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RenegadeStyle1
Jun 7, 2005

Baby Come Back

cheerfullydrab posted:

As in, if I come up to you in a clown suit, and I do nothing other than wear the suit and pressure you in a vaguely threatening manner for money until you give in, that's not "the clown scam" that's a drat robbery.

I've never heard of them threatening with violence (although i'm sure that could happen). I think they more of make a public spectacle and kind of embarrass you into giving them money. Usually its done in a pretty crowded area.

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bongwizzard
May 19, 2005

Then one day I meet a man,
He came to me and said,
"Hard work good and hard work fine,
but first take care of head"
Grimey Drawer
I think what makes it a scam they are not out and our extorting money out of you with a threat of violence, they're just using unspoken intimidation which is vastly harder to prove were to come to court.

Slime
Jan 3, 2007

bongwizzard posted:

I think what makes it a scam they are not out and our extorting money out of you with a threat of violence, they're just using unspoken intimidation which is vastly harder to prove were to come to court.

It's a scam, but it's similar to a mugging in that it threatens something bad if you don't give them your money. With a mugging it's the threat of violence, with the CD scam it's the threat of being publically shamed for not buying something.

RenegadeStyle1
Jun 7, 2005

Baby Come Back
How does it work though? I assume everyone around you know its a scam so how would it be embarrassing? Its just such a weird thing because I don't see it working at all. If you try to publicly shame me by asking loudly for money i'll just keep walking because I assume everyone else that can hear you knows its a scam. If you try to threaten me vaguely i'll just walk away because after I leave you will probably never see me again so that doesn't scare me. Who does this work on?

goose willis
Jun 14, 2015

Get ready for teh wacky laughz0r!

RenegadeStyle1 posted:

Who does this work on?

In Times Square? Tourists

Living Image
Apr 24, 2010

HORSE'S ASS

It's easy to be calm under pressure when you're posting about it on the Internet but not so much when you're actually in a stressful situation, especially if as mentioned above you're a tourist.

Marenghi
Oct 16, 2008

Don't trust the liberals,
they will betray you

RenegadeStyle1 posted:

If you try to threaten me vaguely i'll just walk away because after I leave you will probably never see me again so that doesn't scare me. Who does this work on?

What if they kept following. Times Square is probably safe with the crowds around but in other places you'd feel a bit scared if they followed you to a less crowded street.

I had some young lad begging me and my friend for change an evening in Amsterdam. We said no and kept walking without giving it another mind because the street was crowded. But we noticed he was still following us and the street we were walking up was less populated with some lads looked like his friends peering around from an alleyway ahead. He asked us for money again and we realised begging was about to turn into a mugging. So we flung a few cents his way and did a runner across the bridge away from him and his mate's ahead of us.

Marenghi fucked around with this message at 20:38 on May 8, 2016

Imaduck
Apr 16, 2007

the magnetorotational instability turns me on

MayakovskyMarmite posted:

Everyone interested in this should watch the 1972 documentary Marjoe. It is a fascinating movie about a former child evangelist who drops out of the faith/scam. He then goes back with a camera crew to expose the grift. Has some insanely great gospel music along with superb under cover cinematography. It is also a great time capsule of 1972.

Watch this clip on youtube. At 1:40 he starts explaining the speaking of tongues. At 3:00 they start literally counting hundreds and hundreds of dollars in small bills. At 4:25 he explains how his family groomed him for the grift and the amazing amounts of money he made before it all came crashing down.

https://youtu.be/1-C3trU9ljw
In that same vein:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7BQKu0YP8Y&t=39s

And if you're interested in James Randi's career of debunking frauds, you should really check out the documentary on him:
http://anhonestliar.com/wp/

Professor Shark
May 22, 2012

This isn't exactly common, but it came up recently in a discussion with my father-in-law and threw me for a loop:

We're in rural Canada, and my father-in-law just built a shed, and had a local guy with a few of his buddies do the roof. They worked for a couple days, did good work, and left, however the guy left a few things behind (a tool and saw-horses). Apparently he does this at most jobs: gets a look at the inside of a shed or garage, works on a project, and then leaves something behind.

The scam is that he leaves stuff behind so that he has an excuse to drop by, almost always when either no one is home and the shed/garage is open or when the "man of the house"'s truck isn't in the driveway.

The guy went by several times to speak to my in-laws, but would always refuse to pick up his stuff, leaving it for next time. A few weeks ago my father-in-law had his truck a few houses up, helping out a neighbor, and the guy drove by the in-law's house, stopped, backed up, and seeing that the shed door was open, stuck his head in the house door and yelled to my mother-in-law that he was grabbing his things.

By the time he got over to the shed my father-in-law was walking down the road, and helped the guy load up his stuff before locking the door.

When I asked why he would get this guy to do the work his response was that he was cheapest, and that was worth the bullshit.

Marenghi
Oct 16, 2008

Don't trust the liberals,
they will betray you
There's a variation on that which is common in rural Ireland. A man or men will show up in van and stalk around into the back garden of a property they think is unattended, the idea is to check for anything that could be stolen and sold readily.

The con side is they usually bring their dog with them and if the occupant is home and asks what they're doing, they will reply their dog is thirsty and they were looking for a garden tap for water.

Or another method is just to slink about in the driveway to try and deduce if anyone is home, if someone comes out to ask what they are doing they'll say they are a handyman and noticed the driveway needed re-taring, or there's roof damage they could fix, or any other odd job that's plausible. If you do hire them you get a shoddily done job that was probably unnecessary. Or had you not been home to ask what they were doing lurking about in your front yard then they would have been through the back thieving anything not nailed down.

Lutha Mahtin
Oct 10, 2010

Your brokebrain sin is absolved...go and shitpost no more!

Those are a bit like the old burglar tactic where they buy a cheap business-looking vehicle and some surplus uniforms, so if anybody says "hey why are you taking all that stuff" they can say "oh, this is {similar-sounding address} right? We're the movers". It's just that little bit of misdirection and plausible deniability.

Lutha Mahtin fucked around with this message at 21:26 on May 8, 2016

EL BROMANCE
Jun 10, 2006

COWABUNGA DUDES!
🥷🐢😬



Imaduck posted:

In that same vein:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7BQKu0YP8Y&t=39s

And if you're interested in James Randi's career of debunking frauds, you should really check out the documentary on him:
http://anhonestliar.com/wp/

Is this the BBC one where he comes across as a bit of an rear end at one point and demands they don't use the footage?

and then at the end there's a note saying Randi said it was absolutely fine to use everything that was filmed, even if it made him look bad. The Amazing Randi is a national treasure and doesn't get the love he deserves, everyone should know his name.

Wild T
Dec 15, 2008

The point I'm trying to make is that the only way to come out on top is to kick the Air Force in the nuts, beart it savagely with a weight and take a dump on it's face.

Lutha Mahtin posted:

Those are a bit like the old burglar tactic where they buy a cheap business-looking vehicle and some surplus uniforms, so if anybody says "hey why are you taking all that stuff" they can say "oh, this is {similar-sounding address} right? We're the movers". It's just that little bit of misdirection and plausible deniability.

Henry Rollins has a great bit about the most surreal conversation he's ever had, with a man who he busted trying to break into his house:

http://youtu.be/-bMdTmRae6c

Though with his experiences with home invasions in LA I wouldn't be surprised if the encounter was a bit less witty and fun than it's presented on stage.

The Ferret King
Nov 23, 2003

cluck cluck

RenegadeStyle1 posted:

How does it work though? I assume everyone around you know its a scam so how would it be embarrassing? Its just such a weird thing because I don't see it working at all. If you try to publicly shame me by asking loudly for money i'll just keep walking because I assume everyone else that can hear you knows its a scam. If you try to threaten me vaguely i'll just walk away because after I leave you will probably never see me again so that doesn't scare me. Who does this work on?

They absolutely present themselves in a threatening way. They can be bigger dudes and they'll use their physical stance to intimidate folks.

It's great that it doesn't work on you but a lot of people will respond to intimidation in any way they feel will end it the fastest.

Original_Z
Jun 14, 2005
Z so good
It's not about public shaming, it's just psychology. They present a service, no matter how useless, and try to guilt people into paying money for those services, even if unwanted. If the person resists, then they will make comments which although not direct threats, will likely make the mark uncomfortable. This is especially effective with tourists, like how the Times Square CD scam will take advantage of the stereotype of NYC black men being dangerous, whereas a local would just tell them to piss off. Most people don't want to deal with it, and a lot of people would rather things just remain pleasant instead of appearing rude.

lllllllllllllllllll
Feb 28, 2010

Now the scene's lighting is perfect!
Once paid with a 20€ bill at a Chinese snack bar for <5€ and got back around 5€, allegedly because I only gave him a tenner.

There was a single guy ringing my father's door bell, claiming to be from the Telecom asking for the "Password" to make our internet more secure or something. I was very confused and said I didn't know it. He said they'd send me the necessary documents and left. Next day there was a young girl doing the same thing. I said the password was "police_is_notified" and she left. They were probably spotting my old man who is in his seventies now. I thought about having a cheap camera laying around for these occasions and take a nice picture of these people whenever they show up.

Murgos
Oct 21, 2010
Went onto a website to rent a vacation property since it would be cheaper than getting 3 hotel rooms for a week and be more convenient plus we could make our own food in the kitchen, saving money on some meals.

The 'owners' respond back that they would be happy to rent us the property and if we want we could just send them a check directly for X amount and they would cancel the booking through the website. This would supposedly save us $200 in service fees.

Except that the amounts were all wrong and had nothing to do with the original quote from the website.

And also that the 3rd paragraph of the email was, word for word, exactly the same as the first but with different numbers, also incorrect for the original quote.

Yeah, I have my doubts about this one.

Lutha Mahtin
Oct 10, 2010

Your brokebrain sin is absolved...go and shitpost no more!

lllllllllllllllllll posted:

Once paid with a 20€ bill at a Chinese snack bar for <5€ and got back around 5€, allegedly because I only gave him a tenner.

when i worked as a cashier for near minimum wage, i had like 2 times when a customer handed me back the bill i'd given them for change, because they'd paid for their $1.20 soda with a $5 and I'd somehow given them back a $20 (or larger) :pwn:

Kiejzar
Mar 30, 2011
A brilliant new scam targeted at single men was being performed in Poland recently .
Distressed young woman dressed only in a bathrobe rings the door. Says she is your new neighbour, just moved in upstairs, and was taking shower when UPS guy came. The door locked behind her, and she is now stranded in the staircase, almost naked. But not all is lost - some of her clothes should be in the parcel the UPS guy brought, she just needs to borrow $20 equivalent to pay for the delivery so she will be able to walk to her friends place and get the spare key. Of course she will drop in later to pay you back...

photomikey
Dec 30, 2012
Please BE WARNED! Over the last month I have become a victim of a clever 'Eastern European' scam whilst out shopping.

Here's how the scam works:

Two very good-looking 20-21 year-old girls of eastern European origin come over to your car as you are packing your shopping into the boot. They both start cleaning your windscreen, their breasts almost falling out of their skimpy T- shirts. When you thank them and offer them a tip, they'll say 'No' and instead they ask you for a lift to another supermarket. You agree and they both get in the back seat.
On the way there, they start undressing, until both are completely naked. Then, when you pull over to remonstrate, one of them climbs over into the front seat and starts crawling all over your lap, kissing you, touching you intimately and thrusting herself against you, while the other one steals your wallet!
I had my wallet stolen on September 4th, 9th,10th, twice on the 15th, 17th, 20th, 24th and 29th. Also on October 1st, 4th, 6th, 9th and 10th and twice yesterday.So please warn all the older men you know to be on the lookout for this scam.
The best times seem to be just before lunch and about 4:30 in the afternoon. Target has wallets 2 for $10 but I've since discovered you can buy them on Amazon 10 for $35.

MightyJoe36
Dec 29, 2013

:minnie: Cat Army :minnie:

photomikey posted:

Please BE WARNED! Over the last month I have become a victim of a clever 'Eastern European' scam whilst out shopping.

Here's how the scam works:

Two very good-looking 20-21 year-old girls of eastern European origin come over to your car as you are packing your shopping into the boot. They both start cleaning your windscreen, their breasts almost falling out of their skimpy T- shirts. When you thank them and offer them a tip, they'll say 'No' and instead they ask you for a lift to another supermarket. You agree and they both get in the back seat.
On the way there, they start undressing, until both are completely naked. Then, when you pull over to remonstrate, one of them climbs over into the front seat and starts crawling all over your lap, kissing you, touching you intimately and thrusting herself against you, while the other one steals your wallet!
I had my wallet stolen on September 4th, 9th,10th, twice on the 15th, 17th, 20th, 24th and 29th. Also on October 1st, 4th, 6th, 9th and 10th and twice yesterday.So please warn all the older men you know to be on the lookout for this scam.
The best times seem to be just before lunch and about 4:30 in the afternoon. Target has wallets 2 for $10 but I've since discovered you can buy them on Amazon 10 for $35.

My Grandma started sending her chain emails to you too?

photomikey
Dec 30, 2012
No she told me that one when she was putting her panties back on after I finished.

goose willis
Jun 14, 2015

Get ready for teh wacky laughz0r!
:yikes:

seacat
Dec 9, 2006

photomikey posted:

Please BE WARNED! Over the last month I have become a victim of a clever 'Eastern European' scam whilst out shopping.

Here's how the scam works:

Two very good-looking 20-21 year-old girls of eastern European origin come over to your car as you are packing your shopping into the boot. They both start cleaning your windscreen, their breasts almost falling out of their skimpy T- shirts. When you thank them and offer them a tip, they'll say 'No' and instead they ask you for a lift to another supermarket. You agree and they both get in the back seat.
On the way there, they start undressing, until both are completely naked. Then, when you pull over to remonstrate, one of them climbs over into the front seat and starts crawling all over your lap, kissing you, touching you intimately and thrusting herself against you, while the other one steals your wallet!
I had my wallet stolen on September 4th, 9th,10th, twice on the 15th, 17th, 20th, 24th and 29th. Also on October 1st, 4th, 6th, 9th and 10th and twice yesterday.So please warn all the older men you know to be on the lookout for this scam.
The best times seem to be just before lunch and about 4:30 in the afternoon. Target has wallets 2 for $10 but I've since discovered you can buy them on Amazon 10 for $35.

Yeah I think I missed the part where this was supposed to be funny, im assuming because of the "whilst" it's a British humor sort of thing?

many johnnys
May 17, 2015

nothing between mid-october and today. Shameful

EL BROMANCE
Jun 10, 2006

COWABUNGA DUDES!
🥷🐢😬



seacat posted:

Yeah I think I missed the part where this was supposed to be funny, im assuming because of the "whilst" it's a British humor sort of thing?

The $ signs indicate more like someone who thinks they're more cultured than they are. You can't blame this one on us!

Plinkey
Aug 4, 2004

by Fluffdaddy
Eh, they'd make more money having someone come over and cut of your catalytic converter while you're balls deep and not paying attention. 4/10

Thrifting Day!
Nov 25, 2006

photomikey posted:

No she told me that one when she was putting her panties back on after I finished.

You are poo poo.

Lutha Mahtin
Oct 10, 2010

Your brokebrain sin is absolved...go and shitpost no more!

seacat posted:

Yeah I think I missed the part where this was supposed to be funny, im assuming because of the "whilst" it's a British humor sort of thing?

"lol desperate nerds amirite"

feedmegin
Jul 30, 2008

seacat posted:

Yeah I think I missed the part where this was supposed to be funny, im assuming because of the "whilst" it's a British humor sort of thing?

We don't have Target over here.

Lutha Mahtin
Oct 10, 2010

Your brokebrain sin is absolved...go and shitpost no more!

i got my second robo scam call today from someone claiming to be from "Medica", which is a health insurance company here, with "important" something or other about my insurance, and for which i needed to call their number back and enter a PIN. i decided to call them up (the actual company) and the gal i spoke to seemed almost surprised that someone was calling to just give them a heads-up

i gotta say though, i almost called the crooks' number, because i had medica for my insurance not too long ago. my guess is that they are targeting their calls to specific area codes, which is pretty clever. health insurance providers in the US are often very regional, sometimes only covering one state, or a few states. it wouldn't surprise me if saying that you're a smaller, regional company gets a better response rate than just generic nonsense like "your auto loan company" or "card services". plus people are probably getting hip to those really generic ones

Laopooh
Jul 15, 2000

eine dose socken posted:

I work for a rental car broker and the rental car industry is rife with scams.
We currently offer rental suppliers who are extremely crooked but successful nonetheless.
Most of the really bad stuff happens in Spain and other southern European countries, but some rental companies in the US are also routinely scamming customers for large amounts.
There are several ways to get more money out of a seemingly bargain priced prepaid booking.
The classic scam is renting out vehicles with hidden damage (under the fender or somewhere not easily spotted right away) and then charging them for the "new" damage when they return the car.
That is mostly gone now because people have gotten wise to it.
What's more popular are hidden insurance contracts or to add several insurance products to the rental agreement without telling the customer. Then having them sign on an electronic pad, where they can't see all the charges they accepted.
If they notice right away you either tell them some lie about it or cancel the insurance.
If the customer doesn't notice right away, it's almost impossible to get a refund for the insurance they clearly accepted with their signature.
Other scams are raising depot amounts to incredible sums (2000+ euros) so that most people's credit cards can't be blocked for the amount. Then the customer has to buy extra insurance to reduce the deposit, or they forfeit their prepaid booking.
There even is one major Spanish company who make 60-80% of their earnings by just straight up pressuring customers to buy extra insurance.

Yeah I got hit with the fake damage thing by PurCo, some scammer company in Utah. I wrote them a letter and they immediately dropped the case. I still wonder if the Hertz manager was in on it, or if it was just some employee who'd slip them customer info in return for a kickback. The damage charge was also not ridiculously high so I could see some people paying up to not have to deal with the hassle.

quote:

Incident report in response to claims made by PurCo Fleet Services, Inc.

After losing my car in an accident I was set up with a rental at Byers Car Rentals by State Farm Insurance on November 03, 2014. I returned the car to Byers on Nov 25, 2014 where the car passed post-rental inspection. At that time I was not given a Post-Rental Vehicle Inspection Form. Several weeks later on December 01, 2014 I received a letter from PurCo car services informing me that damage to the car had been incurred during the rental period and that I would be charged for the repairs. I had kept the car in a garage the entire length of the rental when it was not being driven and it had passed the post-rental inspection. I am quite positive that no damage occurred while the car was in my possession. On December 05, 2014 I went to Byers and spoke to a manager regarding the damage claim. I was told that the car was not there for me to see at the time and that the damage had already been repaired.

On January 14, 2015 I received the damage incident report from PurCo stating that I would owe $158.24 in total to cover the damage repair, loss of use, and $50 “administrative fee.” This damage report included a copy of the Pre-Rental Vehicle Inspection Form but no copy of the Post-Rental Vehicle Inspection Form was to be found. The report also included photos of the damaged roof dated January 09, 2015. When I spoke to the manager on December 05, 2014 I was told that the repairs had already taken place. Furthermore, there was snow visible in the photographs and to the date I had returned the car, no snow had fallen.

I am quite sure that the damage incurred did not take place during my possession of the vehicle and no evidence has been provided to show that it has. None of the claims made by PurCo or Byers line up and key pieces of information, namely the missing post-rental inspection, the fact that it passed inspection, being told repairs had been made by Dec. 05, and receiving pictures of the damage dated January 9th, all belie the case being made against me. I am perfectly willing to contact the attorney general and the Better Business Bureau if these charges are not immediately dropped.

Original_Z
Jun 14, 2005
Z so good
http://abc7ny.com/news/canadian-tourist-slugged-by-free-hug-guy-in-times-square;-suspect-arrested/1335434/

Here's what can happen if you get involved with Times Square scammers!

grack
Jan 10, 2012

COACH TOTORO SAY REFEREE CAN BANISH WHISTLE TO LAND OF WIND AND GHOSTS!

Laopooh posted:

Yeah I got hit with the fake damage thing by PurCo, some scammer company in Utah. I wrote them a letter and they immediately dropped the case. I still wonder if the Hertz manager was in on it, or if it was just some employee who'd slip them customer info in return for a kickback. The damage charge was also not ridiculously high so I could see some people paying up to not have to deal with the hassle.

My father actually got hit with this about a year ago when he got a rental while his car was being repaired. Returned car, passed post-rental check, and then he suddenly got a bill two weeks later for nearly $800. I live in BC and we have a Crown Corporation that handles car insurance instead of private companies so he let the insurer deal with it. The case was dropped and the rental place apparently got a serious fine out of the deal. They were trying to charge him $800 for a scratch along the side of the car.

Red Oktober
May 24, 2006

wiggly eyes!




Including a couple of people dancing behind the newsreader at the end of the clip.

bulletsponge13
Apr 28, 2010

Thanks to this thread, I was paranoid to get bootleg DVDs from the bootleg guy at Atlantic City Comic Con. It didn't matter that he didn't have anything I wanted, I didn't even really look due to paranoia.
Though he did have the complete series of Are You Afraid of the Dark?

EL BROMANCE
Jun 10, 2006

COWABUNGA DUDES!
🥷🐢😬



Anything he sells will be freely available online, so gently caress that guy.

Teriyaki Hairpiece
Dec 29, 2006

I'm nae the voice o' the darkened thistle, but th' darkened thistle cannae bear the sight o' our Bonnie Prince Bernie nae mair.

bulletsponge13 posted:

Thanks to this thread, I was paranoid to get bootleg DVDs from the bootleg guy at Atlantic City Comic Con. It didn't matter that he didn't have anything I wanted, I didn't even really look due to paranoia.
Though he did have the complete series of Are You Afraid of the Dark?

I got scammed buying some really low-quality homemade Exosquad DVDs on Ebay when I was 18 and a fool. Beware any bootleg DVD sellers, always, always. It's "paranoia" in the sense that excessive handwashing is paranoia. Beneficial even if you do it for the wrong reasons.

goatsestretchgoals
Jun 4, 2011

You're already selling stolen IP, loving up burning it to DVD is just mean spirited.

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Sanford
Jun 30, 2007

...and rarely post!


Some friends of my parents that I previously thought were reasonably intelligent people almost fell for a scam at the weekend. They received a call claiming to be from HMRC (the British tax authority) saying that they had underpaid taxes on their business for the last three years. To address this they needed to go to Argos and purchase £1000 of iTunes gift cards, and read the numbers over the phone. If they didn't comply within three hours the police would be contacted and come and put them in prison that day.

They realised it wasn't legit when they pulled up outside Argos and found it was closed. They're really pleased with themselves for having spotted that it was a con, and don't seem to have worked out that they have proven a really easy way to 1) get them out of the house at short notice and 2) get them to drive to an empty car park on a Saturday evening with £1000 in cash. Idiots.

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