How much have you lost from scams?

Fortunately, I haven't run into all those scams as of yet, I have been wise to steer clear of them during my transactions online. Although one time, when I also shopping on Ebay (coincidentally), I found that the product that I purchased, which was listed as New changed to Used after I had bought it. I immediately phoned up the seller and he cancelled the order.

 

I'm with you, I'm fortunate to not have been caught out. I am very careful with every single transaction I make and I take every precaution possible when making purchases online. But of course, there is always a chance you can get screwed,

Sorry to hear Akya. Have you reported the seller to Ebay? and if you paid with Paypal, have you filed a dispute?

 

I'd heard rumors that GPT sites are scammy but having seen a few positive reviews of a certain GPT site I tried to test the waters. I did a few CrowdFlower tasks and earned the cash required for a withdrawal but the moment I hit that button I got this message:

"Too many withdrawals at the present. Try again later."

I tried it several times at different times, different days but got the same message over and over again.

I never got to withdraw the $5. Small price to pay for knowledge that you can't trust everyone online.

 

Did not happen to me but a friend of mine bought a pretty expensive first print hardcover of a book he wanted. The pictures showed that the book was in good condition and was mostly damage free. When he received the order turned out that it was a paperback reprint and not the hardcover he wanted. He reported the buyer immediately and I think got some of his money back thanks to ebay buyer protection. Will have to ask him what happened afterwards.

 

I have been very fortunately too. I have never been scammed. I am a trusting person, but I like to do my research before jumping in. Not that research can fully protect you, but it does lower the odds of being scammed.

It's a shame that some people feel the need to cheat other people to make money.

 

I've lost around $400 in total. I worked for two sponsored post companies who both owe nearly $200 each, but just ignore emails. And I fell for the "earn 1000s stuffing envelopes" ads when I was a kid.

 

I saw this ad in the net about a beauty cream saying I only need to pay the shipping fee. I ordered one and received the cream, Unfortunately for the next three months they keep sending me and deducted my card the cost of the cream plus the shipping fee. I called their costumer service telling me that I need to pay the first cream they send me before I can cancel the subscription. It's fine with me cause I like the cream. But for me to pay the first cream they sent me, it really unbelievable. It just mean it's not really free, in the end you have to pay for it too.

 

I never lost money in a scam, I suppose I was lucky. There was this time I bought an earpiece for my cell phone to a dubious online company and when it arrived it didn't work. I was angry of course and wrote them saying it didn't work and they sent me a new one free of charge, they didn't even ask for the old one back.

 

I never reallly lost money from scams but I have friend who did and he was scammed into thinking a dead relative had willed him a large sum of money and he had to pay the "processing fees" to get the money sent back to him from an overseas bank account. The amount came to something like 500 pounds! The problem was that I lent him some of that money and he is still having problems repaying me!

 

Personally? From scams I've mostly just lost time, because I generally sniff them out before they really hook me. It is still very frustrating to be scammed out of your time.

The single worst offenders? Job listings online. Most of them are scams, and it doesn't help that you need your Social Security number to get employment in the United States. You fill out some twenty minute resume form and then you realize something doesn't smell fresh. Time is money after all, and the easiest way to not pay in full is to save time, right?

One time a relative of mine almost got hooked by one of those secret shopper scams. They sent her a check and told her to send part of it back via Western Union to "test out their services" (the way this scam works is that the check is fraudulent and the victim is stuck with the bill when it clears). I don't know why, but when they told me about it I knew it was a scam, and I saved them from being out a couple hundred dollars.

 

I once lost close to 120$ of phone credit by clicking a random ad by mistake on my smartphone. I received a ton of messages and was charged 5$ for each of them. When I phoned my provider they thanked me for alerting them and basically said I should suck it up and say goodbye to my money

 

Almost nothing. Some scams are blatantly obvious though (why would a random stranger offer you a large sum of money?), while some are subtle, but still scams in the end. I have never invested money into shady sites, and I'm also reluctant to order an expensive item off eBay, although I can file a dispute. Just be hesitant and wary whenever an offer presents itself, as greed can lead to your demise. Never trust advertisements, or a random online stranger. Why would someone you don't even know even offer you free money? Would you do the same?

 

I have never been scammed on the Internet. I always try to be as careful as I can when I purchase something on-line. I always study the sellers closely and inspect whether or not they have already made any sales. I also try to, whenever possible, buy from users with higher ratings. There's some sites where reputation truly makes the difference and you can easily distinguish an unfair seller from a fair one just by looking at their statistics. So, in short, only established sellers or real life purchases for me. I find it the safest way.

 

Luckily I've never been caught up or lost anything in a scam.

The closest i came was while i was at work and having a suoer busy day, someone called and said "blah blah blah this, magazine that, free this" I was so busy i just said yea yea yea and hung up. Next thing you know im getting tons of magazines at home. Some guy calls me and says i had accepted a free trial of their service, and that now i owed then 700 dollars. I contested it and said that was pretty stupid to charge me for a free trial, and that i didnt want it. He tried to be smooth and rationalized like so:

Scammer: "do you realize what youre trying to do is like going to a bmw dealership, test driving the vehicle and expecting to get the vehicle for free?"
My Reply: "No, what YOU'RE doing is letting me test drive the BMW and when i pull back up to the dealership, presenting me with a bill for the BMW's purchase price!"

He went silent for a bit and then finally said,"yea i guess you're right" and hung up. I never heard from them again haha.

 

I didn't exactly lose money to a scam but I lost time and effort. There's a Canadian site called Snapdollars that is supposed to be similar to Inbox Dollars and pay you for clicking ads, reading promotional emails and watching videos. I earned $20 and the site never paid out or responded to my emails. Recently they have horrible reviews from other people who haven't been paid.

Now I stick with sites like Inbox Dollars that have paid me several times.

 

Thankfully, I have never fallen victim to a scam. I am a very trusting person, but as others here have already said, I research everything. I'm also really slow to let go of my money! If I'm thinking about purchasing anything, I take a long time to decide instead of being impulsive.

 

I have lost close to a thousand dollars through a scam. I bought a car on ebay and i was scared to travel far to go and collect it. The seller offered to come and deliver the car. When he said that we agreed and i gave him the money up front. They never gave us the car and the police said that it does not concern them as it was an online transaction.

 

Wow that was close. That is a lot of money to loose in one transaction. I have never lost money on these online stores but i have friends who have been scammed a lot of times. This makes very careful but I guess you can never be too careful.

 

I haven't been scammed, but my friend has. She was going those paid surveys, and one had an offer for a freebie (it was like a fancy watch or something) and most of us wouldn't click it or do it, but she did. She was also a complete idiot about it, and gave them her CC info! She got charged 800 dollars, and then got into a month long battle with her credit card company and bank because she refused to pay and insisted she was scammed, and they didn't believe her.