‘What’s a scam that most people still fall for?’ – 21 ways somebody is pulling the wool over your eyes

We all like to think we’re pretty savvy to scams nowadays, easily identifying those weird texts that start ‘Hi Dad’ when we’ve got no kids and deftly avoiding catfishers when dating online.

However, we’re not always as clued up as we might hope, and are just as prone to believing things we shouldn’t as your grandma is when Warren Buffet gets in touch with the news he’s randomly picked her to receive a million dollars if she’ll pop a 5k holding fee in his account first.

AskReddit user Viperniss knows this, and posted the following question:

What’s a scam that most people still fall for?

Here are some of the swindles we should always remember to be vigilant about…

1.

‘Health fads — detox teas, miracle supplements, juice cleanses.’
–nerdy_slayer

2.

”Free trial’ subscriptions that require your card upfront. They’re banking on you forgetting to cancel before they auto-charge.’
–tldrconfusedsoul

3.

‘My cat wanting two dinners.’
–yy98755

4.

‘That some random food or food ingredient is the worst thing in the world to ingest and is the cause of all human misery.’
–DarbyDown

5.

‘Anything that ‘detoxes’ your body. Guys, nothing detoxes your body except your actual body. Thank you, kidneys and liver!’
–Key-Ingenuity-534

6.

‘Timeshares. Its common knowledge that they’re scams but these presentations still convince tons of people to invest tens of thousands of dollars into something that they don’t actually own.’
–CampRock2TheFinaIJam

7.

‘Buying cheaply made shit on Amazon because it has a bunch of fake 5-star reviews.’
–ominouspotato

8.

‘Honestly? The biggest scam is convincing yourself ‘just one more episode’ won’t ruin your sleep schedule… every. single. time.’
–mildraii

9.

‘Work perks that replace actual compensation. Pizza parties instead of a raise/free snacks instead of a bonus.’
–WonderfulKwanga

10.

‘Weddings.

The industry is so toxic and socials have made it so much worse for the FOMO. Do yourself and your future life a favour – go small, break the ‘rules’ and do what you want, not what a very profitable industry has brainwashed you into thinking you want/need.

They got nervous during lockdowns people having intimate lovely cheap backyard weddings could have upset the house of cards…’
–Comfortable-Salt-710

11.

‘Hiring a psychic or a medium.

I watched a family member hire one. I told them it was a scam, and that they’re only going to say generic things that they think you want to hear.

I got a right earful. ‘I needed it, It made me happy.’ Followed by ‘you should be more supportive’. It’s the sort of scam, where those paying for it, believe it’s not a scam, and thus the cycle repeats through word of mouth.’
–axhmr_me