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Thomamelas
Mar 11, 2009
Used car prices are up something like 14% since the start of pandemic. Some segments like trucks have gone loving batshit nuts. Used trucks are up something like 35% in cost. And that's for the stuff without cult followings.

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Eric the Mauve
May 8, 2012

Making you happy for a buck since 199X
If you ordered and paid for a new RV last fall, you probably paid well into six figures for it, and you probably still haven't received it. People who bought one used in 2018 are selling it now for twice what they paid. It's insanity.

Tubgoat
Jun 30, 2013

by sebmojo
Good to see mobile houses are ALSO becoming impossibly expensive for people who want to live in them.

EL BROMANCE
Jun 10, 2006

COWABUNGA DUDES!
🥷🐢😬



My friend flew over to stay with me and rented a Jeep for a week from Turo or whatever, and the lady had to give him a heads up that he’d get attention from the Jeep people while driving it. Who knew.

Yngwie Mangosteen
Aug 23, 2007
https://twitter.com/snow_blacck/status/1381963491955900417?s=21

EL BROMANCE
Jun 10, 2006

COWABUNGA DUDES!
🥷🐢😬



This tiktok in response to all those scams is amazing.

https://twitter.com/richieonelove/status/1382084767001292801?s=21

Midjack
Dec 24, 2007




Note: you have to view the entire image in this tweet for it to become apparent.

Tubgoat
Jun 30, 2013

by sebmojo

EL BROMANCE posted:

This tiktok in response to all those scams is amazing.

https://twitter.com/richieonelove/status/1382084767001292801?s=21
x'D

MightyJoe36
Dec 29, 2013

:minnie: Cat Army :minnie:

Sydin posted:

Yeah my roommate used to have an unmodded, manual Honda Civic and he'd get like 3-4 of those a month. Two different times I was leaving for work and somebody came up to me on the driveway to ask if the Civic was my car and if it was for sale.

I still get mailers from car dealerships about once a week saying they want to buy my 2005 Honda Accord that I sold 4 years ago.

I also used to get a thousand calls to buy an extended warranty when I still had a landline.

McGrady
Jun 27, 2003

The greatest lurker of all the lower class lurkers.
College Slice
My girlfriend got an account statement out of the blue in the mail from SunTrust bank that looks legit, with over $1600 in the savings account. She has never used/heard of this bank before and it is in a state she has never been to nor any family ever been too.

We are hesitant to call them even with the number on their website. The only scams I can think of are some kind of laundering thing, a fake out trying to get her real info, or some messed up unemployment scam where they deposited into an account in her name.

Any ideas on this or suggestions on what to do?

Sydin
Oct 29, 2011

Another spring commute



I'm legit going to use this in my next "examples of phishing" mailer I have to send around the company, thank you.

Bad Titty Puker
Nov 3, 2007
Soiled Meat

McGrady posted:

My girlfriend got an account statement out of the blue in the mail from SunTrust bank that looks legit, with over $1600 in the savings account. She has never used/heard of this bank before and it is in a state she has never been to nor any family ever been too.

We are hesitant to call them even with the number on their website. The only scams I can think of are some kind of laundering thing, a fake out trying to get her real info, or some messed up unemployment scam where they deposited into an account in her name.

Any ideas on this or suggestions on what to do?

One idea would be to write SunTrust a letter of inquiry, including a copy of the account statement, send certified mail, return receipt required. Tell'em you don't know of any account in her name and think it might be fraudulent.

EL BROMANCE
Jun 10, 2006

COWABUNGA DUDES!
🥷🐢😬



I bank with SunTrust, call their fraud department. They’re usually pretty easy to deal with.

peanut
Sep 9, 2007


McGrady posted:

My girlfriend got an account statement out of the blue in the mail from SunTrust bank that looks legit, with over $1600 in the savings account. She has never used/heard of this bank before and it is in a state she has never been to nor any family ever been too.

We are hesitant to call them even with the number on their website. The only scams I can think of are some kind of laundering thing, a fake out trying to get her real info, or some messed up unemployment scam where they deposited into an account in her name.

Any ideas on this or suggestions on what to do?

It's likely to be another user with a similar name and email address that entered their info incorrect.
https://www.suntrust.com/fraud-and-security-department/identity-theft-signs-and-solutions
Just forward the email to emailabuse@suntrust.com and maybe write a note like: "Good morning, I received this message by mistake. They might have provided an incomplete email address on their account. Do you have another way to contact this customer?"

Volmarias
Dec 31, 2002

EMAIL... THE INTERNET... SEARCH ENGINES...
It sounds like this was postal mail, not email.

McGrady
Jun 27, 2003

The greatest lurker of all the lower class lurkers.
College Slice
Yeah, it was postal mail

hyperhazard
Dec 4, 2011

I am the one lascivious
With magic potion niveous
Did her account get transferred to new bank? The BoA in my hometown either shut down or restructured or whatever and they moved one of my accounts to some random bank that I'd never heard of. I thought for sure it was a scam, but no, banks are apparently allowed to do that in the US.

I had to close that account, open a new BoA one, and move the money. It was a pain in the rear end. (I know, I know, BoA sucks, but they're convenient and the credit unions near me aren't great.)

bamhand
Apr 15, 2010
Yeah just look up Suntrust's number and call them if you're worried about the one on the letter.

Often legitimate messages that are worried about sounding like scams will say that. To look up their contact info to reach them rather than have them provide it in the email/voicemail.

bird with big dick
Oct 21, 2015

I'm in the middle of refinancing my house and two of the companies that I've gotten quotes from have their entire application system set up to look like a phishing scam. One of the companies uses a different company/software to collect their financial information, so you've been talking to and emailing frank.thomas@mortgagecompany.com and then out of the blue you get an email from efolder@companyyouveneverheardof.com saying that it's also from Frank Thomas and please click this link and give us all your financial information. It's totally bizarre.

Robert Facepalmer
Jan 10, 2019


^^^^THIS.

We refinanced last year (which was its own shitshow...) and the various websites and domain names all looked sketchy as fuuuuuuuck. Of course towards the end of it they have a fun 'be aware of bad people that want to steal your poo poo! Don't use jank-rear end-lookin' sites!' and I had to laugh at them not taking their own advice.

Midjack
Dec 24, 2007



Similarly, my bank loves to completely redesign their website every 4 or 5 years and deploy it with no warning and I have to take a few minutes and examine the page to see if it's been hijacked. I've sent them hate mail several times suggesting they throw a warning banner somewhere on the page once you're logged in that says "a new website is coming in a few weeks" for a month beforehand but apparently no budget for that!

Thomamelas
Mar 11, 2009
Banks gently caress up name issues all of the time. When I was 16 I opened an account at the same bank my dad used for business. We have the same name, which lead to the payroll for his garage being taken out of my account one day. You can imagine my stress levels at 16 to find a five-figure over draft on my personal account. They fixed it and the payroll checks didn't need to be reissued but gently caress that was a stressful day.

Ancillary Character
Jul 25, 2007
Going about life as if I were a third-tier ancillary character
That's why parents need to get over their own ego and not name their kids after themselves.

Tubgoat
Jun 30, 2013

by sebmojo

Ancillary Character posted:

That's why parents need to get over their own ego and not name theirhave kids after themselves.

Sanford
Jun 30, 2007

...and rarely post!


Not really a scam but celebrating today as the last traces disappear from my credit file of when a “friend” managed to take out ELEVEN phone contracts one after another and have them all land on my file instead of his when he failed to pay for any of them. That was a fun time. Semi-relevant because it only happened because we have similar names/birthdays and shared a house for a short while. That’s all it took.

hyperhazard
Dec 4, 2011

I am the one lascivious
With magic potion niveous

Sanford posted:

Not really a scam but celebrating today as the last traces disappear from my credit file of when a “friend” managed to take out ELEVEN phone contracts one after another and have them all land on my file instead of his when he failed to pay for any of them. That was a fun time. Semi-relevant because it only happened because we have similar names/birthdays and shared a house for a short while. That’s all it took.

So the guy let each contract go into the red and then took out a new one? Did he cycle through different companies or find one that was like "huh, bob smith didn't pay us six months ago, guess we can open a new account for his new phone."

Congrats on finally being free, that sounds like it sucked rear end.

Sanford
Jun 30, 2007

...and rarely post!


Yep, cycled through different companies with an average of 6 weeks between contracts. Best guess he was signing up on Direct Debit, defaulting on the contract and just signing up for another as soon as the service cut off. He had a massive gap on his credit file and was of No Fixed Abode, and somehow they were checking his (very empty) credit file to let him take new contracts, but then dumping it onto mine when he defaulted on the payments. Thankfully this was AFTER we got our mortgage, and only came to light when I went to sign up for a short-term credit card for taking on holiday.

TheParadigm
Dec 10, 2009

Does anyone have experience with Transamerica's insurance sales agent thing? It seems MLM and pyramid scheme as gently caress - a family member's getting into it - and there's a bit of a stink of scam around it to me.

They said some contradictory stuff - that the company pays for training and insurance and assumes liability - but that they're a contractor (not W2); that ther'es at raining period, but there's rates for people you bring above and below in which you split profits for recruits you bring in. 100% comission, no hourly
All in all it seems really rife for abuse, and I sort of want more info before they move to an expensive city, get locked into a lease, and get taken for a ride.

I told them to read every contract thoroughly, red pen anything remotely scandalous, and be aware that they will often claim your contracts and leads as their own and stiff you on commission (just from what i've read among similar stuff from this thread) and they were not having any of it.

Midjack
Dec 24, 2007



Their headquarters building was built in the shape of a pyramid. That tells you everything you need to know about them.

Ripley
Jan 21, 2007
From this Reddit AMA it sounds like 100% MLM bullshit.

TheParadigm
Dec 10, 2009

Thats what i was afraid of.

I remember there was an old story post/archive from a homeless goon that started a thread to just socialize; and they ran into an 'insurance license/scam' thing that sounded incredibly similiar.

I was wondering if anyone happened to remember which one? I lost the bookmark sadly.

BiggerBoat
Sep 26, 2007

Don't you tell me my business again.
Primeamerica is definitely MLM insurance selling. The newer thing now is all these "direct marketing" companies that are a little different but have similar lovely methods.

What sucks the most about both of them is how much they scan linkedin and zip recruiter then spam the poo poo out of people looking for work. I've recieved several emails and calls telling me how "sharp" I am and how my experience would be a "prefect fit for this opportunity".

There is NOTHING on my resume to remotely suggest that I would make a good salesman. Everything on it is graphic design and art director skills.

RenegadeStyle1
Jun 7, 2005

Baby Come Back
Oh yeah I get the emails all the time saying that my skills on my resume line up perfectly for their sales role. My resume? Full of installing cable, internet, home automation and alarm systems. Luckily theres just enough small sales in these roles that I know how terrible of a saleperson I would be so ive never given them a second glance.

Tubgoat
Jun 30, 2013

by sebmojo
If an individual uses the word "invest" when they very obviously mean "spend," they are a salesman and you should never associate with/trust them. Had a lady at my hotel yesterday talking about the different priced tour packages of the Paisley Park Prince exhibit thing and she described the pricing tiers as "how much you want to invest" and I made such a combination of emoticon faces inside, lemme tell you.

Prince's Paisley Park is a whoooole other scam, may he rest in peace. Christ, his estate executor ghouls were planning on his overdose for years. :geno:

hyperhazard
Dec 4, 2011

I am the one lascivious
With magic potion niveous
I don't know how Transamerica relates to Primerica (another really huge MLM) but Transamerica owns World Financial Group, which is an incredibly predatory MLM.

A lot of the insurance MLMs have IPO-ed and legitimized themselves -- like someone mentioned, the Transamerica building is part of the SF skyline. But they're just as insidious as the ones that sell over-priced leggings and nail stickers, maybe even more so because they tend to advertise themselves as full time jobs rather than "side hustles."

(I'm sure there's some interesting research into the difference between MLMs aimed at women and ones aimed at men. The stereotype is the housewife or army wife selling makeup to her church buddies, but men are absolutely sucked in as well. But instead of the Boss Babe narrative, they get "Retire by 40! Invest in your future!" and a huge metal dick pyramid in an expensive city.)

Eric the Mauve
May 8, 2012

Making you happy for a buck since 199X
There was a reddit thread a few years ago that I can't find now (deleted maybe?) that claimed to detail how like 80% of the thousands of little MLMs out there are owned by an entity which is owned by an entity which after you trace it through a dozen spaghetti loops turn out to really be owned by, you guessed it, the Amway people.

I don't think it had any smoking-gun evidence in support of the claim, but I sure as poo poo could believe it.

therobit
Aug 19, 2008

I've been tryin' to speak with you for a long time
If recruiting other people is any significant component of how you make money, it's an MLM scam.

Inceltown
Aug 6, 2019



Guess who just told every single spam scammer out there which number to spoof.

Volmarias
Dec 31, 2002

EMAIL... THE INTERNET... SEARCH ENGINES...

Inceltown posted:



Guess who just told every single spam scammer out there which number to spoof.

I would be surprised if "special" numbers like this or 911 are allowed outside of very specific interchanges or routes. I have yet to receive spam from 911, even though that seems like a number everyone would look at.

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Pharmaskittle
Dec 17, 2007

arf arf put the money in the fuckin bag

man if 911 calls ME, I'm heading for the hills

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