Tell me about your scams!

[gloszz]

So here is my story. I went to go buy a bow from Camrose yesterday, driving from Edmonton. My mistake was not knowing much about bows and trusting the guy. Also me being shy of inspecting the bow as I love to inspect things in front of the seller and upsetting them had to do with it.

So... I bought this bow and come home and realize that there are 5 arrows in the quiver instead of 6. Not a big deal as I got an extra pack of mechanical broadheads, which I can't use as it doesn't have the required FPS... I did notice that 3 of the arrows had the mechanical broadhead installed incorrectly so they gauged the arrow shaft. Then what really upset me was that he claimed that the bowstring was replaced a month ago, but when I took them to a great bow shop in Edmonton ( I think I can name them since they're a sponsor : Jim Bows Archery) I was informed its a 2yr old strong.

So now I am out about $120 as I need new broadheads and arrows...

Tell me your story

[Hamsnacks]

I once convinced a guy to drive all the way from Edmonton to buy a Bow off me that was missing parts and had broken pieces. Easiest money I ever made!

Lool I'm kidding that wasn't me. But I do know what you mean with feeling kinda shy inspecting it in front of them. I have no problem when people do it with my stuff but for some reason I always rush when looking at a seller's items.

One time I bought a Samsung phone off eBay, when it arrived I was shipped a camera instead. Tried to contact the seller and he was claiming I was trying to scam him. Was pretty mad until I realized it was almost worth twice as much as the phone, seller refused to cooperate, I sold the camera for a lot more. He eventually contacted me 2 weeks later when he realized another buyer recieved a phone instead of a camera. It was too late though.

[bobtodrick]

To this day, 40 years after the fact I don't know whether I was scammed or not.
Was working as photographer in Edmonton. We hired a receptionist who was really pleasant. After about two months she left for a 2 week vacation in India which she had told us about when she started.
Asked if she could borrow a camera as she didn't have one of her own. I loaned her my personal camera, a not inexpensive Leica. She never came back.
Thing is she never picked up her paycheck form the two weeks previous to her leaving, which would have been pretty close to the value of the camera.
She had no family in Canada so no one to conact.
To this day I wonder...was I scammed or was she one of those tourists you'd here about then who was found dead in some alley minus their valuables.

[CantThinkOfAName]

Originally Posted by bobtodrick

To this day, 40 years after the fact I don't know whether I was scammed or not.

I'd guess the camera was broken or stolen while she was on vacation. She didn't have that much time invested in working for you so she cut her loses and just never showed back up to work instead of telling you.

[gloszz]

Originally Posted by CantThinkOfAName

I'd guess the camera was broken or stolen while she was on vacation. She didn't have that much time invested in working for you so she cut her loses and just never showed back up to work instead of telling you.

Many things can come to mind. Maybe she sold the camera in India for triple the price of it in Canada or her paycheque. She could have also been kidnapped or maybe not let back into the country.

[gloszz]

Originally Posted by Hamsnacks

I once convinced a guy to drive all the way from Edmonton to buy a Bow off me that was missing parts and had broken pieces. Easiest money I ever made!

Lool I'm kidding that wasn't me. But I do know what you mean with feeling kinda shy inspecting it in front of them. I have no problem when people do it with my stuff but for some reason I always rush when looking at a seller's items.

One time I bought a Samsung phone off eBay, when it arrived I was shipped a camera instead. Tried to contact the seller and he was claiming I was trying to scam him. Was pretty mad until I realized it was almost worth twice as much as the phone, seller refused to cooperate, I sold the camera for a lot more. He eventually contacted me 2 weeks later when he realized another buyer recieved a phone instead of a camera. It was too late though.

I almost fell for it, but I doubt the guy is on this forum haha. Yea that happened to me with car parts. But then again sometimes as a seller you're prone to lots of scams. On eBay when I sold things, scammers knew how to beat the system and PayPal would usually always decide in the buyers favour.

In regards to inspecting, I feel like if I was getting a good deal then maybe no point to inspect as much. Plus he had a kid and it was crying, the perfect storm! I do get annoyed when I sell cars and have people inspecting every scratch and dent on a 20 year old car and then just leave...

[ghostguy6]

I think the only times Ive ever been scammed was during job interviews, the employer promises one thing but you get something completely different once your collecting a paycheck. Of course there is also the government but we are all taking it up the rear without any lube from so I cant include that.

While I haven't intentionally scammed anyone there have been times where I made out with a much better deal than anticipated. For example I bought a demo model back pack. Once I got home I realized there was a bunch smaller items like knives and flashlights in one of the side pockets.I called the store to return those items but they told me to just keep them anyways.

[gloszz]

Originally Posted by ghostguy6

I think the only times Ive ever been scammed was during job interviews, the employer promises one thing but you get something completely different once your collecting a paycheck. Of course there is also the government but we are all taking it up the rear without any lube from so I cant include that.

While I haven't intentionally scammed anyone there have been times where I made out with a much better deal than anticipated. For example I bought a demo model back pack. Once I got home I realized there was a bunch smaller items like knives and flashlights in one of the side pockets.I called the store to return those items but they told me to just keep them anyways.

I feel like i scammed a store when they ring up the item and it's like .89 cents or something and they have to give it to me. I had it happen a few times on clothes and some building products. Not the same price but a heavy discount.

[drhu22]

Originally Posted by CantThinkOfAName

I'd guess the camera was broken or stolen while she was on vacation. She didn't have that much time invested in working for you so she cut her loses and just never showed back up to work instead of telling you.

Not to mention she might have been hit by a runaway ox cart and died. Maybe she thought it was a parting gift... there are all kinds of possibilities.

[silver lab]

Bass pro had a sale on goose decoys..... I had 4 dozen on the cart but they only charged me for two... Never said a thing. I would like to take this opportunity to say sorry

[Weedy1]

Originally Posted by silver lab

Bass pro had a sale on goose decoys..... I had 4 dozen on the cart but they only charged me for two... Never said a thing. I would like to take this opportunity to say sorry

That's not a scam, it's theft. Now we all get to pay higher prices because of your behaviour. Thanks.

BTW, how hard do you think it would be for Bass Pro to track down who you are after posting what you did?

[CaberTosser]

Originally Posted by silver lab

Bass pro had a sale on goose decoys..... I had 4 dozen on the cart but they only charged me for two... Never said a thing. I would like to take this opportunity to say sorry

Wow, and you're proud of that? It's the same mentality when one thinks "this giant retailer can afford the mistake, it's cool that I'm profiting from it" as it is when a socialist figures "This giant government can afford to support me, I'm entitled"

Anyone who hits the tills with that many decoys can afford to pay for them all. Ever wonder if that mistake got caught on video review and the cashier got fired? It would have showed up on their inventory for sure, then they'd have been cross-checking transactions. Quite the make-work project for them, aside from the physical loss of the goods now they're also out the labor to figure out what happened.

[antmai]

My friend was scammed buying an iPhone. He met a guy in a public place. He knows iphones very well. Checked it-serial number, theft report, full function...everything he could have. The guy then says, "oh I just remembered, I found the original box and never-used headphones. they are right here in my car." My friend passes over the cash, thinking he received a good deal on a good phone. While he was in the car, he switched the iPhone to a stolen one.

[gloszz]

Originally Posted by CaberTosser

Wow, and you're proud of that? It's the same mentality when one thinks "this giant retailer can afford the mistake, it's cool that I'm profiting from it" as it is when a socialist figures "This giant government can afford to support me, I'm entitled"

Anyone who hits the tills with that many decoys can afford to pay for them all. Ever wonder if that mistake got caught on video review and the cashier got fired? It would have showed up on their inventory for sure, then they'd have been cross-checking transactions. Quite the make-work project for them, aside from the physical loss of the goods now they're also out the labor to figure out what happened.

I doubt they got fired. Stores basically got shrink into their budget every year now, it's sad but true. Shrink is anything from damaged goods, shoplifting to cashier mistakes. I've had stores try to screw me multiple times, not updating the sale price, to wrong scale calibration when buying fruits, to even just double scanning. The double scanning is probably a mistake but some stores it seems to happen more often. I'm not saying the store can afford it, but if he noticed after he got home and didn't say anything, the gm it's more acceptable but if he watched sneakily as the cashier forgot to scan the two other boxes then that is quite debatable.

[gloszz]

Originally Posted by antmai

My friend was scammed buying an iPhone. He met a guy in a public place. He knows iphones very well. Checked it-serial number, theft report, full function...everything he could have. The guy then says, "oh I just remembered, I found the original box and never-used headphones. they are right here in my car." My friend passes over the cash, thinking he received a good deal on a good phone. While he was in the car, he switched the iPhone to a stolen one.

Yea I don't buy iPhones anymore haha. We bought one and everything worked and even put our SIM card in to check everything and we get home and now it's locked. The guy either thought it would be funny to Locke it with the iCloud account or he stole it and the person didn't have enough time to lock it and yea. We were out $400 with a nice paperweight!

[tri777]

Originally Posted by silver lab

Bass pro had a sale on goose decoys..... I had 4 dozen on the cart but they only charged me for two... Never said a thing. I would like to take this opportunity to say sorry

The store provides items for your hobbies..the decoys were
already on sale..Sorry, baffled why "sorry" is acceptable.

That's said, now here's my confessional:

Just a few days ago, went to 7-11, bought $35 of junk, stepped into
the long line, handed the cashier a $50, got two $20's back, didn't think nothing of it & walked back to my truck, sitting in my seat, I realized something was amiss, did some quick adding & promptly returned to
cashier, handed her back "her" $40. Her appreciation was heartfelt.
My scam, lol.

[buckbrush]

Was in a store the other day, total came to $22 and when they handed me the pad it said $2.20! Made my day the way the young cashier acted when I told her about it. The appreciation was worth way more than the $20 I could have scammed.

I sold a 6hp boat motor to a guy and after 6 months it was running rough...

[CNP]

Originally Posted by CantThinkOfAName

I'd guess the camera was broken or stolen while she was on vacation. She didn't have that much time invested in working for you so she cut her loses and just never showed back up to work instead of telling you.

No. An elephant ate it.

[expedition]

I used to have a scam. I would post an add at gv job finder for a carpenters helper and in return for help I would pay the going rate. Hired many many but few fell for it . No need to ruin a good day with my carpentry .

[Dewey Cox]

A couple weeks ago I pull up to the gas pump and put my credit card in.
It doesn’t read it, so I start pumping the gas (I’ll have to go in and pay)
The pump cuts off at $75, and won’t let me put more in. I print the receipt, and it has someone else’s info on it. Someone else prepaid for that $75 of gas that’s in my tank now.
I went inside and explained.
The cashier doesn’t know what to do, and I wait for 1/2 an hour.
I give my name and number and say send me the bill. She sends me on my way.
Haven’t got a bill.
Scamtastic.

[expedition]

Went to fill up . Stick my credit card in says can't read try again same thing third time pump turns on. Fill up drive away . Two days later return to station and an very angry attendant. Turns out she had manually turned pump on I thought it was on my card. Oops

[CaberTosser]

Originally Posted by expedition

Went to fill up . Stick my credit card in says can't read try again same thing third time pump turns on. Fill up drive away . Two days later return to station and an very angry attendant. Turns out she had manually turned pump on I thought it was on my card. Oops

I had something kind of similar. Went to a Petro Canada and the pump card reader was malfunctioning so I went in to pre-pay. I got authorized for say $75 and went back out. The pump I was at was not doing squat so I backed up to the adjacent pump, then went inside to the cashier to have that pump turned on, I went back out and pumped my $75 worth of gas. I was getting miffed at how cliché it was that their equipment was so buggered. I'm ready to leave and an attendant pops out & says I have to pay and I respond that I did and here is my receipt! The station had wasted enough of my time with the multiple line-ups and the vehicle move, I assumed the attendant was simply an idiot. When they were trying to stop me I had lost my patience with them and noted to them something to the effect: "I have paid, here's my proof. Go ahead and calls the cops, are they going to charge me with pre-paying for my gas?". Admittedly, a swear or two might have been added for punctuation.

Fast forward about an hour and I get a phone call from a police officer asking if I was at the aforementioned gas station, I responded that I absolutely was. I noted my story and even texted him a photo of my pre-approval receipt. That seemed to surprise him and he noted he had never seen that before, where a 'gas & dash suspect' had a proper receipt with the exact time, place and amount on it. He calls the station back and then called me again noting how the station explained that the pre-approval I went through was only for the one specific pump, as I had moved pumps due to the first not working their system could not complete that sale and my card was not charged. The attendant had engaged the other pump for me due to my interrupting the line-up as I had already waited in a previous one, so my pre-authorized payment had not been tied to the pump I wound up using.

I returned to the station to pay up but I was still upset with the attendant for them not explaining the case earlier in the day and further wasting my time, but mostly it was the false report of theft that had me enraged (there was obviously no intent as I had every reason to believe I had properly paid, because I had gone through all of those motions and even had a receipt). I had my cell phone secretly recording the conversation perched in my shirt pocket but could not even get so much as an apology out of them, to them I was a thief. To me they were idiots who needed to be caught lying on video, but I was not able to get anything of use out of them.

[DiabeticKripple]

Not a huge one, but my light bar got stolen off my truck one night in Re Deer.

I usually just ordered cheap ones off amazon in case they did get stolen. Anyways I paid for a 42” light bar and when it showed up I went to install it was it was a 45” bar.

All the paperwork said 42” but when I opened the box and looked at the packing slip it was 45” confirmed by it not fitting on my truck.

Seller wouldn’t take it back unless I paid shipping back to them. Why should I have to pay to ship their mistake back to them.

They wouldn’t let it go so they offered instead for me to buy a 42” bar for $100 instead of $180.

[bat119]

I stopped for gas in Temecula CA. I tried to use my credit card the pump said enter zip code, tried my postal code nope, went into the station charged $100 on my card put in $86 gas the attendant put $14 back on my card all good. 2 days later I tried to use my card "DENIED" phoned the CC company my card was used twice in Chicago the same day I used it in California and they cancelled it. Mastercard said they were investigating but I never heard from them again fortunately I had a few other cards to use on holidays.

[BloodHound70]

Originally Posted by silver lab

Bass pro had a sale on goose decoys..... I had 4 dozen on the cart but they only charged me for two... Never said a thing. I would like to take this opportunity to say sorry

Well you get the award for "Most non-thought out" post of the year!!
Why would you admit to that on a public forum???

WOW!!

BH

[FQ2]

Some years ago I was selling my old PS2 on eBay, along with a bunch of games. It didn't sell the first time around. As I was about to relist, I got an email. It was apparently an African Pastor who said he wanted it for his orphanage. Of course, he couldn't use PayPal because reasons, but he was willing to use an escrow service (that he chose, obviously), and would even give me 20 bucks over asking for my trouble.

I smelled a rat right away, obviously, but I figured I would have some fun. I told him I would be happy to help out the poor African orphans. In the meantime, I relisted and sold the PS2.

He sent me another email in which he praised my charitable spirit, and said to wait for further instructions. A couple of days later, I got an email from the Royal Bank of Canada with an escrow certificate attached. I pulled up the email headers, and quickly discovered that the RBC had apparently fallen on hard times, and was now operating out of Nigeria using one of their local ISPs. I traced the IP address back to an Internet Cafe in Lagos.

Just a few hours later, another email from my friend showed up. It was a pre-printed UPS label. He said to go ahead and send the PS2, and he would release the escrow as soon as it arrived. I said sure.

I got an old cardboard box out of the garage, and filled it up with gravel and the remains of a crushed cinder block. It probably weighed about 35 pounds. Slapped the label on the box and had UPS come and pick it up.

My Pastor friend emailed me about a few days later. He seemed very upset, for some reason. Apparently, UPS had charged him about $40 for a box of gravel sent via 2-day shipping. I replied with all the IP addresses I had gathered, along with the name of the ISP and the Internet Cafe. I also informed him that I had sent the details of the UPS shipping account to the FBI (a lie, of course).

I thought that would be the end of it. But, lo and behold, yet another email from my Nigerian pen-pal. He was very contrite, and stated that he had seen the light and was now planning to go straight, and to please not contact the authorities. I just responded with "too late".

That was the last I ever heard from him.

[buckbrush]

The wife bought a cordless vacuum something for $350. A clip broke that hold the hose but vacuum still worked fine but the hose would fall off sometimes. She broke the clip, wasn't a manufacture defect.

She contacted the company to ask about buying a new clip. They said she didn't have to pay, they didn't stock just the clips and they wanted to 'Make it right' asked for our address and a week later brand new vacuum showed up in the mail.

[gloszz]

Originally Posted by DiabeticKripple

Not a huge one, but my light bar got stolen off my truck one night in Re Deer.

I usually just ordered cheap ones off amazon in case they did get stolen. Anyways I paid for a 42” light bar and when it showed up I went to install it was it was a 45” bar.

All the paperwork said 42” but when I opened the box and looked at the packing slip it was 45” confirmed by it not fitting on my truck.

Seller wouldn’t take it back unless I paid shipping back to them. Why should I have to pay to ship their mistake back to them.

They wouldn’t let it go so they offered instead for me to buy a 42” bar for $100 instead of $180.

You do realize amazon is usually good about it and let's you send it back or even at times keep the item and refunds you.

[DiabeticKripple]

Originally Posted by gloszz

You do realize amazon is usually good about it and let's you send it back or even at times keep the item and refunds you.

they wouldnt have any of it. basically i had to pay return shipping to china, or buy another light bar at a discount, because they sent me the wrong one.

[gloszz]

Originally Posted by FQ2

Some years ago I was selling my old PS2 on eBay, along with a bunch of games. It didn't sell the first time around. As I was about to relist, I got an email. It was apparently an African Pastor who said he wanted it for his orphanage. Of course, he couldn't use PayPal because reasons, but he was willing to use an escrow service (that he chose, obviously), and would even give me 20 bucks over asking for my trouble.

I smelled a rat right away, obviously, but I figured I would have some fun. I told him I would be happy to help out the poor African orphans. In the meantime, I relisted and sold the PS2.

He sent me another email in which he praised my charitable spirit, and said to wait for further instructions. A couple of days later, I got an email from the Royal Bank of Canada with an escrow certificate attached. I pulled up the email headers, and quickly discovered that the RBC had apparently fallen on hard times, and was now operating out of Nigeria using one of their local ISPs. I traced the IP address back to an Internet Cafe in Lagos.

Just a few hours later, another email from my friend showed up. It was a pre-printed UPS label. He said to go ahead and send the PS2, and he would release the escrow as soon as it arrived. I said sure.

I got an old cardboard box out of the garage, and filled it up with gravel and the remains of a crushed cinder block. It probably weighed about 35 pounds. Slapped the label on the box and had UPS come and pick it up.

My Pastor friend emailed me about a few days later. He seemed very upset, for some reason. Apparently, UPS had charged him about $40 for a box of gravel sent via 2-day shipping. I replied with all the IP addresses I had gathered, along with the name of the ISP and the Internet Cafe. I also informed him that I had sent the details of the UPS shipping account to the FBI (a lie, of course).

I thought that would be the end of it. But, lo and behold, yet another email from my Nigerian pen-pal. He was very contrite, and stated that he had seen the light and was now planning to go straight, and to please not contact the authorities. I just responded with "too late".

That was the last I ever heard from him.

I was hoping you would have been the bad guy haha. That he in fact was actually a good guy and did in fact need it for his orphanage and since you sold it you felt bad. But yea hear a lot of stories like this.