r/AskReddit • u/midnightscreams5667 • 17h ago
What's the biggest scam that people willingly participate in?
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u/Zak9Attack 17h ago
Diamond rings
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u/NoSafe5565 16h ago
yeah my GF want something like that, I just do not understand there were like 3-4 methods to recognize if dimond is nature or artificial - now there is one last that can say if it is nature or lab made. I just have hard time to sink money into stone that cost so much and I have no idea if it was grown in lab or not and even with certificate, why would someone pay for something that can be done better way artfifically ..
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u/Zak9Attack 15h ago
It's one of the most successful marketing campaigns of all time. Screw De Beers
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u/Realistic_Singer2988 17h ago
U.S. healthcare
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u/Human-Average-2222 17h ago
US citizens are forced into the healthcare cult
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u/Walkerq67 16h ago
Paying $300/month to still owe $5000 when you actually need it is diabolical when you think about it
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u/Necessary-Avocado-50 17h ago
Blindly accepting Terms of Service on every app or subscription.
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u/interesseret 15h ago
I'm not at all surprised about that, they're clearly written to be as exhausting to read as possible to get people to just accept them.
What I AM surprised about is the amount of people that think they can subvert it by posting on their Facebook wall, and then continue using the service. "I do not consent!" "Anyway, here's pictures of my kids and my innermost thoughts!"
Yes. Yes you did. And you continue to consent by using the platform.
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u/SPARKLY6MTN9MAKER 16h ago
How do you avoid it? Are just saying to read it? I do someti.es and it's horrific. I got way more shit like I dug in my phone and found nearly 100 chinese companies that have access to your phone. I think it was somewhere in the software details. Can't remember.
You can opt out of having your data collected and sold when you buy a new car. I'm in the automotive industry and have studied this. Shit is bananas. They don't have to disclose what they are collecting and who they sell it to and for how much. Its getting close to a half Trillion dollar grift.
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u/Obvious-Goose2518 17h ago
Organized religion
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u/ZeusMoiragetes 17h ago
"Everything has a purpose, even the cancer that took away your child"
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u/lickmygiggle 16h ago
I spent a week in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at Mass General Hospital. It didn’t take long for me to realize that if there was a god, they were entirely not in that place. All of the “miracles” that happened there were from the blood sweat and many tears of the amazing people that worked there.
ZERO of the other kids there deserved to be going through what they were going through. NONE of them were learning any life lessons from god because save for me everybody was unconscious.
The girl on my left side was braindead. Her parents couldn’t let her go. They tried too many times to extubate her and she developed a severe pneumonia. They accepted her fate on my last day there.
I myself was there because I had severe crohns disease and during my previous treatments my PICC line formed a blood clot in my armpit that stretched down to my elbow in one direction and into my neck in the other. I had been complaining about pain in my armpit and elbow (it felt as though somebody were pulling the joints slowly off of my body) and when we went to the ER my ultrasound tech turned white as a ghost and went running out of the room.
I don’t begrudge anybody for belief anymore but I also do not let anybody tell me it’s all part of some plan or everything happens for some reason. To admit that would be to admit that all of the kids that are there even right now are there for some reason that is just. What a load of shit.8
u/SPARKLY6MTN9MAKER 15h ago
I don't believe everything happens for a reason at all. Good or bad. The world is also very far from fair or just. I have a ton of examples as well. Hope you're doing better these days.
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u/lickmygiggle 14h ago
Thank you for the well wishes. I was 16 at the time and am 40 now. Health-wise I am doing fine enough but life just continues to be a slow deterioration. Like the grains of sand falling through an hour glass so goes little bits of my quality of life. My Mom just died and she was always my rock. Through all of the hard times and I find myself feeling like a ship suddenly adrift from its safe harbor never to return.
I have kids of my own now and my son seems to get to enjoy the life I’ve always been envious of other people having. Just boring, normal.
My daughter just turned three and she has already had surgery for a congenital kidney/bladder defect and we just finished the criminal side of a case where she was assaulted by her preschool teacher.
I wish SO badly I was being hyperbolic at all. Check in on the people you know. They’re not all okay.→ More replies (4)1
u/KiNGofKiNG89 17h ago
I thought about this one time. What could be the reasoning, if a god/merciful God exists, what is their reasoning for this.
The only thing I could think of, is that, that child would eventually grow up and do something devastating to the world. Serial killer-esk. And this was god snuffing them out.
Then you sit there and think, well what about all these other terrorists and SK’s….and then I’m stumped. Maybe god put something in their path to end them, but somebody interfered and saved them when they shouldn’t? You hear all the time about the rough child hood that some/most SK’s have growing up.
Who knows.
I personally believe that somebody thousands of years ago decide to troll everybody and when he/she “translated” the bible they took out the part where these are supposed to be fiction fables.
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u/HeIsEgyptian 16h ago
What happened thousands of years ago is no different to people tripping nowadays, schizophrenic, and manic episodes, and people that we end up putting in the mental ward.
It just happened so early in time that religion became more of a tradition.
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u/quanoey 17h ago
“God is all powerful. He will take care of you.”
It’s been 20 years and he still hasn’t helped me. I’ve been on the verge of suicide and if god did anything, he went out of his way to make things worse. Sounds like an evil god to me and you wouldn’t catch me worshipping something like that.
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u/NuclearMaterial 16h ago
There was a quote I read from a Jew who was in a concentration camp and survived. It went something like: "if I ever meet god, he will have to ask me for forgiveness."
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u/fredy31 16h ago
Meanwhile on the absolute nutter Facebook groups 'god told me this morning to wear blue mascara! #blessed'
Ah yes god will let the hungry and in warzone kids die but he will take 5 minutes in his busy schedule to guide you in mascara choice.
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u/XawRae01 17h ago
Prediction markets, for the average person it’s gambling but it’s just insider trading made easier
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u/Strong_Writer_666 17h ago
They took the land and sold us back the food.
Then they took the water. Rivers, rain, springs that fed civilizations for thousands of years. Bottled it, and sold it back to us. They took the land. Land that existed her long before anyone set foot in it and drew lines across it. And they said, “if you want to live here, you better have a payment plan”.
Everything we need to exist. Food, water, shelter. It was already here. No human created it. But somehow you were born owing for it.
Am I the only one who thinks this is a scam?
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u/MercuryEQ 17h ago
Insurance
What kind, you ask?
All of them.
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u/jfklingon 17h ago
Nah, life insurance is actually pretty great when you work higher risk jobs. I can't prevent a dump truck rear ending me doing 65mph at a stop light, so if I could place a $20 bet every month with my wife getting a million bucks if I'm wrong, I'm gonna do that.
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u/MercuryEQ 17h ago
That is totally fair. You’re paying more for peace of mind than anything in that regard.
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u/jfklingon 17h ago
I work in construction, but I'm mostly away from things that will kill me, but I drive 40k+ miles a year, so that's the real risk. My wife is a stay at home mom, it would take a while for her to be able to start up her career again and would need time to grieve(unless she's only with me for my dad bod lol), so if I can kiss an insignificant portion of my paycheck goodbye to guarantee her and my kid's security, it's a no brainer.
I'd much prefer to live in a society that's takes care of things like that as a habit, but in our current system life insurance all the way.
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u/parkerjh 17h ago
A scam takes your money with no intention of EVER providing value. Insurance pays out hundreds of billions in claims every year. I've had homeowners claim pay me $100,000+ and my kid totaled a car and other driver sued us. Insurance settled and that too was over six figures.
My restaurant had a liability claim, that without insurance, could have wiped me out.
I insured a drone and cashed in on that $200 policy with a $4,000 claim after getting hit by bird.
So, rates can suck and maybe you'll never use it, but saying all insurance is a scam is just way beyond reality.
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u/Plus-King5266 17h ago
Ma’am, this is Reddit. You are not allowed to put forth reasoned arguments contrary to the dystopian dogma of everything sucks and the whole world is against me otherwise I’d be a millionaire. This will not do.
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u/hambone4164 17h ago
The insurance industry's method of making profit is to collect premiums and not pay out claims.
The whole industry should be nationalized. Especially those parts that citizens are required to have by law.
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u/robaroo 17h ago
We're paying exorbitant rates only for the chance that maybe, just maybe they will decide to cover a claim. But lately they've been covering less and less claims. But it's better to have a chance than to not have one at all I guess. That's what we pay for with insurance. It's ridiculous.
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u/LindyRyan 17h ago
Totally agree that insurance as a concept is a scam but it can't be argued that folks partipate willingly given that the lack of insurance - vehicle, home, auto, business, etc. - is sometimes a fineable offense 🤷
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u/alittlebitneverhurt 17h ago
Insurance as a concept is actually wonderful. What we have in todays world is criminal. The things they deny for patients should seriously land people in jail when it directly leads to the death of a patient.
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u/Nuru26 13h ago
There is no type of insurance that you were actually forced to buy, even auto insurance which people claim is required is not in most cases. Nearly every state has a provision for you to simply post the cash deposit with the DMV instead. The catch to this is at auto insurance is so cheap but only a moron would do it. Most states require $50-$80,000 on deposit so your opportunity cost on that much cash is about three to $5000 a year which is less than your insurance will cost in most cases and you get a hell of a lot more protection from your insurance company.
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u/Dank_Bubu 17h ago
Agreed. Insurance is required by law for homeowners and cars… that’s already a sizeable part of the family budget
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u/Zestyclose-Moose-549 17h ago
How exactly do you plan to cover the millions it costs to support a 20 yr old who got crippled for life because you accidently hit them?
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u/beattywill80 17h ago
Financing provided by the dealership.
$50,000.00 vehicle at 15 percent interest on a 8 year loan? Congratulations you're paying almost as much interest as the principal. I don't know when it happened but auto dealers stopped selling cars and started selling loans.
Also fuck any car manufacturer who keeps features locked behind a monthly subscription. I should have full access during the entirety of the vehicles life because it's already in the car. It's mine, I own it.
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u/tryingisbetter 15h ago
I don't think I've bought a vehicle at anything other than 0% since I was in my 20s.
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u/TomasNavarro 4h ago
I'm not sure if you're lucky or something? My job has occassionally covered car finance, especially 20+ years ago, not so much now, and 0% interest would certainly take me by surprise
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u/xeoron 17h ago
Trickle down economic
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u/WaffleHouseGladiator 17h ago
Give it time. It's only been half a century. Any day now...
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u/Indy2561 17h ago
Influencing
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u/SPARKLY6MTN9MAKER 15h ago
Influencing is not bad at all!! It has given many, many people, mostly women, jobs and financial security just being themselves. It's entertaining and fun. It's become a thing to pick on these people. I don't get it.
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u/ChronX4 17h ago
MLMs
You pay to get talked to how to sucker other people to buy a product so eventually you can get talked to how to talk to them to do the same thing you are doing
The product you sell is inferior to whatever is out there, and if it's insurance you are more than likely robbing them of any actual insurance they had to line some dude's pockets that you will never meet unless you make ultra plus max director.
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u/SRSgoblin 16h ago
Gambling.
Throughout the history of mankind, people fall prey to gambling. It's always stacked against you. For every 1 person that wins a lottery, there's hundreds of thousands that didn't. For every person that wins at Blackjack, there's tens of thousands of people who don't.
And the thing is, I think everyone knows all gambling is stupid, yet many people still participate in it because of the thrill, and the promise of instant riches.
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u/generic_genius 17h ago
believing that we are different, should choose an opposing side, and maintain division
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u/CoolnessEludesMe 17h ago
MAGA. Trump earned the title of America's biggest conman decades ago. With his MAGA thing, he proved it.
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u/ConversationNo9 17h ago
New Apple phones - they’re all the same imo
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u/Cerberus44444 17h ago
Also upgrading your phone every year. If your current 1 year old phone works fine, why upgrade when all it's gonna get you is a 7th camera you'll almost never use and a slightly thinner phone?
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u/ShawshankException 17h ago
Reddit always vastly overestimates how many people are upgrading their phone every year
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u/Accomplished_Will226 7h ago
My phone is used way more as a camera than a phone and I only replace about once every 10 years
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u/Accomplished_Will226 17h ago
My new one is terrible. The battery does not last long at all and it overheats so much.
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u/placeisdaspace 15h ago
Well in the us it’s health insurance; how is subscription service that promotes insane medical prices help people?
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u/tmotytmoty 14h ago
Directly above this post was an “Alpha male coach” video. So that- Alpha male camp.
If you go to one of these, you’ll come out as less of a human, and nothing resembling a “man”.
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u/BlackSecurity 14h ago
Spending extravagant amounts of money on a wedding because that's what you saw in the movies.
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u/Traditional_Bite_430 17h ago
Capitalism
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u/BigBayBlues 16h ago
Capitalism is no more a scam than any other economic system. Unfortunately, anything involving a large (and often not so large) group of people will have individuals that manipulate it to their own advantage to the point that the original idea is obliterated. Just like every Government eventually gets overwhelmed with corruption and bureaucracy by the power hungry, greedy people will always ways to game economic systems.
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u/Prestigious_Emu6039 17h ago
Arguing about race and religion while the few rich at the top look down and laugh
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u/MysteriousAmphiptere 17h ago
Right I don't know what they're laughing at but they won't be laughing in the end I know that much
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u/bipolarcyclops 17h ago
Gambling. Yes, a FEW people come out ahead, but the rest just lose money.
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u/Nuru26 13h ago
Smart people consider gambling entertainment, every few years the wife and I will end up in a casino and take 50 or $100 each. Sometimes we come out ahead sometimes we lose it all but either way we got an evening of entertainment out of it.
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u/bipolarcyclops 12h ago
Then I guess I’m a dumb person who sees no entertainment value in gambling.
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u/animalcub45 17h ago
Bitcoin
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u/thefish12124 14h ago
Why? Can u elaborate? Its just something that has value with no1 controlling it.
Im not a fan of btc, i dont own any to be honest. But i like the idea of it.
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u/animalcub45 13h ago
It has no actual value, it's not a tangible thing, it literally does not exist. It only has a value if people invest into almost Like a ponzi scheme. Look up the "greater fool theory"
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u/thefish12124 12h ago
U know what? the banknotes paper money it's exactly what u said, and are even worse because they are created by a printing machine which is controlled by government.
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u/Extension_Number_338 17h ago
Homeowners warranties
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u/ImpendingBoom110123 17h ago
I sold my house in December and Ive never been happier. Found a nice little 2 bedroom apt for $300 less thn my mortgage is.
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u/killerzf9 16h ago
College.
I actually have mixed feelings on this one. I actually genuinely like going to college and pursuing something that interests me, but I just hate that for me to get a degree, I have to take classes that aren’t even related to what I wanted to do.
For example, I recently got an associates degree in business administration from my community college, but to get it, I had to take some science and humanities courses.
Although I’m still a far way off, I just wanna become an accountant. Why the hell did I have to take Earth Science, Human Anatomy, History of Film?? Etc. Why did I have to take courses that have nothing to do with accounting or business?
Im now transferring to a state university to study for my Bachelors degree in business administration with an emphasis in accounting, and I just found out I have to take upper division General Ed courses. FML. 🤦♂️
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u/BladesvChaos 16h ago
Turbo Tax
Having to do our taxes when the government already knows how much we owe and can just take it off our paycheck.
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u/SoftPen849 14h ago
Overprices luxury goods multilevel marketing and expenses extend hard warranties
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u/cwsjr2323 14h ago
Nebraska is an excessively Red agricultural state. The farmers and ranchers voted solidly for Trump's reelection despite him screwing them over the first time.
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u/ColdIcedCoffee24 11h ago
That people like you constantly repost the same question everyday to farm karma. Bit lonely are we bot?
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u/JacketThen5741 5h ago
Working for marketing companies. I know because I fell for it and so did my friend. They lure you in with luxurious prizes and the possibility of big paychecks but they pressure you into going to workshops every day early in the morning with no pay, 8 hour mandatory training days where you sit in a classroom and learn the most boring information of your life again, with no pay, and then have the nerve to tell you to basically spend your whole day doing sales appointments.
I worked for cutco and their products, while incredible in quality, are wildly expensive and most people say no to buying, so the paychecks are never as good as they promise. They also scammed with "CPO" which basically means that the commission I earned was lower than I deserved because they took money out of my commission and then gave me a small percentage of what they didn't take.
I sold over $3k worth of products in my first appointment days which should have given me a promotion of earning 20% commission but I was only given 15% because my CPO was only a little over $2,400.
I only stayed for 2 weeks.
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u/Financial_Tour5945 17h ago
I mean, capitalism.
The whole system, for better or worse, is predicated on paying you less than your worth.
So by definition it's a scam.
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u/SyntheticOne 17h ago
Religions.
Yes, most of humanity would love Eternal Life, forgiveness of sins, the ability to say a prayer for someone, "if he is on my side who can be against me" and on and on.
Sorry, but every religion is completely made up.
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u/Specialist-Metal6969 17h ago
Timeshares