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What are the best scams that you've heard about or fell for? I must admit that I've been had once; about ten years ago.
We received this letter telling us that we had won a lottery of some sort. At the time we often filled out contest forms and such, so the idea that we had actually won something was plausible. We didn't recognize the name of the company but that was also reasonable since we had sent in so many of these things.
As nearly as I can remember: The letter said that we had won and something like $120,000 was to be dispersed - not a staggering amount of money so again it seemed reasonable. It said that we were guaranteed winners. This is not a scam; we had already won. I read this thing about fifty times and could not find any way that this was a trick. It seemed to me that either we had really won $120,000 or the company was into some serious fraud. In fact, and this is what got me, it said: The dispersement of the $120,000 is guaranteed. This is not a trick.. Also, I checked and the company existed and the address was good.
So, here's the part where I get all red in the face. It said that we had to send in $5.00 for processing fees. The letter went into all sorts of detail about how they just manage the contest, and shipping and handling fees must be paid by the contestants. So, even though I knew better, it was only five bucks so I let them reel me in. I sent the $5.00.
When some months later we hadn't received any money, and my numerous phone messages had gone unanswered, I sent the company a threatening letter. About a week or two later we got a check in the mail!
It was for $1.26, IIRC. There were 90,000 winners.
90,000 X [5.00 - 1.26 - postage] = ~ $315,000. Not a bad deal.
We received this letter telling us that we had won a lottery of some sort. At the time we often filled out contest forms and such, so the idea that we had actually won something was plausible. We didn't recognize the name of the company but that was also reasonable since we had sent in so many of these things.
As nearly as I can remember: The letter said that we had won and something like $120,000 was to be dispersed - not a staggering amount of money so again it seemed reasonable. It said that we were guaranteed winners. This is not a scam; we had already won. I read this thing about fifty times and could not find any way that this was a trick. It seemed to me that either we had really won $120,000 or the company was into some serious fraud. In fact, and this is what got me, it said: The dispersement of the $120,000 is guaranteed. This is not a trick.. Also, I checked and the company existed and the address was good.
So, here's the part where I get all red in the face. It said that we had to send in $5.00 for processing fees. The letter went into all sorts of detail about how they just manage the contest, and shipping and handling fees must be paid by the contestants. So, even though I knew better, it was only five bucks so I let them reel me in. I sent the $5.00.
When some months later we hadn't received any money, and my numerous phone messages had gone unanswered, I sent the company a threatening letter. About a week or two later we got a check in the mail!
It was for $1.26, IIRC. There were 90,000 winners.
90,000 X [5.00 - 1.26 - postage] = ~ $315,000. Not a bad deal.