20 Times People Pointed Out Real-Life Scams That Are Operating In Plain Sight
Here are some normalized things that are viewed as scams by a few folks online.
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A Reddit user u/Aurallius asked people to reveal what they "personally believe to be scams but are accepted otherwise". This question on r/AskReddit led to a viral thread of comments in which people opened up about their personal opinions and discussed the things they view as scams.
People shared their perspectives about getting conned by a range of organizations from insurance companies to the expensive hotel industries. These things are operating in plain sight because they come under a grey area where people's opinions are divided. Scroll below and find out how many of these 20 scams (pointed out by folks on Reddit) do you agree with.
Image source: okfine321
"If you look at the actual laws, internships are supposed to be primarily focused on education. If the intern is doing work that is providing value to the company, they are supposed to be paid. It's just never enforced."
Image source: strangelove77
"Any kind of over-the-counter pill, vitamin, cream, or personal cleansing product that is usually unisex but claims that this particular one is for men or women only. It's the same razor model but in a different color, Gillette. I'm onto your s**t."
Image source: Patchwork-Rebel
"Engagement rings (specifically diamond ones). Ridiculously expensive pieces of crystallized carbon that are intrinsically worthless."
Image source: Kahmael
"My printer cost a bit less than the replacement cartridges and it came with ink when I bought it. It would be more cost-effective if I bought a new printer every time the ink runs out."
"It's absolutely absurd that they can hold your transcripts hostage, charge 600 dollars a year for a 'parking pass' require that the first year be spent on campus, rotate out a 500 dollars text book every single semester (that was written by your professor), and basically can find any other way to outrageously over charge students while promoting predatory lending and saying they're 'not for profit'."
Image source: Kuldrtorix
"I'm probably going to be blasted for it, but the wedding industry seems to be scamming people for love. You don't need a $35,000 party to marry someone, just get a priest and some friends for like $3k and save that money for your relationship. Weddings used to be paid by parents or grandparents of the couple, but times have changed and more people are paying out of their own pocket for a celebration that doesn't really need to be extravagant."
Image source: anonymous
"Fruit juice and most breakfast cereals. They're full of sugar and so obviously terrible for your health and teeth, but they also lead to an energy slump that makes late mornings at work unnecessarily irksome."
Image source: theBrD1
"Buying T-shirts with the company's logo on them. You pay them a ridiculous price to advertise them."
Image source: bourbon_legends
"Poor families get robbed of so much money just to put on a "respectful" funeral, and because they're grieving, it's seriously kicking them while they're down. You don't need to pay hundreds or thousands of dollars to have grandma embalmed, made-up with corpse makeup, put in a casket worth an arm and a leg, and lowered into a hole filled with roses, to be topped with an ornate expensive headstone. I wish natural burials were more mainstream, where the body is put in its favorite outfit, wrapped in a biodegradable sheet, and placed in a mound of dirt to be absorbed by the earth. Big funeral companies are benefiting off of people's grief and it's disgusting."
Image source: epidemica
"It's a scam restaurant owners use to keep wages low and profits in their pockets."
Image source: soppamootanten
"I'm from Sweden and here I currently pay $15 for 8 GB. I lived in Canada for the winter and they wanted $50 for like 3GB."
Image source: cpqarray
"The only secret is that you attending is building some other person's wealth."
Image source: mathaiser
"When a company asks at the register, 'Will you round up to the dollar for xyz charity?' You think you’re being honorable but these companies are just taking your money and representing that THEY are the ones giving it for a tax break. It’s a total scam. If those companies want a tax break they can donate. Screw off. I donate on my own and in my own way."
Image source: StarfishStabber
"I used to sell this stuff. You pay $100 a month to send letters to credit companies to fight the debt. If they don't respond in X days, it goes off your credit. You can also dispute it if a name is barely spelt wrong or an address. You can do this 100% on your own and there are templates online you can print out."
Image source: Rrraou
"They just get some common product, slap a few mouthy salesmen on it with an infomercial and sell it for 10x the price. They're just screwing over pre internet senior citizens."
Image source: KineticBombardment99
"I have full coverage car insurance. I pay $X/month to have that coverage. Then I use it. Then they charge more. Which means that my rate before my accident wasn't really the price of coverage; the new, higher rate is. I was paying a subscription fee to have coverage at a higher rate once I needed it. Same for health insurance. I have to pay a deductible, meaning, I am not covered until I've paid it. "You are covered, but actually not until you've paid out of pocket a certain amount. Also, we will only cover a certain percentage of costs." Which means I'm actually not covered entirely. It's not actually insurance.
Here's how insurance is supposed to work: I pay you $X/month and you pool that money with everyone else paying that to you. When I have a problem you have the pooled resources to cover it for me. I'm still paying more over time probably than the cost of that event, but you're there to take on that cost for me for the price of my premiums. That's not what's happening anymore."
Image source: farrahmad
"All of their workouts and meal recipes are google-able and extremely generic. There’s no face time between you and the app people so there’s no individuality in it. I don’t get how people fall for it at all."
Image source: boydcrowdersteeths
"You’re telling me I can get free WiFi from libraries, coffee shops, the dentist, and the bus. But I can’t get WiFi included with this $189/night room? If I spend more than $2 I want free WiFi."
Image source: anonymous
"Such as a concert ticket: you pay 16 bucks extra while you pay online, and then have to print the ticket yourself. All fees are BS and are designed to either hide the price of the original product or are an excuse for a middleman to cash in."
Image source: mr_ribzeater
"Personally if I paid extra I would want to be the last person on the plane. I sit down, we go. I wouldn't pay extra to make my plane time longer by 30 mins just to have 100 people bump into me as they board."
#1 Unpaid Internships
Image source: okfine321
"If you look at the actual laws, internships are supposed to be primarily focused on education. If the intern is doing work that is providing value to the company, they are supposed to be paid. It's just never enforced."
#2 Unisex Pills
Image source: strangelove77
"Any kind of over-the-counter pill, vitamin, cream, or personal cleansing product that is usually unisex but claims that this particular one is for men or women only. It's the same razor model but in a different color, Gillette. I'm onto your s**t."
#3 Diamond Rings
Image source: Patchwork-Rebel
"Engagement rings (specifically diamond ones). Ridiculously expensive pieces of crystallized carbon that are intrinsically worthless."
#4 Inkjet Printer Cartridges
Image source: Kahmael
"My printer cost a bit less than the replacement cartridges and it came with ink when I bought it. It would be more cost-effective if I bought a new printer every time the ink runs out."
#5 College In America
"It's absolutely absurd that they can hold your transcripts hostage, charge 600 dollars a year for a 'parking pass' require that the first year be spent on campus, rotate out a 500 dollars text book every single semester (that was written by your professor), and basically can find any other way to outrageously over charge students while promoting predatory lending and saying they're 'not for profit'."
#6 Expensive Weddings
Image source: Kuldrtorix
"I'm probably going to be blasted for it, but the wedding industry seems to be scamming people for love. You don't need a $35,000 party to marry someone, just get a priest and some friends for like $3k and save that money for your relationship. Weddings used to be paid by parents or grandparents of the couple, but times have changed and more people are paying out of their own pocket for a celebration that doesn't really need to be extravagant."
#7 Healthy Breakfast Cereals
Image source: anonymous
"Fruit juice and most breakfast cereals. They're full of sugar and so obviously terrible for your health and teeth, but they also lead to an energy slump that makes late mornings at work unnecessarily irksome."
#8 T-Shirts With Company Logo
Image source: theBrD1
"Buying T-shirts with the company's logo on them. You pay them a ridiculous price to advertise them."
#9 The Funeral Industry
Image source: bourbon_legends
"Poor families get robbed of so much money just to put on a "respectful" funeral, and because they're grieving, it's seriously kicking them while they're down. You don't need to pay hundreds or thousands of dollars to have grandma embalmed, made-up with corpse makeup, put in a casket worth an arm and a leg, and lowered into a hole filled with roses, to be topped with an ornate expensive headstone. I wish natural burials were more mainstream, where the body is put in its favorite outfit, wrapped in a biodegradable sheet, and placed in a mound of dirt to be absorbed by the earth. Big funeral companies are benefiting off of people's grief and it's disgusting."
#10 Tipping
Image source: epidemica
"It's a scam restaurant owners use to keep wages low and profits in their pockets."
#11 The Cost Of Mobile Data Plans.
Image source: soppamootanten
"I'm from Sweden and here I currently pay $15 for 8 GB. I lived in Canada for the winter and they wanted $50 for like 3GB."
#12 Any seminar entitled "Secrets to Building Your Wealth"
Image source: cpqarray
"The only secret is that you attending is building some other person's wealth."
#13 Rounding-Up For Charity
Image source: mathaiser
"When a company asks at the register, 'Will you round up to the dollar for xyz charity?' You think you’re being honorable but these companies are just taking your money and representing that THEY are the ones giving it for a tax break. It’s a total scam. If those companies want a tax break they can donate. Screw off. I donate on my own and in my own way."
#14 Credit repair companies
Image source: StarfishStabber
"I used to sell this stuff. You pay $100 a month to send letters to credit companies to fight the debt. If they don't respond in X days, it goes off your credit. You can also dispute it if a name is barely spelt wrong or an address. You can do this 100% on your own and there are templates online you can print out."
#15 The Shopping Channels
Image source: Rrraou
"They just get some common product, slap a few mouthy salesmen on it with an infomercial and sell it for 10x the price. They're just screwing over pre internet senior citizens."
#16 All Of Insurance As It Is Currently Sold
Image source: KineticBombardment99
"I have full coverage car insurance. I pay $X/month to have that coverage. Then I use it. Then they charge more. Which means that my rate before my accident wasn't really the price of coverage; the new, higher rate is. I was paying a subscription fee to have coverage at a higher rate once I needed it. Same for health insurance. I have to pay a deductible, meaning, I am not covered until I've paid it. "You are covered, but actually not until you've paid out of pocket a certain amount. Also, we will only cover a certain percentage of costs." Which means I'm actually not covered entirely. It's not actually insurance.
Here's how insurance is supposed to work: I pay you $X/month and you pool that money with everyone else paying that to you. When I have a problem you have the pooled resources to cover it for me. I'm still paying more over time probably than the cost of that event, but you're there to take on that cost for me for the price of my premiums. That's not what's happening anymore."
#17 Workout/Meal Plan Apps
Image source: farrahmad
"All of their workouts and meal recipes are google-able and extremely generic. There’s no face time between you and the app people so there’s no individuality in it. I don’t get how people fall for it at all."
#18 Hotels charging for WiFi
Image source: boydcrowdersteeths
"You’re telling me I can get free WiFi from libraries, coffee shops, the dentist, and the bus. But I can’t get WiFi included with this $189/night room? If I spend more than $2 I want free WiFi."
#19 Transaction/Processing Fees When You Order A Digital Product Online
Image source: anonymous
"Such as a concert ticket: you pay 16 bucks extra while you pay online, and then have to print the ticket yourself. All fees are BS and are designed to either hide the price of the original product or are an excuse for a middleman to cash in."
#20 Priority Boarding For Airlines
Image source: mr_ribzeater
"Personally if I paid extra I would want to be the last person on the plane. I sit down, we go. I wouldn't pay extra to make my plane time longer by 30 mins just to have 100 people bump into me as they board."DE
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