Ever been a victim of a scam?

Discussion in Scams = To Good To Be True started by addicted_buyer • May 25, 2012.

  1. addicted_buyer

    addicted_buyerExpert

    Joined:
    Mar 28, 2012
    Threads:
    73
    Messages:
    983
    Likes Received:
    8
    Have you ever been fooled by a fake website and ended up losing your money? Luckily I never have, but that's been thanks to Paypal disputes. There were many sellers who disappeared after I paid and stores that hadn't been online for months!
     
  2. Mrs. Pirz

    Mrs. PirzExpert

    Joined:
    Mar 30, 2012
    Threads:
    22
    Messages:
    463
    Likes Received:
    3
    Yes - I had my paypal account broken into while negotiating a sale on craigslist and actually ended up paying express shipping internationally for the item I was sleeing and I never got paid for the transaction. The person created false web pages and emailed them to me as if they were the confirmations of their payment submission and since I was new at this I believed them. When I logged into my paypal account I saw no balance so I contacted their Customer Service and they informed me that I was a victim of an internet scam. They immediately blocked my account and sent me a security key to add an additional security feature to my account. I pretty much paid to get robbed.
     
  3. Adeal4u

    Adeal4uActive Member

    Joined:
    Apr 17, 2012
    Threads:
    36
    Messages:
    613
    Likes Received:
    4
    I haven't been a victim of a scam. I know people who fell for the Western Union scam. People from Nigeria send out mass emails to unsuspecting victims. Telling them that they've won money. All you have to do is wire them money to pay the tax on the $1,000,000. It turns out to be a complete scam, and people actually fall for this stuff. I don't want to be a victim because I'll be furious. I constantly Google the word "scams", to find out if there are new ones out there.
     
  4. Isabellas2007

    Isabellas2007Active Member

    Joined:
    Apr 23, 2012
    Threads:
    35
    Messages:
    248
    Likes Received:
    1
    I have never been a victim of them before. I know that I have come close to them before with Fedex scam thing. I had just ordered an item and it told me the package could not be delivered and such. However, the website address was a .org and not .com.
     
  5. tosaytheleast

    tosaytheleastActive Member

    Joined:
    May 2, 2012
    Threads:
    20
    Messages:
    473
    Likes Received:
    4
    Yes I have been scammed a lot of times already because I always invest in HYIPs or High Yield Investment Programs. The latest is a revenue sharing site called Life Time Shares and I lost $50. I already filed a paypal dispute but the case is still on process. I hope that I win it to get my money back.
     
  6. love2loveu

    love2loveuMember

    Joined:
    May 18, 2012
    Threads:
    16
    Messages:
    69
    Likes Received:
    3
    I was almost fooled by a few scams. I was almost scammed a few years ago when those scam artist people sent those fake money orders in the mail. I was two seconds away from cashing it until I found out the whole story about it. Another time I was almost tricked into believing I won grant money for school. I was a teenager so I was new to all of that but thank goodness nothing ever came of it.
     
  7. Linky

    LinkyExpert

    Joined:
    Apr 10, 2012
    Threads:
    2
    Messages:
    546
    Likes Received:
    1
    No, I have never been scammed and do not plan on it ever happening. I pretty much trust no-one unless they have deserved that trust over time. So, I do not buy from sellers I do not know, I do not reply to unknown emails and when working with the bank etc, I only do so within their encrypted pages. Only me and God know my confidential details and if God does not exist, only me.

    If it sounds too good to be true: it is. Also, never be fooled by appearances. Protect yourself and know that the helping hand you need...is at the end of your own arm.
     
  8. DontFan

    DontFanMember

    Joined:
    Jun 2, 2012
    Threads:
    7
    Messages:
    51
    Likes Received:
    0
    Never been the victim of a scam but once used a service for an education loan while I could have done it for free on the government site. That is what happens when you click he "advertised sites" on yahoo .. beside this, bombarded every day by scams of all flavors !! Keep resisting !!
     
  9. thewebmiss

    thewebmissNew Member

    Joined:
    May 27, 2012
    Threads:
    1
    Messages:
    6
    Likes Received:
    0
    Yes, I have been a victim once. Unfortunately, I did not use any online money processor for the transaction so I could not file a dispute. I have used Western Union and sent the reference number to the scammer. She, in turn, sent me a fake reference number for the shipping. I haven't tracked my package, and after how many hours the second party wasn't answering my calls anymore. The website is a free business listing site, so it may not be liable for any unsecured transactions. I lost around $500 and until now I could not forget the entire scenario.
     
  10. graven29

    graven29New Member

    Joined:
    Jun 7, 2012
    Threads:
    3
    Messages:
    10
    Likes Received:
    0
    Somehow a scammer got a hold of my credit card information. I am not sure how, I am still trying to figure that out. My bank cancelled my card when it was used 5000 miles away in a Walmart for close to $100. I didn't find out until a week later the next time I went to use my card and it was blocked. Luckily my bank believed me when I said I was not anywhere near that Walmart, and I got a refund. It wrecked all my auto payments, and cost me that $100 for 2 months, but I was made whole in the end. It amazes me what people can do these days.
     
  11. mariaandrea

    mariaandreaMember

    Joined:
    Apr 9, 2012
    Threads:
    5
    Messages:
    93
    Likes Received:
    0
    I've never been the victim of a scam, but years ago I learned the hard way to read the fine print very well and look for boxes to check or uncheck when buying things, I bought some Proactiv several years ago and wound up not only enrolled in their program where they send you new stuff every month and charge you for it, but also enrolled in some kind of "credit protection" program, because I failed to see a tiny little box on the 3rd page of their checkout process. I lost $150 they refused to give back and the bank didn't help. That happened to a lot of people and most legitimate companies have changed their checkout process, but it made me wary. And I never click on links in an email, even from legit companies I do business with. I always type addresses into my browser. Always.
     
  12. Jennifer

    JenniferActive Member

    Joined:
    May 14, 2012
    Threads:
    28
    Messages:
    152
    Likes Received:
    1
    My husband was scammed when someone cloned his bank card. One Sunday early morning I received 3 sms notifications on my cell that funds were being transferred out of our bank account. The amount being transferred was about $1 250.00 I cannot describe the feeling one feels when this happens. It feels as if someone had thrown a bucket of cold water over me. The next day we went to the bank first thing that morning. The bank clerk told us that bank card cloning was a common occurence. This happens when the criminals inserts a device into the card slot of a automatic teller machine. When the unsuspecting victim inserts his card to withdraw cash the device reads the personal account details of that person, including the pin number. Fortunately the bank refunded us our money but there is no guarantee it will not happen again. I guess its the signs of the times.
     
  13. siriusboi

    siriusboiMember

    Joined:
    Jun 20, 2012
    Threads:
    0
    Messages:
    59
    Likes Received:
    0
    Sadly, I have been a victim of scams before. Two to be exact. The first scam was under the premise of her asking me to write short stories at 5 dollars per story. The idiot that was me was too ecstatic and happy to receive my second my job offer that I immediately jumped on the offer. The other one was also a writing project with me ending up writing 25 articles that were never paid. I hope karma finds a way to these people and bite them on the butt really hard. :eek:
     
  14. bellamamma

    bellamammaNew Member

    Joined:
    Jul 6, 2012
    Threads:
    12
    Messages:
    15
    Likes Received:
    0
    I have a story that is similar. I signed up for one of those 'free credit score (yeah right!).com' sites. I totally planned on cancelling before the 14 days was up, so I did not get charged a penny for anything. So the two weeks goes by and I ended up cancelling around the 12th day to be absolutely safe and sure. Then my credit card bill comes in about 10 days later. They charged me 29.99! Naturally, I called up the credit score company. I got a very rude foreigner who insisted that I signed up for a credit report (the 'free' credit score is only 1 of the 3 scores) that charges. I fought over and over again with several different managers and told them that this was a very deceiving and immoral thing to do to American Consumers. It was! I do not ever remember seeing ANYTHING that told me if I got 3 credit scores I would be charged 29.99$. If I would of saw that, I would of NEVER signed up for it! Anyways, I had to dispute it with MasterCard. Praise the Lord that MC resolved the whole thing. The representative for MC told me flat out that 'she sees this all the time. Be very careful when dealing with free or trial offers because they word things very tricky and do their best to deceive.'
     
  15. Livvi

    LivviActive Member

    Joined:
    Jun 2, 2012
    Threads:
    3
    Messages:
    176
    Likes Received:
    0
    I have never been the victim of a scam thank god but my heart goes out to people who have! I don't know how these scammers sleep at night knowing they have ripped off innocent people who work hard for their money! It makes me so angry!
     
  16. rcking09

    rcking09New Member

    Joined:
    Apr 23, 2012
    Threads:
    1
    Messages:
    6
    Likes Received:
    0
    Once when I was just a kid around 15. Fell for a company pretending to be Google promising to make me rich overnight. Gave them my debit card number and they charged me twice without me ever receiving their biz kit or what ever they called it.
     
  17. tosaytheleast

    tosaytheleastActive Member

    Joined:
    May 2, 2012
    Threads:
    20
    Messages:
    473
    Likes Received:
    4
    Life has to be this way I guess. Those people balances things. This world will always two sides. The dark side will always be there and they make life interesting but then again, being scammed will always hurt. I have been scammed multiple times but each time first like it's the first. :(
     
  18. siriusboi

    siriusboiMember

    Joined:
    Jun 20, 2012
    Threads:
    0
    Messages:
    59
    Likes Received:
    0
    I really don't get why people try to scam. I get so frustrated whenever I get scammed. I feel so stupid and foolish falling for a stupid trap like that. Hopefully, these scammers will get their dues soon. I just wish they wouldn't scam anybody anymore.
     
  19. Tinee

    TineeMember

    Joined:
    Jun 27, 2012
    Threads:
    4
    Messages:
    85
    Likes Received:
    0
    I almost fell for an employment scam that said that I'd be immediately hired if I was going to sign up for their training. Good thing i was able to check with the company itself and the agency so I was saved.
     
  20. sandees

    sandeesMember

    Joined:
    Jul 17, 2012
    Threads:
    9
    Messages:
    37
    Likes Received:
    0
    There are some deal sharing group buying sites that sound too good to be true. A few months ago, a friend and I purchased a travel voucher from such a site to use for an upcoming trip to Vegas. However, we had to pay a $15 processing fee, on top of the amount we originally paid for the voucher. We sent it, we got a letter back that we have to process another form, and submit another processing fee. We called the website, and we got our refund for the voucher; however, calls to the actual 'vacation dealer' were left unanswered and we never got our $15 back. We were upset and angry, but consider this to be a good lesson learned. If it's too good to be true, often times it is!