View Full Version : what is the biggest scam you've ever been a victim of?
like the title says
share your stories of how you got scammed, and how much you were scammed out of
_Martyr_
08-15-2005, 12:19
When I was very young, about 12 or 13, I got my hands on one of those scratch-cards. The ones where you allways win. The prize was a trip to England, all I had to do was calll this number to claim my prize. Of course it was a premium number and I only realised after a few minutes on the phone. Didnt amount to all that much, but I was wiser thereafter. Growing up with the internet has now made me somewhat unscamable!
Can I interest any of you Gentlemen in penis extention pills? 100% natural, doctor aproved!
Or maybe you would help me smuggle some money out of Nigeria? All I need is a small payment from you to help me with the administrative costs!
No? Anyone?
~:cheers: ~D
Al Khalifah
08-15-2005, 12:30
I had to pay a £30 parking fine today. That was a complete scam.
English assassin
08-15-2005, 12:43
Organised religion . No contest
Templar Knight
08-15-2005, 12:49
'Free lunch' in a religious hall in my town, only to find out that you had to sign up to some weird club, so I left by the fire exit. :heart:
Biggest scam? Democracy I reckon.
Sjakihata
08-15-2005, 13:24
Probably when I was young, 6 years. My father showed me how he could EAT a raisin, and then - poof - he got the "same" raisin out of his ear ~;)
TonkaToys
08-15-2005, 13:24
An annoying one was when I went to Thailand (remember I am half Thai myself) to Bangkok. I wanted to see the Royal Barges, so I took a Tuk-Tuk (motorbike taxi thing) to the location of the museum.
The driver dropped me off at the entrance to the military base next door, rather than the museum. I went up to the gate and tried to speak to a guard, who a) probably couldn't speak English and b) looked bloody aggressive with his big rifle.
Anyway, out of no-where this very helpful chap appeared and said that the best way to the museum was to go by boat and that he would arrange it for a small fee - now I knew he would scalp me for a bit of cash but thought it would be easier than me bargaining with a boat-driver in pigeon Thai.
Well, I handed over about five quid, got in the boat and went about 5 metres around the corner to the museum! Yes, if I'd turned around and looked the other way, I could have spotted the entrance to the museum from the gates to the military base.
Durrrrrrr.
The Scourge
08-15-2005, 13:31
Probably getting involved in scientology when I was in my teens.Although it only took one meeting to realize that this was a dodgy cult .
All right ,so I lost 15 pounds ,but in strange way it was quite an interesting experience .Once I accepted the fact that it was a cult ,I sat back and enjoyed the rest of the week .
The Scourge
08-15-2005, 13:35
An annoying one was when I went to Thailand (remember I am half Thai myself) to Bangkok. I wanted to see the Royal Barges, so I took a Tuk-Tuk (motorbike taxi thing) to the location of the museum.
The driver dropped me off at the entrance to the military base next door, rather than the museum. I went up to the gate and tried to speak to a guard, who a) probably couldn't speak English and b) looked bloody aggressive with his big rifle.
Anyway, out of no-where this very helpful chap appeared and said that the best way to the museum was to go by boat and that he would arrange it for a small fee - now I knew he would scalp me for a bit of cash but thought it would be easier than me bargaining with a boat-driver in pigeon Thai.
Well, I handed over about five quid, got in the boat and went about 5 metres around the corner to the museum! Yes, if I'd turned around and looked the other way, I could have spotted the entrance to the museum from the gates to the military base.
Durrrrrrr.
Priceless ~:cheers:
TonkaToys
08-15-2005, 13:44
Probably getting involved in scientology ...
All right ,so I lost 15 pounds...
Sounds like a good diet!
Organised religion and ofcourse what is named, "The market and the democratic system of the West".
bmolsson
08-15-2005, 14:59
1. The check is in the mail...
2. Some of my friends are black...
3. I will just stick it in a little bit, and if you don't like it, I will pull it out again.....
Gawain of Orkeny
08-15-2005, 15:01
Without a doubt Social Security.
scooter_the_shooter
08-15-2005, 15:15
I was looking for lever action rifle to use on deer (I go out of state for rifle hunting because of the silly law) I saw Winchester 94 for 330 dollars; I thought "thats a good price" I handed my father my money (I am not old enough to buy them my self :embarassed: ) Any way the rifle is a scratched up POS It works good but it is not "pretty" like my other guns.....when I went to another local gun shop they had the exact same gun new for 300 dollars :furious3:
(the gun I had was used)
lancelot
08-15-2005, 15:31
British import duties.
You get a charge for the value of the imported item (fair enough) plus the handling charge in the country of origin!?!
Im sorry....are the handlers in america bringing the package personally?!?!?
How exactly can you charge import on something that isnt entering the country?
Proletariat
08-15-2005, 15:41
Any American who isn't mentioning income tax is kidding themselves.
Red Harvest
08-15-2005, 15:45
The U.S. Stock Market bubble. By far the biggest scam ever.
Al Khalifah
08-15-2005, 16:08
The National Health Service. I have used it 0 times in the past 3 years, yet I dread to think how much I have spent on it. Don't worry about me when I'm old please if it means I don't have to pay now. Just morphine me up and let me drift away, I promise my reletives won't sue.
Taffy_is_a_Taff
08-15-2005, 17:18
NHS: literally had to wait years to have a cyst removed (by which point it had become very infected and painful) and to have wisdom teeth removed (by which point my wisdom teeth had destroyed a perfectly healthy tooth by growing through into it at an angle).
Buying a car from a lying bastard: I liked the car asked all the right questions, got the right replies, it drove ok on the test drive. Didn't bother checking things out for myself as it was snowy and I trusted him as he's a mechanic. Got home checked it out in the garage: the seller had lied about almost everything. Bye bye a couple of thousand dollars. This almost went to court. Very nearly. I'm still tempted to pursue it.
I wish him all the worst.
Crazed Rabbit
08-15-2005, 17:27
^^You should go to court. Not only will it help you, but you'll be doing a service to humanity.
As for me...
Social Security. Curse you, FDR! (haven't started paying income taxes, yet)
And, as it so happens, we just got an email from a nigerian scammer about a rich relative who's left us 30% of $48m USD. The funny thing is, the relative had an Italian first name, and our last name is decididly Irish. Hmmm. Oh well, I plan to lead the scammer on a bit a la www.419eater.com .
Crazed Rabbit
Biggest scam I have been a victim of is a simple on compared to many of you: somebody stole my cyber-sword in that RuneScape game when I was like ten, ~D
Templar Knight
08-15-2005, 20:35
And, as it so happens, we just got an email from a nigerian scammer about a rich relative who's left us 30% of $48m USD. The funny thing is, the relative had an Italian first name, and our last name is decididly Irish. Hmmm. Oh well, I plan to lead the scammer on a bit a la www.419eater.com
that site is a great laugh ~D
Crazed Rabbit
08-15-2005, 21:32
I higly recommend the following tale o' scambaiting from the site:
A Road to Nowhere (http://www.419eater.com/html/martins_davis.htm)
Long, but hi-lar-ri-ous!
Crazed Rabbit
Tribesman
08-15-2005, 21:38
The government .
State school in Britain. It's not free, it's not particularly great, and it's full of idiots who aren't legally allowed to be kicked out however hard they try.
Templar Knight
08-15-2005, 22:23
I higly recommend the following tale o' scambaiting from the site:
A Road to Nowhere (http://www.419eater.com/html/martins_davis.htm)
Long, but hi-lar-ri-ous!
Crazed Rabbit
yea, lol, is that the one with the Arnold Swarzenager vocies? ~D
Gawain of Orkeny
08-15-2005, 22:25
RTW ~D
Evil_Maniac From Mars
08-15-2005, 22:32
Biggest scam I have been a victim of is a simple on compared to many of you: somebody stole my cyber-sword in that RuneScape game when I was like ten, ~D
No such thing as a cyber-sword on Runescape. ~D But someone scammed me out of a lava battlestaff. ~D
Al Khalifah
08-15-2005, 23:06
Runescape? Our company used to work in an office at the same complex as Jagex who make that - pretty much next to them. A scary bunch.
Evil_Maniac From Mars
08-15-2005, 23:22
Runescape? Our company used to work in an office at the same complex as Jagex who make that - pretty much next to them. A scary bunch.
I can believe that. How are they scary to you though?
Al Khalifah
08-15-2005, 23:28
Some of them looked like they were extras in the Matrix - that are now stuck in their costumes.
Evil_Maniac From Mars
08-15-2005, 23:45
I'd laugh if they went to work with replica Runescape armours. ~D
Evil_Maniac From Mars
08-16-2005, 00:19
I agree there. ~:cheers:
Goofball
08-16-2005, 00:21
When I was about 17 I was buying some hash from a guy on the street in downtown Toronto. I handed him my $$ and he handed me a little foil package that I discovered later held only a little chunk of black wax. I was bummed. My buddy and I had scrounged up our last $15 for that hash. The Doritos just didn't taste as good as they could have that night...
~:mecry:
Biggest scam? Democracy I reckon.
You're as cynical as I am about Democracy. Still it is our only real hope of having a say. I will be voting in our next month's election.
Biggest scam? The Islamic Republic of Iran.
TonkaToys
08-16-2005, 08:38
www.419eater.com[/url] .
Crazed Rabbit
Hey Crazed Rabbit, be careful not to give any personal details or to meet them... over here there have been reports of people being kidnapped or beaten up by the people that organise these scams... there is a metropolitan police website about how to report these guys if they give you things like contact phone numbers etc. Anyway a whole bunch of them were arrested recently in Nigeria.
Crazed Rabbit
08-16-2005, 17:49
Don't worry. I don't plan on meeting them, just tagging them along with a newly minted email address.
Crazed Rabbit
Papewaio
08-16-2005, 22:48
What is the biggest scam you've ever been a victim of?
3. I will just stick it in a little bit, and if you don't like it, I will pull it out again.....
Umm, these 'women' aren't from thailand are they? ~:cool:
Templar Knight
08-16-2005, 22:50
hmmm, im confused, what were they going to stick in you? ~:)
A.Saturnus
08-17-2005, 01:01
I entered a "disco" in Istanbul just to find out it was actually a brothel. It cost me money just to get out again.
TonkaToys
08-17-2005, 08:53
I entered a "disco" in Istanbul just to find out it was actually a brothel. It cost me money just to get out again.
At least that's what you told the police...
The Stranger
08-17-2005, 10:06
armed robery (sp?) but that isnt really a scam is it. just let's say the guy went home having nightmares. 10 guys jumping on him isnt really a pleasant thing. hmph he should have picked his victims more carefully
No such thing as a cyber-sword on Runescape. ~D But someone scammed me out of a lava battlestaff. ~D
~D Ok then it was a rune scimitar ~D
Where is ball (under cup) thing. :dizzy2: I was even younger then. :embarassed:
And Lutheran Church (sorry) ~:grouphug:
Azi Tohak
08-19-2005, 15:37
Supporting the UN, and most all of the USAs 'humanitarian' efforts. At least I do not believe the USA is scamming me on those efforts, but the people controlling the ones we are supposed to be helping (look at the PLO).
Azi
Bought an athlon XP3200+ processor on ebay. Turned out it was a hard overclocked XP2500+ and after working for a few months at 2.2GHz it now refuses to run most 3D applications at anything over 1.8GHz :(
Hurin_Rules
08-21-2005, 18:47
Christianity.
Snowhobbit
08-21-2005, 19:55
Food, no matter how much I eat I always I'm always hungry after 1-2 hours :help:
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