Have You Ever Fallen for a Scam, and if So, What's The Most Embarrassing Scam That You've Fallen for?

freekay on 28/11/2024 - 08:17
Last edited 28/11/2024 - 10:23 by 1 other user

I've seen a number of forum posts popping up about people getting swindled/hoodwinked/heckin' bamboozled, and I wondered how many more of us have been artfully dodged?

I'll start:

Back in the wild west days of eBay (where money transfers to a bank account was a legitimate payment option) I purchased a copy of Windows Vista (Ultimate) and paid the seller through bank transfer.

Not sure if I'm more embarrassed about the bank transfer, or paying for Vista (Ultimate, no less). Anyway, needless to say the item never arrived and the seller disappeared. Filed a police report but I've yet to hear from them (it's been 84 years).

Poll Options

  • 251
    No, I've never fallen for a scam, ever
  • 234
    I've been scammed once
  • 46
    I've been scammed multiple times
  • 5
    I'm literally a walking target because I fall for scams all the time
  • 11
    I'm the scammer lol
Financial Scam

Comments

    • mini2 on 28/11/2024 - 13:41

      ASIC annual review fee is legit though?

      • Homr on 28/11/2024 - 13:47

        yes but the invoice was a fake and with scammers BSB and account number.

  • rave75 on 28/11/2024 - 12:45
    +9

    I got swindled renting an airbnb.

    • montorola on 28/11/2024 - 14:34
      +9

      I take it you dealt directly with the host instead of via airbnb?

      "pay outside, stay outside" LOL

  • Tiredman on 28/11/2024 - 13:00
    +1

    The usual don't lend money if you are not prepared to flush it down the toilet. Small sum but still..

    • SlickMick on 29/11/2024 - 11:06
      +1

      Oh yeah I've fallen for that too. lol I voted "never scammed" but as I read this thread I realise I have a few times.

  • apple2016 on 28/11/2024 - 13:16
    +1

    nigerian princess

    • freekay on 28/11/2024 - 13:18
      +2

      As in you are one, or did you get scammed by one?

  • geekcohen on 28/11/2024 - 13:21
    +3

    Not me, but my mother in law who could not be told.

    She was called by someone at "the bank" who convinced her to install a remote/screenshare app on her phone and log into her bank account. They could then see her account details and withdrew money from those accounts. She never told us how much, but we believe it was under $2k.

    She is now on the scam hit list getting calls and emails from all sorts of people. She doesn't answer calls she doesn't know, but they just keep changing their number and calling and calling and calling.

    She cannot be told.

  • tenpercent on 28/11/2024 - 13:42
    +2

    I used to think voting for my preferred choice of Pepsi vs Coke would make a difference to the direction the country is heading. But I have later realised they're almost identical and that they vote in unison on all the important Bills that shape the direction the country is headed, for better and worse.

    • freekay on 28/11/2024 - 13:46
      +2

      I have news for you if you think voting for Mountain Dew is going to make any difference either…

      • mrdean on 28/11/2024 - 13:58
        -3

        MD is a Pepsi-Co brand. Sorta like The Greens are owned by Labor.

  • barge-in hunter on 28/11/2024 - 13:53
    +4

    Late one night while half asleep, I found a "further 50% off Superdry" deal post right at the top of the 'new deals' page here on OzBargain… you know, listed in the last 60 seconds.

    The URL was pretty close to the official site so I went ahead and bought some stuff. It wasn't until I got the push notification from my CC app listed as <insert random company name here> that I realised it was a fake site.

    Luckily that's the only time for me. It's not OzB or the moderators fault - they just didn't have time to pull the deal before I'd already clicked on it. It was pulled down shortly after with some random reason given - would be good to warn people though with something like "suspected scam" or something

  • Caped Baldy on 28/11/2024 - 13:53
    +3

    Sigh, I had been good. Got a call from Binance saying my account was breached and to transfer out some crypto to a secure wallet while they investigated. Fortunately, not my life savings but a decent chunk.

    They somehow managed to spoof one of Binance's email address.

    • rumblytangara on 29/11/2024 - 07:58
      +2

      Last time I checked ten years ago, spoofing an email address was a one line command.

      Literally anyone hosting an email server could do it.

      • knk on 29/11/2024 - 12:07
        +3

        Kinda different now.

        Ten years ago the standard was really just to use SPF (sender policy framework) and it was generally loosely enforced or configured incorrectly across 99% of servers to the point that most mail servers / platforms didn't really give too much of a shit.

        Now days, if you're using a modern email platform / unless your IT team is useless you'll have all your emails signed with DKIM and have dmarc rules on who can / can't send from your domain.

        These allow us to verify that the sender was binance.com with absolute certainty, but you still need your email service to be dmarc compliant / enforced.

        Most of these spams where emails are "spoofed" are far from it. Most of the ones I see lately are just "Binance Accounts team - <[email protected]> ", which is technically fine because anyone can call themselves binance accounts team and unrelateddomain.com has spf/dmarc/dkim setup properly.

        It's like me sending a letter pretending I'm you, except in this case it literally has the address it came from and it's incorrect.

  • Bignudge on 28/11/2024 - 14:08
    +4

    1. I was contacted by a man claiming to be from the Police magazine of some sort. He was asking me to pay to have my business advertised in that magazine and said that the funds go towards charity and to the families of the "boys in blue". The dude spoke perfect Australian english and sounded like a real cop. I nearly paid but only stopped after realising that this same dude called 4 times that day and was very pushy.

    2. I had a man come to buy a concrete saw for $700 and offered to bank transfer. He did the bank transfer infront of me and I saw the Commonwealth green tick so I let him go. My instincts made me take a photo of his licence before he left. All in all, he did a scheduled transfer instead and cancelled it afterwards. I made a police report, they came to his house, he said he intended to pay but now the machine is broken. The cops said it was a civil issue and also now my issue to organise to get the machine returned now. Of course the dude never returned it and never saw my money either.

    3. Went to Vietnam and got totally ripped off buying snacks off the street in the district 1 area. I always felt preyed upon my entire trip trip.

    4. As a kid I went to the sunday markets and bought a Noctua PC fan for cheap. When I got home and opened the box, it was actually someone's old PC fan that they put back in the new box…. I was so hurt :'(

    • Diesmile on 28/11/2024 - 17:26
      +1

      "I was contacted by a man claiming to be from the Police magazine of some sort. He was asking me to pay to have my business advertised in that magazine and said that the funds go towards charity and to the families of the "boys in blue". The dude spoke perfect Australian english and sounded like a real cop. I nearly paid but only stopped after realising that this same dude called 4 times that day and was very pushy."

      i had this phone call a few weeks, he was asking about 2k donation, after declining, he said he can lower it to 400 and pay in 4 months. i refused although i felt a bit bad, not very good to say no to charity.

      • Bignudge on 28/11/2024 - 20:13

        I very specifically remember the dude saying "but think of the kids man…" fml these people are good at what they do

    • SlickMick on 29/11/2024 - 11:13
      +2

      is #1 a scam? I used to get that call regularly… it seemed too weird to be fake. Glad I was stingy so said no.

    • R-Man on 30/11/2024 - 10:06

      he said he intended to pay but now the machine is broken

      "ah now that you've said these magic words, this theft has become a civil matter. understandable, have a nice day."
      Feel like I've unlocked a new shortcut to make $700

      • Bignudge on 30/11/2024 - 16:33

        Right on the money there. The second he said that he "intended to pay for it" and "attempted" to do so… it's a civil issue now.

  • mtishi on 28/11/2024 - 14:16
    +3

    Few days ago, found a very cheap Steam Deck OLED on eBay by a reputable scammer, few days later, some guy leaves a review detailing how this is a scam. Apparently, they wait for you to not receive the item, and when you open an Item Not Delivered, they add a fake tracking number with the same postcode, automatically tricking eBay into siding with the seller, and as eBays policies on Buyer Protection only mention that postcode needs to match, you lose the appeal as well. Currently have my Item Not Delivered claim open and just waiting for him to play out this scam, hopefully a miracle happens and I win the dispute but yeah be careful of this one.

    • dwarves on 02/12/2024 - 05:32

      What’s a “reputable scammer”?

      • mtishi on 03/12/2024 - 14:30

        meant seller but I guess it works lol

  • Gina Rinehart on 28/11/2024 - 14:26
    +12

    Someone said they would trim my rune armour but logged out when I traded them

    • Buwwy on 28/11/2024 - 17:13

      Oh this brings me back.. the amount of trauma that gave me back then lol

    • guppyshmuck on 29/11/2024 - 13:03
      +1

      It was a dark day in Gielinor

    • R-Man on 30/11/2024 - 19:37

      Bad luck Gina :(

    • rezdo on 02/12/2024 - 08:30

      Don't worry Gina, I got lured into the red portal with my 3rd-age melee and drygores, it's a right of passage for many seasoned adventurers.

  • WastedWombat on 28/11/2024 - 14:36
    +4

    When I was a really young kid, I came across someone on Maplestory who said they could dupe my items FOR FREE because they just had found this glitch.

    So I gave them all my best items… and they said "ok brb"

    So I waited for them to come back online and I kept checking. But they never came back with my items..

    • johnno07 on 29/11/2024 - 02:40

      A similar scheme in Runescape was the first, and so far last, time I was scammed. A valuable lesson was learnt for the cost of a virtual Santa hat.

  • Shane043 on 28/11/2024 - 14:52
    +1

    Voting for the Labor Party

    • Ghost47 on 28/11/2024 - 20:56
      +5

      Albo before the election: "We don't support the LNP's mass migration policy, we should train locals for jobs."
      Albo after the election: Imports 500k people per year, more locals ending up homeless

    • cashless on 28/11/2024 - 21:48
      +8

      Assuming that ScoMo was only the PM when he secretly held ministerial positions for about 5 other portfolios

    • bulletmark on 29/11/2024 - 08:00
      +1

      Like the US, we have a single uni-party now so how you vote is irrelevant.

      • warkolm on 29/11/2024 - 09:35

        preferential voting doesn't work like that

        • Protractor on 29/11/2024 - 10:41

          US voting doesn't work at all

        • Shane043 on 29/11/2024 - 11:33
          +2

          Still cartel like in the way they function.

      • Ghost47 on 02/12/2024 - 13:13

        More people need to realise this. Labor has really showed how it is with what they’ve done the past couple of years. Both parties are hell bent on serving their corporate donors at the expense of everyday Australians.

    • Protractor on 29/11/2024 - 10:31
      +1

      Voting

  • FlyingMiffy on 28/11/2024 - 14:56
    +3

    Ebay. Was hoping to get a copy of Metal Gear Solid on the Playstation. Went to a bank branch to deposit the money… no game, police report and 50 bucks gone. That was a lot of money for a kid who got paid 5 bucks a day at Target over Xmas for work experience…

    • m2pic on 30/11/2024 - 08:33

      Got my PS chipped and picked up MGS in Malaysia for $5. Never heard of the game. Came back and played it…3 months later it launched in Australia. It was so big it had 2 discs. Ahhh I miss the black PS game discs.

  • Qazxswec on 28/11/2024 - 15:20
    +11

    I was onced asked if i would wait 8 minutes for fresh angus patties for my 2 Classic Angus burgers, waited the 8 minutes, got home, no patty on either burger.

    • johnno07 on 29/11/2024 - 02:43
      +1

      This is absolutely heartbreaking.

    • Loopholio on 29/11/2024 - 09:21

      Those absolute crunts!

  • Camelface on 28/11/2024 - 15:26
    +8

    Being a vegan, I had no choice but to eat $30 rocket salad at the pub. I thought that was a scam.

    • souljah on 29/11/2024 - 09:11
      +4

      Basically $30 for them to move 6 uneaten side salads from the "steak, chips and salad" plates coming back from other customers. Genius.

  • buy swap sell on 28/11/2024 - 15:27
    +2

    I am still waiting for my sea monkeys to arrive after sending in a coupon from a magazine when i was a kid.

    • Loopholio on 29/11/2024 - 09:23

      The Sea Monkeys I bought as a kid worked well. Such a scam, but the tiny shrimps are cool.

  • PerthMan96 on 28/11/2024 - 16:02
    +1

    when i was young i nearly fell for a fake skype nudity scam where they get a nude photo of you and all your Facebook friends names and demand you send them money or they release the video…. Cant imagine how many other young boys who are curious get this wake up call. i think it was in the news recently as a trend again sadly. From memory i told them it was illegal what they where doing and blocked them but i had extreme stress until i figured it would not be shared and was just for money. Some nigerian or indian has nudes of me as a child which sucks tho….

    • sam-1966 on 28/11/2024 - 17:23
      +1

      That one still goes around, along with the 'we have screenshots of you watching porn'…

      Sad thing I read recently was about a teenage boy paying and paying and still getting threatened committed suicide because he was so worried about what his family would think.

      • Some Human on 28/11/2024 - 17:49

        I wouldn’t have known about that scam if it wasn't for black mirror. Lucky by the time i got the email, I had seen the show. Though I would rather they show the video than hand over my money, knowing there was nothing to stop them coming back and asking for more.

        • PerthMan96 on 29/11/2024 - 13:17
          +1

          Damn that episode gave me nightmares, until that episode, i thought i was like the only Human to ever get that scam, then i was like ( THAT HAPPENED TO ME, and now i can openenly talk about it to warn others) thankfully when i was young i just turned the Computer off and prayed it was just fake but gosh it stressed me out, obvioudly if you pay them the $500, they will then keep asking for more and more and more. I love how BM shows those wase case scenarios of very real life issues in past or present

          • rashido on 30/11/2024 - 12:09

            @PerthMan96: Definitely a horrible scam especially when it happens to kids since it has lead to suicides. It's scary how fast it can happen and how much pressure the scammer can pile onto someone in a short period of time. Great job for sharing your story with others!

      • PerthMan96 on 29/11/2024 - 13:18
        +1

        thats very sad, i certainly felt like the world was over with the threats they made , they got the worlds fastest copy paste of everyone on my facebook friends list to suggest they would show them all the video

      • R-Man on 30/11/2024 - 19:39

        I am aware your passphrase is 12345

    • try2bhelpful on 29/11/2024 - 13:20
      +1

      put tape over your PC camera. Unfortunately a lot of girls are caught as well, including the ones where their boyfriend hassles her until she gives him something then he spreads it amongst his friends. Completely vile way to behave.

  • foxmulder on 28/11/2024 - 16:08

    I almost fell for Elon Musk inviting free one Bitcoin for one Bitcoin invested scam.

  • hopper on 28/11/2024 - 16:18
    +13

    i tried to scam my wife before marriage by making her believe i'm not lazy, After getting married I realised she has a master degree in being lazy :(

  • buy swap sell on 28/11/2024 - 16:43

    Ebay scams are common where they send empty or fake parcels with tracking. I always video opening parcels now and also video packing parcels as potential evidence

    I always use PayPal for safety but PayPal bases disputes on tracking parcels. Have has a couple of transactions from china using fake tracking numbers which show delivered. They are getting better at scams now.

    • Some Human on 28/11/2024 - 17:50
      +1

      Get better at looking at feedback before you buy. If a deal seems too good to be true, it probably is.

    • illogicalerror on 29/11/2024 - 07:44

      I only buy off stores who sell on eBay now. Too many dramas, would rather not have a deal than trade with dodgy Joe Schmoe

    • DiscoJango on 02/12/2024 - 19:50
      -3

      Who even uses ebay anymore.

  • dfg555 on 28/11/2024 - 17:08
    +3

    during the early days of ledger i accidentally leaked my passphrase on a site that was claiming to require a verification before being able to transfer funds from my wallet.dat to a ledger, sadly lost now worth more than most modern houses.

  • ratbag on 28/11/2024 - 17:23

    Marriage

    • Miss B on 29/11/2024 - 06:48

      I watched people fall for that scam when I was a kid and knew to avoid it.

  • gromit on 28/11/2024 - 17:37
    +1

    never fallen for one, though I came close when young and travelling in Europe. guy stops car near me why walking in London and gets out and offers me free leather jackets as he works as a designer and doesn't want to take the jackets back to France with him. After showing me them all comes the catch, you can have all these (about 5) as long as you pay for my flight home, only 300 pounds and you get these jackets worth thousands. I immediately got suspicious but it was a great deal, but then I read one of the tags. Leatherette and immediately realise what the scam was.

    • Loopholio on 29/11/2024 - 09:29
      +1

      I had some crackhead try to sell me some designer boots she had in a plastic bag. At least your guy tried a bit harder.

    • dirtybigbjelke on 29/11/2024 - 14:19

      I was washing my car mid-week in Werribee and a guy in a rented Subaru (Hertz Sticker) with a thick possibly fake Italian accent circled the carwash twice then pulled up and tried the same scam on me.

      I have had the tradies trying to sell left over home theatre scam tried on me a bit as well.

  • Yiddos on 28/11/2024 - 17:43
    +4

    If gross profiteering and price gouging from multi billion companies is considered a scam, then yes, i'm gullible.

  • try2bhelpful on 28/11/2024 - 18:38

    Fortunately haven’t fallen for too many but it is hilarious when someone tries to pull a well known one on you. Personally i’m affronted they can’t even be imaginative enough to try something new.

    We were almost pickpocketed in Venice so do watch out for the overly helpful strangers.

    The trouble is a lot of legitimate companies do things like put links in emails.Then they gave the temerity to lecture us about scams.

  • ginormousgiraffe on 28/11/2024 - 19:12
    +2

    Some guy told me that he would double my money. Pretty costly scam to be honest, got me for about 50k.

    • pufffdragon on 28/11/2024 - 20:11

      Ouch!

    • CommuterPolluter on 28/11/2024 - 21:06
      +1

      back to grinding willows in draynor village

      • rezdo on 02/12/2024 - 08:32

        only a thousand hours picking flax.

        • CommuterPolluter on 02/12/2024 - 10:51

          loool I remember a girl from school didn’t have membership, she was grinding cows for rune

    • Protractor on 29/11/2024 - 10:34
      +1

      Pre karma for stealing a parking space?

  • Duggo3729 on 28/11/2024 - 19:25
    +4

    Agreed to buy PS gift card on Facebook marketplace at a discount. Idiotically did bank transfer, as soon as it went through the dude vanished and blocked me and deleted his account.

    Felt so terrible and ashamed I fell for it.

    Never again. My bank couldn’t do anything.

  • CommuterPolluter on 28/11/2024 - 21:04
    +6

    First time abroad as a young man, visited China. Took a rickshaw from train station to the hotel. He said “50”. I knew 50 RMB was overpriced for a short trip but it was cold. We arrive and I hand him a 200 RMB note. He starts getting mad yelling about 50 USD. Never got the change from my 200 RMB.

  • infringement payer on 28/11/2024 - 21:54
    +1

    Well once I was buying a Saradomin Kite shield for a price that was so good on Runescape but they stopped the trade and swapped it for a mithril kite on the trade screen but in my haste I was spamming trade and got scammed :c.

    • freekay on 28/11/2024 - 23:44

      the ol' uno reverse card scam

    • illogicalerror on 29/11/2024 - 15:58

      Had the same things done to me… ole bait and switch. xD

  • Dalton on 28/11/2024 - 22:16
    +7

    HDMI cable at JB Hi-Fi.

  • bigbadboogieman on 28/11/2024 - 22:30

    Lost $1100 in crypto trading.

  • hasher22 on 28/11/2024 - 22:40

    Once, in eBay when the iPhone 2g came out in 2005/6 in USA and I really really really really wanted one so bad. I think Australia got the 3G version and USA had the 2g version first.

    One seller was selling it and I jumped on it without thinking it may be a scam. Around $500 later, received the phone and it was a fake Chinese knockoff.

    Mind you, this is when eBay protection and PayPal wasn't really a thing in 2005/6…. I disputed it, didn't get my money back as it was a legit transaction…

    Oh well. Funny enough, I never used an iPhone since then….. Android all the way

    • CommuterPolluter on 29/11/2024 - 21:35

      Sounds like you’ve never used an iPhone at all… lol…

      • hasher22 on 29/11/2024 - 21:50

        I used to work for Optus, I know my way around an iPhone and need to learn it to educate customers.

        I was just eager for the iPhone when it first launched cause it was the first mass produced touch screen to hit public…… this is when my workmate showed me the ipod touch

        • CommuterPolluter on 29/11/2024 - 22:26

          Just poking fun at that last sentence haha.

          The iPod touch was awesome when it came out. Such an exciting time.

  • Badkitty on 29/11/2024 - 01:38
    +2

    My bf had someone messaging him pretending to be an admin for a crypto coin and they requested a screenshot of his crypto wallet, my bf was stringing them along wasting their time for the laughs, he kept saying ‘oh I’ve got a big big problem on my wallet’ and alike, finally time to send the screen shot and he sends them a picture of his iPad screen and wallet but with the parts they wanted covered with his eye wateringly big, um, finger, resting proudly across the iPad 13” with the message “sorry that took a while this fat finger is a curse sometimes”. Scammer replied “that’s definitely the biggest finger I’ve ever seen”. To which bf replied, “well I was thinking same of your balls trying to scam me” Scammer left the chat after saying sorry. (Not sure why he bothered apologizing but bf said it’s a primal instinct as he just put his dominance on display - literally)
    And I’m so proud of him for finding the only legitimate time you can send an unsolicited down under pic.

    • Protractor on 29/11/2024 - 10:37
      +2

      13" iPad ? Sure.
      I sold him that Nokia 8210 4G brick!

  • dtrinh on 29/11/2024 - 01:51

    Similar to most here. Myself my wife and relatives have fell for many scams which are great learning experiences for all involved and amounts altogether is less than $1000. They make great stories to tell at dinner tables, teachable moments and gives you attitude to trust people but verify as much as you can. You will not win every deal and not every deal is worth pursuing as such is in life. Better to loss a few small deals and have better game to win in bigger deals now or later in life.

    • SlickMick on 29/11/2024 - 11:35

      Sounds like we'll eventually see a great post here when a bigger deal turns out to be a scam.

    • Protractor on 29/11/2024 - 12:22

      I know that story has a moral. (somewhere)

      • dtrinh on 30/11/2024 - 16:53

        Sorry. Maybe thinking along lines of not sweating the small stuff if that

  • Ozbargainite on 29/11/2024 - 03:10
    -2

    I registered to vote.

  • illogicalerror on 29/11/2024 - 07:47

    Back in the 90's in South Africa some guy in a car park tries to sell me a gold chain for cheap. When I tell him it seems a bit light for gold he tells me it's Italian gold as the reason it's like that. Silly 17y/o bought this story for about as long as it took for him to get away with my money.

    • Protractor on 29/11/2024 - 12:22

      Thanks, I was wondering when somebody would plagiarise Dreadlock Holiday

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