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Shut up with this derail, please.
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Aug 27, 2019 06:27
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 So uh, here's one. My wife got some weird spam calendar invite. Turns out people can just send you an email with a bogus calendar invite, and if you have the option enabled to automatically add Gmail invites to your calendar (it's on by default), you'll see whatever message they added. It's a simple measure to disable that feature, but man, what a pain.
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Aug 27, 2019 17:41
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Looks like a new variant of an old classic - https://www.cnet.com/how-to/how-to-deal-with-iphone-calendar-spam/ I remember this being really irritating at the time.
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Aug 27, 2019 17:53
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DizzyBum posted:
I automate as little as possible. Any convenience is almost immediately undone by spamming assholes and telemarketers and poo poo. It's a loving arms race. Tech is supposed to simplify your life and streamline things. Instead it's constant software updates, 4000 passwords and compatibility issues.
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Aug 27, 2019 22:09
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Grand Fromage posted:Shut up with this derail, please. TBF this is a thread about cons/scams and we're talking about religion, so....
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Aug 28, 2019 12:48
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Cat Army
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MightyJoe36 posted:TBF this is a thread about cons/scams and we're talking about religion, so.... Can you think of a more common scam?
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Aug 28, 2019 13:12
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MightyJoe36 posted:TBF this is a thread about cons/scams and we're talking about religion, so.... So, religion's for fools eh? Fools and liberals!
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Aug 28, 2019 13:28
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Televangelists/megachurch preachers in general probably qualify as con artists, in fairness, but yeah might not be the best derail
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Aug 28, 2019 14:23
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Oh, without a loving doubt. No one with a networth of millions of dollars who begs poor people for money from a stadium jumbo-tron inside a multiple-thousand-seat "church" is not a scammer.
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Aug 28, 2019 14:27
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Sure, but this is probably not the thread.
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Aug 28, 2019 19:43
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Describing the mechanism of the religious scam and how it first deceives, extracts, then perpetuates the cycle of deception and extraction would probably qualify. Relating your personal experience and how you discovered it was a scam would qualify. I think that many religious, commercial, and political groups these days that actively recruit members will follow some of the same mental short-circuiting techniques that cults and religions have used forever. Basically you target someone who feels kinda bad, and make them feel real good or ecstatic, then extract money or labor out of 'em. Give them something to be scared of to isolate them within the group and select an outgroup, gradually reveal that they are part of something special, or are themselves about to gain special powers, and that a great doom is just around the corner, followed by some kind of reward. But the main goal of these organizations is to just control a large number of people so that something can be extracted from them. It's all about control IMO. Here's a primer on how to start a cult: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBK5aKOr2Fw
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Aug 28, 2019 22:01
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Ha, persistent depression wins the day again! Also, given all those steps, HOW THE gently caress IS IT SO HARD TO GET PEOPLE TO VOTE SANDERS!? ALL BASIC THE CULT LIES ARE LITERALLY loving TRUE!
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Aug 28, 2019 22:02
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Friend of mine just got a fake publishers clearinghouse scam phonecall, promising the second place prize, 5 million dollars and a Mercedes Benz
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Aug 28, 2019 22:07
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Captain Monkey posted:Sure, but this is probably not the thread. Ok, I'll bite. Why not? Tell me about common cons/scams
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Aug 28, 2019 22:39
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Tunicate posted:Friend of mine just got a fake publishers clearinghouse scam phonecall, promising the second place prize, 5 million dollars and a Mercedes Benz Should have asked what the first place prize was.
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Aug 28, 2019 22:40
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BiggerBoat posted:Ok, I'll bite. Man I'm definitely not a defender of religion, but if you can't figure out why 'the thread where we talk about telemarketers and internet scams' isn't the place to say 'ALL RELIGION IS A SCAM MAN' 7th grade atheist takes then I just don't know. I'm sure we could get some traction out of like, specific megapreachers and their scams though.
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Aug 28, 2019 23:10
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Captain Monkey posted:Man I'm definitely not a defender of religion, but if you can't figure out why 'the thread where we talk about telemarketers and internet scams' isn't the place to say 'ALL RELIGION IS A SCAM MAN' 7th grade atheist takes then I just don't know.
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Aug 28, 2019 23:22
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Honestly, just the specific pattern of "You all suck but if you give me money you legitimately can't afford to part with, I'll put in a good word with my imaginary friend," is a surefire sign the religion in question is a scam. Whereas religion that attempts to unite people and reconcile differences between populations without demanding money for themselves is less likely to be a scam.
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Aug 28, 2019 23:23
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BiggerBoat posted:Ok, I'll bite. Because it's disingenuous. Religion is not the topic of the thread. I personally agree that it's a scam, but this isn't the place for that discussion since it's loaded with other issues and only serves to derail this topic. I don't really want to have to waste my time enforcing a no religion rule in this thread and would prefer it just be dropped, but if everyone who mentions religion in any way wants to take three day posting vacations I can I guess.
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Aug 29, 2019 00:01
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Captain Monkey posted:Man I'm definitely not a defender of religion, but if you can't figure out why 'the thread where we talk about telemarketers and internet scams' isn't the place to say 'ALL RELIGION IS A SCAM MAN' 7th grade atheist takes then I just don't know. I agree with that I just didn't see most posters saying what you asserted. Taking on faith healers, miracle spring water salesman and tax exempt billionaires preying on old poor people seems like fair game though.
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Aug 29, 2019 00:04
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BiggerBoat posted:I agree with that I just didn't see most posters saying what you asserted. Taking on faith healers, miracle spring water salesman and tax exempt billionaires preying on old poor people seems like fair game though. I've seen those miracle water commercials on overnights at work, but I have no idea what the pitch is, because we leave it muted unless an earthshaking event like the world cup or an earthquake is involved.
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Aug 29, 2019 02:11
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Look up "prosperity gospel" and be disgusted. E: Those specific fucks are 100% thread relevant. Grandma sends $100 to some TV dickhead's slush fund because the man on the TV said something about sowing seeds and goatsestretchgoals fucked around with this message at 04:42 on Aug 29, 2019 |
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Aug 29, 2019 04:34
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That's different than "lol religion is a scam" edgelording, it's fine.
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Aug 29, 2019 04:53
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Corsair Pool Boy posted:I've seen those miracle water commercials on overnights at work, but I have no idea what the pitch is, because we leave it muted unless an earthshaking event like the world cup or an earthquake is involved. Minister fills up water bottles with water out of a garden hose, slaps a holy looking label on it, then runs commercials for the poo poo at 3am claiming it cures everything from cancer to AIDS. It also will bring wealth so long as you pour some on a cloth they send you and mail them like $25 or some poo poo. That's on top of what you paid for the tap water. Then you repeat this process 5x and, at the end of the day, when you are in fact not rich or cures of cancer, you drank it wrong, didn't take enough, failed to pray properly and/or need to send in more money. It's loving disgusting and poo poo should totally be illegal but no politicians have the will to accuse "men of god" with crimes. Either that, or there are enormous kickbacks reaching legislators. They've gone after regular commercial products making false claims but these creeps get away with it, live in million dollar mansions, drive Ferraris AND pay no taxes. It loving sucks and I wished I believed in hell so I could feel better knowing there's a special wing there for these motherfuckers.
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Aug 29, 2019 12:50
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Generally speaking I abhor violence and prefer to solve issues in non-violent means. I won't lie though; when I saw a helmet-haired televangelist demand that his followers send him money because God told him he was holy enough that he deserved a fourth private jet I wanted to hit the man with an axe. I highly doubt I'd ever actually do it but boy howdy did that ever fill me with rage. John Oliver had a great episode on televangelists. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7y1xJAVZxXg Televangelists are 100% a horrible scam. They are dreadful people.
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Aug 29, 2019 14:23
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ToxicSlurpee posted:Generally speaking I abhor violence and prefer to solve issues in non-violent means. My favorite thing about that John Oliver thing is the number of people that sent him envelopes with actual seeds in after.
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Aug 29, 2019 16:00
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DizzyBum posted:
My parents had this one happen. Thankfully I was able to delete and block the auto-adding of calendar invites for them considering I visit them once a year. Supposedly my mum heard my dad on the phone about to give his credit card info to someone so I worry about their susceptability to scams 
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Aug 30, 2019 20:06
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The bit in Good Omens where Aziraphale accidentally possesses the televangelist is one of the funniest things I have ever read
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Aug 30, 2019 22:39
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Back to scams: Last year my wife got a letter in the mail from "Fletcher Unclaimed Asset Recovery" that says they have discovered unclaimed assets being held by the New York Office of the State Comptroller. "We would like to assist you in recovering these funds". Details of your unclaimed asset: Owner name (my wife), year (2017), owner address (some place in new york she didn't live in 2017), reported by synchrony bank, amounts due for undelivered goods/services. Uh, scam right? How does this one work?
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Aug 31, 2019 00:55
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Dumb Lowtax posted:Back to scams: If it were an actual asset of hers, they would charge a fee for what is, as far as I know, a free service provided by the State Comptroller. Bonus identity theft from the documentation they'd ask for.
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Aug 31, 2019 01:00
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Ah, great link, I was able to search their site for my wife's name. 150 different addresses popped up in the results because I think that many people in NY share a name with her. An easy target then!
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Aug 31, 2019 01:06
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Dumb Lowtax posted:Back to scams: It may work differently in your state, but in California there is also an unclaimed assets program. It's free to use, but doesn't reach out to individual people on the list. So some people do set up companies that go through the listings, notify people on it, and then claim a fee for their services, hoping that those people don't realize they can just contact the program directly for free.
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Aug 31, 2019 01:12
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Absurd Alhazred posted:If it were an actual asset of hers, they would charge a fee for what is, as far as I know, a free service provided by the State Comptroller. Bonus identity theft from the documentation they'd ask for. I've heard of this one, actually. There's a few services which DO look for unclaimed property and inform you about it - and hope you go with their service to retrieve it and take a cut - instead of double checking the appropriate authorities and going for free. But it could also be id theft. So basically, reach out to the state on your own and see if there's actually stuff in your name.
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Aug 31, 2019 02:14
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There are a ton of scams like that where they prey on people's ignorance and charge a fee for something that's free if you deal with official channels directly. When I went back to school and did my FAFSA application online, there were a couple of legit looking websites that would have you fill it out, but then ask for $50 or so for them to send it along for you.
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Aug 31, 2019 17:12
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ToxicSlurpee posted:I won't lie though; when I saw a helmet-haired televangelist demand that his followers send him money because God told him he was holy enough that he deserved a fourth private jet I wanted to hit the man with an axe. I highly doubt I'd ever actually do it but boy howdy did that ever fill me with rage... I went to an evangelical church with my boss once because she wanted me to go with her. She wanted my take on it as her understanding of Christianity was wanting. They left a copy of their full financial report for everyone to see. That's how confident they were. It's a small church with a congregation of less than 500. They were sitting $17 million to the good from all from rich worshiper's donations. Their budget was under $100,000 for what they gave to charity. The whole service was about giving money to their church. He even worked in Moses's sermon on the mount as the reason that everyone should give all their money to the church. You see, having money is like having a false idols so you need to give it to the church for safe keeping. Also, there's an electric fence around Mount Sinai so don't look at the man behind the curtain (that's literally what he said. I didn't make that poo poo up). I gave my boss an annotated Bible after that so she could read up on it. It was a "New Student" edition so it's pretty middle of the road.
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Sep 2, 2019 10:46
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Did cars get mentioned yet? Everything about cars is a loving scam.
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Sep 2, 2019 13:19
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Cradle to the Grape posted:There are a ton of scams like that where they prey on people's ignorance and charge a fee for something that's free if you deal with official channels directly. This one is great cuz the FA in FAFSA stands for "free application"
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Sep 4, 2019 14:33
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Here's a little article on carnival games. Nothing especially detailed, but a nice read. Are carnival games rigged?
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Sep 4, 2019 14:56
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Red Oktober posted:Here's a little article on carnival games. Nothing especially detailed, but a nice read. That article sure is a lot of words to say "duh of course they are."
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Sep 4, 2019 17:04
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If you have to ask if it's rigged, the answer is almost always "yes". I can't think of many exceptions...the state lotteries perhaps?
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Sep 4, 2019 20:04
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