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.
What Did You Think Was a Scam but Turned out to Be 100% Legit?
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A $12.50 credit from TPG "in relation to a previous issue you experienced with your NBN service".
When I gifted some Belong data to my daughter without giving her a heads up first, she thought it might've been a scam.
Amaysim for giving random extra data on multiple occasions for nix.
Due to Optus outage I suspect.
Nah they gave out a whole bunch during COVID, they give bonus data on your Birthday, on their Birthday, during public holidays sometimes as well.
Yarra Valley Water and their charges
Majority of forum posts with scam in the title….
Those are legit?!
Legit scams. Trust nobody, not even your own long service leave.
Someone actually turned up to my house on gumtree to buy something.
Is this still available?
Was it Deon Hong in his AMG, did you wait for the funds to clear before handing over the goods?
Will you take $10?
Cool.
I only have $5 on me.
Ozbargain Platinum Membership. When first I got the email invite I thought it was a scam but it turned out to be legit.
Thanks for referral link you sent me and invitation for lifetime membership.
First Rule of Ozbargain Platinum Membership……..
Bitcoin
Optus backpay for them breaching not paying correctly. I haven't worked for Optus since 2016 or so and got the email around 2021 I think. The email state to reply back if the bank details are incorrect if I changed banks.
I didn't respond cause my bank didn't change since quitting. I got the money a few months later.
Then I got another back pay the year later. Then nothing the 3rd year. Damn!!!
I heard a lady won $50,000 from Trend Micro. When they called her she thought it was a scam until they convinced her she actually won a prize draw
I won $1,000 from a comp here but thought it was a scam.
Had an email in my spam which said I just need to send them my name and address to receive it. Was honestly shocked when the money came.
I thought NFTs and crypto were a scam as well. Put some money in, made some money. Realized it was actually all a scam and took it out though lol.
Is it a scam though? Bitcoin has one of the best returns of any assets in the last decade.
Hi rektrading, welcome back!
Bernie Madoff is a fraud, his scam lasted how long before he was found out?
The bigger the scam the longer it lasts as it sucks in more people, nothing is quite as alluring as effortless wealth.
Never thought I’d see Bitcoin explained in one sentence :P
@WhyAmICommenting: Bitcoin has more (money) losers, than it has winners.
You just don't hear about it. We always hear the big stories, like rags to riches, and many of them being false. You don't hear about the losers, and they usually get criticised, chastised, shunned and blocked. Simply put, crypto just has a great PR campaign. They were able to suck-in a few investors from Silicon Valley, so had "the house" on their side.
The big investors are fine, and the early buyers are too… just like most other pyramid schemes. If you got in 2010 and left at 2013 you made bank. Or if you got in 2014 and left at 2017. Or if you got in 2018 and left in 2021. I don't know if they have enough momentum for another run-up, and if they do, it should be due after 2024. But none of this is financial advice.
@Kangal: That's like gamblers - they only talk about it when they're winning. Usually, they're losing.
@Kangal: I mean doesn't the same hold true for many company stocks on the share market? A very specific example right now is TSLA you could have made bank buying and selling at the right times but if you held after buying not too long ago you'd be deep in the red.
If you look at Bitcoin as a single stock which it effectively is, then I can find you similar stocks you could have made 1000%'s on.
The difference is that in stocks you'd actually hold something of value that has use. In crypto you're just gambling and have no clue wtf you're doing. An asset is pretty generous - equivalent of saying roulette is one of the best assets you have.
I see your point. Can you tell me the next lot of stocks with 1000%'s in earnings for the next decade? What's the next Nvidia? Cheers.
@BluebirdV: Mate if we knew we wouldn't be trawling through ozb looking for turkish netlix subscriptions to save a couple bucks.
I had a motorcycle listed for sale on Gumtree.
I got an enquiry from a buyer, who was happy to pay full asking price but wanted me to bring the bike to him at a hospital.
He needed it to get home from hospital to Esperance because flights had been cancelled or booked out (plus an excuse to get another motorbike).
All seemed very suspicious and unlikely, but turned out to be true, he seemed very happy with the bike, best used vehicle sale ever.Was he in hospital from his last bike accident?
No, can't remember exactly but it wasn't an accident more a health condition.
He had enough cash while in the hospital to buy a motorcycle? If some had to come give him the cash, they could of picked him up instead
He paid by bank transfer (also not a scam).
‘Amazon’ sent me a survey link to ask why I cancelled prime, but it came from a sketchy looking third party website that promised a $10 Amazon.com gift card for completing it. It looked dodgy and never mentioned Amazon Australia anywhere and everything was in US$. But sure enough, 6 weeks later I received the promised gift card and redeemed it. Still not paying for prime though.
I got a Xbox Series S but labelled on Market Place as a one S for $150, red flags every where asked for a photo of it working went to an apartment was handed to me in the dark and worked fine never had any problems the thing looked brand new and just said he didnt play it enough. This was only recently released too.
Received a letter from the Public Trustee Office of Victoria saying my aunty - of whom I had never heard - had died and I was to receive a share of her estate. Thought it was a scam but found my sister and my Victorian cousins had all received the same letter. I then checked the family tree which had been compiled by my stepsister and there was the aunty, listed as having died of cerebral palsy when she was a baby - there was a note to say that my stepsister had been unable to locate a death certificate for her though. Turns out she had been placed in a home for disabled children all those years ago (in the 1930s), and died in her 80s without ever having known her family, and without her family having any knowledge of her. That's just too sad for words.
That's tragic, that poor woman.
Qatar complimentary tickets for healthcare workers
Kept thinking it was a scam until they gave us our boarding passes at checkin. Then I was still a bit suss until we were in the air.
Awesome trip to France, Switzerland, and Italy.
God/Religion.
Matched Betting. When I first heard about it from a podcast i thought it was a scam for sure but i thought i will give it a cautious try. Was still suspicious after 2 months in but once the money kept rolling in and i made some friends with others guys doing it i realized it was real deal. Was a lot of fun while it lasted but eventually i got banned everywhere and had to stop doing it. Have heard its not that great anymore but during covid time it was like minting money
How much did you make in total?
A lot more than i initially dreamt of making when i got into it. Wont give the number here but over the 4 years i did it I made enough to ensure i will be able to retire 4 years earlier. All my profit was invested in VGS+ VAS with DRP on so hopefully in few years this profit will increase nicely
Not that great anymore? How much so? 80 percent less than before?
I think about 50 percent less
Can you recommend any sites?
@BluebirdV: Bonusbank.com.au. if you want a discount code later when switching to premium then PM me
Easter Saturday being a public holiday
Yep, Bluescope Steel just recently lost to the High Court trying to get out of paying the public holiday rate to thousands of workers that took A.L. on public holidays that fell on weekends.
Bano and their split bill reward
Subaru's symmetrical AWD system
Second temu.
Once I missed out on shopback cashback promo deal of 50% by a just couple of mins checking out late. I tried to negotiate with shopback but they won't budge. I thought fml that's it. Out of desperation I just tried temu customer service and to my surprise they refunded the whole order no questions asked.
Pyramid schemes… For the ones at the top of the pyramid (and cash out in time)…
Safe now! :D
Intially Aliexpress seemed super dodgy when i 1st got on it but in the end it has been a great source for cheap stuff from china
Selling something on Gumtree.
- Someone offered to buy without offering 50% of my asking price (strike 1)
- did not need to see the goods before hand - electronics (strike 2)
- paid full amount up front by transfer (strike 3)
- sent some random Courier guy to come pick it up (strike 4)
Turned out they were just some crazy trusting person.
I wouldn't say it was legit but I got what I ordered from Ivy Melbourne and also received a refund from cc. However, the bag was way more than they said it would be in AUD and it wasn't handmade from Melbourne.
I ordered 2 things but could not process them together and the website was acting strangely. During processing it also flashed up to a different site selling headphones which quickly disappeared. I got a text from ANZ asking if I had a legitimate transaction from a company. I didn't recognise the name of the company as it wasn't what was on the site anywhere. So I said no. It blocked it. I checked out the Ivy site and found a whole lot of reviews like this one:
"Clearly Sold in Aus dollars and debit account in US dollars . QUOTED NEXT DAY DELIVERY!! Use Ivy- Melbourne as an assumed Australian Company but overseas scam
Phoned wanting refund and can't do as goods already left. Have never received!!!
Scam Scam!!!!"Others talked about charges a few days later and subscriptions as well. I contacted my bank and disputed the 2nd transaction which hadn't been blocked. I cited the fact that Ivy Melbourne is a known scam and that I was sure they already knew that and I had no dealings with the company named on the charge. So I got my credit and a new credit card. Then the bag arrived and it was as it looked on the site (some reviews spoke if receiving a different and inferior item while others received nothing).. However it was twice the price and in a postage bag from China.
To be frank, everything on Temu looks a bit suspicious. Is it done purposely that way (a bit disorganised, pop-ups once a while with lucky draw, surprises…) to promote itself as a bargaining haven?
It's just uber cheap stuff direct from Chinese factories at a slight markup (you can usually get the stuff cheaper from Ali), but packaged as a 'one stop shop' with games/prizes/free shipping to suck people in and get them addicted to shopping there. Nothing of real value is sold on the website, even people in China think it's worthless junk. Btw, the company that runs Temu had a previous app that was pulled from stores due to malware. I'm pretty sure it's just an elaborate way for them to sell your data or for factories to sell excess stuff they can't move and to flood the market with useless crap.
I would trust AliExpress more
Bitcoin
And it’s quite profitable too
My friend has made many millions from Bitcoin in a few short years and they have now moved to Toorak.
If they were a friend, they would have taken you with them!
Haha, that’s true. But we do get invited to good food in nice restaurants, that’s not bad I guess :)
More profitable than gold. But you have to time the market
So like every other investment then
If you reckon you can "time the market" then it doesn't matter what you buy - penny stocks, hog futures, apes
Let's see how my idiot mates who bought BTC during peak hype in November 2021 are doing
Wow, it's up a whopping 5.23% in two and a half years
Such gains, much win
If you ignore inflation that is
And capital gains
And being endlessly terrified of actually turning those gains into money they can spend in the real world instead of a glorified Tamogatchi they sit and watch stand up and fall down all day while they sweat
Time the market means don't be that idiot who bought the top.
Whenever there's a huge market crash and everyone screaming in fear, jumping off buildings…etc. That's when you buy 😂
@TEER3X: We are in middle of the crossroads. BTC made new ATH recently and is consolidating around that range. If you haven't bought anything, you missed out. Wait for the next opportunity. But if you're holding, better off-load 50% of holdings and enjoy a nice vacation while waiting 🏝️
@Scythic: Buy investments the market thinks are terrible, then cross your fingers and hope they go up again, eventually
Thanks, sage advice, totally different to anything I've ever heard
Feeding the family with BOOST profits
Noodles?
NFTs.
No, wait - that was a scam.
temu, ubank, stremio
Received a call from AAMI asking for banking details so that they can refund me money. Later found out its legit :D
was the caller indian?
No, it was Aussie accent. I asked him/her to send me an email, which they did.
😡 it is a big pet peeve of mine. Companies that call you up from a private number and then ask for you to identify yourself.
if its an indian person, call em "ben chod" and hang up
Won a trip from Qantas wine, the number that called me to notify me was a mobile number, from someone that's not part of Qantas wine, said that they are part of winners agents hired outsourced by Qantas. They got my name and number right but otherwise was very suss until they urge me to jump onto Qantas wine to see my name's there.
Cashrewards
The 10 days of Family and domestic violence leave - scam. Still trying to figure out how to take them
5-7 years ago someone was calling from hidden number (when you are not expecting any calls) and saying "hi, my name is XXX , i'm calling you from commonwealth bank , i would like to talk to you about something, but i need to confirm with you your name/dob/address etc before we can proceed".
lol what??
called back to bank wait for 40minutes , and actually found that - yes there is XXX that works in local branch (where account was recently open) and was calling in regards of "cold selling" mortgage or loan (that i have not requested or wanted).
had that type of calls from CBA later when was opening credit card with them. Call from hidden or odd number and the same conversation.
had to call back myself again and wait for hours on a line to get to someone to find out that it is all legit.Webull. Made decent money out of it
Matched betting. Saw an ad on Facebook and I intially dismissed it as too good to be true. Very pleased i clicked the link!
Which ad was it? Still good these days? Is there any catch? Can they hack you or something? Harvest your details?
Couple years ago, a company called profit accumulator. They're not around in Aus anymore but bonusbank is. Pm me if you wanted any info. Hidden goldmine!
No hack. No harvesting. Less money to be made now. Probably was a ad for bonusbank.com.au
A jbl speaker from Harvey Norman.
They emailed asking for a copy of my license before sending. I emailed them back 5 times before deciding to send the photo. It was legit.what's that…umh, bitcorn thingy?
Received a phone call from an unknown number with an Indian accent. The guy asked me about my credit card, drivers licence and address details. Without any hesitation I concluded that to be one of those spam calls but still wanted to play the game so when he said 'I'm from Beckingham police station' I mocked 'I didn't know there's a Beckingham police station in Hyderabad'. He tried to convince me that he's an Australian police officer to no avail. Finally he gave the phone to someone else with an Aussie accent then only I realised he was in fact a cop. Bit of back story, my car was broken in a few days ago and my wallet had been stolen, hence his enquiry about credit card, drivers licence etc.. I was so embarrassed, felt really ashamed and could not really find words to apologise. The guy who was an Aussie police Sargent with an obvious indian background, took it pretty cool😀 and even said it happens often… (Those who are quick to judge that I acted racist here, I'm from subcontinent origin myself and I may have got over 100 spam calls with this same accent hence the initial quick conclusion.).
So you're saying he asked you for your credit card details, driver's license and address before telling you he was a cop?
Of course he said he was a cop but I refused to be convinced. I thought such a thick foreign accent cannot exist after living in Australia at least 5 years, getting the citizenship and then becoming a police officer.. Well, I learnt something that day. Having said that, this is the one and only non-spam call I received (out of 100s of spam calls) from this particular accent, therefore, if this happens again, I would still be reacting the same (and you should too) unless proven otherwise. It's unfortunate that we have to be cautious to certain geographical accents like that but that's the bitter reality we're living today.
Guy I know received a call from someone with an Indian accent which he assumed was a scam. He told the guy he could hear his elephant escaping along with some other racist crap and then the guy put his supervisor on. Supervisor had an Aussie accent and the call was legit.The guy was embarrassed as hell and asked for the original person to be put back on the phone so he could apologise.
Same guy told a couple that the wife couldn't participate in a certain activity because she was pregnant. Turns out she was just fat. It was like a comedy skit lol.
I thought Catch (of the Day) looked dodgy when my friend showed me during its early days. When they actually only showed one deal a day.
Pulled Beef