Every Day Scams That People Are So Used To They Don’t Notice
They’re Everywhere
Most individuals are aware of the prevalence of scams in daily life. If you click on the wrong article or place too much faith in someone, bad things could happen to you. However, they are much more typical than just that.
Scams are all around us, but because we’re accustomed to them, we don’t recognize them as such. The most “common” frauds that you should watch out for are listed below.
Modems
Public Domain
That “renting” a modem from your isp is a huge waste of money. They’ll tell you, “oh, you should rent one because tech is always changing, and it might go out of date” when I moved out on my own four years ago, I bought a modem at Best Buy for 70$.
If I had been renting from the greedy ISPs this whole time, I would have close to 500$ on rental fees. And while Tech is always changing, a modem is not something that changes very much. So please, if you are renting one, go out and buy yourself a modem!
Story credit – Reddit/deepthought515
1% Charge
Public Domain
Verizon tacked on a $1 fee onto 8% of their customer’s bills each month, so over the course of the year, they did it to every customer, about 150,000,000.
Their rationale was: that 50% wouldn’t notice and just pay the charge or would notice and wouldn’t spend any time fighting a $1 charge. 50% would notice the charge and call to have it removed. Of those, 35% would get frustrated while on the call and give up.
Story credit – Reddit/peezoki
Don’t Be Deceived
Public Domain
The ads on Facebook that say, “We’re sorry to announce that we’re closing our store…” It’s made to look like a page you might follow (but you’ve never heard of before) and that they might be suddenly offering huge deals.
But it’s like my dad always taught me: a lot of “going out of business” sales are really “going out FOR business” sales.
Story credit – Reddit/philosiraptor
Do Your Research
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Textbook prices. And as if that isn’t expensive enough. Also, Pearson (a textbook company) makes and sells tests at exorbitant prices. Think $100 for a multiple choice licensing test, and you have to take four. Ridiculous.
When I was in school, I used this website for textbooks: https://www.cheapesttextbooks.com/. It compares all sites and tells you whether to rent or buy your book and where. Also, most universities have an extensive library system where you can look up textbooks and check them out. In my last few semesters of college, I didn’t pay for any of my textbooks because they were all library books!
Story credit – Reddit/qisabelle13
Be Careful
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Facebook surveys. Something like “Which Frozen character are you?” tricks users into giving out answers to common security questions. Be very careful when giving out any personal information.
I’m sure a lot of those could get direct access to the user’s account by just clicking on the link as well. Never click any links from an unknown source.
Story credit – Reddit/average_joemama
Take A Closer Look
Pixabay
When the “value pack” price is higher than the regular package price. The trickier the grams to dollar conversion, the easier to trick people.
Or the “Now 33% more! Free!” While sitting next to the old bottles that are the exact same weight. Always check the sizes of products before you buy any. It doesn’t matter what kind of “value” they say they give you.
Car History
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In Australia, you should check the history of your car’s VIN before purchase which will detail any insurance work, thefts, crashes, or financial encumbrance on the car.
There are a number of sites and places that charge $20-30 and have purchased domains like “ppsr.com.au.” They also go hard on Google advertising and site development, so they rank higher in searches (even if you know exactly what you’re looking for) and look more genuine than the gov site.
Story credit – Reddit/[deleted]
Read The Fine Print
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If you have cable tv or internet or anything like that, the promos they offer on that stuff are almost never legit, like $25-$50 higher than the advertised price, sort of wrong. There are local sports fees, equipment fees, broadcast fees, discounts you only get for certain times, etc.
For example, my cable company advertises $69.99 a month tv/internet/phone, but if you actually price it out, it’s over $100/month.
Story credit – Reddit/UYScutiPuffJr
Scamming The Kind People
Public Domain
I had a regular at my bar come in and say, “hey, I’m not staying, but I want to pay for a burger and fries to go for that kid there.” And out front was a homeless-looking young man, maybe 18-21 yrs old. Very skinny and disheveled looking. He charged his card, tipped me five bucks, and I told him to let the kid know he could wait inside at the end of the bar. It was summer, and we had the a/c blasting. I gave the kid a glass of water and told him it’d be about 15 mins.
About 5 mins later, the kid waves me over and asks, “hey, I don’t want the burger. Can I return it for the cash?” I was so bummed out, my regular did one of the most altruistic things I’d seen in a long time, and it turned out he got played. I told the kid, “listen, I don’t care what your deal is. You’re not my customer, you asked my friend for help, and he’s helping you with a free hot meal. You can take the burger and fries out in 10 minutes when it’s ready, or you can leave. There are no refunds.”
Story credit – Reddit/Wildeyewilly
Coffins
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For funerals, people often want to buy more expensive coffins to honor their loved ones, and in turn, the companies sell them for profit. Honestly, this scam is pretty unavoidable since it’s a thing people are so used to.
It’s normal to get your loved one a nice coffin for their funeral. But the problem is just how much extra you’re charged for them.
Shrinkflation
Pixabay
Shrinkflation. Every company does this. It’s a tried and true method as it’s mostly psychology. A person won’t realize the product is slightly smaller. They will realize if the price goes from $9.99 to $10.99.
Tuna is a great example. Take a look at old recipe books from before the 1980s, and you’ll see they assume a can of tuna is 6.5 ounces. You can’t buy that size anymore because they’re now 5 ounces.
Story credit – Reddit/corbear007
Casinos
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This is kind of obvious, but casinos. Yes, I know, it’s supposed to work that way. But it seems people really think after a while, you’re gonna hit it big, and it’ll all even out.
I’ve done it enough to know it’s pure entertainment. It’s just a matter of how much you’re willing to pay for that adrenaline rush. And you see so many people in casinos that they must not think they’re getting scammed.
Story credit – Reddit/MeToolMovement
Claw Machines
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That all claw machines are designed to be rigged. Manufacturers not only can limit the grip strength of the claw but manually adjust the “dropping” ability depending on the frequency of attempts.
A good claw machine tempts the player with a possibility of a win, but the number of attempts to achieve that win/prize guarantees a profit for the owner.
Story credit – Reddit/dyslexic_draws
Pickpockets
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Similarly to this – in public transport, a pickpocket will often throw or place an empty wallet on the floor, then point it out and ask if anybody lost a wallet.
You instinctively check your pocket to make sure it’s there. A good pickpocket will memorize 8-10 people, their hand placement, go to work, and leave on the next stop with 4 or 5 more wallets than they had when they got on.
In order to protect the privacy of those depicted, some names, locations, and identifying characteristics have been changed and are products of the author’s imagination. Any resemblances to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, are entirely coincidental.
