"Who is the biggest troll in history?"
Amazing What Good Pictures Can Do...
"The guy who opened a fake restaurant in London using Google reviews and his back garden and shed with microwave meals."- dirtyaccomplice
Just... Why?!?
"April fools day 1974 when a man burned 70 rubber tires on a dormant volcano in Alaska!"
"This has to be up there."
"He waited 3 years to get a helicopter to fly the tires to the top to get a picture perfect condition."
"He even got the coast guard called out too."- jgpdvs
Team Salieri?
"Mozart didn’t like this singer so much that he wrote a piece for her with high and low notes constantly because he noticed that when she hit low notes her chin went to her chest and when she hit high notes her head would fling back."
"So it was like she was bobbing like a chicken."- danielokane
GiphyCloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs!
"In the 30s-40s BBC did an April fools broadcast where they told people how spaghetti was made, on trees.'
"They literally showed fake spaghetti trees and since not many people in that time knew how spaghetti was made, lots of people believed it."- Voicedtunic
He Made A Mockery Of All Of Them!
"There was a Prussian, I can't remember his name, who managed to make an officer's uniform out of scraps of clothing."
"He used it to convince a few guards on patrol to follow him into a government building, ordered the arrest of the man in charge, confiscated all the money personally, sent the arrested man to Berlin calming it was all on order of the King."
"He then ditched the uniformed, got on a train to Berlin him and managed to beat the guards there."
"He then sat back and watched the absolute confusion happen."
"The guy was eventually arrested but the public turned him into a celebrity and his actions into a play that was performed all over Germany."
"He wasn't incarcerated for long and after his release he lived an easy life from there on."- TheGermanMofo
Outsmarting The Enemy
"Technically this isn't a troll since it was serving a purpose, but Admiral Nelson was escaping a French fleet when a man fell overboard."
"It was Nelson's policy of never leaving anyone behind so he turned his ship around to go pick him up."
"The French saw his ship turn back toward them, assumed he had reinforcements coming beyond the horizon, so they turned and ran."- ScarletCaptain
Episode 18 GIF by The SimpsonsGiphyThat's Quite A Grudge...
"I was thinking more like the mortician who patented the automatic telephone switch 3 years after finding out his rival's wife worked as a telephone operator and would reroute calls asking for his funeral parlor to her husbands."
"The guy put a whole worldwide workforce out of work for one person's actions."- ThrowawayKarensBane
By Hook Or By Crook...
"Theodore Hook."
"The perpetrator of the Berners Street hoax in London in 1810 in which Hook sent thousands of letters summoning all manners of various vendors and service people and physicians and dignitaries and others to all come to one random person’s home."
'Literally shutting down a large part of London as they all descended upon the same address throughout the day, all while Hook and a friend sat watching from a house across the street, presumably laughing their a**es off the whole time."- VictorBlimpmuscle
Reverse Psychology
"In China there was the war of the three kingdoms."
"The Wei, Shu, and Wu."
"Two of their armies met in battle and the smaller was out of arrows."
"They were separated by a river."
"One night, the leader of the smaller army stocked the front of their boats/rafts with straw bales and moved toward the opposing army over the river."
"They were immediately hailed with arrows."
"The men ducked behind the straw while the arrows stuck in the straw, undamaged."
"They then sailed away and yelled."
"''We thank you for the arrows, we will return them shortly!"''
"This may just be a tall tale from Romance of the Three Kingdoms but it may be true."- Mr_Caterpillar
You Got It Animation GIF by SWR KindernetzGiphyGenerally speaking, these were deliberate acts of malice, which served no other purpose than to baffle and infuriate the public.
Although, one can't help but wonder if all of these so-called trolls had an ulterior motive.
Deep down, they must have known that these duplicitous pranks would ensure that people would remember their name, or at the very least their actions, for a very long time.
Curious to hear about some of the more obvious scams, Redditor GransShortbread asked:
"What is a straight up scam?"
These incidents will make you think twice about picking up the phone.
Repeat Offender
"I got a call from the same guy, twice. He said that he was taking donations for the family of a fallen Las Vegas police officer. I told him that I didn’t have any money and he said by not donating a warrant would be issued for my arrest. So I told him to come and get me. He called again the following week. Some people never learn."
– Bwon669
Grandpa Got A Call
"My grandfather, who's around 85, got a call a few months ago from someone impersonating to be me. I'm 16 and in high school and live a town away from my grandparents. He got the call midday while I was at school. The guy told him that he was me and that I had been arrested and I needed money to make bail but I didn't want to tell my parents. My grandfather almost believed him. He called my parents who called me, in the middle of my math class, confirming I wasn't in jail."
– BrandonTaylor89
Why They Prey On The Elderly
"They don't claim to be you specifically. They typically say something vague like, 'Hey grandpa, it's me. I'm in trouble.' And the elderly person will normally fill in the blanks on their own, 'Brandon?? Where are you? Are you ok?' Then the scammer runs with it and repeats your name a lot to make it seem authentic."
– HeiressGoddess
Jaded Grandpa
"My grandfather almost got scammed in a similar fashion. He said they sounded just like me and that I needed to get bailed out of jail. Luckily, he was tired of all my cousins bullsh*t and refused, lmao."
– Firstnamecody
If it sounds too good to be true, that's because it is.
Invest To Getting Rich Quick
"All gurus claiming to teach you how to make 6 figure income if you buy their 30 day course."
– peoplecallmedude797
The Gamble
"Sadly, there will always be lots of people desperate enough to believe that maybe, just maybe, there really is a cheat code to life that nobody else has discovered yet."
"I used to believe that people could make millions in a short space of time on the stock market, but the reality is that the higher the returns, the closer to gambling it becomes. By the time you reach 20% per year returns and higher, you're reaching 'take your money and bet it all on red' territory."
– Neoptolemus85
Sharing Property
"Timeshares."
"Honestly don’t know how the salesmen that try to push this crap can look themselves in the mirror. They should switch to a respectable job like selling meth to teenagers."
– usmcmech
It's hard to believe anything anymore these days.
Mom's Rage
"Mom saying she won’t get mad if I tell her the truth."
– GreatXs
Benefits Of Truth
"My dad doing this really taught me a lot about risk assessment."
"Tell the truth: hour long boring-a** lecture about how I screwed something up (that I either already know was a mistake and have learned from it or the situation was more complex but he doesn't wanna hear it because in his book 'explanation / reason' and 'excuse' are the same word)."
"Lie: if I get caught lying, it's the same lecture but if I give him a convincing enough lie, I can avoid the whole thing. So honesty is a guaranteed lose, lying has a chance of getting away with it."
"It was only later that I've learnt that being honest and owning up to your mistake is the easiest option in 95% of cases since most people don't have an emotional investment in your actions. You got to class late: tell the prof you overslept, you're sorry and that's it. He teaches 500+ students, he doesn't care about you, just apologize for disrupting his class by arriving late."
– Corvus_Manufaktura
It Doesn't Work That Way
"How to save $100k"
- Get free college tuition
- Have a massive safety net so you can take full advantage of your tech company matching you putting lots of money into your 401k
– ThadisJones
These should be a crime.
Name A Star
"The International Star Registry."
"No, you can't really pay to name a star after someone. This is just a bullshit company selling bullsh*t certificates."
– ImGumbyDamnIt
Textbook Scam
"College textbook prices"
– the_garnet_witch
A La Carte Services
"Subscription services to activate hardware and features in machines and devices you have purchased."
"Should be f'king illegal."
– sbenzanzenwan
The Claw
"Goddamn claw machines. How many times have you spent your money on a Claw Machine and actually got something?"
– RosyandCozy69
Don't Waste Your Money
"Subscription services to activate hardware and features in machines and devices you have purchased."
"Should be f'king illegal."
– sbenzanzenwan
There are no easy routes to wealth. Don't fall for anything that sounds too good to be true.
Your instincts are there for a reason.
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Never miss another big, odd, funny or heartbreaking moment again.
Grab a glass of water and drink from the opposite side of the cup while tilting your head forward.
Try continuously gulping until the glass is empty. By the time you come back up for air, the annoying involuntary spasm should be gone.
Works like a charm, I tell ya.
Wanting to find out about other life hacks, Redditor Smileycircus asked:
"What 'one weird trick' actually works?"
Home Remedy
When you don't have commercial house cleaning products, check your fridge for solutions. No, really.
Other helpful hacks include using lint, gravity, and plain dish soap.
Glass Magnet
"need to pick up small pieces of glass out of a carpet? Use a wet slice of bread. The surface tension 'sticks' to the peices of glass and the bread picking them out of the carpet. Just remember to vacuum afterwards."
Removing Wood Stain
"If you get wood stain in your hands, rub any kind of kitchen oil on it then wash your hands with warm water and dish soap! Works amazingly, otherwise I think I would still have that stuff on me and it's been about three months since then."
"Edit: there seems to be a few confused people not knowing what wood stain is, it's basically just a really sticky/oily substance you put on wood to give it a darker color!"
– MoeK430
Use For Lint
"Save the lint from your dryer and roll in vaseline. My grandpa used these back in the day when we'd go on hunting trips. Hed make them quarter to half dollar size and keep in a metal tin and the vaseline also made them virtually water proof. What we used for our campfires being poor white trash lol."
Let Gravity Be Your Guide
"Dead batteries bounce when dropped on a hard surface. Good batteries don't."
"This is better than my older sister's method back in the day. She used to tell me to put the prongs of the battery on my tongue, and if it shot me with pain, it was still live. I fell for this a couple years in a row; I was not very bright, and longed to hang out with her and her cool friends!"
Don't Sweat The Small Stuff
These harmless cheat systems will make you sleep easier at night – both mentally, and physically.
Read At Your Own Pace
"If you have a Kindle and are renting e-books from the library, put it in airplane mode and when it's due back, the book will still return but the content will still be on your device until you turn off airplane mode."
"I don't usually finish my books before they are due back so this trick works great."
Breathe With Ease
"If your nose is stuffy and congested (or you can try it regardless, it works anyway) press firmly on the bridge of your nose for about 15 seconds. You'll feel your sinuses draining and it helps immensely if you've been crying for a while and it feels like your face hurts."
"There's other pressure points too but that's a good quality of life hack"
When You Can't Contain Yourself
"If you feel like you need to laugh or scream, but you are not in a place where this is appropriate, open your mouth and breathe out an entire lungful like 'haaaa.' It will mitigate the feeling, and it's barely audible."
The Right Head Space
No need to wrack your brain when writing dissertations or when you're trying to comprehend something that just won't sink in.
Because when all else fails, you can use your rubber duck.
It's All In The Font
"Learned this a while back and for some strange reason it's actually helped. When you have an assignment to type out like an essay to write, use the comic sans font and your ideas just flow out of you. As opposed to times new roman or any other official font, you're less worried about the 'correctness' of each sentence and you can just write without being too much in your head. Then of course before submitting have a read through and change it to the official font required."
The Listener
"If you want to make sure you understand something, try to explain it out loud to a rubber duck."
"(Not kidding.)"
"Edit: Y'all, I'm a programmer. I know the origins. But it's useful in learning anything - not just debugging!"
The Right Portion
"Serve your food on a smaller plate. Tricks the brain into thinking its a large portion."
When life gives you lemons, make lemonade OR use the lemon juice to get ride of unwanted highlighter markings.
Just cut a lemon in half, get a cotton swab and soak the tip with the magical citrus elixir and glide it across the unwanted stain and watch it disappear.
All the previously mentioned "tricks" may or may not be 100% effective for you, but what have you got to lose? Lint and bread?
It's a small price to pay, if you ask me.
Duh?
GiphyPlay along but pretend to be a total idiot. 'Hmm laptop on...do I need to plug it in first??' Icannotgoforthat
Wasted.
The other day I let the telemarketer get about 2 questions into their script and then I interrupted them and said the following, "wait, hold up. Hold up. Hold on. Wait hold up. Holdupholdupholdupholdup. Wait... hold up. Hold on. Hold up. Hold up, hold up, hold up. Hold on. Hold up. Okay."
Then she hung up, which I'm actually pretty proud of because most of those telemarketer places have rules that keep them from being allowed to hang up unless you threaten or swear at them. Waste my time and I'll waste yours. SloopyDoops
What's your beef?
"Home of the Whopper. What's your beef?"
"Thank you for calling Good Burger. Home of the Good Burger. Can I take ya awder?"
"Trojan condoms. We'll come before you do. Is this for pick up or delivery?"
"Thank you for calling your local scientology volunteer service. You're hired." CrashMcCloud
I don't trust her.
What is my perfect crime? I break into Tiffany's at midnight. Do I go for the vault? No, I go for the chandelier. It's priceless. As I'm taking it down, a woman catches me. She tells me to stop. It's her father's business. She's Tiffany. I say no. We make love all night. In the morning, the cops come and I escape in one of their uniforms. I tell her to meet me in Mexico, but I go to Canada.
I don't trust her. Besides, I like the cold. Thirty years later, I get a postcard. I have a son and he's the chief of police. This is where the story gets interesting. I tell Tiffany to meet me in Paris by the Trocadero. She's been waiting for me all these years. She's never taken another lover. I don't care. I don't show up. I go to Berlin. That's where I stashed the chandelier. Scaro88
No.... X 10!
GiphyJust answer "no" to whatever they say. My uncle has got spam calls on the phone for over 5 minutes, while just saying "no" to whatever they say. Jaxerfp
FOOL!
"You mortal fool! You dare summon me when I am most powerful?!?!? you must have a death wish and I assure you it will be granted!!!!"
But in the softest voice You can muster. Mental_Plague_Rat
Hey Dayton.
Giphy"Dayton city morgue." Is a favorite of mine, also "Dayton city Insane Asylum, how may I make your day crazier?"
But 90% of my spam calls are robot calls so it hardly works.
Also, I use these when relatives call. It gives them a good laugh. CoffeeCat072083
Shame!
Spam them back. Sell them something ridiculous until the point when they give you their credit card number, but stop and shame them for what they do. Lost_Borealian
Devious...
GiphyI just say in a very robotic voice "Hello, you have reached the customer service line for Johnson's assassinations. For a gunning, press 1, for kidnapping press 2, for a thermonuclear strike on the target's home town press 3. uglyatheist
10/10....
A good friend of mine has my favorite way to do it:
He'd answer, and wait to make sure it was actually a scammer. Then, after about a minute of their pitch, he'd start screaming "OHHHHHHHHH GOD MY BUTHOOOOOOLE. MY DAMN BUTHOOOOOOOOOLE."
10/10 they'd hang up. Fleebledee
Gramps....
My great grandpa was hilarious. He once got a phone call from this man who told him he needed two thousand dollars to open a bank account, and that when it was open he would send him the money. He said he desperately needed the money. So my grandpa takes him on a three hour adventure, during which he fakes himself getting fired, wrecking his car, and eventually getting hit by a car all to mess with a man who tried to scam a sixty year old veteran. It was truly hilarious. the-drunk-potato
Hey Lewis....
Giphy"Homicide"... Michaels speaking. Hold on a second. Lewis.. Lewis! Put a sheet on that body. Ok, what do you want?" Greeblebrox
"What hang up?"
I typically say "I just have this one hangup with (whatever product)."
Typically you'll get a response like "What hang up?"
And that's when I hang up. jonahvsthewhale
It's the small things ya know.
I like pretending I'm old and they damn love it. Cuz they prey on the elderly so it's easy to get them to go along with it. Then just string them along with fake things and every so often yell "Oh no I've pooped my pants!!" It's the small things ya know. medicff
Play Along.
Sometimes I'll just play along, and then when they ask for my credit card info I'll put the phone down for like 10 minutes. If they stay on the line, I'll pick it back up and then give them the wrong credit card number, do it over and over again, and then pretend to get mad at them for making it too difficult. alpengeist19
..............
GiphyActual advice here: take the call but don't say anything, leave them hanging in silence.
After some tries they wont call you back and don't sell your number any further, worked wonders for me! N1kc1
"Bonjour"
Last one I got I simply answered with "Bonjour" and they hung up immediately. SexDeity
I've done a few with the rotating language game. Might need to brush up on a few more languages. Lol it's always risky if it turns out to be a real call. Front_Angle
Sexy Sounds....
I'm a guy. If it's a man on the other line I flirt with them, try to get a date. They hang up.
Well, now, wait a minute.... is that good or bad? Yes, I got them off the phone, but I didn't get the date. llcucf80
Ever took that as measure in your ability to woo a potential mate ?
Did you ask them what they were wearing? cltzzz
Just North of Miami......
I tell them I don't have a credit card, but can mail them cash. That gets them interested so I can waste a lot of their time. I even had a guy give me apparently his home address in West Park, FL (just north of Miami). I contacted the local police there, and they said they were already looking into him. Dry-Report
This only applies for human beings btw.....
If you have time to waste, waste their time: pretend to comply but make up random errors for them to troubleshoot, provide slightly different information every time they ask for it, make them repeat whatever they say as often as possible, tell them to hang on one second and leave them on the line for as long as you wish.
This only applies for human beings btw. If you prove to be difficult enough, they may blacklist you. GonzoRouge
Bot 2 Bot....
GiphyInterestingly most spam calls are just recorded audio. So I fight fire with fire and let my phone's assistant answer. Usually they hang up in a few seconds. I think the robots realize they are talking to each other and hang up. ExpansiveAcorn7
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