I'm fairly sure it wasn't a scam _per se,_ but we got visited by someone trying to sell us doors for our house, and the dude just wouldn't leave our house and quoted us something like $50k after I basically said "cost estimate or gtfo." I won't say yes to anyone trying to get me to buy something, but I have a hard time being outright rude to someone's face, and I have wasted more time than I'm proud of as a result
One thing that's very relevant to this discussion, from ThereminTrees: Nobody who wants you to stop thinking is your friend. If they're trying to stop you taking time to think, and you don't know them? Not your friend. Hell, if they're trying to sell you on something that isn't a direct, immediate threat to life and/or limb and they don't want you to think, they aren't your friend.
I once bought make-up I neither wanted nor needed from an agressive saleswoman to avoid looking rude. The fact that I have social anxiety doesn't help. ...But I can't blame that for the time I bought an appliance that was being sold 100€ cheaper on one site than all the others... the website seemed legit, but I should have been tipped off by the fact that you had to pay by wire transfer, as they didn't take cards. When I went to check up on my order a few days later, the whole site had disappeared and unlike credit card payments, you can't cancel wire transfers. Needless to say, I never got my appliance and instead of getting a discount, I basically had to pay twice since I ended up having to order it elsewhere. You have to be very careful when paying by wire transfer: I would say a good rule of thumb is, at minimum, never to use a wire transfer for the purposes of buying a product.
My investment advice: make all your investments boring. No get rich quick schemes! I never answer the phone/text unless the number is already in my contacts. Phone numbers are useless now. I got scammed once where I invested in a legit business and the co-founder embezzled all the money and fled the country. Sometimes there's nothing you can do.
Also make sure all financial moves are self-initiated. Want to refi your house? Great but do it on your own terms instead of responding to a refi corp.
Phone numbers are useless now is actually so insane. An entire once revolutionary mode of person to person communication was rendered useless by incessant scamming
@@SynthApprenticeNo, it's not, the stock price doesn't move much. Volatility makes or loses you money. A stock that doesn't move doesn't do either. But inflation guarantees if you're not always making money, even while you sleep, you're losing ground.
Scamers are people trying to use a cheat code on you and will use any means of persuasion they can think of to get you to let your guard down. There *is* one that will work on you, and you’ve got to be self-aware about where your sense of urgency will overwhelm your caution - whether it’s overdue bills, family or friends, or exciting investment opportunities.
One important tactic to keep in mind is most scammers work on a script. They're looking for a minimal time investment and use a "tried and tested" dialogue tree to get results fast. Deviate from the script, doesn't have to be huge or dramatic, you don't even have to be rude, just ask them open-ended questions when you see an opportunity. Salespeople will likely relish the opportunity to talk up their product or make a connection, scammers will likely be annoyed or even confused and not know what to say outside of their pre-approved talking points.
I'd like to point out that, while *most* scammers are working from a script and want a minimal time investment, that's not the entire field. Do not assume that, just because the person is responding flexibly to your deviations from script, they're legit.
Scammers relying on forcing you into a quick decision reminds me of when we got pulled into a vacation club (basically a time share) presentation on vacation. They presented us with several too good to be true deals that had to be accepted right then (without even being able to read the contract) then got very aggressive with questioning when we said no. We just got up and left lol. It must work though, 4 people signed contracts when we were in the room. Never accept any free extras at a resort 🙄
Many years ago, my parents got a huge discount at a Marriot resort stay on the condition they were to attend a timeshare seminar (like 75% off the room; pretty sure timeshares don't do stuff like this anymore). They got their discount on the room, went to the 2 hour seminar, and when the woman giving the seminar asked if my parents had any questions, my mom had a few. She asked if the investment pool of all these companies (Princess Cruises, Marriot, etc.) in the timeshare could opt out of the deal -- as that would change the value significantly. The woman turned white as a sheet and said she didn't know. She then got a supervisor who told her that once a year, Marriot could vote to opt out, ending their involvement and she looked like she was ready to throw up as she had bought into the timeshare and didn't know that the value could crash whenever Marriot felt like withdrawing from the deal. Obviously, my parents did not sign up lol.
Yup, that thing at the beginning I've said a million times, the goal of the seller is to maker you have "BIG FEELINGS, BIG FEELINGS, BIG FEELINGS, MAKE A DECISION, DON'T THINK ABOUT IT!" as the act to get you to take the sell or fall for the scam. This is also true in an argument, bad relationships, etc. The sign of respect for you and your agency is to allow you to take the work, idea, or good at your own speed.
In summary, it's about befriending strangers through "accidental" wrong number messages, so after a long enough time to develop trust (sometimes even love), the scammer helpfully guide their friend into investing in crypto or stocks by themselves so they don't have to trust the scammer with money. What they don't know is that they may be given a fake investing app or something. It's like advanced phishing through social engineering.
My mom had gotten some odd PayPal payment request from an old account. Already suspicious, she called the number and I listened in. I stayed quiet right until the person she called told her to download software off of a website. Immediately said “it’s a scam, hang up”. I can’t think of any reason for any company would require you do download software directly to your computer or phone. I’m sure there are a few valid reasons, but it’s definitely a red flag.
As someone with sales experience, the speed is the big one. If a decision is as important or impactful as the salesperson says, it is worth sleeping on.
The use of fear to rush ppl into making a decision reminds me of the time my mom almost got scammed. At the time she was pregnant with me and at home, but then a stranger called her saying that my dad got into an accident and that she needed to send money asap so that he can be brought to the hospital. My mom's already someone who gets scared and panics easily, plus with me on the way and my dad making most of the money, she started panicking and was about to send the money, but fortunately our housemaid was there and she helped my mom calm down and check if my dad really did got into an accident. Safe to say he was working normally at his office. If our housemaid wasn't there, my mom probably would've actually gotten scammed. It really goes to show how important it is to have someone there to calm u down and check up on things.
I fell for a pyramid scheme when I was fresh out of high school. Didn't stay in it long, just didn't like being a salesperson. But the weird thing is that I did look up the company and there were folks online saying it was a scam because it was "more work than you were paid for," and I just brushed it off because "well, that's all jobs, isn't it?" I fell for the scam because capitalism itself is one big scam. 😅
So, I help out at a small indie bookstore and we've had a couple of scammers come in trying to get money. One actually succeeded, because she was a little old lady and no way little old ladies can be anything but fully trustworthy, right? I wasn't there for the bulk of the little old lady incident, but basically she came in claiming she was getting wedding presents and asked the owner to set aside and gift-wrap like a dozen fairy statues we had on display, including the very expensive marble one nobody will ever actually buy. This took an extremely long time and for the entire thing she was on the phone, speaking with "the bridesmaid" to discuss what statues they'd like best. When the little old lady tries to pay, her card gets declined. She starts panicking because she also needs to go to the bakery and pick up the cake and she doesn't have any cash. She acts devastated and asks the owner whether he has any cash, she'll go pick up the cake while we gift-wrap, meet up with the bridesmaid afterwards to get some cash money and come back to get multiple hundred euro worth of presents, plus the cash she was lended. Sounds fishy right? But she's a little old lady beside herself with worry that she's going to ruin her grandkid's wedding day and the owner has a soft spot for the elderly, so he actually hands the cash over. She leaves and obviously never comes back. The second time an attempt was made, I was the one in the shop and the would-be scammer was an annoying dude who completely missed the cold read and tried to get me engaged with bullshit about his pranotherapist or whatever asking him to find a place with positive vibrations to open his third eye. He did the same thing of making me pile up random products he didn't have a use for (like, he was getting TTRPG dice without knowing what a TTRPG was), asking me to gift wrap en masse, and trying to pay with a declined card. For some reason (probably seeing how little I was buying it) he didn't immediately try to ask for cash but pretended to go to the ATM outside to withdraw. I noticed he'd pocketed a notepad from the counter display, asked him if he'd taken it by mistake, he returned it and pretended to go to the ATM but never came back. I am guessing the counter theft was to gauge how suspicious I actually was and he decided it wasn't worth going further when I spotted him. Conclusions, aside from the solid advice in the video: -Scammers will try to find your soft spots and pry on them until you cave. For the owner, he's sort of too kind for his own good (like, we have a steady rotation of folks coming in to peddle knick-knacks at ridiculous prices because he often does give them some cash as charity) and he wasn't going to be rude to a sad little old lady, but he'd already. For me, the dude probably misread our shop (we specialize in fantasy, sci-fi and ttrpg) as a new age witchy kind of place and tried to bullshit me on energy therapy and opening your mind to the cosmos. -The scams usually involve getting you invested in doing extra work. When you're on the seller side, the fake clients ask more questions about the products, hem and haw about which options to get and ask you to gift wrap things to a much higher degree than regular clients would, because if they're so involved in the purchase it can't be fake, right? -The gift wrap thing also strikes me as trying to overload you with tasks so you're in a hurry/keeping you busy "while they go fetch the money" so you don't immediately think it through and stop them in the street or call the police. I think this can be expanded to any seemingly pointless round of weird tasks. They're just there to keep you doing things so you don't stop and think.
I don't think I'm immune to scams, but my particular set of life experiences makes me really sensitive to being manipulated. As soon as someone tries to make a human connection in an inappropriate/unforseen context (like asking me if I'm a helpful person in the mall), it puts me on alert. Then, depending on how much time I have or if I'm feeling subversive, I might decide to screw with them a bit. Not being mean, but definitely not being helpful. I think it's healthy to be skeptical of strangers regardless of what they say.
On the topic of not wanting to appear rude: My mother called me up once using dad's phone saying she had a guy on the phone claiming to be from Microsoft, viruses on the computer etc. I told her "Yeah that's a scam, tell him to fuck off." My beloved mother remained on the line so I could hear her say "My son says this is a scam and I should tell you to fuck off. So... fuck off." I love my mother, she rocks.
It person here. Im always so impressed by the rate at which scammers are advancing. My school got email spammed from the real financial aid account sending students messages regarding employing some low income students to make tuition money. The only thing that tipped me off was that the jobs supposedly offered 20$ per hour. I called their IT desk and not an hour later they sent a mass email saying dont respond to it.
I'm trying to sign up for your Patreon but cannot figure out where to put my Social Security number and Driver's License info... ...can I just leave those here in the comments?
On the same vein, after getting roped into a newspaper subscription, I not only do not answer my phone before coffee but I refuse to make decisions, *period*, without first waking up sufficiently. If I'm not on my game, how can I expect any decisions made from there to be good? I'm already starting off from a compromised position.. so, I just don't. I won't even decide my mood til I've drank my first cup.
@@Poppa_Capinyoaz I'm sure it went like, verbatim, "that coffee drink improves people's moods?!" "Well yeah, but not by much" "Oh ok, we can't be having people do things to be happy...unless we're the ones giving them the thing. And not too happy. We need that underlying despair to motivate them to work." I'm of the opinion that drugs are drugs. Being sold at a pharmacy or the pharmacy corner doesnt change the fact that drugs are drugs. Legality doesnt change that. And legality, if anyone's not clear on this, is possibly one of the worst metrics to compare ethics or morality too. You have as much freedom as you can afford in America. The rich don't go to jail. The laws aren't for them.
I've had a couple of near misses that I avoided from small details that didn't add up, like when my phone provider was sending me a verification code, and I got an email from Microsoft, with a verification code for my Microsoft account, or when a guy claiming to be from my (Australian) bank forgot to set his number to private and I could see he was calling me from the UK. Now even if everything seems to check out, I thank them for bringing it to my attention and that I'll take care of it at my local branch.
"you can be a pain in the ass without being mean", just adding my two cents here; if you think someone is trying to scam you, being mean can also work! a simple "fuck off!" or a "fuck you!" or just yelling in their face until they leave you alone. I have autism and consider myself particularly vulnerable, and therefore I afford less grace to those who seem to act in bad faith. Also many scams employ people who don't know its a scam, and often they are the ones used to recruit others, treating these interactions as normal only serves to normalize them. Make scammers feel bad IF you can! Scams can be avoided, but they can also be discouraged, imo.
Thank you for what you do! Really enjoying your work and the new setup. I hope that you never question your content creation. The kind of awareness, thoughtfulness, authenticity, and approachability you exhibit is a testament to your character. Achieving these things is an amazing feat that I imagine can only be achieved through difficult self reflection across a lifetime. Always looking forward to the next one and seeing the improvements in your production.
Gotta love the Crypto Currency ad before this video. Thanks RUclips! You're advertising scams in front of videos about avoiding scams. I love the creators on this platform, but damn if the platform itself isn't awful.
I fell for an e-mail scam during the covid lockdown. I had been isolating a lot and I didn't even realize how badly this had blunted my mental faculties (I now understand why solitary confinement is considered abuse). I confessed my embarrassment to my cousin and she said that her cop friend from her church reported that there was "an epidemic of stupid" at that time. It wasn't just me. People were out of their minds and doing dumb stuff left and right. One of my coworkers was making a casserole for her husband and she took the pan out of the oven without putting on oven mitts first. Another left her sunroof open for two days in the rain. Here are basic tips to avoid scams: 1) if they approached you, and you didn't approach them, be suspicious, even if the approach is cleverly designed to look like they are making a harmless offer and 2) if they are rushing you to make a decision, be suspicious.
A minor, low stakes version of this happened to me recently, it wasn't even that bad but I've been really down on myself because this isn't an issue I've had before so failing was a huge blow to the way I see myself. Anyway, all this to say, thank you for the compassionate way you discuss this.
I was scammed outta $250 last summer by a family on the side of the road that spun me a story about being out of gas and losing a wallet. I had just come off of a long road trip and it bypassed all my alarms, even as someone who’s been in CuberSecurity for years, because it hit me at just the right moment where I envisioned myself in the same position and thought of myself as too smart to fall for such obvious scams. I will be reaching out to others next time earlier for sure.
I have the physical profile of a soft touch for street scammers. I got scammed once by a guy who needed $20 cash right now or he was going to die, basically. I walked down the street and thought better of it, but you know, he probably did need $20 more than I did just then. I actually stopped carrying cash most of the time so I can't make that kind of mistake. Instead, I carry nonperishable food items I can hand out to anyone who needs help. When I knew a reputable shelter, I used to hand out cards for it, too.
All well and good not carrying cash until you fill your car with gas in unfamiliar territory, miles from family and friends who could help and you go to pay for the gas with your bank card that the bank has erroneously flagged for fraud. I no longer don't carry cash.
in the early 70s, those weird 'gold letters', 'silver letters', 'platinum letters' were all over the boston area. because they didn't want to get hit with a federal 'mail fraud' charge, they would throw these big parties where you could buy a letter. most everybody knew each other; some of those guys bought more than one letter! they cost fifty or a hundred bucks. THEN you had to sent the cost of the letter to the guy at the top of the list. then make 8 copies of the letter with your name at the bottom of the list. if you were in near the beginning, you might actually make some cash. every time i'd try to tell my friends HOW MANY OF THOSE LETTERS were being generated, they'd laugh at me and tell me what 'bad vibes' i had.
I got caught by a phishing email recently. I have so many emails to my school account that get labeled as "not from your domain" that I don't even see it any more, so I didn't catch when the email that led me to a login that looked like the school didn't come from a school domain.
a friend of mine somehow accidentally called one of those scams that tries to get you to give them gift cards once.. but after a few minutes she realized what they were saying made no fucking sense and she hung up and called the company's real phone number.
Here's a fun tip that's a few months late: phishing messages/emails will almost always include exactly one typo in the first sentence as a self-selection measure. Basically, if you're sharp enough to notice the spelling mistake, then you were going to clue in to the scam further down the chain anyway, and no scammer's time is wasted on you.
I almost got scammed by a company that said I won a contest for some cruise & I had to give my credit card information to cover a small fee before getting the cruise tickets free. I knew I hadn’t entered any contest, but they said that people who shopped at a specific grocery store chain (I can’t remember which) were automatically entered & I accepted that. Luckily, I misread the credit card, & a few other things made me suspicious, so I ended the exchange & that was it.
yes actually. someone called my number years ago when I was in high school. told me I needed to get my computer, download a link, there was a problem they needed to fix, and I just went along with it without even thinking about why they were calling. luckily my mom saw me, asked what I was doing and I couldn't even answer because I had no idea why I was going along with their requests. she tried to ask them who they were and they just hung up.
It's less that I think the columnist lady is stupid for falling for a scam and more that I think she made the whole thing up. Most of the coverage I've seen on it seem to think similarly. I'm inclined to believe that she stumbled onto the part of RUclips where scambaiting happens, watched a bunch of it and got the idea for her article but when it came time to write it she mashed a few common scams on those channels together to make it sound super scary. These scammers generally tend to work in call centers (sometimes on their own floor in a legit call center) and have scripts that they follow like when you call a real support line. You can throw them off by talking over them, pretending not to understand what they're talking about, asking them to repeat themselves over and over again. If you push their buttons enough you can even get them to lose their shit in spectacular fashion and call you all sorts of stuff.
I more think shes stupid because she was willing to pretend in public she was dumb enough to believe that a legitimate transaction would involved a shoe box with 50k in it. We need to do something to get people to stop believing that being a total idiot in public is a good and cool way to get people's attention. Or start building more electrified rail trains and daring them to touch the third rail.
I have a coworker whose go-to is vulgar sexual comments about the caller's mother/sister. It's not something I would say, but it is a really efficient way to send them off the deep end, and the guy is actually excited about getting scam calls.
A few articles coming from the Cut lately make me think they're making them up as a form of rage baiting, and the way people are talking about them makes me think they're working very well.
Sales people trying to persuade me into a sale: You gotta do it now!! My autistic ass, who recognizes outside pressure VERY quickly and reflexively rejects it: get off my stoop, you're tresspassing.
Scammers suck. But I also despise sales people, a lot. I find the difference between them is mostly whether or not they've been deemed legit by some capitalist or other. And also, sales people will usually be putting more effort into lying to themselves about providing a useful service rather than being a terrible person who lies. Their typical line of "I help people make decisions" is some grade-A bullshit. I think because I naturally hate the very idea of being manipulated into something and having my guard up for that not only makes me a huge pain in the butt for sales people, but also has helped me pick up on and avoid a lot of scammy things. And I super don't care if I hurt the feelings of someone who is trying to manipulate me, even if it's their "legit" job like a sales person. That job is a hindrance on society, sales people shouldn't exist.
I bought into Amway once for a whole year. And I've definitely bought clothes from drop shippers before i knew what they were. I'm certainly not immune lol.
The people who bother people in the street "crowdfunding for this good organisation" piss me off when they use their "You look like a nice person." No. I don't. I'm not a nice person and I don't want to be one, hence it doesn't work on me. It for sure does work on unsuspecting people who try to appeal others.
Thanks for the advice. I think this is why the Pig Butchering scam's so effective, it's a long game that herds people towards apps that look legit and convincing, and lets the victims try to do their own research/fact-checking. Anyway, what's that colorful situation at the back, with the pipes and everything?
As far as I know not scammed before but I know some mutual aid requests of all things are scams. still good to do them when you can but good to make sure you still are safe yourself.
Oof as someone who recieved a phone call scam recently (realized it early on but i did give him my name and initials which im scared of) it can be pretty scary. These dudes can be realllly charismatic but its all a ruse
where’s my charismatic scammer?! all my spam calls are just recorded messages with identical wording but different voices about stuff that’s for old people which i obviously don’t need because i’m not an old people! you can get to a human representative but if it’s a legitimate business i do have to ask-why would i trust anyone that randomly and persistently calls me on my phone from a bunch of fake numbers after being asked to stop? i barely trust anything in normal advertising!
@@BlaineworldIt's been ages since I got an even half decent and entertaining scam attempt. Time was the porn scam bots in my email would ask me "Do you want to see my mustard spots?" like that was a normal and erotic thing to ask. Now its just boring.
Most scammers who have your phone number will stop at nothing to keep you on the phone. Legit companies and gov orgs don't have the time to just blow up your phone if you get disconnected or hang up.
11:15 - certain leftist mutual aid orgs: 🤔 "I mean, not exactly, but..." 😉 But seriously, great and important content; thanks, Phil! (And, huh, is Cialdini really pronounced that way? I've always said the first syllable much like "challenge"... but I don't actually know!)
Hahaha its amazing how many of these methods I'm proof to after years of abuse by my peers in school. Because when a person wants to use you, they'll always insist on Being Polite and insist you do the same, even once its Very Obvious They Are Doing This For Themselves
Nah, I've been really falling behind on making like "real songs" for the longest time so I've just been trying to get good at like title music/entrance music kinda stuff, just like a solid 60-120 seconds to create a mood. i would love to get back into full-on music production sometime I just don't have the energy and time for it unfortunately
Wildly off topic to the video, but you seem to be a fan of music with a lot of bass, what kind of headphones do you use? Do you even use headphones to listen to music for fun?
I have a pair of Sony MDR 7506 over the ear headphones for mixing music or gaming, but i also listen to music on super cheap wireless earbuds or cheap PC speakers. I like bass-y music but I don't go super nuts with gear
counselor told me that agreeing to something once never obligates you to agree to it again. that one thing has helped a lot.
If I haven't ordered pizza, I don't answer the door
wisdom.
I’ve been standing outside with your Chinese food for months….
@@joearnold6881 can't fool me. The good Chinese place here doesn't deliver. Also, I'm homeless
The classic pizza setup. Its how the feds get ya
I'm fairly sure it wasn't a scam _per se,_ but we got visited by someone trying to sell us doors for our house, and the dude just wouldn't leave our house and quoted us something like $50k after I basically said "cost estimate or gtfo." I won't say yes to anyone trying to get me to buy something, but I have a hard time being outright rude to someone's face, and I have wasted more time than I'm proud of as a result
One thing that's very relevant to this discussion, from ThereminTrees: Nobody who wants you to stop thinking is your friend.
If they're trying to stop you taking time to think, and you don't know them? Not your friend. Hell, if they're trying to sell you on something that isn't a direct, immediate threat to life and/or limb and they don't want you to think, they aren't your friend.
I once bought make-up I neither wanted nor needed from an agressive saleswoman to avoid looking rude. The fact that I have social anxiety doesn't help.
...But I can't blame that for the time I bought an appliance that was being sold 100€ cheaper on one site than all the others... the website seemed legit, but I should have been tipped off by the fact that you had to pay by wire transfer, as they didn't take cards. When I went to check up on my order a few days later, the whole site had disappeared and unlike credit card payments, you can't cancel wire transfers. Needless to say, I never got my appliance and instead of getting a discount, I basically had to pay twice since I ended up having to order it elsewhere. You have to be very careful when paying by wire transfer: I would say a good rule of thumb is, at minimum, never to use a wire transfer for the purposes of buying a product.
My investment advice: make all your investments boring. No get rich quick schemes!
I never answer the phone/text unless the number is already in my contacts. Phone numbers are useless now.
I got scammed once where I invested in a legit business and the co-founder embezzled all the money and fled the country. Sometimes there's nothing you can do.
Also make sure all financial moves are self-initiated. Want to refi your house? Great but do it on your own terms instead of responding to a refi corp.
Phone numbers are useless now is actually so insane. An entire once revolutionary mode of person to person communication was rendered useless by incessant scamming
Boring investments is why Warren Buffet famously loves Coca-Cola so much. Everyone knows Coca-Cola. Coca-Cola isn't going anywhere anytime soon. That's a good investment.
@@SynthApprenticeNo, it's not, the stock price doesn't move much. Volatility makes or loses you money. A stock that doesn't move doesn't do either. But inflation guarantees if you're not always making money, even while you sleep, you're losing ground.
Scamers are people trying to use a cheat code on you and will use any means of persuasion they can think of to get you to let your guard down. There *is* one that will work on you, and you’ve got to be self-aware about where your sense of urgency will overwhelm your caution - whether it’s overdue bills, family or friends, or exciting investment opportunities.
I don't get scammed with this one simple trick that scammers hate. I don't have money and I have bad credit.
Can confirm, I use the same method, and it definitely works.
One day someone stole my wallet. The next day it was in my mailbox with a 20 and a condolence letter.
One important tactic to keep in mind is most scammers work on a script. They're looking for a minimal time investment and use a "tried and tested" dialogue tree to get results fast. Deviate from the script, doesn't have to be huge or dramatic, you don't even have to be rude, just ask them open-ended questions when you see an opportunity. Salespeople will likely relish the opportunity to talk up their product or make a connection, scammers will likely be annoyed or even confused and not know what to say outside of their pre-approved talking points.
This is a big reason why traditional scams have such mixed results with autistic people. Scripts are optimized for neurotypical social interactions.
I'd like to point out that, while *most* scammers are working from a script and want a minimal time investment, that's not the entire field. Do not assume that, just because the person is responding flexibly to your deviations from script, they're legit.
"Have you ever been scammed?"
... Well, I was in a cult for ten years
that sucks but i'm glad you're out!
You ARE out ... aren't you?
@joeblow2659 Oh, I get it. You're talking about the host's 10-year career in law enforcement.
Scammers relying on forcing you into a quick decision reminds me of when we got pulled into a vacation club (basically a time share) presentation on vacation. They presented us with several too good to be true deals that had to be accepted right then (without even being able to read the contract) then got very aggressive with questioning when we said no. We just got up and left lol. It must work though, 4 people signed contracts when we were in the room. Never accept any free extras at a resort 🙄
Many years ago, my parents got a huge discount at a Marriot resort stay on the condition they were to attend a timeshare seminar (like 75% off the room; pretty sure timeshares don't do stuff like this anymore). They got their discount on the room, went to the 2 hour seminar, and when the woman giving the seminar asked if my parents had any questions, my mom had a few. She asked if the investment pool of all these companies (Princess Cruises, Marriot, etc.) in the timeshare could opt out of the deal -- as that would change the value significantly. The woman turned white as a sheet and said she didn't know. She then got a supervisor who told her that once a year, Marriot could vote to opt out, ending their involvement and she looked like she was ready to throw up as she had bought into the timeshare and didn't know that the value could crash whenever Marriot felt like withdrawing from the deal. Obviously, my parents did not sign up lol.
Yup, that thing at the beginning I've said a million times, the goal of the seller is to maker you have "BIG FEELINGS, BIG FEELINGS, BIG FEELINGS, MAKE A DECISION, DON'T THINK ABOUT IT!" as the act to get you to take the sell or fall for the scam. This is also true in an argument, bad relationships, etc. The sign of respect for you and your agency is to allow you to take the work, idea, or good at your own speed.
How appropriate that this came out the same week John Oliver talks about Pig Butchering.
In summary, it's about befriending strangers through "accidental" wrong number messages, so after a long enough time to develop trust (sometimes even love), the scammer helpfully guide their friend into investing in crypto or stocks by themselves so they don't have to trust the scammer with money. What they don't know is that they may be given a fake investing app or something. It's like advanced phishing through social engineering.
Doesn't have to be accidental wrong numbers either.
My mom had gotten some odd PayPal payment request from an old account. Already suspicious, she called the number and I listened in. I stayed quiet right until the person she called told her to download software off of a website. Immediately said “it’s a scam, hang up”.
I can’t think of any reason for any company would require you do download software directly to your computer or phone. I’m sure there are a few valid reasons, but it’s definitely a red flag.
I think the people calling me claiming to be from the police benevolent society count as a scam. Especially if they're telling the truth.
As someone with sales experience, the speed is the big one. If a decision is as important or impactful as the salesperson says, it is worth sleeping on.
The use of fear to rush ppl into making a decision reminds me of the time my mom almost got scammed. At the time she was pregnant with me and at home, but then a stranger called her saying that my dad got into an accident and that she needed to send money asap so that he can be brought to the hospital. My mom's already someone who gets scared and panics easily, plus with me on the way and my dad making most of the money, she started panicking and was about to send the money, but fortunately our housemaid was there and she helped my mom calm down and check if my dad really did got into an accident. Safe to say he was working normally at his office. If our housemaid wasn't there, my mom probably would've actually gotten scammed. It really goes to show how important it is to have someone there to calm u down and check up on things.
I fell for a pyramid scheme when I was fresh out of high school. Didn't stay in it long, just didn't like being a salesperson. But the weird thing is that I did look up the company and there were folks online saying it was a scam because it was "more work than you were paid for," and I just brushed it off because "well, that's all jobs, isn't it?" I fell for the scam because capitalism itself is one big scam. 😅
THIS^!
Call it capitalism, call it communism, what truly counts is what we don't know, not what we think we know. Life is a scam...
Capitalism is a pyramid scheme.
So, I help out at a small indie bookstore and we've had a couple of scammers come in trying to get money. One actually succeeded, because she was a little old lady and no way little old ladies can be anything but fully trustworthy, right?
I wasn't there for the bulk of the little old lady incident, but basically she came in claiming she was getting wedding presents and asked the owner to set aside and gift-wrap like a dozen fairy statues we had on display, including the very expensive marble one nobody will ever actually buy. This took an extremely long time and for the entire thing she was on the phone, speaking with "the bridesmaid" to discuss what statues they'd like best. When the little old lady tries to pay, her card gets declined. She starts panicking because she also needs to go to the bakery and pick up the cake and she doesn't have any cash. She acts devastated and asks the owner whether he has any cash, she'll go pick up the cake while we gift-wrap, meet up with the bridesmaid afterwards to get some cash money and come back to get multiple hundred euro worth of presents, plus the cash she was lended. Sounds fishy right? But she's a little old lady beside herself with worry that she's going to ruin her grandkid's wedding day and the owner has a soft spot for the elderly, so he actually hands the cash over. She leaves and obviously never comes back.
The second time an attempt was made, I was the one in the shop and the would-be scammer was an annoying dude who completely missed the cold read and tried to get me engaged with bullshit about his pranotherapist or whatever asking him to find a place with positive vibrations to open his third eye. He did the same thing of making me pile up random products he didn't have a use for (like, he was getting TTRPG dice without knowing what a TTRPG was), asking me to gift wrap en masse, and trying to pay with a declined card. For some reason (probably seeing how little I was buying it) he didn't immediately try to ask for cash but pretended to go to the ATM outside to withdraw. I noticed he'd pocketed a notepad from the counter display, asked him if he'd taken it by mistake, he returned it and pretended to go to the ATM but never came back. I am guessing the counter theft was to gauge how suspicious I actually was and he decided it wasn't worth going further when I spotted him.
Conclusions, aside from the solid advice in the video:
-Scammers will try to find your soft spots and pry on them until you cave. For the owner, he's sort of too kind for his own good (like, we have a steady rotation of folks coming in to peddle knick-knacks at ridiculous prices because he often does give them some cash as charity) and he wasn't going to be rude to a sad little old lady, but he'd already. For me, the dude probably misread our shop (we specialize in fantasy, sci-fi and ttrpg) as a new age witchy kind of place and tried to bullshit me on energy therapy and opening your mind to the cosmos.
-The scams usually involve getting you invested in doing extra work. When you're on the seller side, the fake clients ask more questions about the products, hem and haw about which options to get and ask you to gift wrap things to a much higher degree than regular clients would, because if they're so involved in the purchase it can't be fake, right?
-The gift wrap thing also strikes me as trying to overload you with tasks so you're in a hurry/keeping you busy "while they go fetch the money" so you don't immediately think it through and stop them in the street or call the police. I think this can be expanded to any seemingly pointless round of weird tasks. They're just there to keep you doing things so you don't stop and think.
I don't think I'm immune to scams, but my particular set of life experiences makes me really sensitive to being manipulated. As soon as someone tries to make a human connection in an inappropriate/unforseen context (like asking me if I'm a helpful person in the mall), it puts me on alert.
Then, depending on how much time I have or if I'm feeling subversive, I might decide to screw with them a bit. Not being mean, but definitely not being helpful. I think it's healthy to be skeptical of strangers regardless of what they say.
On the topic of not wanting to appear rude: My mother called me up once using dad's phone saying she had a guy on the phone claiming to be from Microsoft, viruses on the computer etc. I told her "Yeah that's a scam, tell him to fuck off." My beloved mother remained on the line so I could hear her say "My son says this is a scam and I should tell you to fuck off. So... fuck off." I love my mother, she rocks.
It person here.
Im always so impressed by the rate at which scammers are advancing.
My school got email spammed from the real financial aid account sending students messages regarding employing some low income students to make tuition money. The only thing that tipped me off was that the jobs supposedly offered 20$ per hour.
I called their IT desk and not an hour later they sent a mass email saying dont respond to it.
I'm trying to sign up for your Patreon but cannot figure out where to put my Social Security number and Driver's License info...
...can I just leave those here in the comments?
Yea here's good.
Hey Neal, have any pets growing up?
Yo, did we go to the same school? Who was your first teacher?
Heyyy, you forgot your Home Address bank account & pin #.
Are you trying to _scam_ me?
I got scammed getting extra insurance I definitely didn't need. It was a pain in the ass to cancel too.
ha, i didn't even get into "extended warranty" stuff but yeah, that stuff is sneaky
Ah yes, the under coating.
When pushed, pull. When pulled, push. This is the essence of aiki.
On the same vein, after getting roped into a newspaper subscription, I not only do not answer my phone before coffee but I refuse to make decisions, *period*, without first waking up sufficiently.
If I'm not on my game, how can I expect any decisions made from there to be good? I'm already starting off from a compromised position.. so, I just don't. I won't even decide my mood til I've drank my first cup.
Isn't it funny how some mind altering drugs are lauded while others are demonised.
@@Poppa_Capinyoaz I'm sure it went like, verbatim, "that coffee drink improves people's moods?!"
"Well yeah, but not by much"
"Oh ok, we can't be having people do things to be happy...unless we're the ones giving them the thing. And not too happy. We need that underlying despair to motivate them to work."
I'm of the opinion that drugs are drugs. Being sold at a pharmacy or the pharmacy corner doesnt change the fact that drugs are drugs. Legality doesnt change that. And legality, if anyone's not clear on this, is possibly one of the worst metrics to compare ethics or morality too. You have as much freedom as you can afford in America. The rich don't go to jail. The laws aren't for them.
I've had a couple of near misses that I avoided from small details that didn't add up, like when my phone provider was sending me a verification code, and I got an email from Microsoft, with a verification code for my Microsoft account, or when a guy claiming to be from my (Australian) bank forgot to set his number to private and I could see he was calling me from the UK.
Now even if everything seems to check out, I thank them for bringing it to my attention and that I'll take care of it at my local branch.
"you can be a pain in the ass without being mean", just adding my two cents here; if you think someone is trying to scam you, being mean can also work! a simple "fuck off!" or a "fuck you!" or just yelling in their face until they leave you alone. I have autism and consider myself particularly vulnerable, and therefore I afford less grace to those who seem to act in bad faith.
Also many scams employ people who don't know its a scam, and often they are the ones used to recruit others, treating these interactions as normal only serves to normalize them. Make scammers feel bad IF you can! Scams can be avoided, but they can also be discouraged, imo.
Unfun fact: nothing about bailing someone out of jail is quick. Around here 4 to 8 hours is average.
Thank you for what you do! Really enjoying your work and the new setup.
I hope that you never question your content creation. The kind of awareness, thoughtfulness, authenticity, and approachability you exhibit is a testament to your character. Achieving these things is an amazing feat that I imagine can only be achieved through difficult self reflection across a lifetime.
Always looking forward to the next one and seeing the improvements in your production.
Gotta love the Crypto Currency ad before this video. Thanks RUclips! You're advertising scams in front of videos about avoiding scams.
I love the creators on this platform, but damn if the platform itself isn't awful.
I don’t have much to add other than “if they say you taking 5 min to check something is too long, it’s prob a scam”.
I fell for an e-mail scam during the covid lockdown. I had been isolating a lot and I didn't even realize how badly this had blunted my mental faculties (I now understand why solitary confinement is considered abuse). I confessed my embarrassment to my cousin and she said that her cop friend from her church reported that there was "an epidemic of stupid" at that time. It wasn't just me. People were out of their minds and doing dumb stuff left and right. One of my coworkers was making a casserole for her husband and she took the pan out of the oven without putting on oven mitts first. Another left her sunroof open for two days in the rain.
Here are basic tips to avoid scams: 1) if they approached you, and you didn't approach them, be suspicious, even if the approach is cleverly designed to look like they are making a harmless offer and 2) if they are rushing you to make a decision, be suspicious.
A minor, low stakes version of this happened to me recently, it wasn't even that bad but I've been really down on myself because this isn't an issue I've had before so failing was a huge blow to the way I see myself. Anyway, all this to say, thank you for the compassionate way you discuss this.
I was scammed outta $250 last summer by a family on the side of the road that spun me a story about being out of gas and losing a wallet. I had just come off of a long road trip and it bypassed all my alarms, even as someone who’s been in CuberSecurity for years, because it hit me at just the right moment where I envisioned myself in the same position and thought of myself as too smart to fall for such obvious scams.
I will be reaching out to others next time earlier for sure.
I have the physical profile of a soft touch for street scammers. I got scammed once by a guy who needed $20 cash right now or he was going to die, basically. I walked down the street and thought better of it, but you know, he probably did need $20 more than I did just then.
I actually stopped carrying cash most of the time so I can't make that kind of mistake. Instead, I carry nonperishable food items I can hand out to anyone who needs help. When I knew a reputable shelter, I used to hand out cards for it, too.
All well and good not carrying cash until you fill your car with gas in unfamiliar territory, miles from family and friends who could help and you go to pay for the gas with your bank card that the bank has erroneously flagged for fraud. I no longer don't carry cash.
The only one who makes money in a gold rush is the one selling the spades
I just need to send Svetlana $500 more and she'll finally come to America
scams will only be as sophisticated as they need to be to fool you, and they'll always try again
in the early 70s, those weird 'gold letters', 'silver letters', 'platinum letters' were all over the boston area. because they didn't want to get hit with a federal 'mail fraud' charge, they would throw these big parties where you could buy a letter. most everybody knew each other; some of those guys bought more than one letter! they cost fifty or a hundred bucks. THEN you had to sent the cost of the letter to the guy at the top of the list. then make 8 copies of the letter with your name at the bottom of the list. if you were in near the beginning, you might actually make some cash. every time i'd try to tell my friends HOW MANY OF THOSE LETTERS were being generated, they'd laugh at me and tell me what 'bad vibes' i had.
I wish this vid had more views. This is valuable information for a lot of folks out here
I’ve actually been reading Cialdini’s *Influence* for a class! What a coincidence. :)
I got caught by a phishing email recently. I have so many emails to my school account that get labeled as "not from your domain" that I don't even see it any more, so I didn't catch when the email that led me to a login that looked like the school didn't come from a school domain.
a friend of mine somehow accidentally called one of those scams that tries to get you to give them gift cards once.. but after a few minutes she realized what they were saying made no fucking sense and she hung up and called the company's real phone number.
Here's a fun tip that's a few months late: phishing messages/emails will almost always include exactly one typo in the first sentence as a self-selection measure. Basically, if you're sharp enough to notice the spelling mistake, then you were going to clue in to the scam further down the chain anyway, and no scammer's time is wasted on you.
I almost got scammed by a company that said I won a contest for some cruise & I had to give my credit card information to cover a small fee before getting the cruise tickets free. I knew I hadn’t entered any contest, but they said that people who shopped at a specific grocery store chain (I can’t remember which) were automatically entered & I accepted that. Luckily, I misread the credit card, & a few other things made me suspicious, so I ended the exchange & that was it.
yes actually. someone called my number years ago when I was in high school. told me I needed to get my computer, download a link, there was a problem they needed to fix, and I just went along with it without even thinking about why they were calling. luckily my mom saw me, asked what I was doing and I couldn't even answer because I had no idea why I was going along with their requests. she tried to ask them who they were and they just hung up.
I once bought into a pyramid scheme. That said, I was loaned the money to do so by the friend who got me into it, so... not my $500 wasted.
It's less that I think the columnist lady is stupid for falling for a scam and more that I think she made the whole thing up. Most of the coverage I've seen on it seem to think similarly. I'm inclined to believe that she stumbled onto the part of RUclips where scambaiting happens, watched a bunch of it and got the idea for her article but when it came time to write it she mashed a few common scams on those channels together to make it sound super scary.
These scammers generally tend to work in call centers (sometimes on their own floor in a legit call center) and have scripts that they follow like when you call a real support line. You can throw them off by talking over them, pretending not to understand what they're talking about, asking them to repeat themselves over and over again. If you push their buttons enough you can even get them to lose their shit in spectacular fashion and call you all sorts of stuff.
I more think shes stupid because she was willing to pretend in public she was dumb enough to believe that a legitimate transaction would involved a shoe box with 50k in it. We need to do something to get people to stop believing that being a total idiot in public is a good and cool way to get people's attention. Or start building more electrified rail trains and daring them to touch the third rail.
I have a coworker whose go-to is vulgar sexual comments about the caller's mother/sister.
It's not something I would say, but it is a really efficient way to send them off the deep end, and the guy is actually excited about getting scam calls.
@@mxpants4884 I love this! Your coworker is a HERO!!!! Im gonna steal that idea!
A few articles coming from the Cut lately make me think they're making them up as a form of rage baiting, and the way people are talking about them makes me think they're working very well.
"It can happen to you, because it happened to me" - JRoc
Sales people trying to persuade me into a sale: You gotta do it now!!
My autistic ass, who recognizes outside pressure VERY quickly and reflexively rejects it: get off my stoop, you're tresspassing.
Sometimes that demand avoidance is a superpower. 😅
Scammers suck. But I also despise sales people, a lot. I find the difference between them is mostly whether or not they've been deemed legit by some capitalist or other. And also, sales people will usually be putting more effort into lying to themselves about providing a useful service rather than being a terrible person who lies. Their typical line of "I help people make decisions" is some grade-A bullshit.
I think because I naturally hate the very idea of being manipulated into something and having my guard up for that not only makes me a huge pain in the butt for sales people, but also has helped me pick up on and avoid a lot of scammy things. And I super don't care if I hurt the feelings of someone who is trying to manipulate me, even if it's their "legit" job like a sales person. That job is a hindrance on society, sales people shouldn't exist.
I bought into Amway once for a whole year. And I've definitely bought clothes from drop shippers before i knew what they were. I'm certainly not immune lol.
Some of that old anyway crap was frickin solid too!
We’re still using a pan in the kitchen that’s gotta be late eighties and it’s fine.
@swayback7375 oh for sure. Some were solid products. Just the whole business plan surrounding it was sketchy and cult like.
Don't connect to strange WIFI networks, even if they are formatted like your own, the way your provider's router comes. Even if only one digit off.
Another banger from Mr. Dad.
The people who bother people in the street "crowdfunding for this good organisation" piss me off when they use their "You look like a nice person." No. I don't. I'm not a nice person and I don't want to be one, hence it doesn't work on me. It for sure does work on unsuspecting people who try to appeal others.
Great intro music!
thanks!!
Thanks for the advice. I think this is why the Pig Butchering scam's so effective, it's a long game that herds people towards apps that look legit and convincing, and lets the victims try to do their own research/fact-checking.
Anyway, what's that colorful situation at the back, with the pipes and everything?
That is a pipe collection and the box to a Wacom tablet
As far as I know not scammed before but I know some mutual aid requests of all things are scams. still good to do them when you can but good to make sure you still are safe yourself.
Freeze your credit. It does not hurt you, and it only ever stops you from making fast, rash decisions.
Aww
At the end, i have that waving neko
Just watched rebecca watson’s video on the same topic
Dang didn't realize! Must be something going around the collective unconscious
@@ThatDangDadher video was more of a breakdown of what happened the the person that wrote the article, with a few tips and things to watch out for
SUGGING (Selling Under the Guise of Gathering Information)
My grandma gets those calls all the time. She's sharp ad a tack though. Gives them the run around.
Oof as someone who recieved a phone call scam recently (realized it early on but i did give him my name and initials which im scared of) it can be pretty scary. These dudes can be realllly charismatic but its all a ruse
where’s my charismatic scammer?! all my spam calls are just recorded messages with identical wording but different voices about stuff that’s for old people which i obviously don’t need because i’m not an old people!
you can get to a human representative but if it’s a legitimate business i do have to ask-why would i trust anyone that randomly and persistently calls me on my phone from a bunch of fake numbers after being asked to stop? i barely trust anything in normal advertising!
@@BlaineworldIt's been ages since I got an even half decent and entertaining scam attempt. Time was the porn scam bots in my email would ask me "Do you want to see my mustard spots?" like that was a normal and erotic thing to ask. Now its just boring.
@@BlindErephon WHAT? And I'm guessing you can't even blame AI for that one?
Most scammers who have your phone number will stop at nothing to keep you on the phone. Legit companies and gov orgs don't have the time to just blow up your phone if you get disconnected or hang up.
11:15 - certain leftist mutual aid orgs: 🤔 "I mean, not exactly, but..." 😉
But seriously, great and important content; thanks, Phil!
(And, huh, is Cialdini really pronounced that way? I've always said the first syllable much like "challenge"... but I don't actually know!)
P.S. Prosperity cat... too perfect! 😹
Hahaha its amazing how many of these methods I'm proof to after years of abuse by my peers in school. Because when a person wants to use you, they'll always insist on Being Polite and insist you do the same, even once its Very Obvious They Are Doing This For Themselves
btw your music slaps! can we listen to more anywhere? are you on bandcamp?
Nah, I've been really falling behind on making like "real songs" for the longest time so I've just been trying to get good at like title music/entrance music kinda stuff, just like a solid 60-120 seconds to create a mood. i would love to get back into full-on music production sometime I just don't have the energy and time for it unfortunately
I Got scammed of $1800 in the past 2 years Ago
:(
@@ThatDangDad why do people scam other people what for
Wildly off topic to the video, but you seem to be a fan of music with a lot of bass, what kind of headphones do you use? Do you even use headphones to listen to music for fun?
I have a pair of Sony MDR 7506 over the ear headphones for mixing music or gaming, but i also listen to music on super cheap wireless earbuds or cheap PC speakers. I like bass-y music but I don't go super nuts with gear
Now let's have a video of political parties who use fear to short-circuit the decisions of their supporters.
I noticed ALOT of overlap with basic abuse/power wheel tactics
😻 "Promosm"
I think you could have been a bit more sensitive informing countless men that their Russian girlfriends are not real. That was cruel.