not the actual photo) Report

34points

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#27

“We Have Literally So Much Information Now”: 35 Massive Scams People Are Still Buying Into The Nigerian prince emails.

dude_stfu:

These are intentionally ridiculous / over-the-top / filled with errors. They don’t want to go back and forth with the 99% of people who can sniff out relatively obvious bulls**t. They want that rare, vulnerable 1% who will take the bait and believe it. Phishing is a science.

_tanka_jahari , Stephen Phillips - Hostreviews.co.uk/Unsplash (not the actual photo) Report

31points

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#28

"Don’t forget tomorrow starts the new Facebook rule where they can use your photos. Don't forget Deadline today!!! It can be used in court cases in litigation against you. Everything you've ever posted becomes public from today Even messages that have been deleted or the photos not allowed. It costs nothing for a simple copy and paste, better safe than sorry”.

MartieRizer Report

30points

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#29

“We Have Literally So Much Information Now”: 35 Massive Scams People Are Still Buying Into When people say invest in Cryptocurrency.

I'll tell them let me know when you can buy anything in the store or online with it.

Inner_Map_5004 , Behnam Norouzi/Unsplash (not the actual photo) Report

30points

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#30

“We Have Literally So Much Information Now”: 35 Massive Scams People Are Still Buying Into Healing crystals. If anything, they've become even more popular recently.

Edit: Having said that, I *have* seen them be very effective as tools to effect introspection and discussion about mental health, basically operating as a fun, dialectical abstraction of psychological concepts that might be too complicated or daunting to address directly. But it's a slippery slope to letting this abstraction become a real, significant part of how you live your life.

DogsAreAnimals , Emilija Launikaityte/Unsplash (not the actual photo) Report

28points

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#31

“We Have Literally So Much Information Now”: 35 Massive Scams People Are Still Buying Into The five-day work week.

Ofugeranca , Getty Images/Unsplash (not the actual photo) Report

28points

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#32

Buying new iPhones. They’re extremely overpriced.

AngelGirlBella7 Report

28points

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#33

“We Have Literally So Much Information Now”: 35 Massive Scams People Are Still Buying Into Being green.

top 10 corporations produce 90% of the pollution. but it always falls on the citizen to be green! buy an ev you can’t afford!!

if everyone is pissing in the pool besides you, are you making a difference?

and i don’t mean to litter freely, everyone should 110% do their part. BUT. it’s crazy to think/ask citizens to completely change their routine day to day life while you still move on private jets/ motorcades.

for those of you jay don’t know. i drive a diesel F250. a new one with modern emission systems. every 5k ish miles i have to buy DEF(Diesel exhaust fluid) for my emissions right?

it comes in a 2.5 gallon plastic jug. with a plastic nosel thats wrapped in plastic in a cardboard box.. so how f*****g much am i helping?… (this is a required chemical on all diesels 2011? 2010? and newer.

Both-Holiday1489 , Getty Images/Unsplash (not the actual photo) Report

27points

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#34

How about the scam I fell for :( The fraud department of my bank calling me, alerting me to fraudulent charges happening on my card. I’ve had my identity stolen before, so I wasn’t surprised snd was just grateful they found the charges early on. I googled the number and it was the same # as my bank.

They had identifying info about me that not just anyone would have and asked me verifying questions after that my bank asks me any time I have called them before. It was so, so believable and I was already in a stressed mental state prior to the call. When I called my bank directly the next day, even the employee told me it was legitimate. It wasn’t until I called again that an employee dug into their logs of texts/calls to me that they determined it was fake. Luckily, I was only out about 1.5 hours of my time in total with talking to the scammer, changing card and bank numbers, updating accounts, etc and didn’t lose a dime.

Main lesson I learned: If your bank calls you for ANY reason, hang up and call them directly. Don’t be dumb like me.

Edited to add: When they were sending me texts to verify things / help me add the card alerts to my phone, the confirmation texts came from a number that I’ve gotten legitimate texts from my bank before. They’re too smart!!

the_anxious_nurse Report

26points

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#35

Homeopathy.

Carliebeans:

Right?! My Dad has a friend with serious health issues. He’s under the care of traditional western medicine which has saved his life, and he also has his homeopathic ‘potions’. Guess what he credits for his health?

84OrcButtholes Report

25points

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Scam Word Search

Explore the letter grid to find hidden words in all directions!

What do you think ?

Multa Nocte 1 day ago

Paying for Bored Panda would be up there on my list.

18points

Orysha 1 day ago

The biggest csam ever is Donald Trump.

8points

Steve Robert 12 hours ago

And tens of millions of people fall for it. It's just so sad!

Daniel Gómez 1 day ago

They forgot to include (unless I skipped it unknowingly) AI generated "art" that is passed as an artist's physical and actual work. People who don't know any better fall for it all the time.

2 drink minimum when going to comedy clubs in the U.S. Well in California anyway. One of the many reasons I stopped going out. Concert tickets. They drop a huge screen for you to see the artist. Might as well watch it at home. Plus, if the person in front of you stands up, you're watching their behind. Waste of money in my opinion but you all do you.

Liz The Biz 1 day ago

Recycling. I care about the environment and try to avoid being wasteful, but I lost my enthusiasm for recycling when I found out that when you send your waste off in good faith, most of it ends up in landfill or is shipped abroad to end up in another country's landfill.

First time I ever used FB Marketplace I listed a bunch of stuff at once. Immediately got tons of interest on everything. Red flag 1. One in particular was very interested in my dresser but wanted a picture of me to prove I wasn't a scammer. Red flag 2. Then they asked if I could share my Paypal details so they could send me the money. That's when I finally wised up.

2points

Papa 1 day ago

My mother signed up for insurance to pay her mortgage if she got hurt. She found out about it from an unsolicited email, which should have been her first clue, but she fell for it. She paid into it for years, and then got hurt at work. She wasn't worried because of the insurance, but then discovered that in the fine print (that of course she didn't read) it said that they would make ONE mortgage payment. To be honest, I was surprised they even paid one.

Georgia R 4 hours ago

I can't believe no one mentioned sites like Temu, Shein etc. These are ecommerce sites, designed to make you buy sh*t you don't need. And seem to be deliberately misleading on the product. Just because it's a $3 dress, people don't seem to care that the quality is terrible, if you even get what you ordered. Not to mention they promote fast fashion, terrible worker conditions, pollution and waste.

Abel 13 hours ago

BP is too US centered. I don't have nothing against it, but I would prefer posts more worldwide themed. Most of these are about money, weddings, gossips and celebrities, and dumb AITAs.

Cosmos in your eyes 1 day ago

The Pentagon failing 7 audits and we're just supposed to shrug it off.

“We Have Literally So Much Information Now”: 35 Massive Scams People Are Still Buying Into

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