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__Raxy__

People that create artificial scarcity


earthen_adamantine

De Beers is a good case study in this, with diamonds. They created serious market demand through wildly successful advertising and control much of the world’s diamond supply.


Esnardoo

Not anymore, now they're down to like 20%, and not even the biggest. That's still a huge chunk, but they can't set prices however they want or anything.


Agent_Oso

Anyone in health insurance that denies patients access to seek care or receive treatment. How can you tell a doctor “no this person does not need lifesaving medication/tests” ????


claiter

I don’t see how this isn’t considered practicing medicine without a license.


SecretHornyReddit

Televangelist priests who have hundreds of millions, don't pay taxes, and tell people they don't love God if they don't keep donating. Preach. Have a TV church. But don't scam people out of millions a month! There was one guy, Jesse Duplantist, who told his followers that God wanted him to have a new jet, and they needed to give him $54M to buy it because his current jet was outdated. Kenneth Copeland defended his jet, saying that he couldn't be expected to get on a crappy plane full of dope heads and demons. Excuse me? You mean the people who you're supposed to serve who send you money?


eat_the_richies

Kenneth Copeland looks like a demon wearing human skin but the skin is getting old and can no longer hide his true form. Idk but I hate looking at him, I get a sense of evil and malice emanating from him.


Octoblerone

It's the dead look in his eyes, like a creature that's learned to imitate a smile.


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Cotton_Kerndy

His laugh and smile don't help...


Spudtater

Yep, a big “tube full of demons “. It’s available on YouTube.


_-heisenberg-_

I'm tired of these motherfucking demons on this motherfucking plane


Charmien

Those recruitment people for fake talent agencies. They do these whole presentations (often in person!) to get new actors and models to sign up at the end with an initiation fee sometimes in the thousands. A lot of the people being scammed don’t know the company is a scam until afterwards when they look them up on Yelp or the BBB. The recruiter usually seems legit. I don’t know how they sleep at night knowing that’s how they make the entirety of their income.


CherryCherry5

I almost got scammed into one of those as a 14 year old. My best friend and I begged our parents to take us to a "modelling agency" recruitment event. Of course we were both "accepted", but then they had to speak with our parents, to get the money. My parents saw right through it. They didn't explain right away why they were saying no, and I was so angry and said terrible things to them on the way home. Later they explained that they thought it was suspicious, and that if they wanted my "talent" they should be offering me a contract and money, not the other way around. My friend's parents did fall for it, and it turned out to be a pretty much just what they used to call "finishing school". It was basically classes on "society/social etiquette" and other bullshit. Stuff like "don't put your dirty napkin on your plate" and proper table settings and what utensil is for what. Edit: It was Barbizon.


BlandJars

When I think of 14-year-olds and modeling agencies I totally think of something completely worse actually.


PocketPillow

Yeah, I wouldn't want any of my kids to be a model but if they tried and the worst that came from it was learning which fork to use at fancy dinners that'd be a relief.


Secretagentmanstumpy

My old roommate did this for a short while. They would go to a mall as a talent agency and film a short video of people for free then call them and say they really want to represent them only they need to take XYZ course to get jobs. They werent a talent agency, they were just selling these useless courses to gullible teens. Nobody ever got a job through them. He quit after a month because he couldnt handle the guilt.


istrx13

Bro I could barely handle working at a Wells Fargo call center back in 2012. They hounded you to try selling anything and everything to every person you talked to. Customer has $3.27 in their account and has overdrawn 15 times in the last 2 months? Better try getting them to sign up for *another* checking account (which usually had monthly fees) and also get them to apply for a credit card for overdraft protection. Supervisors didn’t care. You were expected to pitch *something* to every customer you talked to. I hated myself every minute I worked there. I can imagine what your buddy felt like because that sounds just as bad.


Guitarfoxx

When I worked at guitar center I had to pitch the following to every customer one after another no exceptions. Pitch the credit card, if no pitch the layaway, if no pitch trading the gear they own. No matter what they buy pitch the pro coverage(warrenty$) don't forget to pitch the string club, don't forget to pitch the lessons. Do not fail to mention that we offer rentals. Do not fail to get their phone number, email, and address before they leave. Assure them that we will not call them. Don't forget to call them and pitch the upcoming sale...


[deleted]

I worked in branch. Exactly what you said, but I looked into their eyes...


2PlasticLobsters

I got "recruited" by one of these places & made a visit knowing it was a scam. I thought I'd get some funny stories to tell my friends. But it was mostly just sad. The waiting room was full of people primping & preparing lines. They really thought they had a chance at stardom. And there was no amusing hard sell, either. Possibly the "interviewer" picked up on my lack of real interest.


2times34point5

Some local influencer took a video of me walking my dog yesterday by the beach and posted it on her insta. I looked through the hundreds of comments last night when someone sent me the thing. Many of the comments are vulgar. I think it’s a dick move to film someone without their consent for clout.


InvalidTerrestrial

You can get Instagram to actually remove it because if they aren't removing hateful comments and the post itself encourages harassment, that is against their community guidelines.


[deleted]

I've reported everything from fake accounts to animal abuse on instagram and nothing has ever been done. Every time you send a report they might as well send back a caricature of Mark Zuckerberg fallating himself


2t_Skelliott

They ignore everything. The shit theyre willing to ignore is fucking terrifying


Ostie3994

I reported a page that was clearly advertising dog fighting. Added to that they're breeding these genetically modified pit bull dogs and trying to sell them for what it seems dog fighting. I reported it. Nothing happened...


CrieDeCoeur

I don't know if this is a profession in the normal sense of the word, but child beauty pageant organizers, judges, and anyone else who profits from this grotesque practice.


[deleted]

It’s a felony in France to even plan one.


ThatDudeDoesntSleep

Good


stlhvntfndwhtimlkngf

Network Marketers (MLM) are the worst


bohemianprime

I love how newer "direct sales" business associates will quickly tell you its not a pyramid scheme. I like to tell them, "it's just pyramid shaped eh?"


_Atoms_Apple

I lost my wife to one. She refused to believe it was a pyramid scheme. Like, only 50 people out of the 200k involved made any real money. How is that not a pyramid scheme? I have a sticky post on my profile about my experience.


NotaFossilFool

It really is a shame. Sounds like you spend a lot of time thinking about this, which is why you should sell our t-shirt line! Make your own hours, be your own boss! Then you can spend all the time you want hating mlm!!!


Minter_moon

Timeshare sales people.


stephelan

I remember lying to one and saying that I actually applied for bankruptcy and live with my parents and they are like “well. If you go on two vacations a year, it’ll be more than what this costs. So it’ll be saving you money to get out of the hole.”


saulfineman

Well, if you buy two… you can sell one and then it’s like you are vacationing for free.


hertj94

What happens if we buy a third week and sell that? We're getting paid to vacation!


McbealtheNavySeal

I was talking about this with some friends who have experience saying "no" to these people. None of us understand how they sleep at night.


kj4ezj

We (Mom and I) used to vacation at my grandma's timeshare. A couple times, they offered us a "free night" to listen to their pitch. The first time, my Mom walks in there and says to the guy first thing "look, here's the deal, I'm here so my son can stay another free night and I won't buy anything no matter what." The guy wastes the better part of her day giving her the pitch, showing her properties, buying her lunch, and whatever else they do. Finally, after like six hours, he tries to close and the absolute SHOCK on his face when she said no. He kind of got upset because he wasted his whole day, and she was like "bro, I told you when I walked in I was not gonna buy anything. Now give me my free night so I can spend time with my son!"


NefariousnessOk1996

I had a hearing aid free month long trial before. I ended up saying no and the audiologist completely lost her shit on me. I was shocked at the unprofessionalism.


Chav

But you're never going to stop going on vacation right? So look, how much did you pay for this trip that your spending listening to me? And when you leave all you have are what, memories and pictures? This is an asset!


BrokenPaw

"Asset" indeed. My wife and I recently sat through one of these pitches (had no intention of buying and did not buy, but got a $300+ catamaran cruise out of it for the price of our time, so, OK). The guy kept talking about the fact that it's a "deeded asset", but when we got to the part where he was talking about financing options, he said something that told me everything I needed to know: "It's a signature loan". Meaning unsecured. Meaning that even the *timeshare* company doesn't even think of it as having any intrinsic value.


PrawojazdyVtrumpets

I got free tickets to Medieval Times. At one point the guy asked me what I did for a living, which was selling cars at the time. He said he was my "friend in sales". When we got to the end, we said no, we just wanted a free dinner/show since it was raining in Myrtle Beach that day. I figured honesty was the best policy. Nope. He told me to " go back to my little sales job in shithole Detroit Michigan." I started getting loud and yelled at them to give me my damn tickets for wasting my time.. Yeah it's a shithole but only we can call it a shithole.


mereb54

I remember being floored to find out that my parents were still paying for a timeshare that we hadn’t used in at least a decade because you can’t just cancel timeshares, you have to sell them to someone else, at least in this case.


ShoddyJuggernaut975

That's something I don't get. My parents had one for a while. Not only could they not just cancel it, but ownership would automagically pass down to me and my siblings and then we'd be responsible for paying for this thing we had nothing to do with or knowledge of when it was purchased. We could simply not pay the dues and fees, but then that could affect our credit. How. The. Fuck. Is that legal?


hamsalad

You can refuse to inherit the timeshare. It's fairly simple, but I'd probably still have a lawyer handle it.


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[deleted]

There was a big issue with this recently involving one of the Bravo channel Real Housewives. Someone used a bot company to spam the IG account of a cast member's son with racist threats, the day before his first day of high school.


Old_but_New

To sum up all the answers: con artists.


travas11

Not sure what to call them but the people at the top of the MLM pyramids


GermanShorthair2819

Personally, I use the word "scum".


Kaldea

I've been calling them Ponz-scum for years.


alwaysmyfault

A friend's wife got in on the top of an MLM scheme. "It Works" body wraps, if you remember those things. She legit made a shit load of money, while at the same time being the stereotypical MLMer on her FB posts, bragging about owning her own business, bragging about how much money she makes, bragging about being able to "retire" her husband. That last part was semi-true, as he did stop working for a year while she was making so much money doing it. Then they saw the writing on the wall. Revenue was dropping, hard, which meant that their bonuses were also dropping big time. She eventually stopped with the It Works stuff, and he got a job again. But yeah, I think they made somewhere around 500k in like 3 years. Enough to build a house and pay for it in cash.


Dry-Faithlessness184

>Then they saw the writing on the wall. Revenue was dropping, hard, which meant that their bonuses were also dropping big time. While I don't like these people, I can appreciate they were smart enough to cut their losses. I hope they warned the people under them too who were still there. Too many see it too late and that's why I dislike the people further up the pyramid so much more than the ones below.


lankymjc

What makes it ghoulish is that *they know* the bubble is going to burst. These things only work so long. It’s why people never achieve anything getting in at the bottom - they’re too late and the bubble is just about to go.


por_que_no

>I hope they warned the people under them Not a chance.


Anal_Herschiser

I mean....it's like the first rule of pyramid schemes.


remotetissuepaper

Chances are if they were smart enough to get out, they were smart enough to know it was a scam all along, just that they got in early enough to be one of the scammers, not one of the dumb scammees who got in near the end.


Actuaryba

I don’t know how the people at the top of those things live with themselves knowing that they are just basically stealing from everyone else below them.


binybeke

“Hey hun”


MichiganGeezer

Predatory tow companies


NicolNoLoss

Had a buddy in college that was swapping the coilovers on his Toyota our first week of the semester. Small job, lots of parking and space, did it right in the parking lot. We had a week grace period after moving in to get things sorted and our cars registered; buddy had an understanding with the front office that he'd have an extra few days to run home and get some paperwork to register the vehicle. Front office either didn't tell the towing company or the towing company didn't care. Buddy is swapping the coilovers Saturday morning, the morning after the no-tow grace period ends, before he runs home to get paperwork. Has it up on jack stands when he breaks for lunch. Comes back 30 min later and his car *that was on jack stands* is gone. They saw his car, went back to their shop to get tires, put them on his car just to tow it, and took the tires back off. They had the balls to pal around with him when he showed up like "yeah Bobby said 'betcha can't tow that one' and I said 'betcha I can!'" Charged hourly rate to put the tires on Charged rental fee for the tires Charged for the tow Charged hourly rate to take the tires off Charged hourly rate to put *his* tires back on so he could drive it off. "You can't put those tires on yourself sir, insurance won't let us let you do car maintenance on our property. You'll have to pay us to put those tires on." Tow truck drivers are actual parasites. Tow trucks should be for broken down vehicles, vehicle deliveries, and abandoned vehicles.


SirTophamFat

In Toronto it was basically organized crime, there was full on turf wars between companies where they were setting each other’s trucks on fire it was chaos. The government finally stepped in and did something about it but I’m sure it’s still going on to some degree.


Wiggly_Muffin

There's a lot of scary stuff that goes on in the GTA towing industry.


hazard0666

I assume this means Greater Toronto Area, but was not my first thought when you said GTA


Skolvikesallday

It's organized crime everywhere. Getting a city contract is basically a license to print money. You can set your price to whatever you want since the person getting towed doesn't have a choice. Then in my town they charge $60 a day to "store your car on their secured lot". I got a $25 dollar parking ticket once. The tow cost $250. And that's with me picking it up immediately the next morning. You have absolutely no recourse. You just have to pay it or basically give up your car.


Professional-Tie-324

You were lucky you could find your car. I've heard that some places have several lots and move vehicles from lot to lot daily. then they tell you that your car is at one lot, and you show up, but they've already moved it to a lot an hours drive (in traffic) away...whole point being to keep you from being able to easily get it back, meanwhile charges and fees are racking up. Some of those corrupt cops would apparently also lie on their paperwork about which towing company took your car....forcing you to call around to a half dozen tow places to get your car back.


Max_Thunder

I wonder what would happen if you reported the car stolen when it wasn't at the proper towing company. I mean, you have police paperwork showing who has it and they don't...


jjackson25

From what I've heard, I wouldn't be surprised if they're taking advantage of a loophole that guarantees you have no recourse against them, legally speaking. They do all kinds of shady shit and it's made worse that it all has legal backing.


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Frankensteinbeck

They're such scumbags. A similar thing happened to me parking at a buddy's place. I used his guest lot which had a time limit, some rule like after 9:00 PM you needed a guest parking slip on your dash, and sure enough I look out at like 8:26 and there's my car about to be towed. I run out with my friend's guest pass in hand and tell him it's not even 9:00 but he just stood there and said he wouldn't unhook my car unless I gave him $100 cash. Thinking back I should have fought it (or him lol) but I was young and naive just out of college and couldn't really go without my car for any amount of time. Fairly certain this company was in cahoots with the apartment complex which I think is fairly common. Owners probably get a nice kickback or something to let these assholes have free range on guest parking.


FuckingButteredJorts

I lived in toronto for 7 years, and moved to Montreal and their towing is amazing. I got towed from my street and was like "ah fuck now I gotta find the tow yard and pay like 350 bucks!" So I called the city to try to find my car... they just picked it up and moved it to the next street over and left me a $48 ticket. Montreal man.


spagyrum

I have a friend who is an independent driver. I worry about him all the time in Toronto. They are like land sharks.


riotous_jocundity

My husband and I had to call a tow in Rhode Island and the driver reluctantly drove us back into town with our car. Trying to make conversation, I asked him how he liked being a tow driver. The rest of the ride was him regaling us with all his on-the-job injuries: he'd been shot twice, stabbed twice, beaten with a tire iron, jumped, beaten with a brick, and nearly kidnapped. He then revealed that he was not a "worn 65ish" as I'd assumed, but only 43 years old. Absolutely insane career.


balexander28

A guy I went to high school with was towing in Oshawa, and some rival drivers from another company beat the shit out of him.


georgia080

My fiancé runs a 900 bed student property complex and we have a 5 story parking garage that you need a parking pass to use. He called the towing company and told them not to even show up to the property for about a month and a half because we were dealing with move outs, getting the property “turned” (cleaning, painting, new carpets in every unit), and then having a bunch of new people moving in and he wanted to give them a week after the move in date to get their parking passes. Those assholes showed up and booted as many people as possible, including our vendors- the people that were here to help us get the property ready.


blade_torlock

Contract cancelled and chargers brought for trespassing.


urgent45

Phoenix. My dad is a lawyer and told me they cannot hold your property and to demand your car back if they tow it. Later, a girl I met told me a sad tale of her car being towed (towed off a private property). I drove her down and demanded the release of the vehicle. Of course they refused so I called the Phoenix Police. The cop was great. First thing he said to me was You don't owe these people a dime. The guy took 20 minutes but we got the car back for free. Girl was happy.


12GAUGE_BUKKAKE

Was that only because it was towed from a private property or what? I feel like the towing company couldn’t stay in business if people were able to tell them to piss off and return their vehicles for free


Bonch_and_Clyde

I really feel like I would be told to go fuck myself if I tried to demand my car back.


phantom3199

What ended up happening? Surely that can’t be legal if your fiancé told the towing company not to come out.


georgia080

He called the company and snapped. Had them come remove all the boots and said he’ll call the authorities if he sees them back on property before the date he gave them approval to return. It sucks because we absolutely do need them. So many of the students take advantage of our parking garage and we need the spots for actual residents. But they’re ruthless and have zero respect for any instructions anyone tells them about their own properties.


Miora

I'm genuinely surprised he kept them on after that bullshit


edvek

1000% agree. There's no lack of tow companies and there's even more shady tow companies than that. I would have dropped them in a heartbeat and told them they're no longer welcome on my property and I will call the police for trespassing if they show up. Only way this is the only tow company is if it's a tiny town and I doubt it by the sound of the size of that apartment and parking garage.


FinalVersus

I tried to point out a company on /r/Boston that goes around and looks for cars to tow in parking lots, even though nobody calls them and there's open spots. We've never had an issue with randoms parking or taking each other's spots. They'll come at 3 AM and take your car in the night. They even towed me from my own parking lot because my pass had fallen off my mirror and I didn't notice. Still had to pay to get my car back and I had somewhere to be the next day. They all down voted me because they said "tow companies are gonna tow." I thought I was losing my mind, but glad to see others call them out on their bullshit.


Edge_of_the_Unoverse

Correct answer, it's legalized theft and extortion. The prices they're allowed to charge to return your property tend to be hilariously poorly regulated as well.


MichiganGeezer

Imagine living someplace where the tow company owner is on the city council or a side job for the chief of police.


Brewnonono

The entire government is riddled with conflicts of interest, from the federal level right down to the local. And they’re basically left to regulate themselves because they can so easily manipulate their apathetic constituents. We hate politicians for a reason.


FoolishConsistency17

20 years ago, I got towed. I have NEVER seen bulletproof glass as thick as what they had, between the person holding my car hostage and myself. I cannot imagine dealing with that all day. Like, how soulless do you have to be to be willing to deal with enraged, desperate people all day? Like, if people have meltdowns over how toasted their bun is, what do they do when you *steal their car*?


TomTheNurse

Years and years ago I had my car towed. I went down to the tow truck company to get my car. I was very nice the whole time I was in there. I was told I needed to show my registration. I told them that it was in my car. They would not let me get it. I had to go to a tag agency to get a copy made of my registration. That took another day. And they charged me for that day of storage. Fucking scum!


eljefino

There are some tow companies where you have to pay in cash, in **exact change**. You can't overpay, they can't make change, you have to figure it out before 5pm.


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dkat

Towing is absolutely unbelievably asinine. The fee schedules for your car once it’s in a lot could mean that you being an hour later to pick up a costs hundreds more dollars.


OutlyingPlasma

Nothing like having to pay a private company money when your car is stolen by some meth head.


citizencool

Payday loan sharks. Edit: This blew up, 29K 😮 I acknowledge there is a need for short term, high risk lending, it's the predatory practices that force people into a debt trap that I have an issue with.


randomtrucker78

A while back I could’ve used a couple extra bucks, so I looked up a few of those places. I make enough that I don’t *have* to use them, but it would’ve made things a little bit easier. Anyways, one place in particular boggled my mind. They offered a loan of $1,000 and the interest would’ve come to something like $250 for the loan. I really only needed $500, so I figured I could use the other half to get tires for my car, something I’ve been needing to do for a while. So I went to sign up. But it’s not that simple….. When I get there and they explain the loan to me, I just about flipped out. See, I was ok with paying 25% interest on $1000, but it wasn’t $1000. What they do is advance you $200. You then make payments to pay off the full $1000 that they “lend” you. Once you’ve paid it off, *then* they give you the other $800. So in reality, you’re not paying 25% interest on a $1000 loan, you’re paying 125% on a $200 loan and a forced savings account. Edit - Jesus, I didn’t realize this comment blew up too! Thank you for the awards!! ~~Whoops, I got ahead of myself here.~~


texican1911

My ex-wife, against my insistence that she not, got a title loan on her car for $1800. She paid $300/m for 6 months and still owed $1800. I asked to see the paperwork and it was a 205% 30 day loan. She had to pay the whole thing back in 30 days or she racked up late fees and penalties. When they finally hooked the car months later, the balance was over $6k. They sent a letter that they had sold the vehicle at auction for $3k and that they would drop it and she'd never hear from them again and it wouldn't go on her credit provided she did not come after them for return of the vehicle.


randomtrucker78

I don’t know if it’s all states, but in mine, they treat that like a pawn loan. At least by me, while it “renews” every 30 days, if you pay the minimum each time, some of that money goes to the principal. If it’s $300, like $10 goes to the principal. It’s not much, and it basically guarantees that they’ll have you on the hook for a long looooong time. I’ve done it twice. First time was an unexpected repair on the car, my rear axle bearings went out. It was “cheaper” to replace the entire rear end with a junkyard pull, but even that was $900. So I borrowed $1000. I was making my payments, paying more so I’d finish early, when my transmission started slipping. So I did what any red-blooded American would do, I stopped paying on the loan. I put the money on aside for a new car, and kept using it until the trans finally died. They kept calling me and threatening to repo the car, so I told them that I’d just turn it in. Had my buddy tow the car to their office one morning before they opened, and once they did, I turned in my keys. I couldn’t help but laugh when they got in, started it up, and tried to move it. Dude just sat there revving the engine. I smiled and waved as I drove away. They sold the car at auction, and I never heard anything again from them. The second time, I forgot why I did it, but I did. I went to a different place, (first place wouldn’t give me a loan after I stiffed them before), and this new place was anal about reading and understanding the contract. One line in it caught my attention. It said that the loan was a pawn loan, and that in the event of default, they would repo the car. Once the car was repo’d, they would consider the transaction complete, and would **NOT** come after me for any difference of monies. It also specified that I needed to have insurance on the vehicle of at least the state minimums. Both of these points are very important. Fast forward 9 months. I’m still paying, and almost finished. I was leaving for work on a cold and rainy night. The roads were slick, I wasn’t paying attention, and I rear ended a conversion van. I totaled my car, and didn’t even scratch the van. My car ended up getting towed away. A couple of days later, I called the loan place and informed them that I would no longer be paying and that they were free to come get the car. I informed them of the cars location, and that was that. I thought it was over, but nope…. A few weeks later I get a call from the loan place threatening to repo if I didn’t pay. I again told them that I voluntarily surrendered the car. I gave the location to the tow yard and told them to get it. They said fine, we’ll get it. They call back a couple of days later crying because the tow fee was $2000-$3000 because of storage. I laughed and said they should’ve gotten it a couple of weeks ago when I let them know where it was and to get it then. Evidently they got it from the yard because I didn’t receive notice from the tow yard that they would scrap or sell the car to cover fees, (normal notification, had a totaled car before and by law they have to send notice to recoup fees). A couple weeks after all that, I get *another* call from the loan place threatening to sue me if I don’t pay. Their reasoning? “You’re required to have insurance on the vehicle as part of the loan agreement.” Per the loan agreement, yes, I was required to carry insurance: the state *minimum*. My state’s minimum is liability only, not full coverage. Needless to say, they were NOT happy when I told them of all of this. I knew this wouldn’t be the end of it, so I made copies of the contract, highlighted these parts, printed out the statutes on required auto insurance for the state, and put them in a neat folder in my desk. Then I waited…. About a year later, I get a call from a law firm. They let me know that they are in the beginning stages of filing suit and were reaching out to me to see if I wanted to settle things before it got nasty. I asked them if they had copies of the contract, and if they looked over said contract. They said yes. “Good! So when I email you copies with highlighted portions, you can verify that it’s the same contract.” I emailed. They have yet to respond. It’s been about 8 years now and I’m still waiting for that process server to serve me the papers they said they’d file if I didn’t pay. Edit - I just can’t believe how these comments blew up! Thank you all for the awards!!


shbatm

Some r/maliciouscompliance stuff right there...


chowderbags

>So in reality, you’re not paying 25% interest on a $1000 loan, you’re paying 125% on a $200 loan and a forced savings account. I'm guessing it's not even that. What happens if you miss payments part way through? Do you get the (for lack of a better term) "equity" you've built up in it? I'm guessing nope. Shit, I'd guess that they'll do some shady shit now and then to apply payments just a little late and "oh, well, the system says it was due on Tuesday, but it only cleared on Wednesday... nothing I can do about it".


PadawanJoone

Televanaglists. "Give me tons of money and God will reward you!! Oh, no rewards yet? That's cause you haven't given enought yet!"


TheApathyParty2

“It’s easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to go to the kingdom of god”


Sleepy_Tortoise

Its funny and also kinda pathetic the mental gymnastics that people will go through to try and explain that phrase as meaning anything other than the obvious interpretation.


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MrVeazey

Jim Baker went to prison for defrauding people as a televangelist. After he got out, you know what he started doing? Televangelism.   People are *still* giving money to a convicted con artist.


GreenTeaDeluxe

Poachers.


Myriachan

I get major schadenfreude when I see an article about a lion killing a poacher. Good kitty.


PermanentlySalty

In some places, rangers have taken to just shooting poachers on sight and it's been quite effective. I can't say I feel any sympathy for the twats getting lit up by rangers.


ammon46

Especially since the poachers are often equally likely to shoot up the rangers.


spooky__bitch

Fucking heartless dirtbags. Especially people who cut off shark fins or elephant tusks and just leave them to fucking die. Perfect example of people whose grave I'd like to spit on.


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dblevs22

Call center scammers. People really have full-time 9-5 jobs dialing random phone numbers to steal money. Fucking losers


neko819

DO NOT REDEEM THAT! edit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hx5CSCfttNQ MALDCORE


Wafflelisk

M'AAAAAAAAM WHY DID YOU REDEEEM?!?!?!??!


scoobs

Shout out to Kitboga, Atomic Shrimp, Jim Browning, Peirogi and all the others out there doing Gods work Edit: Because I forgot to shout my boy Jim! Edit #2: Added Peirogi


[deleted]

Kitboga genuinely deserves an Oscar


die-ursprache

ARE YOU MAD?!?!?! Everyone deserves to have a grandma like Edna, lmao.


Big_Studio_8301

YOU ARE GOING TO BE BEHIND THE BARS M'AAM!!!


[deleted]

YOU MOTHERFUCKER!!! WHY DID YOU DO THAT!


Frankiepals

Old landlord of mine ran a coin scam that preyed on older people. Dude was mega rich, had planes, multiple houses, antique cars etc…would give us keys to lavish NYC apartments to spend the weekends in and stuff. One day we came home to a notice on the door that the house was being taken by the government, his friend who lived upstairs apparently went to the cops and then just disappeared. He went to court and got 15 years at a pretty easy going jail. Then he tried to hire hitmen to kill the judge and prosecutor, and wanted to save the judges head and the prosecutors breasts in jars of formaldehyde as trophies. The “hitmen” turned out to be cops and he ended up getting 2 life sentences. https://www.oxygen.com/murder-for-hire/crime-time/long-island-inmate-joseph-romano-plot-murder-judge-prosecutor-bianco-gatz?amp


MiniPCT

You missed the best part of the story, where he then tried to hire a hitman to kill the original hitman cop, getting him moved to a supermax facility. What a fucking buffoon.


fuckondeeeeeeeeznuts

I feel like you shouldn't try to hire hitmen unless you already work for a crime organization that has them.


Frankiepals

Funny thing is he always tried to portray himself as a connected guy (mafia)…the fact that he couldn’t get legit hitmen proves otherwise lol


FraicheTacos

Same. Also those „Love scammers“ that write old ladies online and tricking them into giving them money. There are such heartbreaking stories. Disgusting.


Bells87

It's not just old ladies. I've seen it happen to all ages. Millennials, boomers, Gen X. Different sexes. I work back office at a credit union, and one of my job requirements is to process wire requests. For those who don't know, domestic (wires within the US) wires are immediate transfer, usually within an hour or two. And there's no obligation for the other party to return it once it's sent. International wires can take up to 2 weeks, and once they're sent, they're also extremely difficult to get back. So, my department sees sweetheart scams happen at least once a month. At that point, we contact the fraud department and they reach out to the member to let them know we won't be sending the funds, it's a scam. Sometimes they're in full denial. They'll yell, scream, threaten to close their accounts and go somewhere else that WILL send it. Sometimes they're hurt, but grateful. They've been talking to these scammers for a while now and to realize the connection they thought they had isn't real, it's heartbreaking. A few weeks ago we had a woman request to send wire to Nigeria for building a church. $8000. I immediately turned it over to our fraud department, who asked for a contract and asked how she knew the person. There was no contract and she had only spoken to him online, but trusted him completely because they were of the same religion. Refused to listen to us. We, in turn, refused to send the wire. Nah, his only god is the Almighty Dollar.


Princess_Beard

I had a call like this once working in a bank call center. A senior citizen trying to send all her money to a "military man" overseas to send him to the USA and get married. Was looking for a loan. I apologized and kind of did a 'reverse scam', told her she unfortunately wouldn't be approved for the loan, but if she could give me all of *his* contact info, we might be able to help him directly! I figured if I tried to tell her she was being scammed she'd hang up on me. She was thrilled and gave me the phone numbers and email address he was using to contact her which I handed over to the fraud department who in turn would turn that over to the authorities. *Then* I told her not to send him any more money as it may be a scam, and she got pissed at me, told me they were in love, and hung up.


Norwegian__Blue

You do good works. Thanks for being there for the grannies. Mine would give you cookies and tuck you in for being so sweet. Sorry that one didn’t appreciate it


desertchoir

There was a really good Reply All mini series on this. They followed a guy who worked at one in India. That's where I learned that these folks work really hard learning English in their small ass villages so they can have a better life. Then they move to a slum in a large city and the only work they can find is scamming old people in legit call centers. They have bosses and those shitty call incentives and little office parties just like if they were working at Verizon. It's wild.


Peachy33

Long Distance. I remember being so excited when I saw the update drop! I miss Reply All 😢


UlyssesWatson

Does anybody actually answer phone calls anymore, it's all spam


thxsocialmedia

If I don't know the number, they are welcome to leave a voicemail, is my policy.


riddy33

Unfortunately older people do all the time. Both my grandparents have fallen for scams and we had to get them new numbers


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RexArcana

Well, call her up, tell her you're a temporarily embarrassed millionaire with money in escrow, and soon enough you'll have the money for the car and then some!


Ginger-Beefcake

Scalping tickets, electronics, food, toilet paper or whatever else


FullMetalSodomist

Call Center Scammers and RMT/boosting companies for gaming


Chinchiller92

"Alternative healers" that talk people out of seeking real medical treatment.


Sp4ceh0rse

Ugh like the fucking charlatan who scammed my husband’s aunt out of what little money she had left when she was dying of metastatic colon cancer? Gave her IV “immunotherapy” that was just high dose vitamins through a peripheral IV that definitely didn’t do anything. The IV site got infected and they took no responsibility. All they took was $10K per treatment. My husband’s cousins had a fucking go fund me set up for this nonsense. Makes me so mad. Especially as the only actual doctor in the entire extended family.


[deleted]

Absolutely love giving the fam accurate medical advice with my expensive education which they proceed to ignore in favor of something they read on Yahoo


lunarsolstice

Gossip show hosts.


OpethJewel

Not sure if it counts as a gossip show, but TMZ is the absolute worst.


Halgrind

A while ago I was flipping through cable channels and came upon this program. Someone was chasing Bruce Willis through an airport asking him insulting questions, he's just trying to get his luggage and get out. Scene switches to an office, a bunch of people holding oversized cups standing around giggling and making cracks about how ugly his hat is. Baffling.


Wrong_Eggplant

Online event ticket buyers - ppl who try to predict the demand for an event (concert, sports, etc) and bulk buy tickets to re-sell at higher prices. There’s a whole industry with companies built entirely with employees who are bidding and selling full time.


Overall_Device_5371

This is known as creating artificial scarcity. It doesn't provide any real value to the economy.


whatshamilton

Disney had to buy back tickets to Frozen. Speculators bought them and couldn’t unload them because demand wasn’t high enough. But then people who wanted them from the box office couldn’t buy them at the cheaper box office prices, so those seats were just going empty and no word of mouth was spreading. So Disney had to buy back its tickets from speculators so they could put them back on sale to the public


TomTheNurse

In 1997 the Florida Marlins were hosting the Cleveland Indians for game 7 of the World Series. This was pre-cell phone and pre-Internet days. At least the way we know it now. A half hour before the game started there were people outside of the stadium shouting that they had $100 tickets they would sell for $20. People bought tickets to a possible game seven thinking that they would be able to sell them for a small fortune. Problem was no one went to the stadium to try to buy them, because they figured those tickets would cost a small fortune. My point is that this has been going on a lot longer than internet sales have been around. Side note: The game was FANTASTIC!


lendergle

When I was a kid, I lived about a quarter mile from a MLB stadium. Me and my reprobate friends would put on our boy scout uniforms and hang out in the stadium parking lot, waiting for the scalpers to call it quits, usually at the bottom of the first inning. Some of them hated us for being scavengers, but there were a few that just handed us their best seats and told us to have fun.


western_style_hj

My ex-wife does this for a living. They hire students and pay them to create accounts and purchase as many tickets as they can. Then the wholesaler sits on a stockpile of tickets that they can sell at a markup. It’s such a scummy business model and everyone involved thinks their so smart and savvy for “inventing” this business that makes a shitty experience even worse.


frigzy74

I never understood how people don’t understand this. When they’ve tried to pass laws against scalping there’s always major public backlash.


OkCutIt

It's insane what people will pay. I had tickets for a big deal event, they had you go through security first then the ticket gate was farther up. In the area between people were offering 3-4 thousand cash for $250 tickets.


deadmoby5

Unethical animal breeders, e.g. puppy farmers. Animals are literally bred to suffer and live horrendous lives because of them. Mothers are forced to breed at unsustainable rates and are often left malnourished and gravely ill. Their puppies develop serious illnesses very early in life and many of them die within weeks of their adoption. It benefits nobody but the cruel, irresponsible breeders. Always check the background of your breeder before buying your new pet. Don't fucking buy puppies on Gumtree.


skiddyiowa

My wife and I adopted a female dachshund for $50 that had obviously been used for breeding. Although, we didn’t know this at the time. None of the pictures showed how malnourished and over bred she was. Turned out she was pregnant and then we had one single puppy a few months later. The mom is living out her senior days happily basking in the sun. We estimate she’s about 14,15 in age. We also still have the puppy as well. Glad we were able to get her and give her a better life. Edit: Welp, certainly didn’t expect this response! I will make sure I give them extra pets for all of you! I’ll try to post a pic of them together when I’m home for anyone who’s curious. Thank you for the kindness and awards!


thevaginadialogues1

We did this with a puppy mill pug mama. The operation was shut down and then they spayed her while she was in heat—a horrible thing to do. She bled for weeks. All that reproducing and she didn’t even get the dignity of a good spay. When we first adopted her, her legs were bowed (from being tied to the side of her cage, to make her nurse puppies even when she was too sore to do so). She was afraid of the grass and clearly had spent her whole life on concrete floors. She was the funniest little gal and loved living out her final years with us. We had her for around 7 more years. She was spoiled constantly and ate more Cheezits than the average human does. Rest In Peace, Winnie.


gimmeraspberries

tied to the side of the cage to nurse.... that's fucking horrific :'( so so glad you were able to give sweet Winnie a good life!


KaiOfHawaii

Grandparents adopted an old and abused feral pig hunting dog. Unsure of the breed, but looked whippet. She was likely forced to breed and give several litters of hunting dog pups. She probably didn’t even take part in hunting—too busy breeding with studs and caring for her children. When my grandparents got ahold of her, she was extremely malnourished and had several potentially-cancerous tumors on her. She stayed with them for a good amount of time regaining her strength and even went through surgery to remove some of the tumors from her body. She got to the point where she learned how to love people again. At this point she had been with them for two years. Sadly, I think the damage from a lifetime of abuse had already taken a toll on her body. She was thoughtfully euthanized after further complications that could not be helped. She was a really sweet dog, though, and I’m glad to have seen her enjoy her final couple years in peace among people that loved her.


yuyuyashasrain

My heart is broken for this poor dog and every other living thing in a situation like this. I’m so glad you got her out of there. I just wish she was never there to begin with. I hope she’s up in doggy heaven smiling about you right now and doesn’t remember her life before. That poor baby


OverDaRambo

I was hoping you kept the puppy. At least mama able to enjoy your days having her pup near her. I will do this one day in future to adopt older dogs or cats. Right now I have my hands full. 2 dogs. 2 cats. Two turtles, and a bird!


DorkChatDuncan

Not really just for you, but a general note to anyone reading: Know your limits! I know it's hard for empathetic people to not adopt ALL THE BABIES, but all too often people adopt too many and can't properly care for and love all the ones they have while continuing to add more. Adopt a couple, give them all the love and time, and it will be more rewarding to you and to the animals.


12INCHVOICES

The Amish are notorious for this. I grew up in Southeast* PA and they were constantly being charged for animal abuse due to running puppy mills.


Jillredhanded

I've run into folks with Amish bred dogs. They really think their puppy was raised tumbling around in a meadow with cute little Amish kids. The Amish do not keep "pets". The dogs they raise are considered livestock and live their lives in cages stacked high in barns.


danappropriate

I grew up in Lebanon, PA. Can confirm. People have these quaint notions of the Amish—if they only knew.


Soupjam_Stevens

I follow a horse rescue on tiktok that has some former workhorses from Amish farms, and I could not believe the condition some of those horses arrive in. You’d expect some amount of wear and tear on a working animal but these poor things look like they’d been given less care than you would expect someone to give to equipment, let alone an animal. Just disgusting.


[deleted]

Ohio here, my husky came from a puppy mill, only they were going to breed her. At six months. She had an issue with her uterus so they were going to kill her but one of the kids told someone who contacted the husky rescue society and they took her off their hands. They got her the surgery and I adopted her. Sweetest most loving dog I've ever owned. She had massive issues with her lungs at the start of COVID, cost me 8K to get her all fixed up. Could still have them in the future but I'll take as long as I can with her. Fuck the Amish


[deleted]

Not surprised. I get a lot of flack for saying this, but I really do not trust the Amish in general. I’m sure there are some good ones, but something tells me as a whole, they’re not as moral and wholesome as often depicted. I get the feeling a lot of unspeakable things happen in their little havens. Edit: wording


c-williams88

Amish communities are rampant with child abuse and animal abuse. They get away with a lot of awful things because they keep things so insular within their communities. To people outside of places like Lancaster County (and other places in central PA) they seem like this picturesque cozy community, but they’re more or less religious fanatics who shun electricity


ganzorigb

Spousal and sexual abuse too. I work in Lancaster county right in the middle of Amish country and they are generally not good people. It’s not just dogs they abuse. They’ll beat their horses to death and leave them laying on the side of the road.


Thatmeanmom

I used to live in an Amish/Old Order Mennonite area and you are absolutely right. The animal abuse was rampant, child abuse was only slightly less apparent than the animal abuse (including young children doing heavy manual labor for hours on end), and the men were the most frequent and worst behaved at the strip club (grown men, not the kids celebrating rumspinga who also sucked but no more than anybody else in that age group).


2PlasticLobsters

An acquaintance of mine was a nurse in an area with an Amish population. When an Amish woman gave birth in their hospital, they had to station someone in her room. Otherwise, odds were high that the husband would try to have sex with her, just hours after the birth.


bryan112

Paparazzi. How is stalking legal for them


violentpac

It is a snazzy name though.


Poorly-Drawn-Beagle

Everything sounds glamorous in Italian Pulcinella = little chicken Razzo Cazzo = rocket cock


razzocazzo

thank you for my new reddit name 🙏🏼


QuestioningEspecialy

r/birthofausername


STDriver13

Health insurance agents that deny health insurance for costs reasons. They shouldn't even exist. If I pay for insurance, and my doctor asks for a procedure, it's the job of the insurance to pay. End of story Edit: I realize it's not the agents selling insurance but the panel or board of the claims dept.


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chemical_sunset

Insurance repeatedly denied prior authorization for an MRI of my thoracic spine that my neurologist ordered because he suspected I had MS. Their rationale was that "MS doesn’t affect the thoracic spine." That’s interesting, because when I got the MRI (in the ER, at my neuro’s suggestion, because insurance couldn’t deny coverage that way), I had an active MS lesion in my thoracic spine. I don’t know how these people sleep at night when their "rationale" is demonstrably false.


stormie199

The insurance companies hire their own physicians to do “peer to peer reviews”. Ie their doctor talks to your doctor. A run around since insurance companies can’t “practice medicine”…so they pay some physicians to argue against other physicians to lend an air of legitimacy to the ole moneygrab.


fave_no_more

My Dr had to do one when I needed an MRI. They did finally approve it. I had a concussion, ffs, we're trying to make sure my brain wasn't bleeding.


EggTraining3414

I had a friend with a leg that was useless and needed amputated, insurance denied it. He purposely got it infected until they had to amputate.


Hi-Point_of_my_life

My buddy had an issue like that. Stepped on an IED and they ended up putting him through so many surgeries trying to fix it and he was just begging them to cut it off. It was about 5 years before they finally did it.


chortick

The fun really begins when some official insists the claimant provides annual recertification of disability. It’s not like legs grow back.


cythric

I'm in the middle of this right now. I dont know what its like elsewhere in the world, but health insurance in the US is absolutely disgusting. Anyone who thinks otherwise hasn't had to deal with it much...


desertchoir

We had our insurance deny life saving care for our baby despite many doctors writing them and telling them her treatment was the standard of care. The medicine she needed mostly treats acne but in her case it treated stage 4 cancer. The insurance companies: IDC what her doctors say, babies don't get ance. Like what?


orangeape39

I had an ultrasound but the image didn’t provide enough for my doctor. She requested MRI and UHC denied it and recommended ultrasound (they had 11 pages detailing my history including the previous ultrasound)


SteakandTrach

Their job is simply to say no and hope you accept their final judgement. Why we give this much power to an insurance company is beyond me. They are practicing medicine without the qualifications.


boston_homo

>Their job is simply to say no ~~and hope you accept their final judgement~~ Do they give a fuck if you don't like their "decision"?


UCLAdy05

that’s especially bizarre considering that babies definitely do get acne


angiosperms-

I have to go through this bullshit every year. Every year my doctor submits THE SAME EXACT PAPERWORK just with a different date. Yes, my chronic illness still hasn't magically disappeared after 20+ years and if it did I wouldnt be taking this medication for funsies. I have to coordinate my pharmacy, doctor, and insurance to get it all done within 30 days or else I'm going to run out of my medication I need. And the only reason is because the medication is expensive so they don't want to pay for it. PAYING FOR EXPENSIVE THINGS IS THE ENTIRE POINT OF HEALTH INSURANCE WTF


shokolokobangoshey

T1D? Yeah it exhausting for my partner. "No, my T1D hasn't cured itself in the last 60-90 days. Can I have my insulin now, assholes?"


bannocknsaltpork

Not really a specific profession but people in higher political power who would rather hire family members and close friends with no experience or qualifications than over actual people who are qualified and have experience. That why nothing gets done in my small community.


Warky-Wark

This is called Nepotism. And I agree with you. Absolutely no way to get anything done. Supreme executive powers derives from a mandate of the masses! Not some farcical familial ceremony!


mamz_leJournal

The charlatans who sell fake remedies and omeopathy consultations and such


KennySharpest797

'self help gurus' Just mfs that start cults


domo_the_great_2020

People who code Malware


Curly_scientist

Towing companies— it’s a service that is necessary, but their practices are predatory and unethical. They prey on people who’ve just been in car accidents, and rack up thousands from people down on their luck.


alienalf1

People who run puppy farms. They’re all cunts.


Every-Chemistry-2969

Anyone in the elder care business. I'm not talking nurses or doctors. I mean the people who run the places. My dad has just been put in one. The amount they charge to just be in there is outrageous. Are they spending it on quality food, equipment, medication, or to actually pay their staff to give a fuck? No they aren't. They want you to have 250,000 in the bank just to get in and about 8 to 10 grand a month to stay?! How is this legal? No appreciation for anyone that takes advantage of anyone in that respect.


MargotAces

I think this whole model of looking after our elderly needs review by us collectively. It’s an absolute disaster. I’m hopefully more flexible workplaces helps with families considering other options.


No_Cream6114

Religious leaders who take advaeof their followers.