
We can all fall prey to a snake oil salesperson.
Even if that sale is made by a digital seller.
Heck, that's how most scams are run these days.
People are out to fleece you. So... one must be prepared.
What's unfortunate is that too robberies are legal and sanctioned.
Why are certain necessities so expensive?
How can we avoid it?
Let's discuss...
Reddit Aggravating_Week5275 wanted to list all of the swindles we all need to be watching for, so they asked:
"What do you think is a giant scam?"
I have fallen for a few scams. I hate to say it. Ever heard of Columbia House?
Vital Needs
"Price of insulin."
eaa802
"Can't believe I had to scroll that much to find this answer. Or any other vital medication."
Lummita
Knowledge Scams
"Brand new college textbook prices."
NegativeReplies
"Unethical life pro tip: I’ve bought used copies and told my professor that the card didn’t come with my 'new' copy, they typically contact the publisher and get free codes. Especially if you get an old edition, you just have to skip around as the chapter order has changed but it’s the same material for pennies on the dollar. Also, many books can be downloaded for free at various online site."
Kronikinsanity
Worst ever...
"Every MLM ever."
Illustrious-Chip-245
"I used to be with one but I didn't know it was an MLM until years after I quit. I lost more money than I ever "gained" from it. When I joined I didn't know they had like a minimum amount of orders that had to be done within certain time-frames or whatever. That's part of what led me to quitting. I keep pouring money into it and over time I got less and less orders. Not worth it."
idratherchangemyold1
Digital Crap
"99.9% of NFTs."
darkhorsehance
"It’s digital proof of ownership of something, that can’t be forged, so there’s a market for things like digital tickets to events, exclusive clubs and memberships offered by companies for customers, etc."
"But in those types of cases the value is based on the real world services and goods provided by owning it (in addition to scarcity). I’m sure there will even be digital art that will increase in value over the years too, but your odds of getting one are pretty similar to your odds of winning the lottery, aka a pretty terrible investment."
Just4nsfwpics
Interruptions...
"Majority of ads."
SujammaCartel
"It's bullcrap what I see today, especially on YT. Kids are seeing this garbage."
Efficient_Garden5976
This NFT thing sounds insane. Also... how do I make one?
I'll microwave...
"Cooking for 1 hour and finishing the food in 10 minutes."
BlockNarrow6745
Not so bright...
"Diamonds."
New-Sir-4662
"My wife is in the relatively minor school of thought that lab-grown diamonds are just as good as dug-out-of-the-ground diamonds. Her wedding jewelry is something like 3 or 4 carats of diamond. probably something like £6000 if we'd bought natural diamonds, but only a fraction of that in reality. We're not telling anyone. :D "
Ruadhan2300
'get a better rate'
"Credit scores. Basically, a few companies convinced us it was totally fine to take all of our financial information and sell it to others, under the guise it would help us 'get a better rate' when we wanted to borrow money. In reality, although banks do care about these credit reports, they are only checking for debt-to-income ratios and other obvious red flags. Regardless, an entire industry has sprung up around optimizing credit scores."
triley368
After we breathe...
"Funerals. This include Majority of funeral homes, coffin stuff, and making the body look pretty for said funeral. It's a pretty American thing and actually also a pretty new concept that dead bodies are gross. Until pretty recently people would keep the bodies of dead loved ones in their homes for days and even pose for pictures with them. It helped with the grieving process and it just doesn't feel natural the way we treat our dead."
yammsandasideofguac
Accolades
"Most college degrees. Unless you're aiming for an industry that requires one (doctor/lawyer/etc), it really feels like a way to saddle 17 year olds with a lifetime of debt."
CHUNKY_BLOODY_QUEEFS
So much money...
"Health care, medical insurance and medicine. I've been fighting for over a month to get life sustaining medicine approved by insurance. It's 8000 dollars self pay per month for a 10ml vial. Talk about liquid platinum... I work in the medical field and I'm paying for insurance that hasn't done a damn thing for me yet this year."
Jam_Sauce
The Moon
"Companies selling stars and acres of the moon."
Graceoc323
"Actually I did once buy my parents the name of a binary star for their anniversary. Yeah, we all know it was bogus but it was pretty fun to think there was a solar system named Mabel (red dwarf) and Frank (yellow star)."
celticxcross
What's up with that???"
"Having to pay for life-saving medicine. Like insulin. What's up with that???"
KittyMori
"Also medicine expiration dates. Most of the time they just want to make more money by having to re-fill. Or needing more medicine you need to see your doctor first which is more expenses."
Latter-Project536
America
"The American healthcare system provides the same service as most developed nations for twice the price, with the balance going primarily to a bunch of entitled hothouse flowers who inherited shares in publicly traded health insurance companies so they can fuck off and do whatever they want for their entire lives without ever being forced to provide value to other human beings. The idleness of the born rich is paid for in the blood of everyone else."
Flaky-Fellatio
a wonderful thing...
"Prayer for pay. Honestly, anyone who is preaching about the champion of the poor, whose gospel states its easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven (Mark 10:25) then drive off in a Lamborghini to his mansion is a scam artist and horrible person. Religion can be a wonderful thing, it can also be weaponized, monetized, and b**tardized by those with bad hearts, bad judgment, or bad intentions."
WarLawck
Uni
"The fact that spending thousands of money and time for college and being broke doesn't get you anywhere but a related diploma of 6months gets you a job and a better pay?? Not for all the fields of study but for the ones relevant isn't the University just scamming us?"
zakiel_faith
Fun
"Sims 4 and its respective DLCs. It's a bare bones game with like 20 hours of playtime total... and to make it fun, you need DLC. Problem is, each of the largest DLC only gives like 10ish hours of playtime. In addition, whilst playing, you'll always have that itch to buy more DLC to make the game more fun."
"Before you know it, you're $200 down the drain and only have like a chunk of the actual DLC packs, and still feel bored. Only game I am willing to pirate and I encourage others who want to play Sims 4 to do so. It's a f**king scam."
SirChopslice
Sexist
"The pink tax. Don't know what I'm talking about? Go buy something for men like razors or deodorant then go buy the exact same thing but the women's version. It will be more expensive. For no reason."
PartSwimming
Points
"Credit Score definitely a scam. They be like congrats you've paid your credit cards on time, here's a 7 point increase in your score also them you've spent $50 on a credit card your score has dropped 50 points. 💯 scam designed to keep you poor & in debt!"
Few_Lobster7961
Steer clear of all the scamming succubus. Succubi? You know what I mean. They are strong in numbers.
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Dating and the search for love and companionship... What a nightmare.
This journey plays out nothing like in the movies.
Every Prince or Princess (or everything in BTW) seems to have a touch of the psycho.
The things people say during what should be simple dinner conversation can leave a dining partner aghast.
Like... do you hear you?
Redditor detroit_michigldan wanted to discuss all the best ways to crash and burn when trying to make a romantic connection. They asked:
"You're on a date and it's going really great. What can another person say to ruin it completely?"
I once had a guy ask me if I was willing to follow him into the woods, depending on the price of the meal.
Yeah. No steak is worth that.
Plans After...
"Thanks for the ride but I have a date with someone else, I figured you wouldn't drive me if you knew I was going on a date with someone else and I really needed a ride."
"Online dating, talked to her for a while, finally got the courage to ask her out and then she said that as we got there."
iareyours
Mirror Image
“'You look just like my wife!'”
catalinachild
"I did have a guy tell me I reminded him of his son. I don’t believe English has a word to adequately describe my feelings at that time."
UnicornMagicRainbow
"That would definitely do it."
chaotica78
Third Wheel
"'Hope you don't mind if my mother joins us.'"
ofsquire
"Actually had a girl do this on a first date because she had anxiety issues. Honestly wasn’t bad except that 90% of the time she was silent and her mom talked over her."
"I didn’t mind that much and wouldn’t have minded trying again when she was more comfortable except that she was let go at the company we worked at and she deleted her social media profiles and she never responded on her number. Ah well."
Seightx
Liar
"'Hey bro aren't you gay? I made out with you last night.'"
"Random dude I've never seen before in front of my (f) date."
JHXC16
Was he lying though?
Filter Issues
"'You looked better on Tinder.'"
waqasnaseem07
"Isn’t it basic knowledge that everybody looks slightly worse than the worst picture you can find?"
no_user_ID_found
The Past
"'My ex used to do that too.'"
xxIvyOF
"Yep. I’ve definitely had two otherwise-decent-guy date-situations sour because the ex-comparisons just would not stop flowing. No woman wants to be seen as interchangeable—I’m not here to perfectly fill that ex-sized hole in your life. Focusing on the present moment and a future we could build together is a courtesy we need to grant each other in earliest dates of dating."
LarkScarlett
Powerless
"'I'm an alpha, you cant handle my top energy.'"
Midnightgay28
"I actually left a dude in the middle of dinner, in part, for saying this. I ordered an Uber under the table while pretending to listen to him. Went to the bathroom, and never came back. That was when I was young. Now I’d just say, 'How about we enjoy this meal in silence, before we head our separate ways.'”
UnicornMagicRainbow
Mommy...
"'Mother says I should be back by 9.'"
"Saying 'mother says' just feels weird."
bunnyrut
"That gives me Norman Bates vibes."
Werewolf_lover20
"'Mother says alligators are aggressive because they have an overabundance of teeth, but lack a toothbrush.'"
sodaextraiceplease
Obvs...
"'If you were going to be murdered, what method would you prefer. Purely hypothetical. Obvs.'"
Specific_Tap7296
If it looks anything like a Dateline NBC episode... RUN!
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Despite the advancement of technology rendering people left to their own devices–literally–to entertain them, there are some leisurely activities that will never go out of style.
Or so you would think.
Do people still knit to pass the time? Are people actively collecting stamps?
It depends on who's asking.
Curious to hear about hobby trends, Redditor gizehgizeh asked:
"What are once popular hobbies that are slowly dying these days?"

Before we've become conditioned to living on our phones, these activities used to keep people occupied.
Before Texting, There Was This
"Letter writing."
– littlekingMT
Literal And Tangible Joy
"Well the internet killed pen pals for sure. I do remember I had a Japanese girl for a penpal maybe back in 2007 or so. I honestly don't remember how it started, pretty sure some website, but that was a fun experience. But now I can just straight up talk to foreign people real time, lol. But yea getting a physical letter that someone took the time to write and mail still is hard to beat feelings wise."
– skyburnsred
Model Trains
"When I was growing up, every town had a model train store in it. Now I have one in region and everything else has to be bought online."
– Hairy_Effective1172
Pretty Rocks
"Don’t see anyone playing marbles anymore, I had an awesome collection in school."
– sheeple85
"I had some marbles as a kid in the 90s. My grandma got them for me and I had no idea what I was supposed to do with them. I always imagined them as a thing kids in the 40s played with."
– Ryoukugan
People Were Moving Canvases
"Paintball has been dying a slow death since 2006. Sad, really."
– hobo_recycler
Before the general population began hating clutter, collecting was once a "thing."
Precious Coins
"Coin collecting... I'm a silver/gold nut and I'm always hunting for precious metal coins. whenever I go into a shop they get all excited because 'no one under 70 collects coins anymore.'"
– ThatFishySmell99
Post It
"Stamp collecting."
– spooky_scully_mulder
"Collecting in general, really. Of course there are still prominent collectors but it's slipped more into enthusiast and niche territory than being a popular hobby that you might expect anyone to have."
– iuytrefdgh436yujhe2
What A Gem
"Rockhounding was immensely popular back in the 1950's and 1960's. Personally, I think it's a fascinating and fulfilling hobby, but when I go to a meeting at a rock and gem club, I'm usually the youngest one in the room by several decades."
– filthy_lucre
People once enjoyed making things.
Admiring The View
"Stained glass. I learned how to make it from my old man, and my junior high art class teacher also taught it. Very few artisans are still around."
– brobeanzhitler
Metal Vocation
"Black smithing."
– kenworth117
"I bought a forge to try. It’s insanely hard work, and crazy expensive. I still haven’t finished a piece."
– DSentvalue
Scrapbooking
"Yeah. I'm watching the arts and crafts stores around me completely uninstalling their racks for specialty paper. Now the only thing they have is mega packs of repeating colors/images. To boot all the inclusions like papercraft/die-cut things, washi tape, scissors, stickers, etc have gotten so expensive I would rather go buy $5 bags at value village to get an assortment of things versus buying anything new. I really, really miss yard sales for the same reasons."
– Phantasmai
I envy people who have jobs that are basically their hobbies.
Not everyone gets paid doing what they actually enjoy and have a profound level of passion for.
If they do, kudos to them.
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When we first meet someone–whether through mutual friends, at school, or in a new work setting–we generally feel people out to determine if they're worth getting to know.
While the process could take time, some people make our jobs much easier after spotting instant red flags.
Curious to hear about our general radar of people, Redditor xxFluffie asked:
"What is something that makes you immediately dislike someone?"

Some people just think they are absolutely hilarious and never realize they're the only ones laughing.
Next In Line
"They laugh about having screwed someone else over. If you think you're not next, well, you'll learn."
– whiznat
Unfunny
"when you mention you don't like a thing and they immediately do that thing 'as a joke.'"
– wayfinder
Playing Devil's Advocate
"Kneejerk contrarians. People who, no matter what you say you like or believe, just have to dismiss it and say they like or think the opposite."
– BubbhaJebus
People who put others down get slammed here.
Bad Parents
"When they treat their kids sh**ty in public. I don't mean handling tantrums, setting a rule, having to hurry to the train etc. I mean perfectly normal-behaved kids getting in trouble for trailing along peacefully, looking at things, asking questions etc."
"If you don't like tiny humans who learn the world, why have them??"
– raxeira-etterath
Public Humiliation
"Treating people sh**ty in public for laughs. Like being rude to service workers because they think it’s funny. Big red flag."
– Ok_Personality_1080
Simply Uncalled For
"Someone who is a d*ck to other people or animals for no reason."
– xebt1000
Those with ulterior motives rubs people the wrong way.
The Scheme
"If they try to get me to join their MLM scheme."
– spazmcgee1
Hard Sell
"A guy I used to be friends with in high school reached out a couple of years after graduating about a business opportunity he wanted my opinion on because 'you've always been smart', then he set up a Skype call and brought some other dude into the call and they started trying to sell me on what was clearly an MLM scheme. The guy went from friend to 'I'm never talking to you again' in a matter of 10 minutes."
– Mental-Afternoon-164
A Timeline
"Good gawd, this! I've had more than one exposure to this abject bullsh**tery..."
- Back in the late 80's/early 90's I was invited to a meeting of literally the OG "Pyramid" where you're recruited to pay in, and then you go out and recruit others to pay in, and the last in line got f'kall.
- In 1995 I had a coworker try to reel me into Amway, which was a hard no.
- In 2000 it was Pampered Chef, though to be fair they did have useful products.
- In 2009 a coworker tried to get me into some stupid video calling service that was obviously stupid from the description. He even got offended when I called bullsh*t.
– Mystical_Cat
Too much ego is a no-go.
I Can Do Better
"Being a b*tch just to stroke their own ego."
"We get it, you can lift 5lbs more than the 12 year old, you don't have to rub it in their face just because you're slightly better"
– Livia_Pivia
Can't Top This
"Oh, you did <story that's been told>? That's nothing! I did <implausible story>.
"I get the whole empathy through relating common experience, and I'm someone who does that (which drives some people crazy on its own), but there's a big different by empathising through common experience, and one-upmanship."
– Tisarwat
Lacking Conversational Etiquette
"Starting to talk over me when I was already talking."
"Stop it you rude, arrogant jerk."
– R33Gtst
If one or more of these traits sound familiar to you, you're not alone.
We don't have time for braggadocios, pyramid-schemers, and conversation interrupters.
And that's just for starters.
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Children tend to believe just about anything they hear.
That there are monsters under your bed, watching too much TV will make your head explode, and silly faces will be permanent if you make them too often.
The sky is truly the limit when it comes to silly things that children will believe.
Some call it naivitée, other's youthful innocence.
But it's hard not to look back with embarrassment on certain things we believed as a child, that today might simply seem dumb.
Redditor Disastrous_Toe_6548 was curious to learn the multitude of silly things people believed when they were children, leading them to ask:
"What's the dumbest thing you believed as a kid?"
Pleading to deaf ears...
"My dad told me he had hearing loss and couldn't hear me if I whined because my pitch would get too high."
"Would completely ignore me until I asked him questions in a normal voice."
"Trusted him implicitly until I was 12 and he yelled at my younger brother for whining."- Tyrion_Stark.
Get it while you can.
"That they took everything off the shelves when the supermarket closed."- fgyfddg.
Silly superstitions.
"My grandfather used to tell me that if I played with the fire, I'd pee the bed."
"I believed him for a while, until I got older."
"I think he was just trying to protect me from the fire."- teddypa1981.
"Rain, rain go away..."
"That if it was raining where I was, it was raining everywhere in the world."- morningshartz.
Age is just a number.
"My parents used to seem really old to me, so much so I believed they grew up like cave people as children, wearing giant leaves for clothes and what not."- Laleena_.
So that's how they're made!
"That smokestacks from the power plant created clouds."- Scaniarix.
An instant cure.
"The sun gives you sunburns, therefore, moonlight should heal them."- velocipeter.
Better safe than sorry.
"Don't drink and drive meant all drinks."
"My dad was super confused when I told him he wasn't allowed to have any soda until we got home."- hulagirlslovetoparty.
Don't believe everything you see on TV.
"There was an episode of Mickey Mouse where Mickey couldn’t reach something at first, so he tried again and somehow his arm was long enough to reach it."
"As a small kid I believed that if I couldn’t reach something, I should just try reaching for it again and my arm would then somehow be long enough to reach it."- That-Dutch-Person.
The miracle of childbirth.
"That babies are pooped out."
"When I was like 7 I was listening to my aunt as she explained that childbirth was pretty intense and painful for her, and I was all solemnly like, 'yeah, sometimes just my poops are painful, I don’t think I could get a baby out' and she went 'um, WHAT?' and her reaction made me realize real quick that I had f*cked up somewhere and I tried to change the subject while my mind was just reeling lol."- thesoundingfurrows.
Oh to be a child again.
And to believe literally everything you're told.
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