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Need more incentive to prevent scam businesses from operating, and I am befuddled why they don't pursue jail time for the organizers. Too much work? Or are they afraid they'll hire rich lawyers and weasel themselves out of a conviction?
Need more incentive to prevent scam businesses from operating, and I am befuddled why they don't pursue jail time for the organizers. Too much work? Or are they afraid they'll hire rich lawyers and weasel themselves out of a conviction?
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I survived Livestronged '09!
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I keep seeing hand-written signs that say \"will pay $150 for old cars!\" and \"buying homes, call now!\" and they all just seem so scammy.
But of course, I think the biggest scam this year was Cash4Gold - not only because it was thinly veiled as a legitimate business, but it denied a lot of people fair money for their gold.
My take on the \"buying old cars\" is they'll haul your car to a scrap yard and collect the scrap metal value of it.
On the \"we buy houses\" scheme, these clowns come home from \"get rich buying real estate\" seminars, and think they can make money flipping houses whose owners don't feel like cleaning them up before selling. The problem is they low-ball you on the price (of course), and their general tactics may leave you feeling rather uncomfortable since they're not necessarily on the up-and-up.
In either case, their advertising method of sign spamming is rather unethical which is enough reason to stay away from them.
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I find people in general are way too kind-hearted toward scammers. Often the victim is solely blamed, with the attitude of, \"You should have been smarter,\" while the scammer is often given little more than a clucking of the tongue, or in some cases, \"Well, the victim deserved to be scammed.\"
Many scammers aren't caught at all, or if they are, the victims cannot claim recompense because their money has been spent. While I don't support vigilante justice, I can fully understand how some people will go to great lengths to punish scammers (for example, kidnapping and torturing them).
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I once read a news story about a 30 something woman who claimed she had been scammed and complained to regulators that they should force companies to release certain pieces of information so consumers could review the information and make an informed decision. She went on to state that had the information been available on the company she was \"scammed\" by she would have reviewed it and would have seen that the deal was not for her.
Ironically, the company voluntarially posted the information on its website and made the information freely available long before this woman was \"scammed\" by them which demonstrates that regardless of what people say after they believe they were wronged, most people do not perform their due dillegence. Even after being \"scammed\" this person still had no clue that the information she thought would help her was available from the company.
Some people simply are just stupid and can not prevent themselves from falling for scams.
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\"I find people in general are way too kind-hearted toward scammers.\". My ex who is European pretty much told me the same thing after we started dating and I asked her what she meant, and she said \"you Americans are so easy and care-free with your money. In one way we know you're very kind to give, but in other ways you're too easy and don't really think before giving and you're easily taken advantaged of\". I think she is right. We have this guilt-thing about not spending/giving our money as though we're obligated and we're being unkind if we don't. In Europe, it's all about a business deal; in the States I think we've been corrupted through marketing as though we're not being \"nice\" if we don't buy. Because of her, I learned a lot about how to be more fiscally responsible but it also means that I am a perchieved azzhole too. Just yesterday I had to go to the post office and discuss an overcharged for a book of stamps. When I explained the issue to the \"older\" management behind the counter, one would have thought I was robbing them because they said, \"oh, there is nothing we can do and you'll have just to write it off\". Of course this was not accetable even though it was only $8.80. But that is my point. Just becasue it is \"$8.80\" I am expect to blow it off and not only that, there is a huge line waiting behind me. In my mind, that is tough sh!t\", but I am the bad guy here also. But I've noticed this attitude in a lot of businesses. In Europe, one cent is one cent and they're expected to pay up. There is no excuse or \"kindness\" because it is all about business. I am tired of being the bad guy; I work hard for my money and one cent is one cent too much. Am I wrong?
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No, you're not wrong. I would be totally pissed if they wouldn't refund nearly $10 of my hard-earned money because they made a mistake!!!
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...in the States I think we've been corrupted through marketing as though we're not being \"nice\" if we don't buy.
They aren't even subtle about it. Listening to ads on the radio is maddening. There's this one ad about how things will go badly for you if you leave certain people off of your Christmas List: school teacher, piano teacher, barber, pool cleaner, etc. each of whom threaten to screw up you or your kids if you don't get them something.
There's another ad that's read by the DJ where he's telling you to go and pawn your auto title so that you don't feel dumb giving out small presents for Christmas. WTF?
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Yet many of the commenters here will complain \"why are you bitching about $1 overcharge?\" or will pay you to stop using coupons at the register so they can hurry and check out. It's a trade off of time and money that we are making compared to Europeans.
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I agree. Some people are just not smart. Period. It's unfair to blame them for something they have no control over.
Some elderly people have declining mental faculties as they age, and no one to act as an assistant or steward of their financial affairs. Some people have below average IQ's and are functional in society but can be easily taken advantage of. And there are some scammers (e.g. Madoff) who are so clever at concealing their deceit that even smart people fell for it.
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Exactly, my uncle has the mental age of about an 8 or 9 year old. People have tried to take advantage of this numerous times, my mom is his guardian so we're able to put a stop to it each time. A lot of mentally challenged adults though don't have this sort of family support and they become victims.
Come on, this is no contest. The scam of the year -- no, of the century -- was Republicans and the health care lobby convincing people that it would be better to leave 30 million Americans without health insurance than to tolerate any Government \"interference\" in our obviously flawless health care system.
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You should consider this bit of 'internet wisdom' ... It is better to remain a 'lurker' and be assumed a fool, than to 'post' and remove all doubt.
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Yes, it's tied neck and neck with the scam perpetuated by the Democrats to give a huge massive enormous subsidy of the insurance industry by passing a law forcing people to either 1) purchase a commerical product they may not need, want, or be able to afford, or 2) pay a fine, or 3) go to jail if they fail to do either 1 or 2. I honestly don't know which scam is worse. Oh wait I totally know which is worse, it's the scam that will end up bankrupting us all not, the one that will only kill some of us.
You had to be THAT GUY, didn't you?
They just can't help themselves. It's sad, really.
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Yea, totally. My life has changed with your post.
thank you for your on topic contribution.
These internet scams are a pox on the entire idea of the web. The fact that a nationally recognized brand like ESPN or MSNBC has pages cluttered with these scam ads should cause people that work there to hang their heads in shame. How is it that MSNBC gives valuable home page real estate to \"acai berry\" or \"teeth whitener\" scams over major recognized brands? ( That was a rhetorical question.) If some of these websites would take the tiniest bit of responsibility over their real estate, these scams would be gone forever. But they don't.
I agree. It is absolutely ridiculous that supposedly trustworthy web sites have ads for obvious scams on them.
These companies have no right to complain about ad blocking software. If you want people to stop blocking the ads on your site then you should stop having ads that will likely send me to a site harmful to my computer if I accidentally click on them.
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So true, its all about the money.
The reason we have so much scamming is that it is how we do business. Someone wins, someone loses. The more money you have the better you are, the less money you have, the less worthy...
We blame the victim, praise the scammers.
I don't to make it sound like I blame the acai berry and work at home and free trial folks for their situations, but the ones that bother me the most are the mortgage/debt type scams. Rather than appealing to wants, they are scamming people that are trying to do the right thing for their needs. Those folks need to be near the front of the line when heads start to roll.
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Agreed. I get at least one letter in the mail about how they can help me lower my payment or help me re-adjust my home taxes if I only send them a certain amount. They make it look legit with \"government\" written all over the envelope.
I hate the work-at-home schemes. I'm not stupid enough to fall for them, but I am unemployed and I'm looking for a decent part-time job with a preference for work-at-home. However, when you do a search all you get are the scams. It's very difficult to ferret out the real jobs.
Also frustrating is when you do work at home at a legit business that you've spent a lot of time and effort to build and make profitable there are people who assume you've fallen for one of these scams. I tell people I sell jewelry and they think I mean some multi-level marketing thing like Lia Sophia not my own line that I designed and made myself,
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Work at home are not all scams, the ones that I do, non of them are scams.
And those free trails aren't scams either. Who's fault is it that people don't read the TOS.
I agree that not all online jobs are scams.
And yes, Scammers should be hanged by their genitals, no question.
I think the point is that, just because you are the victim doesn't mean you are faultless. Scammers won't be so abundant if there were more people who would just take time to either read the Terms and Conditions, fine prints and educate themselves so that they know what they are getting into. We already have the internet to access free public records.
There would be less people scamming if there were more people arming themselves with information before getting into anything. The more informed you are, the less chance you have of getting scammed. It may save a lot of heartaches and dollars if we can learn as much as we can about anything we're committing ourselves to.
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So that we're not just repeating what other people say, I'll link my favorite comment instead.
http://consumerist.com/2009/12/scams-that-came-of-age-in-2009.html#comment-20029414
Shorter: It doesn't matter whose fault it is. Scammers ought to be strung up by the gonads. Period. Go sell your 'personal responsibility' crap somewhere else.
Do you think that Milgram's Experiment would work here?
I'm still waiting for my $2,000,000 from the lotto in Nigeria. I only had to send $1,000 to get it. Wait...you mean that's not real???
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I heard about a year or so ago through the grapevine that someone's wife fell for this. She took all their savings, got money from their home equity line, got title loans on their cars, the whole kaboodle. Sent every available penny to them, then told her husband \"Surprise! We're going to be rich!\"
So, people still fall for this garbage.
Yes, it is real, but I'll need another check for $500 as my contact in the government has been imprisoned and I need to pay a bribe to get the key to the lockbox smuggled out of jail. Please be patient and you will have your $2M in your hands most nearly shortly.
I got contacted by robocall by a guy claiming to run a consignment agency or something like that for cars. Twice. It goes something like \"Hi. This is Brad. I noticed your car is still for sale in the (name of paper)....\" Sent in a complaint to the FTC like a good citizen and all that; gave them the name of the company and the URL to their website, all that stuff. I hope they get strung up by the gonads, but it's probably not quite as easy as all that to catch these people.
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My nephew just recieved a letter telling him that he overpaid his auto insurance by $299 and to call such and such number to get it back. Only problem, he doesnt live in my house, he had a car when he lived in Toronto, and now lives in New York City and doesnt have a car. He was an authorized user of my Amazon.com Visa Card when he was in school in NYC.
I have gotten repeated calls from \"my Verizon Wireless representative.\" Apparently all of the lines on the account (interesting note: I'm not the account holder), is eligible for a free upgrade (my new every two passed back in August). Interesting. I'm supposed to call a 1800 number back to answer a few questions. I'm also supposed to call that 1800 number and ask for the representative. No last name of extension is given. What do I do? Call VZW and ask for Jason? First I'd need to find a human, then tell them to transfer me to this \"Jason\" fellow. I wonder how many Jasons work at VZ(W) Corporate, or the call centers that VZW contracts to? Anyone with a brain would obviously realize something is wrong. Calling the lines that aren't account holders, asking you to call back for a few questions (which is apparently the last four of your social, your birthday, name, and address), and capping off the message with \"call me back at 1800xxxxxxx and ask for Jason.\" I've reported it all to the OOP, because that was the only way I could find someone who was allowed to do something other than read a script or think of reasons not to transfer me to a higher person.
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The most profitable scam of the year was scareware: the fake security software that popped up everywhere (including the New York Times site), established itself on computers, and told people they had dozens of viruses and needed to buy the scareware to fix their computer.
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I second this. I never bought it (egregious spelling/grammar errors, anyone?) but it did completely eff up my HD.
Oh, I've got one: The ones that pretend to be something official from the government. There's an ad on the radio now that tries to trick people into thinking their program is part of the bailout.
It doesn't say, \"Hey, here's OUR bailout for YOU!\" You know, referencing it but making it clear it's their own separate thing the way some other ads do. No, this ad clearly tries to trick people into thinking it's something associated with the government.
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That's right up there with the fake news cast featuring a CNN/Fox News style scrolling headlines and pictures of the White House, Congress, the President and so on.
Or this jury duty one: see the top of the page for details.
http://www.fbi.gov/majcases/fraud/fraudschemes.htm
Following on this page is a host of advice for people on how to avoid scams.
I think one of the worst ones is the impersonation one where they call and say \"Your son/daughter/cousin/grandchild is stranded and needs $1000 right away!\" And then Grandma or whoever sends the money for their bail or whatever and loses it.
Link at the beginning of the post is truncated.
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ONE RULE FOR A FLAT BELLY OBEY
GET A FLAT BELLY BY FOLLOWING THIS 1 WEIRD OLD TIP DISCOVERED BY A MOM
haaaaaaaate.
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That ad doesn't even seem like it was written by someone who speaks English as their first language. I hate it.
I gotta vote for the Webloyalty (I think it is) survey scam that is seemingly on EVERY website, including buy.com and other very legitimate websites. This is a bad enough scam where pretty much anyone can fall for it, even a savvy online shopper. It really makes it seem like you have to fill out the form to complete the purchase. That and those other popups that ask you to fill out a survey from a company while online shopping.
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WILL PAY $5000 FOR YOU TO LOSE WEIGHT. But only after you cough up hundreds for some scammy crap or another.
Maybe ithey're not new but I've just only seen this all over this year.
NOBEL PRIZE WINNING DOCTOR SO-AND-SO'S SPECIAL MEDICINE WILL HELP YOU {lose weight/cure diabetes/cure cancer/save the whales/eat nuclear waste/etc.} -- well that's really not new. Snake oil cures have been around as long as we've been on the planet.
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What I hate is that the list of Top Ten Scams was really a list of the top 5 or so. Several of those scams were retreads:
Buy a trial of our [Happy Fun Ball!] so we can start tapping your credit card for several fake charges we neglected to tell you about. Insert acai berry, tooth whitening, mortgage adjustments, Enzyte, whatever it is that we lured you into the scam with in the space provided so we can get on about the business of fleecing your pockets, m'kay? Thnx.
I Hate, hate, HATE the acai berry scam. My mother works as a holistic health professional, and based on what she has told me, not is there very little actual acai in the drink, it is sweetened with HFCS anyway, thus negating any health benefits! and you see all these people at the highest rungs getting rich, and living in orlando, every time I see a BMW M3 or a Hummer with some Mona Vie BS written on it, I naturally want to strangle something. Sometimes knowing the whole story sucks.
A guy i know hates the Acai berry stuff too -and he started a site called http://www.juicescam.com to out them.
Your mom working in holistic health is likely as guilty as the acai berry people.