No matter how you spin things, potential scams are everywhere, just waiting to pounce on us. That’s just the reality of life. So, it falls to us—hard-working everyday consumers—to be wary of anyone trying to weasel our cash out of our wallets.
However, not all cash grabs are blatantly obvious. The savvy members of the r/AskReddit subreddit spilled the tea about all the products and services that they believe are “massive scams” that prey on a lot of victims. Scroll down for their advice—their tips might help you save your hard-earned bucks.
#1
Commercials on premium TV channels. Don’t we pay to NOT have commercials? Isn’t that the purpose of paying for premium TV.
Image source: FarYard7039, Nothing Ahead/pexels
#2
For-profit healthcare.
Image source: cheddarpants, Matthias Zomer/pexels
#3
Anything with the word.. DETOX in it.
Teas, herbs.. magic potions.. whatever .
My favorite are the foot pad things that suck the toxins from the soles of your feet.
Your Kidneys and liver are your detox. Doesn’t matter what tea you drink.
Image source: SpecialProcess5585, Tnarik Innael/flickr
#4
Scientology.
Image source: chinesiumjunk, isghoul/flickr
#5
Ticketmaster.
Image source: flyushkifly, Mike Mozart/flickr
#6
Stanley cups. all this hysteria for an overpriced water bottle?
Image source: Shiftymennoknight, muriloaugusto31/reddit
#7
That important, difficult jobs that we need more of (preschool teachers, custodial staff, care workers for the old or disabled, etc.) should pay dramatically less than important, difficult jobs we need fewer of (CEO).
Image source: ShortButFriendly, Max Fischer/pexels
#8
Credit monitoring. They setup a system where false information can ruin your life and then charge you to know when it happens so you can get on top of it before the damage is done. And, on top of that, when they leak the personal information of hundreds of millions of people because their security sucks, their “punishment” is to give you their service for a short period of time for free despite the fact that your information being out there means you’ll need to pay for it after that free period ends.
It’s a modern-day, digital version of the mob’s, “It would be a shame if your house burned down, let us help protect it” extortion racket. They’ve convinced the world that our identities are being stolen rather than what it really is…financial institutions are being defrauded. And they’ve shifted the burden for their problem onto us.
Image source: d1v1n0rum, Antoni Shkraba/pexels
#9
Crystals.
I love crystals.. in a geological way.
But they don’t heal s**t.
Image source: Jasonmc89
#10
Diamonds.
Image source: Witwebiss, The Glorious Studio/pexels
#11
Snake oil.
Sorry, I mean “essential” oil.
Image source: Kahzgul, Karolina Kaboompics/pexels
#12
# US Health Insurance.
Image source: anon, Pixabay/pexels
#13
Those E-commerce guys that sell their guru courses on how to make $10K plus a month.
Image source: Strange_Employer_232, Monstera Production/pexels
#14
Wedding dresses. You can buy an identical evening gown in a different colour for a few hundred, but make it white and call it a Wedding dress, you add a zero to the end of the price. So a £400 evening dress is £4000, because its white and in a bridal shop.
Image source: 2LeftFeetButDancing
#15
Plastic recycling is a scam sold to us by the oil companies (from which plastic is made), so we won’t feel bad about using single-use plastic. It’s not cost effective to sort plastics into the myriad recyclable categories, so your trash company is just throwing it all in the landfill with your trash.
https://www.npr.org/2020/09/11/897692090/how-big-oil-misled-the-public-into-believing-plastic-would-be-recycled.
Image source: hazeleyedwolff
#16
Not a product, but bots and fake comments online are a scam of people making robots pretending to be people – and they are everywhere.
Soooo many of the comments you read (and let influence you) are not people. Total scam.
Image source: hoogachucka
#17
Companies that sell stars or naming stars …. No one owns stars . You can’t own a star and there is no governing body who authorises the naming and ownership of stars . You my friend have just purchased a piece of paper for $200
Edit : after a chalenge from a few people on this here is the clarification after some googling
“The only body which can give names to astronomical objects is the International Astronomical Union (IAU). This hasn’t stopped commercial firms from ‘offering’ individuals the ‘opportunity’ to sponsor stars etc. These names will be recognised by no one and you will be wasting your money unfortunately.”.
Image source: Former-Departure9836, Daniel Torobekov/pexels
#18
Printers and printer ink.
Image source: Bazzrt, Long Nguyen/pexels
#19
Fast fashion.
Image source: MimiBBaker, Mike Mozart/flickr
#20
US Healthcare System, Herbalife, Joel Osteen, BeachBody, Scentsy.
Image source: Silent-Composer-873
#21
For profit colleges & fully online courses for some jobs. For example, you can’t become a nurse by only taking online courses. I also heard about someone getting an online cosmetology program. So many students pay thousands of dollars for programs that are not accredited.
Image source: AnneShirley310, Katerina Holmes/pexels
#22
Cosmetics. We’ve convinced most women that they don’t look presentable or professional without it. At its core, it preys upon insecurities. I wouldn’t have nearly the same issue with it if it was truly more of an optional thing,.
Image source: verdantsf
#23
The remote closer ads/ influencers that claim they are making 10k a month. It’s a MLM scheme and the authorities should take action against these people fooling desperate people online for their hard earned money.
Image source: KaranSJ, Mizuno K/pexels
#24
Medical insurance. I pay $100/month for insurance to tell me my regular appointment is now $73 instead of the base $75, and that my Epi-Pen is not covered at all. F**k medical insurance, from the bottom of my heart.
Image source: swampminstrel
#25
(Mobile phone) games with microtransactions.
Image source: Fubushi, Samer Daboul/pexels
#26
Religion.
Image source: butternife88
#27
Bottled water(unless your tap water isn’t safe to drink).
Not the fancy kind, but your regular grocery store brands.
Image source: Logical-Wasabi7402
#28
Those bracelets with a sticker on them that claim to align your magnetic field or whatever.
#29
Political parties.
Image source: CodyWanKenobi92
#30
Insurance. I’m not talking medical, house, or vehicle insurance, but insurance on electronics, appliances, etc.
Image source: KeltarCentauri, Mikhail Nilov/pexels
#31
Donut holes. The bakery steals the middle of your pastry and then sells it back to you.
Image source: Puzzleheaded_Dare465
#32
Ear candles.
Their wax looks like ear wax, so people believe the candle “sucked” it out of your ear.
But they look exactly the same if you just burn them in your hand.
Image source: CTX800Beta, Mike Knell/flickr
#33
Turbotax. Really, the entire tax industry. They’ve lobbied for years to keep the government from sending you the bill/refund that they already know about. Instead, literally everyone has to buy into it *(Ha! Intuit!)* unless you’re going to file them on your own.
Image source: TheLonelyScientist
#34
Homeopathic “medicine”
NFTs/digital collectibles.
Buying online/digital movies, tv series, music albums, etc. because it can always get taken away by Amazon, Apple and Google. Buy physical copies.
Scientology
Diamonds
Most “collectibles”. Most stuff made to be collected won’t be worth much decades from now, things made decades ago that were never meant to be collected are what’s valuable today (an iPhone 1 still in the box sold for $63,000).
Image source: TwistedBlister
#35
MLMs.
Image source: babsieofsuburbia
#36
Gambling. Spending a bunch of money to lose money. The promotional materials are insidious, especially for sports betting. Chances are you ain’t hitting that 17-team parlay ticket that Draftkings just posted on its social media account.
Image source: cashball
#37
Does anyone remember NFT’s?
Image source: VampireSylphy
#38
Cable TV.
Generations of families tricked into paying hundreds of dollars/ month for them to pump ads with just enough tempting content keep us watching.
It’s a f*****g lobster trap. The whole, entire thing is a trick, and clearly, we’re not smart enough to catch on.
Image source: Acromegalic
#39
Banking. You give them all your money, they use it to make themselves more money, charge you for the privilege, and if you want to take out large sums you have to give them notice because they dont actually “have” it.
Image source: Mystify02
#40
Timeshare.
Image source: BLAZER_101
#41
Alkaline water. Your body will convert all water to alkaline.
Image source: Helechawagirl
#42
Laundry softener. Absolutely not necessary and actually makes your clothes worse. Use vinegar if you have to or just use nothing.
Image source: mck-_-
#43
Chiropractors.
Image source: Jgs4555, Burpengary Chiropractic /flickr
#44
$12 coffee.
Image source: GurglingWaffle
#45
Sudafed regular. You absolutely should be going to the RX counter and getting the non prescription but controlled version.
Image source: SecretProbation, Pete/flickr
#46
Anything a YouTuber promotes. My golden rule is if a YouTuber is selling you something, it’s because it sucks and nobody with any real influence would promote it.
Image source: JoeyJoJoShabadooYEAH
#47
Any of those stock tip subscription sites. The ones that offer you the “inside scoop” on stocks that are going to shoot up
Literally all of them are pump and dumps. All of them. The stock shoots up because all of the subscribers buy the stock at once, then the big guys sell at the top and the price crashes again leaving the subscribers bagholding some dirt company
Remember kids: no one, not even the best analysts in the world, know what the f**k any share or any investment product is going to do tomorrow.
Image source: FallenSegull
#48
Smartphones these days are meant to barely last a few years.
Image source: stoic-epicurean
#49
Printer ink?
Image source: mattrat88
#50
The US medical residency system.
Image source: nishbot, cottonbro studio/pexels
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