Scammers are always evolving and finding new ways to steal your money. That’s why it’s important to stay informed about the latest scams. A user asked on an online forum, “What’s the biggest scam in America?”
Here are the responses he got.
RENT-TO-OWN STORES
“They sell furniture and electronics stuff to people with bad credit who can’t afford it, let them pay a small amount weekly. If people end up paying on time and pay stuff off, they will pay 2 or 3 times more than the item is worth. If they pay late, the item is repossessed and re-sold to someone else, and the first person loses all the money they paid.”
USED CAR DEALERS
“Some used car dealers do this same business model with cars too. They put GPS trackers in the car that also disable the starter. They collect $1000 down, and once a payment is late, they disable the car and tow it, then sell it again and keep the downpayment. I worked at a shop that installed the trackers, and these places would sell the same car to different people 5 or 6 times a year because they kept repossessing it.”
STUDENT LOAN SERVICERS
“For example, Navient manages Federally guaranteed debt for the US Gov in Student loans and has the IRS as their personal collection agency. They constantly, I mean CONSTANTLY, mess up to the extent they get dragged in front of Congressional Hearings, and their CEO is paid $7.7M annually.”
BANK FEES
“You are broke, so we are going to charge you for being broke.”
“I got charged $200 in a week even after I paused my card because subscription services that I gave my card info bypassed that to charge my bank directly. I was so annoyed. They waived most of the fees. Insane. I only make $800 per month.”
THE HEALTH SYSTEM
“The whole health system is a scam. Putting a fee on holding your baby after giving birth. Seriously?”
“If you ask what a procedure will cost, they refuse to say and tell you to call the medical billing company. You can call the medical billing company from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm, during which time you are put on hold multiple times, and you give your complete insurance information to 3 separate people. Even if you are all pro-free market, how can a market work if the consumer essentially can’t find what the prices will be ahead of time?”
ONLINE CONVENIENCE FEE
“Online convenience fee for paying bills. Not every bill has it, but I found it’s usually utilities, and it’s BS. Not the biggest scam but something that irritates me.”
CREDIT SCORE SYSTEM
“Probably our credit score system. For instance, in what universe is paying off your debt a risk factor, such that your credit score drops significantly if you pay down what you owe? I pay my bills, which looks sketchy, and I am penalized for it. I paid off an old credit card, and my score dropped 130 points. And the cycle of renting in which you make just enough to scrape by, so you can’t get quite enough to get out of the cycle, then the rent increases yearly. So, you’re further into the cycle, and all the while, your credit isn’t improving to the point that you can escape, and you don’t make enough to put a lot away to buy a house. So, it continues.”
COLLEGE TEXTBOOKS
“You need edition 10 for this class. They change one chapter in the book, make it a new edition, overprice it and mess with the college kids. Always drove me nuts when I was in college.”
BOTTLED WATER
“I never understood why people panic-bought bottled water when the pandemic started. You will be home, where you have a reliable water source, not driving across the country. Just get a filter. I understand that some places have bad water, but I saw this happen in my town, where I had the same city water they did.”
TIPPING
“Tipping is easily the greatest and most successful scam ever devised. It’s ludicrous that workers have to rely on the kindness of total strangers to make money instead of just being paid a living wage by their employers.”
HOMEOWNERSHIP
“You never actually truly own a home/land. Skip out on property taxes or even HOA fees, and your home can be legally taken from you. Arguably better than renting still, but it’s never really yours.”
RECYCLING
“RECYCLING IS A TOTAL SCAM. Recycling is a myth Big Plastic monopolies use to get us to use more plastic. All types of plastic cannot be recycled. Those that can take more money to recycle them than it does to make them. And the fact that the bulk of the blame is put on the general public rather than the big corporations that bleed the earth dry of resources is baffling. Most pollution is due to big companies without regulations because that’s anti-capitalist.”
JOBS
“Most developed countries pay more and give you free healthcare, parental leave, and more vacation days.
There’s no reason for any human being to work more than 40 hours a week and have two jobs to rent a one-bedroom apartment while not having any medical benefits.
On top of jobs not paying enough, we have jobs demanding a bachelor’s degree and paying $15 an hour to start after you have paid 40k for that degree. It’s like getting boiling water thrown at your face, but you can’t go to the hospital because you don’t have benefits.”
AMERICAN POLITICS
“Last election cycle, a certain politician called upon his followers, in a message that led to a popular meme format, asking for more donations. Of course, his followers happily gave all they could, and not too long after, this same politician pulled himself from the election race while keeping the money. Personal beliefs aside, I hope people open their eyes the next time that politician pulls a move like that!”
US STOCK MARKET
“It’s not too long before this becomes apparent and widely understood. What happened this past January with GameStop ($GME) was just a glimpse. A lot of shares in companies being sold but never delivered.”
INSURANCE
“Insurance is just insane to me. The idea that an insurer can make you pay x dollars for coverage, and then when you need that coverage, they can just be like, “Actually, nah.” It’s like if you paid for a meal and the restaurant was like – We just don’t feel like cooking the meal for you.”
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Anika Jindal
Anika is a CPA and founder of What Anika Says. She shares simple and actionable frugal living, money management and money-saving tips to live a debt-free financially independent life. She has been featured on popular websites like Bankrate, Forbes, Mint ,and Authority Magazine. Byline: MSN