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Article created by: Mantas Kačerauskas
There are plenty of seemingly innocent products and services out there that are just elaborate ways of getting you to part with your money. They might not try to bamboozle you as obviously as some spammers and con artists, but underneath all the glitz and glamor, they’re still scams.
Redditors have been sharing their opinions about what things they consider to secretly be giant scams after redditor MelteyReddit asked them to share their thoughts on this. In a viral thread, these redditors touched on everything from baby products and printer ink cartridges to a variety of questionable ‘health’ products and multilevel marketing companies. You could argue one way or the other for some of these, but that’s half the fun.
Check out what these people think are total scams, meant to get you to hand over your hard-earned cash, and upvote the opinions that you agree with as well. Disagree with any of these opinions? Know of any other things that you think aren’t much better than actual scams? Share your thoughts in the comment section. Meanwhile, be sure to read Bored Panda’s in-depth interview with the author of the thread, MelteyReddit.
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
Convincing every high school kid they NEED to go to university. In reality skilled Trades or another specialized school would be the best route for a lot of people, and the pay can be very good.
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#5
That humans are here to just work and die. No way humans evolved so we can work 5 of 7 days of the week, trying to jam fun in on weekends
#6
Emails and messages from corporates and celebrities that "We are in this together" during the pandemic.
#9
The whole baby product industry is based on making parents feel worthless and irresponsible if they don’t shill out for things that will be outgrown or unnecessary in six months.
#10
Any claim that a 'magic' drink will help you burn fat.
No, no drink or no food can burn that -- that is a pure fabrication.
#11
Ink cartridges for your printer are super cheap to manufacture but the retail price is really high
#14
Two-party political systems. They seem to be in opposition to each other but in reality take "donations" from the same entities to further their agendas, so the sense of choice is mostly false in reality.
#15
All multi-level marketing companies. They tell you that all you have to do Is get 5 people to sign up and they each get 5 people to sign up, etc. Except these are not mathematical geniuses running these companies. By the time you get about 12 levels deep, you’ve surpassed the entire population of the Earth. It’s a good lesson in exponents.
#17
Casinos.
All of the casinos in my state are video poker and video slot machines. There are barely any table games left.
No one is happy, no one is having fun. It's just a room full of zombies feeding the machines and losing money. Every person I talk to is convinced that they know the secret formula to win. You cannot win.
It might sound trivial but the old slots were just a spinning reel. These new machines are extremely addictive. The way the lights flash and the sounds go off like: Bing Bing BING. WINNER of 40 cents. The entire thing is a psychology hack to give people the impression that they're winning when they're not.
#18
Trying to look good for men by reading women's magazine articles! Throw those magazines away, take good care of yourself, make the best of what you've got and don't be defined by someone else's expectations of what you should be.
#21
In the US, doing my own taxes. The government literally has all my info and can do it for me, but their excuse is that "but Americans like doing their own taxes!". No. I especially don't like being forced to pay for a service like TurboTax either.
#22
Essential Oils being marketed as having these major health benefits/as treatment for illnesses. The only exception being clearing your sinuses. Some essential oils actually do pretty good work in that regard (at least for me personally... mileage will vary I'm sure).
#26
non-GMO food GMOs are safe, we have been unknowingly doing this for thousands of years. Now we just have a more reliable,safe and fast way to do it.
#31
Eating/drinking raw eggs. The proteins found in eggs only become useful to your body after the structures are changed by applying heat aka cooking them. There's not only no point choking back a raw egg. You're also absorbing less protein from it than if you were to cook it. "Cooked eggs have a bioavailability of around 91% for protein, while protein from raw eggs only is 50% bioavailable (Evenepoel et al., 1998)."
#32
Insurance, health insurance in particular. The whole concept is pay into a pool on the off chance that something happens you can get some kind of reimbursement which sounds fair on the whole, but is so often bogged down with unfair terms and conditions that many get screwed over. This on top of predatory policies and greedy salespeople means a whole lot of people get [screwed] over.
#33
Tiktok. They now have an event where they pay you $40 if you refer a friend. It’s clearly selling your private information, but people ask their friends to be referred like crazy.
#34
Realtors, probably the most overpaid, under qualified profession. The commission based comp is crippling for some sellers, and if you try to sell on your own (FSBO), they will steer all their buyers away from you.
#35
Having a royal family. It’s bonkers in this day and age that a country as grown up as Britain has a monarch that costs us all money, just for privilege of having her. A literal Queen, wearing a crown, who believes that she was sent by God to sit on a gold throne. And we have to sing a song asking for her longevity at football games. The royal family are a scam, cost us too much money and are currently harbouring a nonce to boot.
#37
Corporate owned apartment complexes tacking on hundreds of extra dollars in monthly fees on top of rent. Mandatory cable TV packages, parking fees (on a flat surface lot, with no assigned parking), valet trash. All a scam and just a way for them to pocket incremental sales on top of rent.
#39
NFTs. There will be a market for these in some form, but we are hip-deep in the rowdy, scam-filled early days.
#40
Chiropractors. "The only way I can help is if you come see me 3 times a week for as long as you live."
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