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Whether we're traveling or just browsing the internet, scams are everywhere around us. Granted, some of them are less sophisticated than others but we people can be really gullible.

To show everyone what happens when we let our guard down, plenty of Reddit users have shared stories about falling for schemes so obvious, they are still embarrassed to admit it.

From grandma's no candy policy to a lucrative job opportunity, here are some of the most memorable ones Bored Panda discovered across various posts all over the platform.

#1

30 People Reveal Scams They Still Can't Believe They Bought When i was like 14 (maybe?), i saved up all of my money all year from my paper route to get people nice gifts at Christmas.

When i went to the mall, there was a man there who was "deaf."

He handed me a keychain with a note that read "i am a deaf person, and am unemployed. Will you please buy this keychain for $5?"

Being naive, i pulled out my wallet with like $500 cash. The guy was so happy that i wanted to help him that he taught me a secret handshake. When i sat down, i noticed my wallet was gone.

Literally 8 months of savings gone to some scam artist in exchange for a 25 cent keychain.

I wish i could say that i didnt cry.

MoralMiscreant , Karolina Grabowska Report

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Kanuli
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Omg. Shamelessly robbing a CHILD. I seldom give deathwishes, but I’m sure that would be a reason I would.

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One of the posts we looked at belongs to a Reddit user who goes by the name of u/thatdrunkchef. We managed to get in touch with them and they were kind enough to have a little chat with us about what inspired them to make it.

"I just like asking people about stories of their life that they won't usually tell anyone," u/thatdrunkchef explained to Bored Panda. "Reddit is a great place for that. You are in your 'safe zone' because nobody really knows who you are, so you can talk about anything without being judged."

"Let's say something stupid happened. Like a scam. You are not proud of it or maybe you are even ashamed of it and can't talk about it with your friends or family, but want to warn other people. [In this case, Reddit is perfect to share your story] and support each other."

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#2

30 People Reveal Scams They Still Can't Believe They Bought I got duped into paying close to 100 thousand dollars to some people who told me that if I took a bunch of chemistry classes, along with some random philosophy and literature classes thrown in there, I would almost be guaranteed a high-paying job. All I had to do was pay the money and pass the classes. They said I could take out a loan for the 100k and would easily pay that off with my fat paychecks.

Turns out almost no such jobs exist. Fortunately, I was able to get some good scholarships and owe a fraction of that. In any even I was scammed out of four years of my life and still owe a few thousand dollars to a lender. The scammers laughed all the way to their Cancun vacations and luxurious homes with my scholarship and loan money. I'll never see that money again.

anylchemist , Charles DeLoye Report

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Sam
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Why did I read that at first as hundred dollars then went back and read a 1000 dollars finally my mind registered 100,000 dollars 😬 😬 😬 yikes

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#3

30 People Reveal Scams They Still Can't Believe They Bought Me and my dad go into Walmart to buy some groceries. We come out and load them into the truck, and the truck won’t start? Never had problems with the truck before this. My dad is getting frustrated as we have chilled food with us and it’s summer. Suddenly, a homeless man on a bike rolls up and asks what the problem was. My dad explains that he has no idea his truck just won’t start. Guy asked to take a look.

Guy gets under the truck and in 10 seconds comes back out. He told my dad he found the problem, a small part was missing on his truck (me and my dad are dips***s when it comes to cars so I can’t remember what part he said. Also I was 10). The man said he just so happened to have the same part in his bag of nicknacks. Said if he gave him $50 he’d put it on for him. My dad, excited, agreed. The man went under the truck, another 10 seconds pops back up, says give it a try. Truck starts no problem. My dad thanks the man so much and then gives him another $40 for his trouble. It was only on t he ride home that I brought it up to my dad “you’re telling me none of that seemed off to? Random homeless man rides up just in time with just the right part we need?”

It finally hits my dad and he turns around to find the guy but he was long gone.

Hereistothehometeam , Andrea Piacquadio Report

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The pandemic has been really good for one fraud sector in particular. Nearly 1 in 3 Americans say they've fallen victim to a phone scam in the past year, like the ones where someone gets in touch pretending to be from the IRS or from a company inquiring about an expiring warranty on your vehicle.

According to a report from Truecaller, not only is the number of victims on the rise, but the expense of these scams is also up. The average reported loss was about $502 per person (which is the highest amount on record since Truecaller began tracking this data in 2014).

"It's very disappointing to me, and alarming that people are getting convinced to send criminals money," Clayton LiaBraaten, senior advisory board member at Truecaller, told CNBC. Yet it's not surprising, he added, considering how convincing scammers can be. "These criminals are incredibly clever in the way that they manipulate people."

#4

30 People Reveal Scams They Still Can't Believe They Bought I once came down with a bout of the hemorrhoids. Well, I assumed it was based on what I knew about hemorrhoid. Too embarrassed to ask friends and family for advice, I did what most people do in these circumstances, I sought medical advice from the Internet.

This was back in the 90's so I logged onto AOL and searched for a cure. I found a website that offered a permanent cure of hemorrhoids. The curator of this site learned this cure when he was a POW in Vietnam, and for $10 I could be hemorrhoids free forever.

Ten dollars poorer and I get the email (with the cure). The cure was to stick my finger up my ass and twirl it around for ten minutes a day, every day. It was then I realized I just paid someone to tell me to stick my finger up my ass.

_Sol-Diablo_ , ThisisEngineering RAEng Report

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#5

30 People Reveal Scams They Still Can't Believe They Bought My former best friend and his dad cheated me out of my money to invest in their company. When I asked for a contract, his dad said, "Between true friends, words aren't necessary."

When they started making money, I asked for my money back, and they said they didn't owe me a thing.

texan-wanderer , cottonbro Report

#6

30 People Reveal Scams They Still Can't Believe They Bought I bought pheromone cologne in high school for like 100 dollars because it was said to cause a chemical reaction that makes women attracted to you. It smelt awful and I never spoke to a chick while wearing it. I later found out the pheromones were taken from some type of animal urine. I was spraying piss on me and was confused why chicks weren't into me.

Ab10ff , Jesus Con S Silbada Report

After going through all the replies their post has received, u/thatdrunkchef were reminded of something they had already known: you need to be careful with everything.

"I can tell out of experience the most common and prevalent scammers are online, closely followed up by tourist scammers," they said. "In my opinion, just question everything. Even the dumbest question. Have everything documented. Fake-check and let other people check [everything] as well. Get some opinions from friends and family [before you make any big decisions.]"

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I know, you might be thinking you're not the person who might fall for these tricks. But the before-mentioned report also found that younger men and women (between the ages of 18-44 years) are the most susceptible to phone scams.

#7

30 People Reveal Scams They Still Can't Believe They Bought When I was little my Grandma would take me thr dentist for my regular cleanings. After the fluoride she would tell me now you're not allowed to have candy for a month because of the fluoride. She would get the dentist to agree with her.

I believed this for a couple years until I mentioned how it's not fun having to wait a month to eat candy because of the dentist to my friends at school. I knew something wasn't right when I realized noone knew what I was talking about.

I went home and told her I knew the no candy after the dentist wasn't true. Her response was "well I'm suprised I got away with that for as long as I did".

AnchorofHope , marcioandrei Report

#8

30 People Reveal Scams They Still Can't Believe They Bought I was working at a supermarket and this guy came in, purchased a soda for like a dollar and some change and then gave me a $100. I was like 17. Obviously this guy is gonna get ~$97 back with the $100 he gave me. So when I’m dolling out his change, he starts requesting all these denominations, confusing the hell out of me. He also had a guy with him talking to people behind him to distract them. I have no idea how much money I ended up giving him when the transaction was completed, but it turned out he swindled me out of about $200. This is what is known as a flim flam scam. I never felt so stupid in my life. A few months later, my sister was working with me, and as I was coming in to start work, I saw the men that screwed me leaving, and they got her too. She was devastated and felt the same way I did.

anonymous_trash , Wolfmann Report

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#9

30 People Reveal Scams They Still Can't Believe They Bought My older sisters told me eggs grew on trees. I vehemently disagreed. They made me plant an egg yolk. I came back later to check, and a stem had grown. Later, leaves showed up. I started to believe. I came back again and they had put plastic Easter eggs filled with candy on the tree.

squirrellywolf , Chris Waits Report

#10

30 People Reveal Scams They Still Can't Believe They Bought I was at this bizarre fair type of thing, and I fell for going into the tent which housed the "180 pound man eating chicken." I knew it was going to be cheesy and a likely waste of $2, but I had to go see it anyway.

It was a regular man who picked up a plate of fried chicken and started eating it when paying customers came in. I wasn't even mad.

lobsterandi , sergio souza Report

#11

30 People Reveal Scams They Still Can't Believe They Bought Someone calling my hotel room, saying it was the front desk, and that they had some sort of error with their payment system. The person (a male) said they just needed to re-run my card along with verify my name and address. Half-asleep, I begrudgingly gave them what they wanted, hung up the phone, and said "F**k...what the hell am I doing? I booked through Priceline."

Called the front desk and a female answered. Sure enough no men were working the front desk and nobody in the hotel staff had called requesting anything of the sort. Next call was to report that card stolen.

Should have followed my first instinct and just told them I'd come down to the front desk and resolve it there.

Buncha_Cnts , maxpixel Report

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ZAPanda
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

1. never ever give your card details per voice. 2. Always ask for a name and a phone number, compare the phone number to the switchboard number and dialling code, and call the switchboard (not the number they gave you), and ask for the person by name.

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#12

Right after my dad died I got a call from a number I didn't know. They left a voice mail saying they needed my social security number so they could pay out a life insurance policy to me. I was 21 and super inexperienced with stuff like this. So I did what any real adult would do. I asked my mom for advice.

She told me it was legit and to give them my SS number. I had a weird feeling about it but if my mom said it was ok then it must be ok. I did it. I called back and gave the guy that answered my SS number.

I never got a check but my mom suddenly did from a policy my dad "forgot" to take her off of even though they had been divorced years before. She did give my 10k but I'm 100% positive it was worth way more and she had something to do with it all. We don't talk anymore for various reasons including this one.

Omfgimaweirdo Report

#13

I gave a guy, his pregnant wife, and their child, quite a bit of money for petrol. In return, he gave me his very convincing "engagement ring". Obviously, the number he gave me to get the money back was fake, and the ring too.

It hurt so much to be preyed upon just because I was kind (read: stupid) enough to want to help. No arseholes would have been ripped off by him, only people wanting to help.

PM_a_fact_about_you Report

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LeeAnne B
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

You're not stupid. Kindness is not stupidity. If you told them to piss off then you would have worried about it I'm sure. That's on them. Don't stop being a good person.

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#14

30 People Reveal Scams They Still Can't Believe They Bought Walked down the tunnel to DC Metro and approached a ticket machine to get my Metro fare card; found a well dressed lady confused by the machine, and not quite a full English speaker. Convinced me to buy her a ticket as she was to meet her daughter at office downtown. Finally bought her a damn ticket, and then she asked if the ticket was enough to get her back too? Gave her an extra $5 bucks as that's all I had other than large bills and told her to be sure and have her daughter explain all this too her. Guess what? A few days later I went back to that same Metro spot, and she was in the process of scamming some other dude using the same story. I stood behind them until she played off the "will this get me back?", then busted her right there. She gave me an excellent cussing for someone who didn't know English.

StatOne , MART PRODUCTION Report

#15

30 People Reveal Scams They Still Can't Believe They Bought I got pulled into an Amway meeting. When I was in college I was working as a waiter at a Pizza Hut, and a customer came in and struck up a conversation. Eventually he pitched me on a possible new job. He described it as "kind of like an internship."

The first red flag should have been he wouldn't give me any specifics other than something about "running a business." Next he gave me a date/address of where to meet and he told me to dress in a suit. That also seemed weird since we were meeting at 7pm. Who interviews at 7pm?

Anyway I get there, and about a hundred other people are there. I was getting a weird vibe and I should have run at that point, but I was desperate for something other than waiting tables. After an hour of parading different motivational speakers they finally announced they sold Amway to achieve their goals. I then went home older, wise, and destined to serve pizza for many more months.

Link-to-the-Pastiche , Luis Quintero Report

#16

30 People Reveal Scams They Still Can't Believe They Bought Got a call saying there was something wrong with my internet service. I downloaded the spyware that allowed to person on the phone to remotely control my computer. I became to suspicious when they wanted me to login to my bank account. Reset that b**ch to factory settings and felt shame I'd let it get that far.

My3CentsWorth , Ivan Samkov Report

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ZAPanda
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

ahahaha I had one of these. Kept him on the phone for about an hour asking him details about microsoft and their head office. I pushed him back and forward about systems asking him why I had a virus if i didn't have a windows computer but he stuck to his story that my windows was infected. I had a mac. Eventually after google street viewing his stated location and telling him it was just a house in california, I could hear the panic set in. I then informed him that microsoft is in fact in redmond, not california, and I was going to tell the feds. He dropped the call quickly.

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#17

30 People Reveal Scams They Still Can't Believe They Bought A year ago (I’m 17 now) I wanted to get into the stock market and met someone online through a mutual online friend who was old enough to open a broker. I did all the research and, at the height of corona, I invested 3k, all my savings, into a stock that eventually multiplied. Guy took my money and the profits and both ended up blocking me :/

philgravy0 , Liza Summer Report

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Caro Caro
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Aaw, this is horrible. Scamming a kid makes you a double asshole.

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#18

30 People Reveal Scams They Still Can't Believe They Bought Shipping companies online. This could probably classify as much as a TIFU as a scam, but moved back from Ireland to Canada. Company never provided a proper packing list (first tip off) and then went "bankrupt" several days after picking up everything from my home. PC gaming rig with 2 monitors, PS3, games for both, book, rpg and comic collections, entire music and movie library, autographs, ticket stubs and set lists from concerts, clothes, cameras, figurines like Clouds bike from FF7 Advent Children movie, etc. Only stuff they didn't get, which wasn't much, was what I packed up to take with me on the flight home.

Tarik_Torgaddon_ , Tima Miroshnichenko Report

#19

30 People Reveal Scams They Still Can't Believe They Bought My mom was so close to falling for the 'soldier' scam.

She started talking to some army guy through a dating site and very quickly he got romantic and almost in love over messages. She started to really fall for him.

Then he asked if she could buy phone credit for his daughter as he couldn't use his money abroad whilst he was stationed... She had no money and told him so and he got a bit weird over it. She googled this situation as something didnt sit right and discovered the popular scam of Nigerian men using photos of soldier's, setting up profiles and getting older women to part with cash. They start off small like phone credit and it escalates to life savings and all worldly possessions.

When we looked over his messages after finding out, it all seemed so obvious. The messages were a bit disconnected and seemed scripted. She realised he wasn't really answering her questions or responding to specific thing she had said.

It seems silly now as people are so aware of these type of scams but at the time it really wasn't that obvious.

xxxtubsxxx , Marcus Aurelius Report

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ZAPanda
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Had this happen about 5 times on Tinder. Attractive woman, peculiar style of english. You ask for a location and they give one near you. You check the app to see the ACTUAL reported location and it says they're about 1000km away. Shortly after "hi" they want your contact details - phone number. Dutifully hand it over, still thinking with the genitals at that stage. Well, just the first time, at any rate. The message comes through on whatsapp. Voila, the profile picture slightly mismatches the profile on Tinder. First question is where to meet for a date. Er... no woman here ever does that. Ever. They have a rough time here with GBV so they're super cautious. They'll first engage in lots of back and forth. Not with these. Shortly after getting the whatsapp they agree to a meetup location. Then come the sob stories. I need petrol, I need data, etc etc. At which point you just block them.

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#20

30 People Reveal Scams They Still Can't Believe They Bought I gave half my nights tip money to a woman who said her car broke down and she had to go pick her kids up from daycare. I believed her because she was standing in front of a car getting towed. I told someone about it later and they described her to a T and said "yea that's Kimbo, you just bought her a weeks worth of crack". I've met like six people since then that she's done the same thing to.

justsomethoughts8 , Karolina Grabowska Report

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WilvanderHeijden
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

No matter how sad the story is, I never give money to strangers without double checking their identity. And even than I won't accept their golden ring as collateral, but I happily take that golden necklace and watch and silver bracelet they are wearing. They always suddenly remember that they have some spare money in the car.

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#21

30 People Reveal Scams They Still Can't Believe They Bought Back on the early 2000s I fell for the Russian Bride Scam... to a degree. I didn't send money but I did believe for a short while, a few weeks, that I was being contacted by a Russian hottie in the Ukraine or Estonia or somewhere and that she was interested in me. What killed it was that she asked me to wire a few bucks so she could pay for time at an internet cafe. I copied and and pasted text from her email into Google an quickly discovered it was the first step in a larger scam where they escalate what they ask for over time eventually asking for a few thousand dollars to purchase a plane ticket to come visit the US. It was early 2000's back when the internet was a bit more "Wild West" even before Facebook was a thing. What kind of hurt my feelings about it all was that I realized that my online presence must have reeked loneliness.

anonymous , Nicolás Flor Report

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Chich
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Had a friend who actually married a mail order russian bride. Got her feet on the ground here, got citizenship then took him for as much as possible and took off. Poor sap went from having his own house to living in a trailer.

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#22

About 10 years ago, when I was euro-tripping (my dad is a truck driver), we stopped at this parking lot in Italy. We had a break and this guy knocks on our window, says he has a laptop for sale. He presents it to us, shows us its specs, I must say it was a pretty good laptop for those times. And we even lowered the price so he was going to sell it to us for 100€. We were both hyped, so we were getting the cash while the guy was packing the laptop in the case, we made a deal, shook hands and he was gone. Eager to test it ourselves we proceeded to open the case, but there was something wrong with the zip. It was welded/melted in one point so it was pretty hard to open, it took us about 2 mins to open the case and there was no laptop inside. Just two boxes of salt. That guy was long gone, and we were sitting there cursing at him and laughing at how we got tricked. It was the most expensive seasoning I've ever tried.

bananeeek Report

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Caro Caro
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

You both must have known that the laptop was hot so this is your own fault.

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#23

Not 100% sure I got scammed but 99.99% sure I got scammed over baby formula.

I was at the grocery store and some guy speaking broken english came up to me with a sob story about losing his job and having a baby with a special diet and needing to feed him. It felt odd right off the bat but having just become a dad myself I felt compassionate enough to begrudgingly agreed after he said he didn't want money, he just needed someone to buy some formula.

I walk him to the self checkout and he scans all his stuff, the total was like 350 dollars. I looked at the total looked at him and he pulls the think of the baby card. So I swiped my card. He tried to take the receipt at the end but I said since it was my card I'd keep it.

As I walked away to finish my shopping i noticed he was lingering. I took a lap around one of the aisles. He was still there but talking to the self check out supervisor. He has her do something at the checkout we used and then he finally leaves.

I was just gonna let it go but I had a gutt feeling something seemed off so I went up to the supervisor and asked what the gentleman needed. She said he claimed his receipt didn't print and needed a copy.

That's when I figured it out. Mofo was gonna return it all and ask for it on a GC. I was so annoyed I didn't even finish shopping.

heckle4fun Report

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Kat Zwingle
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Same happened to me at Walmart. Mother with child, special formula because of allergies, oh, can we get diapers too? Just over $100, wanted my receipt, because she "was going to do more shopping. No, I took my receipt. Don't know what happened, but decided I meant well, the "bad karma" was on her.

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#24

30 People Reveal Scams They Still Can't Believe They Bought Was headed to a concert in CLE and found a parking garage. Dude was standing out front and said 20 dollars. Garage was right across from the venue so I agreed, payed him his 20 and he turned and sprinted down the street. Dude didn't work for the parking garage...I couldn't even get mad, just shook my head in awe of the chillness that the dude used to take my 20...

theshook , Tony Webster Report

#25

30 People Reveal Scams They Still Can't Believe They Bought I fell for the white van speaker scam around 2005 ish. I was leaving Wal-Mart with some groceries when a guy in a van approached me. He said he just installed a fairly expensive stereo in a client's house nearby but the buyer did not want an extra set of speakers and subwoofer. He said he would sell them to me for half of their value, something like 500 bucks. I told him I didn't have that kinda cash and would he take 200, which is all I had on me. He acted like he couldn't go that low but ultimately I ended up with them. Yeah, they lasted about a week and sounded horrible. Ended up being some super cheap Chinese speakers that sold for like 40 bucks.

FartBoxDestroyer33 , _Raspootin_ Report

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kjorn
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

already happen to me. never believe the guy and refuse to buy anything. when it's too good to be true, it's too good to be true

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#26

Fell for paying $10 for a crappy CD from some dude at Hollywood. He was nice at first by "giving out" free CDs of his music, then got really pushy about wanting a "donation" for it. I didn't want trouble so I gave him $10.

I've always wondered what happens if you just walk away.

I never ended up listening to the CD, I have an irrational fear that it's someone saying "lol, you're an idiot" on repeat. :/

amelia_bardsley Report

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Jihana
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

To be honest I once bought a CD from a metal band on a busy shopping street in my hometown. It did not cost much and the music was actually really good.

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#27

30 People Reveal Scams They Still Can't Believe They Bought Young horny teenage me took a wrong turning looking for stimulation and ended up paying the 'FBI' £30 to not arrest me and tell my parents.

zdefcon , Vadim Artyukhin Report

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Kantami Blossom
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

My faither got caught with one of those sort of scams, the thing locked his computer and demanded money to unlock it. To this day he claims he was on YouTube when a video redirected him to a pornsite, he knows without a shadow of a doubt that I know he's lying but still maintains his claim😂

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#28

30 People Reveal Scams They Still Can't Believe They Bought I was in Nicaragua. A group of 7-year old boys asked me for money because they were "starving". I gave them what I could. That same day I saw them all smoking cigarettes.

JasonReed234 , Mads Terkelsen Report

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El muerto
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

it doesn't mean they didn't buy food, it doesn't mean they weren't starving. a smoke can be the only thing they had close to luxury and it doesn't mean they didn't buy food to...s**t is hard enough when you are on your own...talking as someone with that experience

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#29

Ebay was pretty new at the time. Got contacted by the seller of an item on ebay that I didn't win. Top bidder bailed. I could have it for the amount I bid. "Send it Western Union." I had to act fast. I mean, his dad was in the hospital and needed the money.

I never saw that camera.

conspiracyeinstein Report

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WilvanderHeijden
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Never use Western Union to pay for stuff on the internet. You are being scammed if the seller insists on using Western Union.

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#30

30 People Reveal Scams They Still Can't Believe They Bought I fell for a really weird scam at my old job. It was a very small office so we all picked up the phone when the main line rang. I answered it one day and this guy told me he needed to send me a new manual for our printer/copier. I thought it was a little weird, but he insisted it was free and the only piece of information he was asking me for was the model number, so I gave it to him. He thanked me and said we'd receive the new manual in the mail shortly.

We never did receive anything in the mail, but afterwards I read about the scam online. Apparently they ask you for the model number and then start shipping you sh**ty off-brand toner and charging you insane prices for it. If the business is paying attention, they'll throw out the toner and refuse to pay for it, and no real harm is done. But plenty of offices just assume it's their regular toner, start using it and end up paying the jacked up prices to this sketchy company.

thurn_und_taxis , pxhere Report

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Ellis Reed
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Don't you pay for the ink before it arrives? I've never worked in an office that pays for an office product after it gets shipped. Maybe it's different elsewhere in the world?

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#31

30 People Reveal Scams They Still Can't Believe They Bought I was about 11-12 and very interested in sign language. A guy came up to me and pulled the old I'm deaf, buy this card con. I tried to sign "no, I'm sorry". He didn't seem to get it. I felt so bad about my signing being so terrible, I gave him my only $10.

Ihadacow , RODNAE Productions Report

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Monday
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This happens a lot in my town over Christmas season, to the point where a friend of mine memorizes a few signs so she can shake them off. Most of them will bolt in the opposite direction if actually start signing back to them.

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#32

I remember being in computer class in elementary school and an ad came up for me to win $1000: "You are our millionth visitor, call this number to win money.". I was so upset when the teacher told me it was fake because I already planned on what new video games I was going to buy.

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#33

An email something like

"You're paypal has been accessed from an unknown source, click here to update your password."

It looked official and asked for me to login to update my password. When I realized the website didn't allow me to view my profile I panicked. I then spent the day taking the nessassary precautions.

Lesson, always go to the website yourself and don't click links in emails.

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ZAPanda
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

this is trivial to spot. Hover your arrow over the link in the email. Look at the domain name. If it says scammers.ru instead of paypal.com... well duh. don't click. I usually click these things out of interest to see how well they copied the real site.

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#34

When I was in high school (early '70s), my English teacher announced that a publisher was having a poetry contest, and the best entries would appear in a poetry journal. Several of us in class submitted our work and anxiously awaited the results.

Surprise! ALL our entries were accepted -- the good ones and the really bad ones. At first we were ecstatic. Then we found out that each of us had to pay to get a copy of the journal. What a scam. Even our English teacher got snookered.

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Rick
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Haha, that happened to us in the late 90s too (I didn’t buy one though).

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#35

I went to a tiny fair in a mall parking lot with a few of my friends two years ago, and one of my goals was to win a tiny stuffed animal for my boyfriend. I came up to this booth that “guaranteed a prize every time, even if I lose” and the man gestured to all the small stuffed animals on display. So of course, I thought I was getting one of those. I win a prize as guaranteed, but this dude pulled out this dinky little emoji plush that was maybe 3 inches in diameter and gave it to me with a sly smirk. I wasn’t that happy but I wasn’t going to fight either. What a scam.

Luckily though, I was walking around and saw a tiny stuffed animal that happened to be my boyfriends favorite animal, I asked if I could trade my stupid emoji for it and the guy said yes. He probably couldn’t care less but at least he was nice.

Always ask which prize you’d win.

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ZAPanda
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I had a similar experience with those things that grab plushies out of a bin. You know, "THE CLAW! IT MOVES!". After failing a few times I just said to the guy can I not just pay for the damn plushie? He agreed.

#36

30 People Reveal Scams They Still Can't Believe They Bought That guy who just ran out of money but needs to buy a train ticket to go home and see his family.

At the time I was like, "gosh, even if there's a chance he is lying, I want to help."

About thirty seconds later I was like, "I am an idiot."

senatorskeletor , Pixabay Report

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ZAPanda
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Yeah here it's "my car has run out of petrol, please can you give me fifty bucks"... er... no.

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#37

Not really a scam but a joke.

Buddy gave me one of those very real looking fake scratch tickets and it had said I won $5k. I was about 2% skepticism mixed with 98% elation because I was thinking "S***, $5k I can pay off all my credit debt and even start an RRSP."

I was gutted when he revealed it was a joke card. Went from feeling like my life had changed and I finally got that little bump I've been waiting for, to feeling like an embarassed ass for falling for it. Now when anything good happens to me I automatically assume its a joke someone's playing on me.

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Chich
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Why peope think doing something like this is funny is beyond me. It is a sure sign you don't need them in your life.

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#38

Was desperate for a job, looked at the newspaper ads (it was like 15 years ago) and saw this "Marketing opening opportunity". I called the number and the guy I spoke to was really enthusiastic, almost instantly gave me an appointment for what he said was an interview a couple of days later. Of course when I asked what did the position involved exactly, they replied "We'll explain everything once we meet you." So I get there to find a room full of chairs and a small stage with a cardboard saying "Please take a seat". I now think this must be some kind of group interview as more people are coming and sitting in the half empty room. Two guys takes the stage, while two others in the back closes the doors, then locks the doors. A woman asks why they are locking the doors and one of the guy says "Well we wanna make sure you get ALL the information before you make a decision". That sounded pretty weird, and by then I knew I was in some s**tty situation. Is this some kind of bats**t religious group? What the hell am I doing here...

Then one of the guys on the stage puts a large box on a table, and starts the classic "We are happy to have you here today, in fact we're really excited, because you will be the first in the whole city to make this much cash, you just won't believe it"... he opens the box to show a set of knives and says "We welcome you to Cutco". Now I wanted to get out, but looking at the door the two guys were standing by it like security guards. "Sorry for locking the doors, but this opportunity is so great we can't take any risks, we don't know, one of you may well be a spy." Had to sit through an hour of listening to him talking about his freaking knives and how nice they were.

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kay s.
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

this scenario, i think, is illegal in the US as it would fall under false imprisonment as soon as the doors were locked. you would have every right to call the police at that point. this is why escape rooms cannot, legally, lock you inside. they always say you're NOT locked in and you can open the door ANYTIME you want, but the "locked in" feeling is part of the fun of the rooms.

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#39

Finally my rage can hopefully be heard.

I just left a career in mental health - was prowling for work that paid anywhere above $35k when all of a sudden John Doe from my high school a decade ago who created and maintains a multi-million dollar Japanese steak house asks me to "come to his house personally around 9pm because we needed to catch up. Maybe work if you are interested."

F***ing BAM right? Here I am thinking God, all my hard work was finally about to pay off and here comes a what I thought would be MGMT position or something relevant but no.....nonononono it simply wasn't. This dream of job turned out to be a MLM scheme and I knew it when I saw the casual pretzel bowl with like salsa dip and s**t in the basement on the table, with a projector and a room full of people.

I fell for the scam - which is why I hate MLM in the first place. You are supposed to target close people in your life and it makes for bad business.

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ZAPanda
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

MLMs are all scams. Please see mlmwatch.org. Anyone who advertises a great opportunity and wants to hard sell in person, avoid like the plague. Save your friends from this as well, create awareness. MLM is in fact a cult. It works the same way. Unquestionable leader, great promises in a later life, lots of people praising, can only join through another member, have to pay a tithe, very difficult to leave, etc. It's literally a cult.

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#40

30 People Reveal Scams They Still Can't Believe They Bought My old roomate got thrown in jail one night - he went out drinking with a bunch of friends and was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Anyway, I go with his girlfriend to bail him out. We get to the jail and some guy approaches us and ask if we need a bail bondsman. We have no idea what we're doing so we say yes and then go to some bonds place. He asks us for $300 for the bail then goes inside - and never comes out. So my roomates girlfriend goes inside to see where he is and nobody's ever heard of him. So we lost all his money and he's stuck in jail for 2 days until they release him. He wasn't happy that we lost his money and failed at getting him out. I was 17 at the time so didn't think people would be that cruel - I know better now.

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I I
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

yeah you learned young , it's even worse when so called friends f**k you over

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#41

I got into Scientology for a while. The thing you have to understand about Scientology is that when they pitch it to you, it sounds really f**king awesome. They make it sound like there's something easy to fix with your brain that, after you fix it, will improve every area of your life. Oh, and they have a navy. There was a time in my life when I wanted nothing more than to join the Sea Org and help make the world Clear.

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Chich
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Years ago I was stopped on the street by two who looked like students. They wanted me to take a 'personality" test. Figured they were pshyc students from the local university and as I had time to kill said sure. Took me to a storefront and gave me this list of questions. Did that and they had me wait in the outer room while they 'marked' it. No indication of anything until I happened to look at the door. Small sign above : "Church of Scientology" Stayed anyway to see what they would do. Of course the test came back amazing and I should take some seminars to reach my true potential. Noped out but got phone calls for a long time afterwards. At least I learned not to put my real contact info on sketchy forms.

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#42

30 People Reveal Scams They Still Can't Believe They Bought Lost $700 to a housing scammer. Back in May this year I inquired about a CL ad for a house for rent. It was a perfect match for me. Nice house, good neighborhood, owner would let me have whatever pets I wanted without any fees. Should have realized it was too good to be true. Made the mistake of wiring them the deposit money without signing anything or meeting with anyone.

The worst part is that I was being so careful the whole time, researching and verifying any information given to me, and I still made a stupid mistake that cost me money I couldn't afford to lose.

Sango12592 , Anete Lusina Report

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WilvanderHeijden
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

With an enormous shortage in housing, this scam is now very active in the Netherlands. Especially foreign students and immigrants are targeted because they don't know the procedure is in the Netherlands and they end up paying large sums of money to scammers who promise them priority in renting a flat or a house. Surprise: you can't bribe your way into a place to live over here.

#43

When I was young and slightly drunk a man accosted me at the cashpoint and convinced me to give him £40. He said he would pay me back and gave me an address and phone number. When I returned to the cashpoint the next day I realised he had Keyser Söze'd the streetname directly behind me. I did not get back the £40, although the amount of money that guy has saved me since by making me realise how innocent I was means it's probably one of the best investments I ever made.

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#44

Hit a bad shot on a golf course. heard a thump sound. man came out not angry, but seemed sad and said i broke his window. his kids were in the other room, so nobody was hurt. still he threatened legal action. (i now realize he LIVES ON A GOLF COURSE so this s**t must happen to him all the time) long story short, i was shook up and gave him all the cash in my wallet about $150 to get him to calm down. he took it said he'd fix the window, we exchanged info so he could see if the window cost more or less than i gave him. I was still scared of getting sued. called/emailed him the next week to see what was up, both were fake.

Yes, i should have asked to see the window. Yes, i should have not been such a shook up wiener. I got scared and thought i was doing the right thing. Sometimes, i am not a street smart man.

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#45

I wouldn't say I fell for it but while walking around Tokyo I was stopped by this monk who explained that he was traveling the country on foot and asked for a monetary donation. When it was clear I'd help him out, he pulls out a money book and shows me what people generally give him and to write my name down next to them along with the money amount. It was full of big numbers clearly going into the hundreds and thousands of dollars. It's implied that I should match those donations otherwise I'm clearly not a good person.

Realized it was an immediate scam, and a very obvious one.

He then waits for me to pay up and I gave him the equivalent of $5. 500 yen. He kinda looked at me like I just insulted him and I walked away. I checked google later that night and apparently he was a well known scammer in the area.

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Alex the Country Dog
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Ooh I actually enjoy these ones. They can make up some interesting stories about their "travels" and I don't mind throwing $5 toward a good story.

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#46

A guy asked me for $5 because he was out of gas. He told me if I gave him my address he would mail it back to me. I told him, no problem keep it. Then I watch him walk down the street and into a bar.

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Kristin Ingersoll
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Once cash leaves your hand, you no longer have any say in how it's spent. Enjoy the good karma on your end and move along!

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#47

I fell for the "Become a supermodel" scam. I was 15-16 at the time with little self confidence. I've got stopped on the street by this guy saying that he works for a modelling agency and I have a great look etc. I ended up registering with the agency (even though I am like 5 foot 3 on tall days), even paid a registration fee which meant that they did a "book" for me, with 10 professional photos and they taught all the models how to walk. One week before the fashion show (that would skyrocket all our careers) was supposed to take place they disappeared. The registration fee was quite hefty, there were like 150-200 girls registered with them when they packed up.

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ZAPanda
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

jesus you are lucky you dodged a bullet there. Here if that happens it's often a human trafficking scam.

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#48

This was a close call at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam. I arrived with my girlfriend, she's a photographer, and we stopped by to grab a burger jn one of those places from the arrivals foodhall. My girlfriend left her camera on the table with me and went to the toilet. At one moment an old lady came from my left and started asking me stuff with an awful accent, I couldn't understand anything she was saying. By the third or forth attempt I understood she was looking for the toilet. I didn't know where the toilet was but my girlfriend was just coming back from it, from behind me, I saw and asked where the toilet was but she was frozen like "what the hell is going on?". I turned my back again to the table and there was a guy with his hands on her camera. By this time the old lady had already vanished. The guy patheically moves his hand to the napkin holder and asks if it was ours. I don't even think he waited for an answer, he just turned and went away. It was all very quick, took us some seconds to realise we almost lost the camera and the whole thing was a scam.

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Chich
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Was in Amsterdam in the 70's. From getting off the train to getting out of the station we were offered several drugs, prostitutes, "deals" and a few invitations to "wild boat parties" . We'd luckily talked to a few friends before going so althouhg young and stupid we were well briefed on the scams.

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#49

Guy at the gas station said he and his cancer ridden wife broke down a mile up the highway, needed $10 to get them gas for a 30 mile trip to the city. I just got paid was feeling rich so I gave it to him. Went to the same gas station two days later and the guy was there again with the same problem.

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#50

When I was a little kid, my dad drew several circles on a sheet of paper. Then, he would have me roll a quarter down my nose to try to get it to land in certain spots for more points. The goal is that when the quarter lands, you trace the quarter with a pencil, then you roll, trace, roll, trace etc until you get a certain number of points.

The joke is that the person rolling the quarter ends up with a streak of graphite down their nose and looks like an idiot. I wasn’t happy. It was embarrassing and I felt betrayed.

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#51

A guy I went to high school with scammed a town full of people in the next state over by pretending to be a Food Network chef. He claimed that he was setting up a barbecue in their town with people such as Bobby Flay and Robert Irving in attendance, then proceeded to charge $35 a ticket to the tune of $10,000. The charade fell apart when he did a presentation and people realized he had no clue how to make most of the stuff he was demonstrating. People did a little digging and realized he wasn't a chef and had never been employed by Food Network. The police agreed not to press charges if he gave everyone their money back.

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#52

I worked serving food at a country club. The management decided to prank my young, naive, wholesome self.

Basically my supervisor asked me to go inquire to the head chef about the state of the ‘dingleberries.’ I assumed it was some type of fancy berry and did as asked. Head chef had me pass the message back to her that they were still “too dirty” and not ready yet.

You can’t imagine how I felt once I figured this out years later.

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J Kwon
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I worked at Papa John's, where pizzas are actually hand-tossed... Like, by hand. Whenever we had a new guy, we'd toss a 'za in the air, accidentally put a hole in it, and send the newbie to go find the "dough repair kit."

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#53

High School kids were selling magazine subscriptions in the parking lot of the strip mall. I felt sorry for them and placed an order. Never received the magazine - apparently they were just scamming peeps.

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ZAPanda
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

did this once to a kid at a mall... he was 'collecting money for his church', replied, 'oh sorry i don't give money to christians' --- should have seen the utter shock on his face.

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#54

" Hey man. If you type your password, it'll bleep out. Look. My password is *******"

I lost my first runescape account this way. I ended up recovering it about a year later, but I felt bad and didn't keep it because the guy had made that account a member and was nearly level 80 in everything.

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Rick
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2 years ago

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To my shame, I did something similar as the scammer when I was a kid and used to go on Neopets (remember that!?). I made a fake website on Geocities with a form you had to fill out including name and password and used to tell people to visit it to get free money and prizes. When the form was submitted, it came straight to my email address, then I logged in, transferred all their items to my own account and then locked them out of it so they couldn’t report me. I was a little s**t lol.

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#55

When I was 18 I sent +/-$100 in cash to China for a fake ID. The lady at the post office even said "Be careful sending cash to China, it's probably a scam!" and I thought "Pssssht, it's okay, I read reviews online and it's legit." It wasn't legit, the reviews were fake.

I literally sent cash to China for nothing. I am not a smart man.

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#56

One of those "I'll fix your bumper, right here in this parking lot" scams. These guys would prowl the parking lot outside of shopping centers, looking for any car with a dent. When the driver shows up, they make their sales pitch, which is something along the lines of: "Hey, I work at this body shop at [random place that likely doesn't exist]. I fix up dents like yours all the time; my shop usually charges [made up figure], but i'll tell you what, i'm actually just getting off work and I have all of the equipment I need to fix your bumper on the spot, for a fraction of what it would cost you."

I like to think of myself as a rational person, and I have never fallen for anything so transparent before. But for whatever reason, I fell for it.

Not my proudest moment.

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#57

I fell for the penny auction sites. "Buy $50 in credits and bid on these super expensive items for a penny"

Spent all of my credits in like 10 minutes. BULL

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ZAPanda
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

yeah me too. $167. sad. I wrote it off as a lesson in how to not be stupid.

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#58

There was a company advertising that they would help people wipe out predatory student loans. Long story short I blew $800 on a company that got shut down by the Gov't for fraudulent practices and was denied a refund.

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#59

I went to buy a Rolling Stones ticket from a scalper years ago (i know, i know) and he talked me into a VIP Backstage Pass. He said that's all I need! Free food, booze, all the perks. He insisted the sticker was all I needed to get in, no paper ticket necessary.

So a few hours later I go to the show, obviously can't get in - it was a VIP pass from the night before. There was no date on it, just a different shape.

I try every single gate hoping someone won't notice/not care and finally try the media entrance. The nice lady ushered me right in, I took an elevator up to the main concourse and I was free as a bird. I didn't have a seat obviously but I snuck down to the floor and ended up having a great show.

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#60

i was working at costco, checking reciepts at the door. it’s boring as f**k, then a woman walked by with an incredibly low shirt that looked like it had been pulled down even further to where her breasts were almost out. i didn’t leer at her, but it certainly caught my attention, as well as my female co-worker doing the same thing across from me. didn’t notice the bottle of jack daniels tucked in her purse, i got honey-potted :/

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#61

Working as a gas station cashier, a guy asked for 5 $20 lottery tickets, so I put them on the counter with the rest of his items. I asked if he had a loyalty card and he said he left it in his car and went to get it. He never came back, tickets were gone. Whoops.

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BoredHuman
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Working alone in a clothing store. Rich lady come in. High end clothes etc. uses her debit. The machine was being slow. ( this was 20 years ago before tap or speed ) the customers acts snobby and impatient and says she is in a hurry and walks out with her stuff. The card finally goes through and was declined. I honestly believed the card was good due to her clothing . The store lost 500 worth that day and I was lucky I was not fired.

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#62

Taking a picture with Elmo in Times Square and paying up $20. He also kept badgering me for MORE money and saying he needed to share with his other costumed buddies. I lied and told him that was all the cash I had left. >:T

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#63

Hot girl from high school hit me up when I was in Iraq. Chatted with me a couple months. Needed $500 for a new phone. Sent it to her. Never heard from her again.

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#64

When I was in high school, I went to a carnival with my girlfriend at the time. We were walking by the games and she saw a stuffed animal she wanted. The carny knew how to win the game, I just couldn't do it. I lost $70 on it. I was about to walk away at $20, but he said he'd give me the money back if I was successful. I still feel like a moron about that.

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Grant Barke
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

What's the deal winning a stuffed animal anyway. You can buy them cheaper at a store.

#65

I once got locked out of my car one night. I called the first name on the google search. I was given a quote of $60 so I agreed. The "locksmith" only used a slim jim to open my door and I was charged $130. I had no choice but to pay and walk away very sad.

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ZAPanda
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

me too. You can buy these inflatable cushion things though (thanks wish dot com) and they work quite well. The cushion opens the door just enough to get a coathanger through.

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#66

I'm an amateur 3D artist. I got picked up by a group that was doing a demo for a major, major video game company that just about all gamers know of, if they don't own games by that they play religiously. It was a dream job: I was gonna be a character artist.

After a few weeks of awaiting a decision, I was accepted. I told my family, who announced it when my entire family was in town for my cousin's wedding. I didn't want it announced there for lingering fear of this very reason.

The guy turned out to be bats**t insane, and is either leading all of us on, or is insanely ambitious but genuinely has no clue what he's doing. Either way, he's disappeared off the face of the planet, likely with a fair amount of artwork and 3D assets.

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#67

A very naive 11 year old me belived that you could get free steam games with a "Steam-Key generator". It seemed easy. You just had to write your username and password into a program, then you had access to all the games you wanted. I did exactly that, and lost my account with hundreds of games. Still mad at myself. Damn it.

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#68

I played Runescape when I was like 14 with this kid named Sparky every single day. He was my good friend and I trusted him. We'd chat and cut logs all the time. He asked to wear my party hat (before lending was a thing, it was a green party hat worth around 20 million gold at the time) after knowing him for like 2 years.

He logged off and I never saw him again. Green party hat gone. I was sad more that I lost my friend over a dumb in game item.

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BaconBenchPress616
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

That makes me very sad. Sorry you experienced that. Those early online friendships meant more to some of us than a lot of in-person ones.

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#69

my dad signed me up for a “be an extra in movies” casting service he found in the paper when I was in highschool (I wanted to work in film at the time). 70 bucks and a few weeks of no calls later, he told me not to tell mom. Shouldve probably gotten the hint when they just asked for names, no photos/height/weight or any details casting would need.

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#70

Bought one of those helium balloons for my 6 year old daughter on holiday in Austria. Asked in my best German how much it costs and pointed at a hello-kitty-shaped balloon.

Seller pretended he didn't understand me but handed the balloon to my kid.

When I asked again he named the price (oh now you understand?). It was far too expensive but of course a can't take the balloon out of my kid's hands an he knew that.

My kid walked away happy with the balloon and I knew he pulled a dirty trick on me. I walked away with an international universal finger signal when she wasn't looking. €15 less in my pocket.

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#71

30 People Reveal Scams They Still Can't Believe They Bought In Lego Universe a guy told me he'd show me a cool glitch for 10,000 coins. I was young and stupid. Bastard took the money and ran.

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#72

One of those “drop your business card in the fishbowl” things to win a free gym membership. Got called, got excited. Turns out they call EVERYONE in the fishbowl. They waive the monthly fee but you still have to pay a 199 enrollment fee, a monthly gym maintenance fee, and we’re required to rent a locker. My free membership would have cost about 30 bucks a month for a year.

I left, tried to warn a few others that showed up to claim their prize.

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#73

It was 2.5 years ago and I wanted a leather jacket...I've never had one, so I did my research online. Got directed to this seller, and I was quoted a 6 month wait-time for the jacket to be made to my measurements. I sent him a $800 payment...never got the jacket

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#74

The Good Feet Store- I was working 16hr days and my feet were killing me spent $800.00 at this store for a few pieces of hard plastic that could never have worked, this was about 5 years ago and I'm still pissed off about it

NostralDumass Report

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Joanna
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It's best to see an actual podiatrist (mine saved my career)

#75

Guy knocked on door and convinced me to buy electricity from him. Said he works with the utility to get me the best rate and convinced me I will save money. I accepted. Next electricity bill was double what I usually get. I was essentially charged once by the utility and once by his company - which I learnt is a utility marketer.

I cancelled my account with them.

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#76

Young me was duped into thinking it meant anything when poetry.com said they wanted to publish my poem.

They definitely implied very strongly that it was so great they wanted to publish it, and not just "hey, we'll publish this if you pay us $X."

Even got audio of some dude reading it out loud (along with all the other poems written by people who paid, presumably) who pronounced my hometown wrong.

I'm still a little bitter.

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#77

The suit scam in Thailand aka Laughing Buddha scam.

The moment i stepped into the shop I felt something was wrong. I tried to say no and make my way out but I was a weak minded person. In the end, I was pressured and bought 2 suits in the end. To be honest, i didn't think it'd arrive, i was going to do a charge back on my credit card. But the suit did come and it did fit me quite well.

Material is meh but the price is cheaper than what I'd have to pay for a tailored suit but not as cheap as what I could've actually gotten. They also came to my hotel room late at night for a fitting (which i was thinking I might get robbed after leaving the place and thinking about the whole process). Giving them my hotel address and room number might not have been the brightest idea.

I am not a smart man. I could've been worst off, I got lucky with only some damage to my wallet.

alastoris Report

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#78

30 People Reveal Scams They Still Can't Believe They Bought You are the 1,000,000th visitor to this site.

I was 6 or 7 using windows 98 you do the math.

taboo007 Report

#79

I lost my wallet. I have 2 dollars and I need 3 dollars. Do you have 5 dollars?"

Proceed to give 5 dollars and he just took it and go. I stand speechless.

hell_razer18 Report

#80

Habbo Hotel 15+ years ago. Through giveaways and smart trading, 11 or 12 year old me had accumulated several pieces of furniture. Some guy told me he could double my furniture if I gave him my password. Being an idiot kid in a less internet savvy time, I gave him my info.

He took all my stuff and told me I was a retard. I was utterly crushed that I fell for it. I felt like a complete idiot for days afterwards.

Obviously not a big scam or anything, but little kid me learned a big lesson about learning to apply doubt to weird claims or to-good-to-be-true promises.

Jprime777 Report

#81

30 People Reveal Scams They Still Can't Believe They Bought I feel so dumb for this. Gypsy pulls up next to my jeep and says he will take the dents out of the doors for 100 bucks. He puts some wax over the dents "to keep the paint from cracking" then proceeds to wiggle a tool through the inside of the door to push the dents out. He actually did push them out a little bit but I could tell that they would still show once I removed the wax (the wax was there to make it harder to see the dents, when the paint isn't shiny it's harder to see imperfections even if they are big). I told him he didn't actually fix it and I rubbed the wax off to show him. But now I'm standing there with just me and two gypsies with tire irons in their hand. So I paid them. I justify my cowardice with the fact that it was Christmas time

longducdong , H. Michael Miley Report

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Rick
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

A gypsy asks you to help with something, ANYthing - fixing your car, paving your driveway, repairing your roof, you tell them NO, every single time. The car isn’t yours, and you rent your house, not own it.

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#82

The whole 'Kony' thing. I remember being so keen to paint my town red and then found out they were pretty much keeping all the money..

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#83

I hate it and always used to fall for ads in sites you expect to download a file from showing a download button in their as to get you to download their malware

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ZAPanda
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

that's because you're trying to download something that you would normally pay for. Pay for what you want from a reputable supplier (even online).

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