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Beware These Scams!

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posted on Jun, 4 2012 @ 09:01 AM
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i object to your definition of " scam " in most examples you cite

it is not a scam if :

you willingly buy an item at a price determined by the seller with no independant valuation

you willingly sell an item at a price determined by the buyer - with no independant evaluation



posted on Jun, 4 2012 @ 09:31 AM
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reply to post by NotApplicable
 


btw, just as a fyi, a new one for me as far as an ill intended email/malware, my gf just got an email from what it looked like youtube about her uploaded video being ranked high or something like that (and it was perfectly done) however the email it was sent to is not the email she has registered with them. Right away I could see it was a scam because of that and then you see the ending of the email (even though they can mask it in the preview!), but I can see tons of people falling for it and clicking on it, so just beware (I have also seem emails that look like your bank or paypal have sent them to you - gmail has a feature under labs that can identify with a little icon legitimate emails from paypal, ebay and some others I think, so if you do use these I would suggest activating that feature)



posted on Jun, 4 2012 @ 09:36 AM
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reply to post by NotApplicable
 


Don't forget those buildings where you have to stand in a line, go up to person and tell them you want to do a bunch of stuff with your money...oh wait they are called banks



posted on Jun, 4 2012 @ 10:18 AM
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reply to post by NotApplicable
 



The only one I really have experience with is #4. Last semester I had to spend over $350 on books for 3 classes. The problem is that they were all used. Perhaps the mistake was buying them from the school bookstore. I believe it is a racket just like everything else education related. People are better off going online and buying them. I got a $160 book for around $30.

Tuition is another con job being played on us. Perhaps the best one ever. Prices are astronomically high, and only continue to rise. Yet the quality of the service doesn't change or gets poorer. People grudgingly continue to buy ito it though. Do we have a choice?



posted on Jun, 4 2012 @ 10:24 AM
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reply to post by NotApplicable
 


Thanks to the OP, that was a few scams I have never heard of before. The cell phone one urks me the most. My first smartphone was an HTC legend, nothing but aluminum, rubber, and helicopter glass on the outside. The guy at a convention in Toronto unveiled it by throwing it against a wall, picking it up, and making a phone call with it. It's lasted me about 3 years now, and is in physically great shape. BUT....it's slow as molasses since the latest android updates, latest software updates (which seem to only be getting bigger....how could I have so much space a few months ago and be cramming for space now) and latest features. The thing is, I've seen people with brand new phones that have come and gone already, because they're designed to fail faster. They used to make a few aluminum encased models (at least partly), and now they're all plastic. Not to mention they're hardly as scratch resistant as mine is. And worst of all, these crappier products just keep getting more and more expensive. Isn't capitalism wonderful?

Ludicrous



posted on Jun, 4 2012 @ 10:25 AM
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Op, I don't think you should look at South Park as a source of truth and wisdom. You shouldn't look at any television show that way. You are getting the points of view of the shows creators, and I don't know if that is a good thing. You should form your opinion of things on your own.

Please don't take this as an attack on you, but I think that is the way TPTB use television to brainwas people.



posted on Jun, 4 2012 @ 10:33 AM
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reply to post by NotApplicable
 
Just keep the old saying in your back pocket"if it sounds too good to be true it's not"I have lived by this saying my whole life and so far so good.
There's never a quick way to get rich or to get something for nothing ever!,NOTHING IS FREE!! it's all an illusion even freedom for the people.

Thanks for bringing these scams to light I've heard of the bidding sites and actuallyhave seen them advertised on television,what a joke and the shame is that there are people that believe they will get a good deal on stuff.

Isn't there a way to sue these companies for false advertisment?



posted on Jun, 4 2012 @ 10:47 AM
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Originally posted by TWILITE22
reply to post by NotApplicable
 
Just keep the old saying in your back pocket"if it sounds too good to be true it's not"I have lived by this saying my whole life and so far so good.
There's never a quick way to get rich or to get something for nothing ever!,NOTHING IS FREE!! it's all an illusion even freedom for the people.

Thanks for bringing these scams to light I've heard of the bidding sites and actuallyhave seen them advertised on television,what a joke and the shame is that there are people that believe they will get a good deal on stuff.

Isn't there a way to sue these companies for false advertisment?



I wish, but these people are not stupid. They have print that is hard to read, or phrase things in a way that makes the buyer feel like they are getting a deal. When they do get busted, they always seem to worm through it.



posted on Jun, 4 2012 @ 11:37 AM
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reply to post by DarthOej
 


Haha, I agree with you on not looking to Southpark for wisdom. I use it more for humour than anything, but the chain of thoughts that followed from watching that particular episode inspired me to write this thread. The more we all look out for eachother and the better off I feel that we will be. I hate seeing other people get wronged and would like to see a lot less of it.



posted on Jun, 4 2012 @ 11:40 AM
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Originally posted by ignorant_ape
i object to your definition of " scam " in most examples you cite

it is not a scam if :

you willingly buy an item at a price determined by the seller with no independant valuation

you willingly sell an item at a price determined by the buyer - with no independant evaluation


What is your definition of a scam?



posted on Jun, 4 2012 @ 11:40 AM
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double post, sorry :
edit on 4-6-2012 by NotApplicable because: double postedness



posted on Jun, 4 2012 @ 11:54 AM
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I'd like to add one potential scam that hasn't been mentioned here yet:

Reverse Mortgages

Does anyone here not think it's a rip-off just waiting to be exposed?



posted on Jun, 4 2012 @ 12:30 PM
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Here I have a couple of more!

The AIRPORT SHOPS are a complete scam! 1 Dollar bag of chips, are 3 dollars. A 2 dollar beer is 15-20 dollars.
Exchange rates, are stupid.....I had 100 euros, tried to exchange them at the NYC airport, guess how much they wanted to give me back? 102 dollars. AHAHAHAHAHAHA I said no, went to the local bank, 140 dollars returned...



posted on Jun, 4 2012 @ 12:35 PM
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Having been in the Jewelry business.
I'm gonna pass along a few things.

Buying gold


Never ever buy jewelry at a mall. Or large store.

You gotta remember that normally businesses mark up items to make a profit. Keystone pricing.
However when it comes to jewelry many big stores will mark up the wholesale cost. Triple, quadruple keystone or even more is not unheard of. Especially when a store needs to make up for expensive rent.

The store, for example, may purchase a ring for $500. Then mark the ring up to $2,999.
This gives them a nice profit. And then they can give you a discount even if they see you don't like the price.
They will say something like. "Normally this ring is $2,999 but I can give you 15% off."
And you'll be like wow I'll take it.
However in the end you come out losing. You just paid a premium price for something that's probably worth $250 bucks in material and workmanship. sucks eh?
To be safe always assume that you're paying at least 4 times the worth. More so if the store is extra nice.
Mom and pop stores tend to mark up less. Downside is that many smaller stores don't have as much in stock. But don't be afraid to order from a catalog. You can end up saving money in the end.

If you live in a large city. There are jewelry centers that sell wholesale to jewelers. In miami we have the seybold building in downtown miami. Great place to go and get some good prices. When I went wedding ring shopping I got the best bang for my buck. My wifes band was retail price for over 2K. I end up spending under 1200.

Selling gold.


Keep this in your mind. When you go to sell your gold to a store. They will buy it from you as scrap.
They will test it to determine whether it's 10k 14k or 18k.
Then they will weigh it and give you the scrap price in grams.
That price will be well under what you paid for said item.

I suggest in buying a cheap jewelry scale and weighing the gold yourself first.
Seperate your gold into the different gold types. 10k or 14k etc.
And figure out the price in grams for your scrap.
Here is something I posted a while ago on how to do exactly that.
Hope it helps.
www.abovetopsecret.com...



posted on Jun, 4 2012 @ 03:09 PM
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I agree with your list of scams.
The cell phone scam is a case of one should actually research the product first. My son likes to boast his iPhone 4S is better than my old iPhone 3. The fact is you just need to upgrade the software yourself and you will get all of the 4S features minus the Siri. The ads all say can your phone do this? Yes it can! My photos do what the ad shows, my music syncs across devices, I have the drop down reminder screen, etc, after i updated my software. So it's false advertising somewhat. Apple ads make it seem only the new phone can have the icloud, when the old phones and itouches Or iPads can be updated to have icloud, as shown in the ads. They know most won't know they can upgrade their devices themselves, and even if they do know, a lot get confused on how to do it.

I keep telling people this, when they say why don't you get the new one.

I don't know how other cell phones work.

I wouldn't personally fall for the others you listed.
You have to educate yourself. They rely on people not doing that.



posted on Jun, 4 2012 @ 03:18 PM
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I heard of a scam a few weeks ago, saw it on TV. It targets the elderly, like so many scams do. You have to advise your parents or grandparents of all scams (Very Important), but this recent one I heard about was quite nasty.

The scammers troll Social Networking sites like Facebook and Myspace, and can gain a ton of information about people then obtain thier parents or Granparents phone number through a multitude of ways.

They'll pretend that they ARE the son/daughter or grandson/grand-daughter. With a static phone connection they'll pitch a story about how they were arrested on vacation in Vegas or Spain. Sometimes these people are really actually on vacation at the time and the scammers know it as they posted that they're going to Spain for 2 weeks or wherever on thier FB/MS pages.

They can have all sorts of information to sound credible, info that people all too freely put on thier FB and MS pages, pictures, names of family members and friends, pets names, Birthdays, Events , family member illnesses. Even blog type video of themselves talking so these scammers can try and replicate thier voice as best as they can; and with an elderly person and a bad connection, it's easier than you'd think to fool some of these Senior Citizens. Especially when you can throw in stuff to the conversation like ask this elderly person how thier dog Spot is doing, and how is Uncle Pete or whoever is getting along with his Cancer and how is the chemo going ect, ect.

Anyhow the hook is basically,phonecall with static to disguise voice "Grandma it's me so and so I've been arrested in so and so state/country (usually pretty far away), I need you to wire me XX amount of $$." And they do it. Of course it doesn't work most of the time, but even if 1 in 50 times it works for $2,000. It's quite worth it. That is a VERY GOOD MONTHLY income in many of the countries these scammers operate out of.

Scams on the elderly are the worst, and these people need to be punished.

Just be careful about how much information you post on Facebook and MySpace You-tube, minute by minute Twitter updates ect, for the entire world to see. Plus make all your elderly family members and friends aware of scammers and this type of scam if you already do post your entire life on these Social Networking sites.



posted on Jun, 4 2012 @ 04:27 PM
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"Free" anything, particularly when they want your credit or debit info. Read the small print, you get charged a monthly free for some essentially useless service in turn for accepting the free item or service. (May as well just pull a $20 out of your pocket every month and light it on fire.) Whether it's a report on your credit score, gift cards, etc...

In the long run, you're much better off just buying the "free" item, or actually getting your credit report from your bank or credit card company even if they charge a one-time nominal fee.

Keep that in mind, if they want your financial account info for something "free", then it's a trap.
edit on 4-6-2012 by pauljs75 because: Made some wording a little clearer.



posted on Jun, 4 2012 @ 04:34 PM
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Originally posted by NotApplicable

Originally posted by ignorant_ape
i object to your definition of " scam " in most examples you cite

it is not a scam if :

you willingly buy an item at a price determined by the seller with no independant valuation

you willingly sell an item at a price determined by the buyer - with no independant evaluation


What is your definition of a scam?


Well a scam is when someone actively tries to "trick" you out of what you thought was a valid agreement. Basically if you try make a sale/purchase and they step out of bounds and attempt to hustle you with lies, deceit, etc.

With something like Cash4Gold, the seller is literally saying, "Here is all the gold I have in my possession, I've mailed it to you. I will accept whatever money you give me in return." If you want to sell it closer to it's established value, then that is your responsibility to do so, by appraisal or what have you. Most people don't do this for Cash4Gold because the jewelery sold is usually of lower quality.

If it bothers you what they do with the scrapped gold afterwards.. I don't know, because it's a heritage piece.. who knows.. then again, it's your responsibility to see that it goes to a buyer with better intentions.

Cash4Gold is just a gold scapper, it's not much of a mystery.



edit on 4-6-2012 by SyphonX because: (no reason given)



posted on Jun, 4 2012 @ 05:06 PM
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reply to post by SyphonX
 


Sorry I was trying to get Ignorant_Apes definition of a scam, but glad to hear your definition also


Does that include the Cash4gold businesses where you go in rather than mail your stuff off?
edit on 4-6-2012 by NotApplicable because: (no reason given)



posted on Jun, 4 2012 @ 05:10 PM
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reply to post by Nola213
 


Yes we must watch out for our elders most of all. Most will probably be stubborn about it, because in their younger years scams weren't as widespread as they are now. These days scams are everywhere and target the vulnerable and uninformed.




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