The thread on work-at-home scams got me thinking... what are some of the most creative scams you've heard of. The most creative one I've heard of is a pay-phone scam by this guy in Arizona. Here's the background: When you make a 1-800 (or other toll free call) it's essentially a collect call. The person you are calling pays for the long distance. However, if you make a call from a pay-phone, the 1-800 owner also gets hit will a small fee that goes back to the owner of the pay-phone. So this small business owner notices a few calls from a payphone in Arizona on his 1-800 number in the middle of the night, for a few seconds each. He normally wouldn't pay any attention to the small amount, but he runs a 9-5 business, doesn't operate in Arizona, and thinks it's kind of unusual. He looks back a few months, and notices a few short calls in a little cluster every 2-3 months. It turns out this man in Arizona set up a computer, in his basement, with an automatic dialer and database of toll free numbers in the US. He hooks up 20 pay phone lines (no phones) to this computer, and sets it to dial 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. By working through the list, and hitting every number with 2-4 hits, long enough for the line to pick up, then hang up, it takes a couple of months to get through the list. The 1-800 line owners either don't notice because of the small amount, or assume it was some idiot dialing a wrong number. The Arizona authorities had a problem, as there obviously wasn't a specific law against this. Last I heard, they were going after the guy for federal wire fraud charges. But here's the catch -- he has been doing this for years, making an estimated $20-30 million a year.
A similar (yet legal) pay phone scam is the use of "common phrases" as the name of your long distance company. For example, Scam Artist Inc. owns a long distance service called "Doesn't Matter", which charges exhorbant rates for long distance. Meanwhile, at some pay phone somewhere, someone tries to call long distance and the operator asks "Which long distance company do you wish to use?" Those that answer "doesn't matter" are in for a rude awaking.
Greetings, friends. Do you wish to look as happy as me? Well, you've got the power inside you right now. So, use it, and send one dollar to Happy Dude, 742 Evergreen Terrace, Springfield. Don't delay, eternal happiness is just a dollar away!
Mail out 512 football predictions (assume Raiders vs. Chiefs). On 1/2 put Raiders will win, on the other 1/2 Chiefs will win. The next week, mail out 256 predictions to the folks who had the winner from the previous week (assume Giants vs. Redskins). On 1/2 put Giants will win, on the other 1/2 put Redskins will win. The next week mail out 128 predictions to the winners (assume Rams vs. 49ers). On 1/2 put Rams will win, on the other 1/2 put 49er's will win. At this point you have 64 people who think you're a football guru. Send them mail asking for 'x' dollars for your next pick. This has been around for a while and will work with any sport. It will also work with stock. It was recently used on an episode of 'Ed' as well.
pick up someone's outgoing mail, photocopy the personal checks, and then wash them in a paint thinner solution you then have a brand new check and a copy of the person's signature although it's not like the signature matters, my Grandpa had someone pick up his wallet by mistake... he went all over town signing his own name for two weeks and no one noticed the bank cashed every single check
Why do people create elaborate scams that work well for years then push there luck until they get busted? I think after my first couple Mill. i'd pack it up and retire to a nice beach. Researching various grants then sending out mass mailings to "eligible" individuals. You then charge a fee for filling out the free grant papers-at least there is a shred of honesty to it, but sleazy none the less.
One of the most creative one's I have seen and it has been done many times... A guy (let's say his name is Elvin Plato) realizes that he is like close to 7'0 tall or so. He pretends to be a basketball player and convinces people to pay him $42 million. He then disappears like a fart in the wind... Sorry but I could not resist. BTW you could also call the guy Bat Baloney if you like that name better. CK
hehe...I was just going to recite that again AntiSonic. I can't imagine another better scam than that. btw: what was your search criteria for locating that thread...."Anal sex" or "masochism" LOL!!!!
Actually, I got back 10 threads when I typed in "anal sex" into the search engine...One of those threads was in the game action and roster moves forum! Uhhh...maybe I should spend LESS time here.
I dont know if any of you guys listen to the Troubleshooter show on 740 in the afternoons, but I first heard about this on his show. Its amazing that people can come up with something like this to steal money. Sometimes, it seems like the criminals in our country are smarter than everyone else.
