Register a SA Forums Account here!
JOINING THE SA FORUMS WILL REMOVE THIS BIG AD, THE ANNOYING UNDERLINED ADS, AND STUPID INTERSTITIAL ADS!!!

You can: log in, read the tech support FAQ, or request your lost password. This dumb message (and those ads) will appear on every screen until you register! Get rid of this crap by registering your own SA Forums Account and joining roughly 150,000 Goons, for the one-time price of $9.95! We charge money because it costs us money per month for bills, and since we don't believe in showing ads to our users, we try to make the money back through forum registrations.
 
  • Post
  • Reply
MightyJoe36
Dec 29, 2013

:minnie: Cat Army :minnie:

azflyboy posted:

The scam Goldline (which was the one Glenn Beck hawked the hell out of) ran was basically pulling a bait and switch on people.

Goldline ads would try and convince people that they needed to buy gold, since gold prices would do nothing but increase and a total economic collapse was imminent. Once a customer was convinced to buy gold, Goldline would then try and get them to buy various gold coins instead of bullion (since the coins would be harder for Obama to seize), while never disclosing the fact that the coins were being sold at markups that approached 100% in some cases, so people who bought the coins lost a bunch of money if gold prices didn't keep increasing.

Even people who bought gold bullion didn't do that well (depending on when they bought into gold) once the US economy started recovering, since gold peaked at around $1800/oz in 2011, but currently trades for somewhere around $1200/oz.

So let me get this straight; the people who have the gold are going to sell it to me knowing that when the economy collapses I'll have gold that's valuable and they'll have all of my worthless cash.

Nope, no scam alerts going off there.

Adbot
ADBOT LOVES YOU

MightyJoe36
Dec 29, 2013

:minnie: Cat Army :minnie:
So lately I get one or two of these per week from different addresses (and they go right into my Spam folder):

quote:

Position available / (288505698217)

Hello.

This message is a request to your CV allocated in CareerBuilder and we are offering you to take our new HOME-BASED job.

A national & international team is looking for a part-time shipping/receiving Administrator. The job demands working 2-3 hours per day maximum on the computer. The work is consequent and the working hours are variable. The job suits those people who can work at home.

Responsibilities: receiving and sending coming in packages, maintaining documentation for all shipping & receiving operations, packaging and managing pick up of all outgoing products.Monthly income is nearly $2,000.

Requirements: 21+ years of age, permanent access to Internet.

If you got interested in the opening , please reply with your contact number.

Please take into account: If we do not call you your data will be kept in our system to consider you in future.

I'm wondering if it's just the same old "Work from Home" scam, or else when you reply they to ask for your SSN and/or bank account number so they can deposit your "paycheck."

MightyJoe36
Dec 29, 2013

:minnie: Cat Army :minnie:

Marenghi posted:

An ad I keep seeing popping up is automated binary trading. It's obviously a scam but I'm not sure which end they're taken the money from. They claim thousands of dollars back if you fail, so are they doing trading through their own platform, and reneging on an obvious lie when the time comes. Or is the bot some sort of virus and they use that to make their money.

Probably some version of a Ponzi scheme. Or a virus.

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?

MightyJoe36
Dec 29, 2013

:minnie: Cat Army :minnie:
When I worked in a garage in NJ about 40 years ago, this was a common scam. Dudes showing up and selling all kinds of stuff out of the trunks of their cars - tires, steaks, stereo speakers, etc. The reason they could sell it to you for such a "good price" was that it "fell off a truck."

MightyJoe36
Dec 29, 2013

:minnie: Cat Army :minnie:

drunk asian neighbor posted:

NJ is like that but the law isn't enforced at all. They polled a bunch of local cops and literally not a single one said they'd ever written/would write someone a ticket for doing it. Also most attendants are usually pretty appreciative of not having to do anything.

Although I've literally never heard of anyone tipping a gas station attendant past like, 1950.

Former NJ resident here. I worked in a gas station during and after HS for a while. I could count on one hand the number of time I was tipped. It was usually around Xmas.

MightyJoe36
Dec 29, 2013

:minnie: Cat Army :minnie:

PT6A posted:

Repackaged as a plane part, it sells for $10 (if you're lucky!)

Unless its for the government. Then it sells for $100.

MightyJoe36
Dec 29, 2013

:minnie: Cat Army :minnie:

Absurd Alhazred posted:

Corrected for government-speak.

:tipshat:

MightyJoe36
Dec 29, 2013

:minnie: Cat Army :minnie:

Maw posted:

They all say 'TEMPORARY COSMETIC RESULTS ONLY' all over too, everything about it is just terrible bullshit. I considered writing an effort post about them in this thread before, but am p lazy.

All of these quicky weight loss scams have the same thing in common.

If you read the fine print at the bottom of the screen (if you can. It comes up and then disappears pretty fast), it says "Results not typical." "Normal results are a loss of 1-2 pounds per week when used in conjunction with a program of diet and exercise." Which is typical of the weight loss you could expect when doing a program of diet and exercise. In other words, they're straight up telling you that it's worthless.

MightyJoe36
Dec 29, 2013

:minnie: Cat Army :minnie:

Ytlaya posted:

So that's why that random person outside of a gas station wanted me to buy them detergent several years ago! I went in with them and was like "what do you want" and they pointed to some really expensive detergent and I was like "gently caress no." I would have been okay with something <$5, but this particular detergent was like $20 IIRC.

Tide is easily flippable? Why? Because it's expensive and you can sell it cheaper because it's stolen?

MightyJoe36
Dec 29, 2013

:minnie: Cat Army :minnie:

Lutha Mahtin posted:

Yesss, that's the article I couldn't find earlier. For all of you not in the know, prepare to have your minds blown.

I was not in the know. I did have my mind blown.

MightyJoe36
Dec 29, 2013

:minnie: Cat Army :minnie:
Great bit about Soverign Citizens.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8W_iok4UBLk

MightyJoe36
Dec 29, 2013

:minnie: Cat Army :minnie:

BiggerBoat posted:

Over the course of a rather long job search, I've received maybe 10 calls/emails from a company called Primerica. It's loving ridiculous. NO WHERE on my resume, in my job experience or in my skill set is there anything whatsoever to suggest I would be good at sales or slinging life insurance. I'm a freelance illustrator, graphic designer and pre-press specialist. That's all I've ever done.

I couldn't figure out why this "company" kept contacting me and red flags went up right away the first time they did because I could recognize the standard MLM pitch and buzzwords. "You'll get out of it what you put in", "Your work determines your success", etc. I've even asked the last few people who've contacted me "What exactly did you see on my resume or LinkedIn profile that would suggest I would be good at this?" They talk about "work ethic" and how "sharp" and "accomplished" I seem. Seems like bullshit.

Near as I can tell, I guess it's a MLM based insurance company, although I'm not sure how that would work. I guess you get "points" or whatever from people you recruit and if they sell a (probably worthless) policy, you get money from their sales. Google turns up the usual "war of the message board comments" that usually surrounds poo poo like Amway and Herbalife.

Anyone know about Primerica? Are the policies worthless? Is at an MLM? Anyone else get these stupid calls?

Edit: guess I could have just Wiki'd it. Yes it's bullshit. Anyone here actually try it?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primerica

Got several calls from them over the years. Same thing; nothing in my resume even remotely qualified me for a job, nor was I actually looking.

I coworker of mine called Primerica "the Amway of financial advisers."

MightyJoe36
Dec 29, 2013

:minnie: Cat Army :minnie:

ToxicSlurpee posted:

MLM isn't a Ponzi scheme in the end; there are similarities but Ponzi basically paid the first investors with later investors. It looked like the promises were kept but they weren't.

In MLM they aren't technically committing fraud because you are ultimately signing up to buy something and resell it. It's still scammy as hell but if I can convince you to buy something worth $25 from me for $1,000 then well...caveat emptor, you know? MLM falls into a weird grey area and I guarantee you that they consult with lawyers to keep it within the bounds of the law.

Yeah, their business model is to use you to use your family and friends to buy stuff at a ridiculous markup, and convince you that the only way to get ahead is to recruit more suckers and buy more motivational tapes. Fraud, not technically, but still pretty lovely.

MightyJoe36
Dec 29, 2013

:minnie: Cat Army :minnie:
Reminds me of the paper that was co-written by the guy's cat and was submitted to a scientific journal.

MightyJoe36
Dec 29, 2013

:minnie: Cat Army :minnie:

Nine of Eight posted:

My Grandfather got that one pulled on him by someone pretending to be my cousin; he told the scammer that he didn't give a gently caress and he should call his dad instead before hanging up.
:iceburn:

Yeah, after my mom who's 84 got about 10 of the IRS scam calls, I told her about this one. I said if she ever gets the call to tell them just to let his rear end sit in jail.

MightyJoe36
Dec 29, 2013

:minnie: Cat Army :minnie:

Xenoborg posted:

Gotten 4 calls today from a robot that left a voicemail saying there was "an arrest warrant issues against your name and identity". I guess if I called back they would probably try and "settle" the issue with apple gift cards or western union.

Mine was a call from the IRS saying I was going to be prosecuted for owing a fine and back taxes. I called the number, told them I was Special Agent Smith from the FBI and asked what the problem was. It sounded like a call center in India, and they hung up rather quickly.

MightyJoe36
Dec 29, 2013

:minnie: Cat Army :minnie:

CommieGIR posted:

Pretty much any car lot business within 5-10 miles of a military base is a scam or a ripoff.

MightyJoe36
Dec 29, 2013

:minnie: Cat Army :minnie:
I find it ridiculous that people would actually believe that the "authorities" (IRS, FBI, Sheriff, etc.) would want you to pay your fine with an iTunes gift card.

On second thought, it's ridiculous that people believe a Nigerian official is going to give them $10 million but it happens all the time.

MightyJoe36
Dec 29, 2013

:minnie: Cat Army :minnie:

Proteus Jones posted:

I refuse to believe anyone is that loving stupid.

See my post above about people getting scammed into paying "fines" to the IRS with iTunes gift cards. ;)

MightyJoe36
Dec 29, 2013

:minnie: Cat Army :minnie:

CommieGIR posted:

Another phone driveby scam today from a Florida number, where a badly done automated voice told me the IRS was suing me.

(352) 600 - 3502

Did they tell you to buy iTunes gift cards and send them to them?

MightyJoe36
Dec 29, 2013

:minnie: Cat Army :minnie:
Got this in my Gmail inbox this morning:

quote:

Hello and welcome to our team [MightyJoe36]

Your profile and email address was picked up by our HR manager through CareerBuilder search tool.

The following position was recently announced by Woodstead Investment Associates, LLC and we suppose you will be a good fit for this position and that you have the skills we are looking for.
Position Title: Customer Service Representative.
Needed conditions are:

- Must be eligible to work in the United States.
- 25 years old or more.
- Excellent decision making skills.
- Be excellent time manager.

Job Function:

- Provide service to both prospective and regular customers.
- Create and maintain effective business relationship with customers.
- Develop the environment of good customer service through ensuring that customer's operations are processed correctly and efficiently.
- Process transactions and currency orders.
- Ensure that all transactions are processed in accordance with the policy and the procedure as well as in a timely manner.
This opportunity comes with a salary of 3,500.00 per month, additional commission and extra benefits.

To get more information about this position, please contact us at this e-mail address.

So what, I order stuff off Amazon with stolen credit cards or something? I vaguely remember seeing something like this before

MightyJoe36
Dec 29, 2013

:minnie: Cat Army :minnie:

mostlygray posted:

Both my wife and I got got hit with the Primerica thing. At least my scammer was honest. He straight up told me it was a scam and you'd hate your life. But if you bust rear end and don't care about others, you can get rich fast and then get out of the game. That was his actual sales pitch.

My wife's experience was creepier. She was approached by a dude at her job at Target who talked her into interviewing with him at a local cafe. He got super creepy about it and, as soon as she heard Primerica, she bailed.

We had a friend that did the Primerica thing. He treated it like a real job as a financial adviser. He never made a penny. Just spent everything on trips and training and classes and nothing.

Another former co-worker of mine burnt his entire life savings on HerbaLife. I don't know if he ever made a legit sale.

Stay away from all MLM. No good can come from it. Even if you're successful, it's at the expense of others.

I've been hit with the MLM pitch several times over the years. It's basically always the same pitch:

:words: Person: I have my own successful business where I'm my own boss and make tons of extra money. We're looking to bring on some new people and you seem like you would be a good candidate.
:) Me: Is it Amway?
:words: No, no. It's nothing like that.
:): Then what is it?
:words:: Well, if you come to this meeting on Thursday night, you'll find out all about it.
:): Its it Amway?
:words:: No,no. It's not like that.
:): Then what is it?
:words:: Come to the meeting on Thursday night and you'll get all your questions answered.
:): I'm not coming unless you tell me what it is.
:words:: Okay, it's Amway. But, whatever you've heard about Amway is not true. This is really a chance for you to be your own boss and make tons of extra money and eventually quit your job and run your own successful business.
:rolleyes:: Good luck with that (walking away).

MightyJoe36
Dec 29, 2013

:minnie: Cat Army :minnie:

BiggerBoat posted:

armageddon pancake mix.

I'm curious.

MightyJoe36
Dec 29, 2013

:minnie: Cat Army :minnie:

BiggerBoat posted:

Jim Bakker. THAT Jim Bakker. The convicted felon.

Okay I googled it. JFC. I guess you really can sell literally anything to people. :psyduck:

MightyJoe36
Dec 29, 2013

:minnie: Cat Army :minnie:

JnnyThndrs posted:

Used cars today are more expensive across the board because everything is pricier, plus the average car will run 150-175,000 miles instead of 100,000 miles, so high-mileage vehicles are more valuable than they used to be. But you can still find ugly-looking shitpiles that run OK for a couple grand, Craigslist is full of them.

Or just check out the used car lots near a military base, or in any low-income neighborhood.

MightyJoe36
Dec 29, 2013

:minnie: Cat Army :minnie:

BiggerBoat posted:

My former friend who got into it and vanished down the Amway rabbit hole tried to sell me and I said "give me a call when you even make $10,000 in one year and I'll look at it." I never heard from him again.

Even if he did manage to make $10k in one year is no guarantee that you'll make even close to that much.

Years ago I was listening to some radio talk show and the guy was talking about those "self-made millionaire" books and said something that stuck with me:

"I don't doubt that the guy who wrote that book became a millionaire. What I doubt is that he can teach you to become a millionaire."

MightyJoe36
Dec 29, 2013

:minnie: Cat Army :minnie:

Professor Shark posted:

I have so many people on my Facebook that repost these things. I know some of them know that it's fake, but they just can't risk it.

You thought the chain emails your Grandma sent you in the 90s died, but they just got re-packaged.

MightyJoe36
Dec 29, 2013

:minnie: Cat Army :minnie:
Here's a good article to read before you get the next call from a recruiter who sounds like he's calling you from a call center in India:

quote:

As competition for jobs among India’s youth intensifies, the offer of a lucrative career in a call centre can be difficult to turn down – even if the work turns out to be operating a scam.

https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/jan/02/the-scammers-gaming-indias-overcrowded-job-market

MightyJoe36
Dec 29, 2013

:minnie: Cat Army :minnie:

Professor Shark posted:

Netflix has a series called "Dirty Money" and the second episode is about Scott Tucker, a guy who created a Payday Loan company that was even scummier and blatantly illegal than most.

He's super salty that it's possible that he'll be going to jail and goes on and on about how it's unfair that a self made man who never had anyone to rely on is being punished by the big bad government and comes across as a genuine sociopath. His business worked by pretending to be a Native American business which didn't need to follow the laws other Payday Loan places had to... he was sentenced to 16 years a few weeks ago lol

I remember a year or two ago there was a "Native American" loan company advertising on TV for a short time. Their pitch was basically if you couldn't get a loan anywhere else, you should call them. (The reason I put "Native American" in quotes is that I am unaware of any Reservations here in Ohio). I wonder if it was this guy.

MightyJoe36
Dec 29, 2013

:minnie: Cat Army :minnie:

shame on an IGA posted:

Western Sky Financial was a majestic thing, making $500 loans with a capitalized $350 origination fee and 342.9% APR

e: need more? Borrow $2500 for just 47 easy monthly payments of $294.46!!

So I guess when I joked to my wife that it was "going into debt with the Native American mob" I wasn't too far off.

MightyJoe36
Dec 29, 2013

:minnie: Cat Army :minnie:

Blue Footed Booby posted:

I've literally told these people "sorry, I don't buy truck meat." Haven't seen them in years, though. You've made me all nostalgic.

Same here. Haven't seen it since I worked in a gas station 40 years ago.

MightyJoe36
Dec 29, 2013

:minnie: Cat Army :minnie:

Proteus Jones posted:

Plus, everyone knows those hidden camera ones on news programs are totally staged for *reasons*.

MightyJoe36
Dec 29, 2013

:minnie: Cat Army :minnie:

Zodijackylite posted:

I'm able to understand the appeal of most of these scams - they appeal to some urge to win now, get the better of a situation, or misrepresent what they're selling. I honestly can't figure out what urge could possibly make people buy meat from a van.

Can't find it on YouTube right now, but there was a Seinfeld episode where he buys his dad one of those electronic organizers that at the time were really expensive. George tells him to tell his dad that he "got a deal" on it, and hint that it might be "hot." This really impresses the old man. "Look at this! Jerry got me a deal on it. It might even be stolen."

The thing that makes people buy Van Meat, Speakers, and other questionable stuff off a truck is the same thing that gets them to fall for stupid stuff like Nigerian scams - they want to think that they're smarter and/or a better negotiator than everybody else or they want to believe that they can get something for nothing.

People wonder why, in the year 2018, it's still almost impossible to buy a new car without going through a dealer and going through the whole "what would it take to put you in this car today" and "let me talk to my sales manager" bullshit. They tried the "no-haggle" car sales with Saturn in the 1990s and the company ended up folding.

The majority of car buyers want it that way. They want to go into a dealer and pretend that they're a great "horse trader" and then brag to their buddies how they out-negotiated the sales guy and "got a deal." Same thing with Van Meat.

MightyJoe36
Dec 29, 2013

:minnie: Cat Army :minnie:

Collateral Damage posted:

I canceled my land line years ago.

I would have, but it comes bundled with my cable/internet. My land line number is the one I give out when I don't want people to call me.

MightyJoe36
Dec 29, 2013

:minnie: Cat Army :minnie:

BiggerBoat posted:

Further, for the most part, they get to decide who the "biggest acts" are.

Which is why you get a new artist with a unique sound and after their first "breakout" hit they end up sounding like every other top 40 artist.

MightyJoe36
Dec 29, 2013

:minnie: Cat Army :minnie:
Guess I hit the jackpot. Got this in my inbox this morning:

quote:


Greetings [MightyJoe36],

Our fast enlarging organization is in search of a Business Correspondence Corrector who's going to be fluent in English to assist in interaction with our foreign clients. Your duties are to examine our business textual content data as well as modifying sentence structure mistakes.

This kind of work is going to take just about 1-2 hours a day. You can do it throughout your spare time period.

Salary:

$5 per 1 Kilobytes. (which is approximately 1025 symbols of basic text).

This particular letter is approximately 1 Kb in size.

So, this will boost your salary up to $2,500 per month.

Necessary abilities:

- Country of residence: us.
- A Windows or mac based laptop or computer.
- Attention to detail.
- Past experience in interpretation or proofreading .
- Optimistic, result driven.
- Video interpretation knowledge is a plus.


For further details, reply to this e-mail with the following info:

- Your name (first and last)

- Country and region

MightyJoe36
Dec 29, 2013

:minnie: Cat Army :minnie:

Wrex Ruckus posted:

Got a text from a local area code number that says "Sorry, I can't talk right now. Call back later."

Is this a scammer looking for a bite or is my number being spoofed?

My guess is a scammer looking to see if it's a good number. I get "ghost" voicemails on my landline daily which I'm sure are robocalls.

MightyJoe36
Dec 29, 2013

:minnie: Cat Army :minnie:
Got this one this morning. No I didn't leave out my name, it was addressed just like this:

quote:

Dear ,


A invoice for you will be available on this link in your account during next 3 days.

>>> http://chucktomasi.com/OO3VSTlaLYefQ/



Neeraj Singh


This email is generated automatically and is not monitored for responses.
If you have any questions or need assistance, please see our contact information
at Support or for Residential call 800-373-0106, for Business call 800-581-2876.

Adbot
ADBOT LOVES YOU

MightyJoe36
Dec 29, 2013

:minnie: Cat Army :minnie:

Asimov posted:

- Jehova's witnesses on Saturday knocking with annoying frequency. No thanks I am already familiar with TEH WATCHTOWER

- White-shirt mormon boys, trying to make that crucial step from bottom-feeding "brother" to pimp-rear end "Elder" via the virtue of missionary work. At least these guys are fairly honest and unassuming, but they keep coming back like a plague of locusts. I've heard that you can ask them to help you out with yardwork or whatever and they'll happily oblige (as Jesus would have) but I always just give them the hard pass. Maybe a smile and a wave if I see them biking around when I'm outside.
I just send these people on their way with a polite "no thanks." Although, back when I had annyoing neighbors next door, I sent the Jehova's Witnesses over there.

My wife, on the other hand, loves to grab her bible and debate these people with scripture until they get fed up and go away.

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • Post
  • Reply