The more technology and communication progress, the more scams are thriving. It has become easier for scammers to reach potential victims and carry out their schemes. From phishing emails to fake online stores, there are countless ways that scammers can take advantage of people who are not cautious.

However, while it is always important to be wary of scams, it is also important to not jump to conclusions and assume that everything that seems too good to be true is a scam. It is important to do research and be cautious in order to avoid scams and find legitimate opportunities that you wouldn’t want to miss out on. Lots of people these days assume that everything online is basically a scam, which is why this Redditor wanted to know: “What do people think is a scam but they just don’t understand?” and people gave some great answers on this topic that might give you some really important insights.

#1

Declining pay rises because they think they’ll pay more in tax and their take home will be less than before the pay rise.

EDIT: The amount of comments claiming it has happened to them is really disturbing. Learn how your taxes work people .

Image credits: insane__knight

Prof. Robert Kerton, Former President of the American Council on Consumer Interests, gave us some important tips for noticing scams: “The most brilliant warning light flashes when the unexpected phone or online contact explains why you must not contact anyone about the issue. You are about to be scammed. That warning light ‘Do not contact anyone’ means you are at serious risk. Don’t hang around, hang up.

Often the caller has a tried-and-true way to frighten you into submission. A different strategy is a promise to get rich quick. Don’t ask questions: disconnect. Your questions are predictable. Scammers have effective tactics – based on their experience – designed to get you to provide cash, or access to your bank account. If you are habitually polite, say ‘No thank you’ and hang up.”

#2

We had a gal in the telco who was retiring under a surplus – meaning they would pay her so much for each year she worked, in addition to her pension. She turned the money down because she didn’t want her taxes to be too high. I didn’t know her and heard about it after she left. The Union guys tried to explain it but she just would not listen. I don’t know if she thought it was a scam but she didn’t trust the IRS

Image credits: ta0questi

#3

Travel Insurance.

It was great when they arranged all travel from overseas apartment to our house when child broke their ankle on an internship. Paid all of the our out of pocket expenses, including our deductibles/copays until child was functioning.

edit—we’re American

Image credits: EntrepreneurOk7513

We asked Redditor Balisto2222 (Twitch) what they think is a scam and why people think things that are not scams are: “From my understanding, a scam is an electronic or analog bait to fool people into trusting the baiter with valuables (information, money or whatever). People are either unfamiliar with the meaning of ‘scam’ or get suspicious too quickly.”

#4

My dad and online banking. You can check your balance, make transfers and even set up standing orders. “But my account will get hacked” is his response every single time.

Image credits: Malcolmpargin

#5

The stock market. Lots of people over worry about the short term, withdraw once it dips and never put back in. Never realizing the magic is in the long term

Image credits: dajadf

They also gave some advice for not falling for scams: “THINK. BEFORE. DOING. It’s the most effective way to not fall for scams or even receive scams in the first place. Mainly consider: 1) is there anything suspicious about the ‘scam’? (ex. any private information you need to enter, do you have to do something on an external medium like a website or download, etc.) 2) Where does the “scam” come from? (Do you know the issuer, is the issuer’s account/contact information legit, how long has it been active, etc.) 3) Is the motive of the bait itself suspicious in any way (too good to be true, simply unnecessary or excessive, etc.).

To prevent potential scams or any harmful threats towards you, simply don’t give away any contact information, whether on the internet or literally publicly. Sure, you may be contacted randomly by scammers at any point, but this would prevent any scam directly directed to you.”

#6

Therapy. People just can’t fathom that just talking to someone who is not involved directly in your life can really help with processing and resolving a problem. You only get out of it what you put in.

Image credits: eleanorabernathy1

#7

5G

Image credits: gluis11

The Redditor also shared if they think scams will become more prominent: “Obviously as technology and insights about human behavior evolve there will be more and more scams that work in favor of the issuer utilizing those insights and technologies.”

#8

Vaccines and vaccination.
Not me, but those who are anti vaccination really have no understanding of virology, immunology, epidemiology or how to assess relative risk. They probably fall into many of the other things that they “think is a scam but they don’t understand.”

Image credits: dead_jester

#9

For a depressing amount of the UK: the EU.

Image credits: Applepieoverdose

They also shared some of the more popular scams they’ve noticed: “Probably did, likely forgot, if I’m being honest. At least, as I have been actively moderating on Discord for the past 1.5 years, I’ll list off a couple examples of more subtle scams there, put as many as you wish in the article:

– Discord Nitro scam: someone from your friend list DMs you a gifted subscription to Discord Nitro, the link leading to a fake site that steals your login info once input and then uses your account to scam other people on your own friend list.

– Playtesting scam: Someone sends you a file or a link to a file, asking you politely to playtest the supposed game that, when run, hijacks your account, steals your information and uses all to further scam others.

– Steam report scam: by far the most popular scam lately, works by someone DMing you a fake screenshot of your account apparently scamming them, then telling you that they mass reported your account on Steam, if you believe them and continue talking the scammer leads you to another account of a supposed Steam moderator who sends you a link that gives them access to all your data if clicked.

– Cryptocurrency scam: widely popular on the internet and exists on Discord as well. Some account DMs you that you won some cryptocurrency and leads you to some external website or Discord server with an external verification process that hijacks your account and information.”

#10

Some members of my family think internet providers are scammers because they pay for 400mbps download and think they will get 400mbps download on each device even if someone is watching Netflix or downloading at the same time on another computer.

Image credits: themalaki

#11

My dad and step mom once freaked the f**k out because the census was at our door. They said, “she doesnt have a marked car. It’s a scam” she had a badge and clipboard. Then my psycho step mom proceeded to get mad at me for opening the door. For the census.

Image credits: anon

#12

There was a time when my parents thought buying stuff online and paying with a credit card it’s a scam, took me a while to convince them that if you know which sites are good to order from and which are bad, you can actually avoid scams.

Image credits: TheDarkGrenadeX

#13

Nuclear power, people are generally concerned about the pollution it causes when in reality the radioactive waste from a nuclear power plant has a relatively low impact on the environment, especially when compared to the fallout of more resource heavy nuclear weapons

Image credits: wesqwik

#14

The repair industry. I worked in home repair, small engine repair and computer repair shops years ago. A lot of people expected us to just fix things for free. Others would take it as an insult when we would quote prices or ask to be paid for a job. Send a bill and some people would ask why or what is this. Ask us why we were ripping them off even though the bill was itemized and the price was discussed before hand. It was a horrible industry to work in because of they way people are.

Image credits: barvoues

#15

In some cases, DLC for games.

I play a fair amount of fighting games, and its a bit annoying when people see a game with alot of DLC and immediately assume the game is trying to scam them.

When a developer is supporting a game, of course they’re gonna want to add more characters to it. Its one of the easiest ways the drum up hype, mix up the gameplay, and bring some more variety to the game. If a game is supported *for awhile*, then of course, its gonna get alot of DLC. This mostly bothers me with BBTAG cause characters are sold in packs of 3 that cost as much as single characters in other games. “Wow, look! this game has half the roster as DLC!” yeah, characters are re-used assets so they were released in bulk after launch.

There definitely are fighters that tried to scam people with DLC (Dead or Alive 6, SFxT, MvC:I, Marvel 3. Capcom’s pretty bad for this in general) but it bothers me when people associate ‘alot of DLC’ with ‘they’re scamming us.’

Image credits: Bladebrent

#16

Buying a beginning band instrument, then buying a step-up instrument within a couple of years

Image credits: anon

#17

Airline / Hotel / Credit Card rewards. They take a lot of time and a 100% commitment to never, ever carrying a balance, but you can definitely earn a lot of rewards even without playing the churning games. The Flyertalk.com community is amazing for anyone wanting to get started.

Image credits: drunkenlout

#18

Veterinary care.

People don’t understand that I can’t just dispense certain medications without seeing the patient first. Some of these medications could cause fatalities or worsen the situation if used/prescribed wrong!

Image credits: Camachoan

#19

The air in bag of chips.

Image credits: gambit_-

#20

CareCredit. People always think vet offices tell you to apply to “our credit cards” so you can pay your bill because we don’t offer payment plans. It is not just for vet hospitals but any medical service. You get 6 months 0% interest for whatever amount you are approved for and it is an outside company. Vet hospitals don’t usually offer payment plans bc people don’t pay and then they get sent to collections. We can’t afford to not have income. Ask anyone who works at a clinic and I bet you they are getting by paycheck yo paycheck. Even DVMs aren’t making much considering they graduate with just as much student loans as an MD.

Image credits: pdxvettech

#21

In the US, universal healthcare ?

Image credits: phantalien

#22

School

Image credits: Mars2k21

#23

I know I’m late to the party on this comment. But in America the sad answer is this is how people are stating to look at unions. People saying “I don’t wanna pay union dues every month” even though my dues cost me less then 2 hours of work a month and my wage is more then double what I would be making non union and that doesn’t count the benefits that aren’t even supplied to non union guys in this trade.

Image credits: Bayareairon

#24

NASA, physics and anything about the earth being round

Image credits: ExplodingFoam

#25

Paying to publish. Roughly 3-5% of thousands of people a year who search for agents when trying to get a book published from a traditional publisher are accepted. When musicians try to create an album, they have to usually pay to use a studio, have someone market it for them, and edit the song. Why is publishing seen as any different? Everyone expects to be paid for their book, when in reality, you have to pay someone to even take a glance at it, let alone give you any worth while feedback.

Image credits: Alteroth

#26

Costco employees when they try to get you to buy the higher higher membership when youre checking out. It actually saves you money and pay for itself if you get enough of the 2% back.

#27

Socialized Healthcare, apparently. “but I’m not sick and I don’t wann apay for other people and never use it” blah blah blah. You could fall flat on your face and second and need 500 bucks worth of stitches and painkillers. You can get run over at no fault of your own. You can have a fricking aneurysm. Getting regular checkups is even gonna bring your premiums down, the insurance would rather pay 50-100 for a yearly dental checkup than 15k in prosthetics because all your teeth rotted out because you didn’t see anyone in 10 years.

Why is the concept of socialism so scary to some Americans? What’s so bad about it? Being able to rely on the community? If I get sick, I don’t bankrupt myself. If I lose my job, I won’t lose my home and can still live a frugal, but dignified life.

I would rather live a life with a lot of security and all the same options than a life with 0 security but “mah freedomz”. Medical debt bankruptcy is not freedom.

#28

Berea college. It’s the only college in America that guarantees 0$ in tuition for every accepted student. When people hear that, they immediately think it’s some kind of scam.

#29

My mom with any online retailer she always goes on a huge rant when i want to buy something online about how “Those websites will steal your bank info and take your money”

i know there are sketchy websites that do that but I only use ones that i KNOW are trustworthy like “Amazon, Target, Walmart, BestBuy, i don’t trust eBay not for the site but for the people on it

you could buy a new controller and get a bootleg i don’t use eBay and wish it’s not about my information it’s about the product some things are just advertised as really good but turn out to be really cheap but my mom always rants about my information being stolen when all i want is to buy a PS5 on target ?

#30

Taxes for the rich!

#31

Pet insurance. Everyone freaks out because you have to pay for the services up front and then the insurance pays you back. Everyone I’ve talked to won’t get it because “they won’t pay me back!” Or “If I have to pay up front anyway, what’s the point?” Look, when Fido gets cancer and needs chemo…you’re going to be thrilled you will be getting that $6k back (or whatever it is).

We have a Boxer, and they are known for cancer. My first one actually did die of cancer. So, every year we have to pay for a physical and cancer screening. It’s pricy, about $600 bucks. However, I get that money back every single time. Plus I have the reassurance that, if she gets sick, I’m covered.

I highly recommend pet insurance.

#32

Everyone keeps telling me the Nigerian prince that’s been messaging me for the last week and a half is a scammer but they just don’t understand our love.

#33

Modern medicine. Like Cleetus, we just want you to not spread COVID, it isn’t gonna make you gay.

Image credits: Tish-of3Marys

#34

Insurance. It’s weird to pay for something that you hope not to use.

Image credits: Some-Basket-4299

#35

Harbor freight tools. Sure they are cheap and probably poorly made, but for $100 I got a power washer. Do you know how much joy a power washer can bring someone?

Neighbor is washing his car with a hose looking like a fool.

Image credits: Fuck_You_Downvote

#36

Higher pay rates for union trade labor.

Image credits: JSanzi

#37

Investing in $GME

All shorts have to cover (they have not) and Gamestop is revolutionizing their business model and team! Extremely bright future ahead!

Edit 1: They have also cleared all their long term debt and have much cash on hand which is a great thing!

Edit 2: Unfortunately, the media has painted Gamestop as a “poor investment choice”, *contrary* to all the fundamentally good things about this company. The data also strongly suggests that the institutional players who are betting against Gamestop are not abiding to the regulations.

Image credits: Difficult_Success801

#38

Buying software/plugins/music. It can seem very expensive for something that you cant hold in your hands.

#39

Wearing a mask

#40

In the UK, student loans. Most know they are incredibly favourable, but I still see some talking about how bad they are. There is a minimum wage bracket to pay them back, you are only charged a percentage of the amount over the bracket you earn. For example if it were 10%, and bracket was £200, and you earn £220, you only pay £2. And the entire loan gets written off after 30 years.

Yes some people pay £300+ a month, but that’s when they are earning over £100,000 a year. If their earnings stop or go down, so do the payments.

#41

Endless bread at the steakhouse. They get you with the free bread.

#42

Selling the Eiffel Tower. But on a serious note. Higher tax brackets and thinking they save money by not doing overtime

#43

Making two purchases. Everyone I know thinks they’re going to pay more tax if they make two purchases, rather than two items in a single purchase.

It boggles my mind that they dont understand when I try to explain that “14% of $20, twice, is the same as 14% of $40”

#44

Wine. I work as a sommelier. Outside of the wine industry, on reddit, and other places.. you constantly hear people talk about the study where the “experts” are fooled by cheap wine, etc. Most of these “studies” are done at universities, with inexpensive wines.. and people who are not really experts. In general, more expensive wines are a lot better.. but are also a lot rarer. There are of course exceptions ‘cheap wines’ which are fantastic. These are rarer, because as a wine gets a reputation for being good, the demand increases. With the famous/rare wines, there is more competition for them. Chateau Lafite, for example, can only produce so much wine –the buyers at first were only the French (and the British and other Europeans), when the Americans started buying it and there was more demand the price had to climb, when the Chinese started buying it the price could only go up. Lafite cannot just produce more Lafite. So the price for a wine like this has to climb exponentially with the increased demand, and the globalisation of wealth. In particular we have the conspicuous consumption of ‘European’ goods, Chanel can make more handbags, but Lafite cannot produce more Lafite.

Then we have the problem of wine in restaurants being a different price to what you see at the supermarket. Depending on the location, (or in America) the State, you might have very different taxes/laws between bottleshops and restaurants, and the wine may legally need to come from different suppliers. Restaurants tend to not be able to buy in as large of a bulk, etc. Further with a restaurant the extra cost is that the wine is “guaranteed”, if it is corked/off.. the restaurant will provide a new bottle. The waiter/somm will be trained (to at least some degree) and know what wines they have and help you pick one that goes with what you are eating. With this you get glass service, decanting, etc. All of this equals a higher cost at a restaurant than a bottleshop. It is not a “scam”, but it is a bit like eating a steak at a restaurant and going ‘oh, I can buy meat at the butcher for less’.. of course you can!

#45

A bed that costs 2 grand.

F*****g life changing.

#46

Credit card points. Literally free money if you have an ounce of discipline.

#47

Imprinting on checks at the cash register. So much faster than writing it out.

#48

Invigaron– a business opportunity as rare as the albani berries themselves.

#49

My ex told me bitcoin was a scam in 2013

#50

Tiered tax rates

#51

The stock market

#52

Protection plans IF purchasing notoriously fragile “[planned obsolescence](https://ift.tt/5H6avUl” sorts of tech products, like inkjet printers or headphones/earbuds.

#53

USPS

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