What Did You Think Was a Scam but Turned out to Be 100% Legit?

What are examples of what you thought was a scam that turned out to be legit?
A company wanted to pay me in USDT
Also for me Temu turned out to be good value
Turned out to be legit.

Comments

  • +35

    A company wanted to pay me in USDT

    Well, that was certainly informative.

    (/s)

  • +53

    UBank sending emails from [email protected]

    • +3

      is there a reason why?
      That looks so suss

      • +26

        This happened to me yesterday. I called Ubank and it was legit. Part of their ID compliance checking process. I told them it looked like a scam and that they need to rethink their processes.

        • +15

          If you were telling customer service, I am afraid no one will hear about it.

          • +1

            @iLikeSales: she logged a complaint and I received a copy

            • @footscrayvic: If it was from you with your name then they probably hear it but won't do anything for a while but if its under hers. gg lol

              • +1

                @iLikeSales: An update. It appears that Ubank do have an alternative process for ID verification. They can send you a form (the Ubank Identity Verification Form) that you have signed by a JP to confirm that a photocopy of your drivers licence is a true copy. Then you scan the form and licence and send back to Ubank via email.

      • Looks like its a Third party service to verify IDs. https://idkit.com/

        IDKit provides an online platform which clients can make available to their employees, customers, clients, suppliers, other stakeholders or end users, to verify the identity of such persons.

        Looks like they have done a lot of certfications for handling high risk PII, I guess something that Ubank doesnt want to touch

        Providing completely automated AML, KYC and VOI compliance.
        ISO 27001, ISO 22301, SOC2 certified.
        AWS hosted, Super encryption, Ultra secure.
        PAD level 1 and 2 certified - best ever tested internationally.

        • +5

          Yeah, but that doesn't mean that idkit has to be the one to send the emails, or that the domain that you go to needs to be idkit's either, both are solveable and would be less sus.

        • +1

          AWS hosted, Super encryption, Ultra secure.

          Sorry I only trust Ultra Platinum encryption these days.

    • +2

      I found a uBank legit email in my spam folder. The reason given by the spam filter was something like "links are ridiculously long". Indeed they were. My spam filter (server side) is set low too.

      • Same for me a day or two ago.

    • +11

      Ubank called me a while back to check on my home loan asked to confirm my personal details. I told them I can't give confirm my details unless they verify they are calling from Ubank. It was a deadlock and the call didn't proceed. They need to fix this stuff.

      • +5

        I've had a financial institution call me before to verify details too, except their procedure was to give me a reference number, and have me call their official number back with it (listed on their website etc.). Worked pretty well.

        • This sounds like a good policy. Lets them contact clients without encouraging people to give identifying information to random people who call them.
          Maybe other companies should do the same.

        • Yep, this is the right thing to do from any company calling and asking to confirm details. You tell them that you will call from their official phone number listed on their website and that they give you a dept/name/id so you can speak to them again. If they won't then it's most likely a phishing scam.

          One of my old banks used to call me a fair bit about security issues and that's what I did to verify them.

      • Commonwealth do similar. I got a call from someone with a very strong foreign accent (a common one heard on scam calls) and asked me to confirm my surname, which I refused to do until they sent their usual confirmation message in their app. Same thing happened a day later. I got called on the third day by someone with the strongest Australian accent I've heard in ages and thought if they're that persistent then it might actually be Commonwealth and gave my surname. Only then did they send the confirmation message. Why they need to get a surname first is beyond me. If I've got the ability to log into somebody else's banking app to check messages then I've already got their surname.

        • An update. It appears that Ubank do have an alternative process for ID verification. They can send you a form (the Ubank Identity Verification Form) that you have signed by a JP to confirm that a photocopy of your drivers licence is a true copy. Then you scan the form and licence and send back to Ubank via email.

          • @footscrayvic: Email? I was half expecting a carrier pigeon to come into the process somehow.

  • +93

    Ozbargain.com.au

    • +69

      I’m still on the fence about that one…

      • +6

        But not about premium though?
        .

      • +7

        That JV guy sounds suss.

    • This is so it 😂 I had to explain so hard to two of my mates this isn’t a scam

      • LoL

      • -1

        What were they suspicious of!

  • +66

    My inheritance from the sad passing away of Prince Mumba Jumba. I only had to pay for shipping and taxes. The tax officials from Nigeria emailed me saying the trunk boxes full of gold are on their way.

    • Your miss, bro … from an experience :).

      PS: Don't fall for this… old .. very old trick

  • +18

    For me was Temu.

    • -1

      same

    • +6

      Aliexpress with a slicker interface.

      • Sure if you like spinning bs wheels & clicking 10 pop ups before reaching the checkout…

        • The AliExpress app is getting that way too.

    • +35

      I'm sure it is just spending marketing dollars now to grow a customer base, then it will up prices
      I follow links from their adverts occasionally where it becomes impossible to make a purchase without installing the app.

      What legit company would stop a sale? Only one where the purpose isn't to sell goods, but to get you to install their app.

      There have been plenty before them - gearbest, Banggood etc.

      • +5

        because when you install their app, it makes it easier to access user data, and that's what they're selling. The cheap products are just the loss-leader for building a user database

      • +2

        Has Bangood stopped being a reliable source? I used to buy stuff from them occasionally several years ago.

        • +6

          They're fine, just used to be a price leader to drive growth, but now you can usually find cheaper on AliExpress.

    • +18

      Temu may as well be a scam

      Temu is basically a middleman and your the person who places the stuff they send you into the garbage bin

      • Everything goes to the Bin. What do you do with those you don't need?

        • +4

          Usually I use those things before the bin

          everything I have purchased off temu just gets opened and goes straight in the bin. never again, its worse than cheap crap…its just crap

    • +11

      Temu makes it's money by selling your data, not selling cheap crap to you.

      • +4

        So many people I know who have used Temu have had charges put on their cards shortly afterwards.

        • +2

          That's why I use paypal as an intermediary. :)

          • @GenerousBuffalo: and why I use the Wise card, where you can freeze the card immediately after making a payment

    • I just hate how high the minimum spend is for my account. It's great how cheap the clothes are, and that I can find styles I can wear, but having to spend at least $45 is a pain.

      • +1

        If you go to support chat inside the app, you can tell them to ignore the minimum spend. It's all automated too.

        • Awesome. Thanks for that tip

        • Just tried and it didn't work. Just get back an automated message about reducing packaging.

          • @DoaAn: mmm maybe they've changed it. I only tried a few weeks ago and it was fine and there's people on Reddit who've done it successfully.

            How much was your spend? Maybe there's still a limit - just not as high as 45?

            • @witsa: I had $25 worth in the cart.

  • I could certainly list a lot of things where its been the other way around.

    • +2

      Me too.
      Matter of fact, I am sitting in super comfy $14 shorts bought from Temu right now as I type!
      Certainly better than nothing, and now everyone is happy, esp the AusPost Guy.

      • +8

        There's so much hidden in that statement ;)

        • +3

          the postman always rings twice

  • +55

    Long service leave

    • +4

      Haven't been faithful enough to any employer to stay long enough to take it or have it paid out. Similarly, not in an industry that allows 'portable long service' either. Scam.

    • +1

      It's also the fact that you have always been getting (about) 5 weeks leave a year, you just needed 10 years to unlock the achievement.

      • Yep, just give us 5 weeks a year. 7+ years of employment at one employer is much less common than it was when LSL was introduced. A big part of that decrease is driven by short term thinking by employers (e.g. redundancies to get through slow periods), so they're gaining both ways - lower leave entitlements and no qualms about not showing loyalty.

  • +18

    Winning a Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross. was actually forreals - despite months of delays, and them losing the keys and having to wait for new keys and more months

    • +1

      Where did you win it?

      • +7

        Mitsubishi

  • +2

    Novated leasing

    • +1

      Looking into this through work, is it worth it?

      • Was for me in 2018

      • +15

        For exempt vehicles (ie EVs) yes, otherwise hard no

        • +6

          This answer is correct. It only makes sense if you don't pay FBT (47% !!! ).

          • @duchy: I am in the process of understanding novated lease, and still don't understand why would I care as an employee if my employer pays FBT?

        • HARD YES on actually doing the sums. For car 1, it saved $10k over the three years. Car 2 it would have cost $6k more over the three years.

    • Novated leasing

      This is a scam now, didn't used to be when the tax savings were based KM spent.

      The idea is simple…

      With a Car Lease, you save More on Tax, but you Pay More out of pocket.

      Think of it remotely close to those AMEX Offers when they say, Spend 500 and get 10% back.
      You sort of need to spend to save, and the chances of literally needing to spend that money on the moment the offer is present, you better get yourself a lottery tickey

      • I leased a car for 3 years, as quick maths said it was slightly cheaper. Gave me a pretty good breakdown of costs over that three years.

        When the lease came back around, I had 3 years of running costs and out of pocket expenses to look at.

        Compared them to non-lease loan and running costs and it was a a few grand cheaper over 2 years to re-lease (i leased the same car again)

    • Pretty much a yes - it's worth it for a FBT exempt EV if you are in the $200K+pa. tax bracket.

  • +38

    Real Debrid, looks and seems sketchy as hell. I can't believe it exists.

    • +2

      I looked this up just last week. Kinda crazy.

      • +1

        Just had a squiz, that website looks shady as hell.

        • +3

          I was definitely sweating guy meme putting through the transaction, but has been awesome

          • @[Deactivated]: Same the first couple of times, but have been with them for ages now, flawless

            • +1

              @GrueHunter: is Real Debrid a replacement for streaming apps like Netflix, Disney+ etc? would that mean I'm able to stream all shows from those apps on Real Debird for a fraction of the cost?

              • @ldcan: Yes

              • +5

                @ldcan: Yeah, absolutely. Whatever you want, it's there, cached, in whatever definition you want. Here's a guide. Briefly, you want to:

                Grab a paid Real Debrid account - the three month one is prob the best value
                Download Stremio and set up an account
                Add the Torrentio add on, then link that to your Real Debrid account

                The end result is you just use Stremio on whatever device you want to watch stuff on. It's the same interface as any other streaming service. Find something you want to watch, then click on it. You'll be offered a choice of resolutions (eg 4K, 1080p, 720p). Click the one you want and wait a couple of seconds for it to start playing. (If you're offered a very large list of files, you may need some extra config to just show one of each resolution).

                It's fast because Real Debrid has already downloaded and cached the torrents for you. You're getting the file from their servers, rather than grabbing the torrent then downloading that. Stremio keeps track of what you've watched, knows where you're up to in a season or episode / show, does trailers, the works.

                Real Debrid gives you a stack of other stuff too, like access to pretty much every premium filesharing site. If you do want to download a torrent, paste the link into Real Debrid and it'll download it for you, keeping your hands free of high seas shenanigans.

                • @GrueHunter: thanks!

                  • @ldcan: Stremio + RD is amazing. been using is for a long time now. no complaints whatsoever.

    • +2

      I paid using Amazon Pay so I don't have to put my credit card details there

    • erm, it is? It'll disappear one day with zero warning.

  • +1

    Global takeover by zombies

  • Superannuation

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