announcedThieves will always find a way to try and part us from our money. They will never rest.
And thanks to the internet and the rise in dominance of social media, it has never been easier to be a convincing scammer.
One of the most fury inducing aspects of this issue is that half of the scams are LEGAL.
In many instances the most restitution we can get is having our case brought before a civil court.
Good luck with that.
So we only have ourselves—we have to be smarter and share intel and warnings.
RedditorF1yffwanted to hear about the ways people are still trying to fleece us all, so they asked:
"What is a legal scam that is still happening in 2022?"
This all started with Columbia House.
A curse and a plague on that house..
Damn 10 CDs!
Fees...
"'Printing' fee for digital tickets." ~ eastherbunni
"When this first became a thing, it was cheaper to just get them mailed (maybe still is). So f**k you ticketmaster, you can print and mail those to me." ~ butterflavoredsalt
GiphyREAD YOUR MAIL CAREFULLY!!
"If you’re a personal business owner, you may receive what looks to be a bill in your mail from the US Domain Authority. At first glance, you’re under the impression that you need to pay 289 dollars to renew your website domain name. HOWEVER. There is very fine print stating that you are not legally required to pay the listed amount."
"It’s actually an ad requesting you pay that amount in order to have your website listed on the US Domain Authority site. I can’t imagine how many people have been tricked by this. READ YOUR MAIL CAREFULLY!!" ~ RecentLingonberry821
Lies
"That news in America is entertainment. Can get away with saying pretty much anything and still call it 'news.'" ~ flowachild357
"It frustrates me how normal weasel words are in news cast these days and how many people cant distinguish them easily, 'new study show there may be a link between eating m&ms and your hair color!?!' Yea that also means it may not... but that doesn't get views." ~ nemgrea
FINAL NOTICE
"I recently moved and I keep getting a bunch of home warranty advertisements in the mail. Except they don’t look like ads - the envelopes say things like FINAL NOTICE and the letters are printed on pink paper. When you open them they say things like “This is your FINAL NOTICE that your opportunity to purchase a home warranty from may be expiring!” This crap is so f**ked up." ~ DramaLlamadary
Denied!
"Extended warranties, so many promises made, but when time comes for a claim, almost all are denied." ~ ggs_golf
GiphyI despise Ticketmaster.
How do we end them?!
And who are these warranty people?
I want home addresses.
Poor Martha...
"Insider trading within Congress. But if WE do it, we end up in prison." ~ vabeach23451
"Martha Stewart sold stocks and made 45k and it was called insider trading Politicians sell stocks and make millions and that’s called a free market." ~ 7212gopew22
GiphyBuy the Answers...
"Look, OP, if you want to get in on some legal scam, you have to do your own research. That's why I recommend you buy my book, What YOU Can Do To Legally Become Rich In Twelve Easy Lessons. Just 24 easy payments of $199.99 and you will have the secrets to being a millionaire unveiled right before your eyes!" ~ AAlHazred
Capacity...
"Private prisons. You're telling me that they charge the government for the beds and the taxpayers still gotta foot the bill if those beds are empty so the company running it 'doesn't lose money?' Freak you." ~ Silverback_Vanilla
"Here in Arizona in 2020 the governor announced the closing of the State prison in Florence, as a ‘cost saving measure’. It was costing the state $71/per prisoner/per day to operate."
"They’ve announced in the last week they are moving the inmates to a private prison that’s going to cost the State… $85 per prisoner per day to operate. Also, they’re guaranteeing the private prison that they’ll maintain at least 90% capacity, which is just another way of giving judges an incentive to find people guilty." ~ RobertAPetersen
Bad Apps...
"Time shares. I figured AirBnB and VRBO and all the other temp rental disrupters would have put a stop to this predatory own-little-pay-mucho cash grab which destroys local housing markets and creates wet paint ghost towns."
"But alas it persists and we have to stare at lines of cheap shacks, or soviet bloc style complexes left vacant on off seasons or occupied by flightless grey birds who only fly south because some Iowa idiot got conned in a Ramada Inn on a Tuesday looking for a free golf bag."
"Arguably these apps have created more of a problem but I figured it’d be better." ~ EatEmUpJack
WTF?
"Civil forfeiture. You're going to tell me that a cop thinks that my property might be used for illegal activity, and that cop is going to steal it from me and pad their departments bottom line? What the actual F?!" ~ MYule90
"Enough people don’t know about this. Unless you’re one of the victims it happens to, then you’re like WTF the police just robbed me." ~ bw1985
GiphyIt's a jungle out there.
The more you know!
Be aware at all times.
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Redditor _ReDd1T_UsEr wanted to discuss the reasons why many of us decided to cut some people out of our lives, so they asked:
"What was the reason why your friendship ended with someone?"
Sometimes a person just has to go.
Planning Stages
Weekend Sunday GIF by DisneyGiphy"I stopped being the first to always initiate plans, and that was that."
Witty-Surround-6541
"I once asked a friend to plan our next breakfast + walk outing, since I always did that. He wrote me a letter ending the friendship. Stunning!"
fermat9996
Pants on Fire
"Habitual lying became too annoying and disruptive to tolerate."
Hosscatticus_Dad523
"When you constantly are thinking... this math ain't matching lol. People that lie all the time make me sick. I've told multiple friends that you don't have to lie to me."
"I feel so much better when someone can trust me and feel comfortable telling me a hard truth than an easy lie."
"Even if the truth made me feel some type of way, I'm still glad it was honest. I've even said thank you to people in the past that have been honest with me, good or bad! Some people just can not help lying about things. I wouldn't be able to ever keep a story straight if I did that."
__eden_
Bad Behavior
"He kept having kids with different girls and bailing on them. Coming from a 'went out for a pack of smokes' Dad myself, I just couldn't watch it anymore. Bailed after the third one. Think he's up to 6 now."
KingGuy420
"Reminds me of one of my ex-friends. She kept having kids with MULTIPLE guys (all of them were one-night stands), I don't think she even knows who the baby daddies are."
"She also kept begging me and people for money for pot, and she also bragged about having OnlyFans. She'd also make up stories about being in an abusive relationship with her boyfriend (she'd also cheat on him/tell people her and him they broke up, which they weren't)."
wisconsinking
Reasons
"I was a bad person and they ended it for perfectly sensible reasons. I would have done the same. I've changed, but I don't blame them for not reconsidering contact."
tabletopsidekick
"I’ve been there. I was a bad person and lost friendships and family relationships. I tried to apologize to everyone I hurt."
PDXGalMeow
"I also accepted that they don’t want me in their lives anymore. I learned that I made my mistakes, I learned from them, and I accept their choices. I don’t self-hate anymore and I try to be a better person in general. I hope you are doing well and practicing self-love and forgiveness."
PDXGalMeow
Money Issues
Donald Duck Money GIFGiphy"I lent them $20 and then they avoided me so they didn’t have to pay me back. Worth the $20."
BuickAssault
"I don't ever expect prompt returns of small amounts of money between my friends... we all buy each other rounds or buy the food for the BBQ or whatever. It ends up evening out over time I think we'd notice though if someone was always taking and never giving and then they'd probably get cut off too."
Badloss
In the immortal words of Cyndi Lauper... "Money Changes Everything."
Lack of Support
Happy Planning GIFGiphy"She joined a pyramid scheme selling butt-ugly leggings and it took over her whole life. When I finally told her it was negatively affecting our friendship, she accused me of not supporting her 'business.'"
LeftandLeaving9006
Oh Driver
"I was basically a taxi for my friends so I dumped them all."
Bullfrog_Little
"This one I can understand but depends on the situation. Not all of my friends had cars in high school, so our group needed to have me and my sh*tty '94 Plymouth Sundance come, or they couldn't do anything. I didn't mind at all then, but I definitely would these days."
Hoopajoops
"I remember I used to drive around with my buddies all the time before they had licenses. When one of my friends got his and a car I said sweet now you can drive me around for a bit, he replied that he wasn't gonna waste his money on gas like that. See ya, haven't really spoken to him since."
DontcallmeShirley_82
2063
"How's this for oddly specific: Friend since 1980, was hanging out at a bar in 1992 and there was a dispute of over a $15.00 bar tab. I was in the right, but whatever - he held a grudge for years."
"Ran into him in 2017 and we were both too old to care. Started to see each other now and then. 2023 and we're at this local bar for a show and got into a fight about $15.00 a ticket."
"Maybe he'll call me in 2063."
The68Guns
Exhausting
"She was a taker, constantly. When I needed something she made it about her yet again. Exhausting to be around."
LordyIHopeThereIsPie
"I'm going through this right now. Can't tell you how many texts I have from her in the past few days telling me that I need to get over myself, need to stop making myself the victim, have been a terrible friend, have never been there for her."
"She's the most narcissistic person I know and everyone does everything for her. She has one of the easiest lives ever and anytime anything bad happens to her she believes that everyone is against her and she's the victim here. It's pure insanity. There is no talking sense to people like this."
cheeseburgerwaffles
Life Changes
point pointing GIF by Shalita GrantGiphy"I've lost like all but two of my 'friends' because I stopped drinking and doing hard drugs."
ConcertTerrible8877
"Same here dude. My circle is small but hey at least it's a circle I know I can go to."
Miss_mayonnaise
Oh, how things change when the booze dries up.
How much fun were you really having?
Do you have any stories about cutting off a friend? Let us know in the comments below.
Curious to hear from ex-lovers who've been there, Redditor Lishasquarepant asked:
"What caused your last break-up?"
These Redditors found they and their significant other were no longer on the same page.
"Simply, we grew apart."
– catetheway
"Same, I feel like Michael Scott everytime I try to start another relationship. 'No question about it, I am ready to get hurt again.'"
– Gthew
Happier Apart
"Same. We loved each other like siblings, not spouses... Ugh! Lovely man though who now has a fab girlfriend. We are good friends and much happier apart."
– MoxieHasKnottyBits
No Regrets
"Same. And it f'king sucks, but that’s life. It’s been a year and I still hate every second that she’s not in my life, but at the same time I know she’s happier now than she would’ve been if we stayed together."
– throway35885328
Having no communication is the worst part.
Silent Partner
"He slowly got distant. I believe he lost interest and didn't dare be honest with me about that."
– GaiaNatur77
The Late Blame Game
"I had that happen as well, but then he pinned it on me being distant and not affectionate enough."
"My guy, if you pull your hand away every time I try to hold it, I'm gonna stop trying to hold it. And if I ask if something's up and you repeatedly tell me everything is fine, I'm going to believe you. Don't wait till I'm at my worst moment and then reveal you had issues with me for 3 months and break up with me for it being 'my fault.'"
– Billielolly
"Everything Is Fine"
"Oh man, the asking repeatedly and getting a 'nothing' reminds me of a story."
"My friend used to ask her ex this every time he was unusually quiet. He’d always say he was fine, then at one point, told her to stop asking because it was making him feel weird."
"So she did."
"Six months later he initiated a divorce because she didn’t care about his feelings anymore."
"Like…don’t ask for sh*t then get pissy when you get what you want."
– TheRealJackReynolds
And then there are those who were not invested in the relationship for a long time.
The Struggle Is Real
"He seemed to struggle with the concept of not f'king random people."
– spanglesandbambi
Leaving The Problem
"He moved to his country because he missed his family. So he only sent a WhatsApp message saying he was going to stay there. I would have preferred a call at least to break up a marriage."
– kattia12
New Life
"Something similar happened to my cousin. He married her in the US, they had a baby together.. a few years go by, he misses home, goes back to visit.. His family had an arranged marriage ready for him 🤦🏻♀️ He ended up with a new wife and new baby. Hasn’t came back."
– MysticalMom7
A Foreign Custom
"It just seems so surreal that a grown a** adult with a wife and baby would leave his family behind for an arranged marriage. I'll never fathom the mentality."
– ro0ibos2
Ouch
"I wasn't having sex near as often as she was."
– YourWordsMatter
Breaking up is hard to do.
But a good thing to remember is that love can be found again and the new relationship can be even better than the previous one.
And that's something that can't be recognized until you look back in retrospect.
We all have to kiss a few toads.