After discussion about the gumtree scam, (http://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/107140) i am concerned maybe there are other scams that are out there, that would fool general public too. This would be a great way to bring scams out there into the light and help the whole OzBargain community!
Share your stories of any scams that have fooled you? You know of and should be aware of? And what action should you take (eg- call police or inform paypal etc)
I hope he didn't actually do it…
Alternatively, you can purchase an OzBargain Gold Membership™ by emailing him your Passport Number, Date of Birth, Credit Card details, bank account number, medicare number and ozbargain password to [email protected].
There is a 8 month old and running WP thread on Gumtree scams
Share your stories of any scams that have fooled you?
Taxation.
Superannuation.
fractional-reserve banking
Carbon Tax.
Voting.
Taxation.
Because anarchy is just great hey?
Superannuation.
Because saving for retirement is for loosers.
fractional-reserve banking
Because we don't need efficient banks.
Carbon Tax.
Because the environment is probably screwed anyway.
Voting.
Because Monarchy and Communism are just better.
Lol loosers.
Because anarchy is just great hey?
plenty of tax-payer funded wars going on for corporate interests while our rights are being eroded, bit by bit. Taxation not helping here. What was that about anarchy? More and more people being pushed to the edge in an overtaxed country too.
Because saving for retirement is for loosers.
Looseness can be solved with a screw. I can save fine without electing to be robbed when it comes to collect. If I choose to self-manage, I can also do so with the 'mattress fund' just fine. If I don't save, I starve…that's fine with me; I don't want any hand-outs. As long as I don't have to pay thousands to self-manage my savings like we do in this fascist system that basically decides what's right for us, everything is good. Mankind managed fine without state-enforced theft for millenia. Good luck when it comes time to collect. The money will be worthless or it will be stolen, or both. Good luck having ANY say where your money is put, including avoiding the questionable practices of many corporations you're feeding. Absolutely no control, and if you want control today, you're paying through the nose to have it, requiring quite a bit of funds to make it worthwhile for the average battler to 'maintain'.
Because we don't need efficient banks.
It's called institutionalised fraud. If Joe and Jane Customer started lending something they didn't have, they'd be locked up.
Because the environment is probably screwed anyway.
10% going to the criminal United Nations. Carbon dioxide is the least of our problems. Carbon Tax introduced regardless of the public's wishes. A prime minister voted in on the promise it won't be introduced. Frauds and thieves, one and all. Dictatorships for all. World government for all. Preying on the public's concern for the environment. Ads with black ballooons showing on TV with taxpayer money, all leading up to the inevitable Carbon Tax. Enviro-fascism. You'd have to be a Grade A moron to think the politicians are doing ANYTHING for the environment. As long as we can import cheap goods from a poisoned China and tax the wealth and industry out of the West, I'm sure the environment is doing great. Same old system and same old lies, recycled. Nothing wrong with carbon dioxide by the way, but a lot wrong with what we are doing to the environment besides this.
Trust the politicians to fix the environment? Big belly laughs. You are being robbed blind, all under the banner of environmental protection. Expect more laws and restrictions as things ramp up. Including more control and intrusions over every aspect of your daily life.
Because Monarchy and Communism are just better.
Ahahaaaah. Now I see you have no idea what you are talking about. Open your eyes and ask yourself what is happening to not only this country but the world. Our rights are being eroded, especially since the fraud of 9/11. We are waging wars of 'terror' for our buddies, the USA and the UK, primarily. Kill, loot, maim and displace…and sew up those resource contracts. We won't mention the inconvenient truth that Al Qaeda has been a CIA asset for decades (and still is). Or that the US foreign policy supported dictatorships for decades and we have tagged along. Wholesale death and destruction.
We have a carbon tax that will get progressively worse as time goes on. We have fraudulent banks. Our internet is censored and controlled. Our media is controlled. Gov can label you a terrorist and lock you up without due process. Warrantless wiretaps, you name it.
Plus we haven't broken links with the criminal royals; Liz has quite a bit of power. Communism…lots of people doing business with China these days buddy. Smiles and handshakes. Nobody telling China to behave now. Too important.
As long as the banks and bombs continue, and more foreign invasions go ahead (how many countries is it now) and as long as the Anglo-American empire can continue unabated, 'anarchy' will be contained.
Yep, just keep working, keep paying your taxes and we don't wanna hear a peep out of you…things will be just fine as long as we all keep paying our dues…
I see somebody has watched zeitgeist, take off the tinfoil hat mate
I love how you eloquently addressed all my points with an ….insult.
Yeah, anyone without State-Sanctioned vomit regurgitating from their mouths is one of those 'tin-foil hatters'. Your response might be slightly different if you were fighting for your life in a decimated country our taxes are helping pay to destroy.
Just think about that.
You'll wake up one day.
Sure his views are at the extreme end of the spectrum, but there is something in it.
Nobody wants the truth.
Insurance
Two points here;
1: it's a good idea to insure against events that would cause you great loss, so insure against public liability, home burning down, car being stolen (if value if car / home / liability event would cause YOU great loss). Don't insure against your iPod being lost on the train, your pet (while at a friends house, more than 65kms away, upto $150 in deductibles -for example).
2: review your insurance EVERY time you renew. Protip: ring your car insurer on Monday, ask them for a heath check and see if you are getting all the appropriate discounts / have provided enough information to get you the most cooperative rate. You'll probably save money come renewal time AND pocket a refund for the remainder of this policy. Source: I do this (just saved $250 on a renewal price and got a $20 refund). Any insurance CS peeps want to comment? Does this happen often?
Edit: keep in mind that a saving of $500 on insurance premiums translates to a LOT of CREE torches, or the equivalent of your own self funded Dominos $4.95 pickup any day of the week, if that's your thing.
There are plenty of countries that cater to your needs.
You are clearly just an immature person who wants to blame everything but yourself.
An mature adult would buy the next plane ticket to the place they want to go.
You probably don't even have a job.
Marriage
This. The biggest con ever laid on those of us with XY Chromosomes.
Have a look at Scamwarners.com it is a US based site but there are some interesting stories. If you really want to have a laugh and learn about some Scams and the fun others have had scamming the scammers have a look at 419eater.com
In short watch out for the 419 or advance payment scam. Be wary of anybody that only accepts Western Union for payment.
Also watch out for anybody that contacts you from overseas based upon your car/bike/house advert offering some kind of complicated arrangement because they are overseas etc.
As for the political arguments above….bit heavy for OZB surely!!!
I've been done on the school fundraiser lolly/chocolates. Students come to your house with a book of selections; you order and pay on the day and wait 2-3 weeks for your order to be delivered by the same kids. Never seen those kids again around $40 was taken..
A friend almost paid the $100 to have his computer malware removed. The Australian Federal Police: Virus. Huge scam; and it had taken about 7 minutes to remove the virus. He was stoked.
I was scammed on eBay when PayPal was optional; very rarely was it accepted due to the fee's.
The real scam is waiting 2-3 weeks for chocolate… Who would do that!
I know right! I was a little bit shocked :L
But its kids; they're "innocent".
I recently met a man that was taken for over $100,000 by Nigerian scammers . He is still convinced that his girlfriend - who he has never met - just has terrible bad luck and can never visit due to car accidents, hospitalisation , and no access to her mothers fortune. While I wouldn't say he was smart he doesn't come across as being as dumb as his actions suggest. I have shown him on google the exact same story word for word but he still believes the scammers and would send more money if he had any.
A friend of a friend lost $5000 on a great deal on a car on trading post when he sent the money western union . The scammer was "shipping out to Afghanistan and had to sell his car for 1/2 price ". The guy who lost the money was blinded by this great deal and was even warned by the guy at western union about scams. It took the scammers 5 minutes to pick up the money.
If it sounds too good to be true it probably is.
There was a documentary based on this on ABC. I think called "head on"
Have a look at 419eater.com, somebody there can explain the whole process used by 'the lads' and there are some hilarious examples wheree 'baiters' have turned the tables on them.
Another scam I belive I've pointed out are fake job ads. These can occur not just on Gumtree / phone pole paper ads but on other sites as well.
Before you send them any personal info or CV's, always
1. check that they actually physically exist, either on Google Maps, White pages, or by driving to their address
2. ring them up and ask for details of their company, and a job description.
If they don't seem legit, steer clear from them and do not send any resumes / contact details as they're most likely just going to sell that info.
Wiki Travel ( a sister site of Wikipedia) also has a list of common travel scams. I highly recommend reading this if you intend to live, work or travel overseas — there are some pretty elaborate scams that might blow your mind, but are actually fairly common!
http://wikitravel.org/en/Common_scams
The job one is really hard. What if they are 'legit' but still sell your info? What if they don't actually have a job and are just trawling for resumes? Also I've seen first hand some times they will just reword and post a job from another agency and claim it as their own, without any approval from the employer.
/rant
My son got involved with a job scamming mob. He was out of work and only 19 at the time. He got an email saying they had seen his profile on Seek bah blah. Supposedly a jewellery company needing a financial client coordinator. He replied and soon after had five grand deputed into his account. When he went to Western Union to transfer it, they warned him about fraud. That was when he finally rang me. Had to call the feds and the bank. It took a couple of weeks to sort it all out. Turns out the money comes from hacked bank accounts and they need a third party to send the cash via Western Union, where it then becomes untraceable.
Why did he agree to transfer the money?
Because he was a 19 year old idiot.
"hello , my name is Tom and I am calling from Microsoft. We have identified that your computer has viruses. please follow these steps so we can help you"
I get the "Windows Technical Department" or "Department of Windows" calling about my windows which is great as they could do with a clean.
i was at a holiday home when i got that call, i unplugged the phone lol
Amway and anything like it.
Just because its legal and its possible to make some money out of it, it doesn't change the fact that everyone ends up feeling scammed at the end.
The only people I know that made some short term money did so by abusing their relationships with friends/family and getting them to buy from the amway shop etc which is a rip off.
Any MLM, Network marketing or pyramid scheme …
One scam is that houses are offered for rent on sites such as domain.com.au and realestate.com.au with really cheap rent. When you enquire, the owner is away and asks you pay 6 months rent upfront and they send you the keys.
If you send the money, you never get the keys.
do you get the keys if you don't send money?
Why would someone agree to pay them the money, especially as 6 months rent is so much money :/
I wonder what success rate that scam rate has.
Quite high I guess… My brother gave someone 6 weeks deposit plus 4 weeks bond for this place after filling out some dodgy paperwork, etc.. He never thought anything of it. I thought he saw the last of his money, but luckily in this case, the agent was legit (if unconventional)..
This one common on gum tree
Offering cheap rent and ask for deposit into a bank account before keys are deposited
They target overseas student, lucky my friend asked me to check it out and I told her she was too naieve to think its real
Ozbargain Announcment:
Scotty and i have decided to make Ozbargain membership based @ $25/yr. He has appointed me the Ozbargain money keeper.
If you would like your membership to continue, please transfer $25 to my Paypal account [email protected] as a GIFT payment with your username in the message field. If you fail to pay within 7 days from today , your membership will be terminated.
Cool! Just paid. How long do I have to wait? :D
/lol
Dear Sir.. Due to unexpected events, I had to go back to Zimbabwe to attend to family concerns. We do not have access to Internet back home in Zimbabwe. Due to the unforseen circumstances i will Not be able to access my Paypal account for your payment. I would like to Kindly ask you to resend Me the payment via western union. Rest assured that I will refund you paypal payment once I fly back to Sydney. I would like to thank you again for your prompt and fast payment .
I recently had a call from someone I could hardly understand, he was working for the 'Australian Government' and said I was entitled to a rebate of $2500 for some overpayments of electricity bills or something. I just said send me a cheque but hung up when he confirmed my address….anyone else had this? Not sure what the scam is as he already had my details from the phone book.
Yes its a common scam around Tax time.
I assumed they use the phone book as they use my last name or initials and last name never my full name.
Its either from paying Tax or Bills on time etc… the Goverment will pay you $2000 - $2500 (my callers vary the amount even in same call) You need to pay a fee at a Government office to claim.
The Government office is the post office and the payment method is western union.
There really needs to be some sort of public awareness thing done about Western Union/money wiring. So many people must fall for it if these scammers keep scamming :\
Aaah OK, I hope he calls back again soon, I might try to waste his time.
Where can I get help for dodgey trades people? They turned up, started painting, demanded money, did a terrible job…? Thanks.
LOL… really?
Charge them for vandalism?
Report them to the police.
domain name scam, computer repair scam, love scam, overpaid government scam and more
check this out http://www.youtube.com/user/consumervic
"Good morning sir… I calling about ur telstra home line…." I dont have telstra line…hang up
WARNING…Largest Scam in Australia's history, continually having to pocket out 10's to hundreds of dollars due to the growing addiction. Has also claimed the lives of thousands f innocent Australians… They have even changed their own names to OZBARGAINERS.. so beware of Ozbargain.com.au
jk ;D
whats the neg for?
Have you been to Phuket or Bali? You may have been approached by some people regarding the Asia Travel Club or something similar. It is a scam. We didn't fall for it but when we got home, we Googled them and there are heaps of people that got ripped off by joining this.
I was approached by them in bangkok years ago. They invited me to a presentation where I would get a free gift. Arrived at presentation. Sat there for 5 minutes asked for my gift and left. Scored a nice little wheely suitcase. Looking at it right now.
If you walk out of a shopping centre and a white van stops in front of you with some guys sitting in the back of the open van door and they offer to sell you some fully sick subwoofers - ignore the fancy leaflets they want to show you and continue pushing your trolley along.
there was a van that used to drive around richmond (Vic) in the mid 90s selling wharfedales.
That scam is still going on.
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