Scams People Tragically Continue to Fall For
Not all scams are wealthy Nigerian princes and $50,000 in a shoebox.
Published 8 months ago in Facepalm
We all know the tricks and traps of common scams — ignore wealthy Nigerian princes asking for money, understand that no one is trying to reach you about your car’s extended warranty and whatever you do, do NOT hand $50,000 in cash to a stranger in a car.
But not all scams are fake wrong-number texts or faux sweepstakes. There are a whole lot of schemes lurking in the shadows of our day-to-day lives — a few you may have even fallen for today.
From the truth about Internet quizzes to the true cost of life coaching services, here are 20 sneaky scams people don’t realize are actually scams.
2
Plastic Recycling
“My city just recently had to admit that all of our recycling has been treated as regular trash for years because we weren't in compliance with the recycling company's guidelines. In that time, the city had been fining people for having improper items in their recycle tote, but the citizens didn't know the city wasn't recycling anymore. Messy” —Xystal
3
Gift Cards
“Gift cards. You’ve just traded currency spendable anywhere in the world for currency good at only one place. And that’s IF you spend the gift cards. Many don’t and the places where gift cards are spendable count on that as part of profits. Give me cash, please. You can put a fancy bow on it.” —barbie399
4
Cold Medicine
“Phenylephrine. It’s a d—g commonly used to treat cold symptoms when taken orally, and is labeled as a decongestant. If you have a cold medication like DayQuil at home, if you read the label it likely includes Phenylephrine as an “active” ingredient. But it’s a scam! Phenylephrine performed no better than placebo in multiple medical trials. It’s literally a scam and doesn’t work. It’s a bit of a personal vendetta of mine that something that is being sold as medicine OTC is literally no better than taking nothing at all.” —Kariwinkle
5
Timeshares
“I've worked at a timeshare in Las Vegas. It. Is. All. A. Scam! From the time you enter the building, they use manipulation to control you while you go through the sales pitch. They aren't forthcoming with fees, especially maintenance fees, they dont tell you how to get out of the timeshare "ownership". You're not always guaranteed to use of your timeshare. Spin the board, you COULD win up to $1,000! - one trick they use to keep you there.” —up_N2_no_good
7
Cryptocurrency
“When the crypto boom occurred at the same time as Covid, I purchased a small amount of crypto and at the same time someone at work explained they bought some via a broker and doubled their money. Then gave them more money and doubled it again and so on. My response was 'sounds like a scam' and I explained why, but they did not believe me. They got their brother involved too. Not long after, yep was a scam. She lost around £15k, not a small number. Just wished I convinced her!!” —hight0w3r
10
Bottled Water
“People are paying for convenience, not so much the product. Also bottled water does have some valid uses - in case of major disasters. Some places in the world where potable water is an issue, bottled water is a convenient way to distribute it right at the door. But in many many places, yes, bottled water is not required and quite frankly just a luxury.” —nutano
11
Expiration Dates
“Expiration dates. Stuff like cereal and canned food stays good way longer than they print on the product. There was a documentary series on Netflix a while back where they said companies will purposely deceive people into thinking food goes bad quickly so they keep buying more and more. And if people realized that packaged food lasts longer than what is printed, these companies would lose millions of dollars.” —KC_Frosty
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