CuriositiesAUG 19, 2022

30 Things Which Are In Fact "100% A Scam" Yet Most People Don’t Realize It, As Shared In This Thread

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Let’s be honest, when we hear stories about falling for e-mail lottery schemes or phone call frauds, most of us shake our heads in disbelief at how gullible some people can be. But the truth is that not a single one of us is immune to being tricked, no matter how smart or savvy we may be. After all, our daily lives are full of seemingly innocent services and products that are just sneaky ways of luring us with promises and scamming us for every penny they can.

Thankfully, Redditor Doctor_Engineer recently decided to arm us with knowledge about the biggest gambits we should look out for. They reached out to fellow members of 'Ask Reddit' with a short but interesting question: "What is 100% a scam?" Needless to say, the thread immediately became a hit.

From questionable "free" seminars to multilevel marketing companies to malicious phishing tactics, people wasted no time in reminding us that we should never let our guard down. We at Bored Panda scoured the thread and gathered some of the most memorable responses to share with you all. So continue scrolling, upvote your favorite ones, and be sure to share your own takes about the big fat frauds that need to be exposed below in the comments.

#21

Designer and most luxury brands.

You're paying considerably more money for an often worse product all to show off to some of the worse people society has to offer. Shallow, materialistic, and empty people.

FreddieDoes40k

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154points

We also managed to get in touch with the person who sparked this conversation in the first place, Redditor Doctor_Engineer. They told us that the idea to ask this question on 'Ask Reddit' came because they find the community to be the perfect place to learn more about people, their lives, and the world in general, "which I think is what the internet should be all about. So asking this question was my way of learning about different experiences and creating a pool of information anyone can benefit from."

However, they were surprised to see the question get the attention it did. "I am guessing this is people’s way of warning one another about these situations that could promise you things, then after taking your money or time leave you with nothing but heartbreak and anger. So go ahead, check the comments — these are the things people are warning you about because they are 100% a scam."

#22

Joel Osteen's church

limbodog

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153points

#23

Nazism and all the similarly crazy racial supremacy ideologies. Not only do they sell on ideas that are demonstrably false (that certain ethnicities are both an omnipresent enemy that controls the world and cause everything bad but who also are in all ways inferior to the "master race") but if they ever win - congratulations loyal brownshirt, you are now a peon under a regime that uses extreme violence to solve issues both real and imaginary. Nothing to gain and everything to lose.

Ornery_Marionberry87

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152points

#24

Multi-level marketing. We see it ruin families and turn people into vapid shells of their old selves all the time, but somehow these schemes are still up

onetinysquid

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151points

When asked to share some responses that stood out to the Redditor, a few immediately popped into their mind. "Some guy got a call and people tried to sell him duck cleaning and he doesn’t even own a duck. So that could be a sign," they said jokingly. "There were so many comments about Instagram scammers pretending to be sugar mommies and promising to pay off your debt, multi-level-marketing, religions, and religion-related scams, crypto, jobs promising raises year after year and never giving any," and many more.

As Professor Gonzalez told us, if it’s too good to be true, it is most probably not true. What are your thoughts on the biggest and most common scams people fall for these days? Have you ever encountered a scammer or know any stories you would like to share with us? Let us know all about your experiences in the comments, we’d love to hear them.

#25

Paying for college in the United States.

College tuition is a full-on scam in the U.S. The thing I hate about the current educational system in the United States is that it is designed to put a college student in debt. As of 2022-2023, the average a student can expect to pay for one year's in-state tuition, school-related expenses, and fees is $25,707 at a four-year state university, and for an out-of-state student it's $43,421. As of 2022, the maximum amount of Federal Pell Grant money a student can get [per year is only $6895. That leaves the in-state student with $18,812 they have to cover somehow--and that almost always means borrowing the money. As a result, it's common to see a student graduate college with a bachelor's degree, and well over $50,000-$60,000 in debt that they'll have to start paying off about six months after they get out of college. The government knows this, and the lending institutions know this. Students are actively getting screwed by this system.

driving_andflying

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145points

#26

30 Things Which Are In Fact "100% A Scam" Yet Most People Don’t Realize It, As Shared In This Thread

Work 110% at your job and you will be successful.

Yeah you'll be successful alright doing the work of 3 people while the people who don't work as hard get promoted because you are too valuable in your position.

NoSpray2890, Alex Kotliarskyi

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139points

#27

Online dating services with monthly subscriptions. Any business that gets more money by failing than succeeding will be designed to fail, succeeding *just* enough to make users feel as though they can succeed. Basically the same principle as casinos.

IndigoFenix, cottonbro

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118points