Worst scam you've fallen for

6541 wrote: »

One would wonder why did I buy jocks in a pub ... .

Well because you thought they were a genuine stolen/shoplifted product

Delighted you got scammed !

I spent €200 on a fancy penis extension kit about 15 years ago. Honest to God it's hilarious when I think about it.

Lavdogg wrote: »

Not a scam just pure stupidity.

I had never ordered via deliveroo before and the missus ordered us a nice take away for approx 30 quid.

Driver arrived and i handed him over the money along with a 5 euro tip.

Sitting down to eat the grub and I get a phone call from the delivery guy thanking me so much for the very generous tip and it was hard for him at the time as he was a student.

Told the other half, mentioning how strange it was that this fella was chuffed with a fiver tip and she looks at me dead in the eyes and says I paid by card ��*♂️��*♂️

Was too embarrassed to ask for it back!

Well, console yourself with the notion that you made him very happy.

Insurance

Irish_peppa wrote: »

Not a scam per say but cute none the less . Was with a Friend of mine decided as it was their birthday that Ill buy dinner before heading out for the night for both us my treat. In any event sitting in the Indian restaurant and my friend in front of the waiter couldnt decide to have the Chicken Jalfrazi or Lamb Bhuna.... ""Would you mind if i ordered both?" I though it was quite a funny quip and sniggered thinking ha good one can you imagine.......... It wasnt a funny remark my mate proceeded to order 2 main meals even the waiter asked curiously "Are you sure 2 main meals?" :eek: So instead of a bill for 2 i got nailed for a meal for 3
In fairness both plates were cleared !;)

Jasus I just hope they were a good friend of yours. They were taking the liberties there

JohnCleary wrote: »

One of the oldest tricks in the book. The policeman wasn't a policeman (or, VERY ulikely he was, anyhow). I don't know how the average Somchai in Thailand gets away with wearing uniforms etc. to mimmick officials and no one bats an eyelid.

As you said, in this scenario, as long as you don't part with your cash for a suit or gems, the only thing wasted is your time and often it can be a bit of craic if you have the time to burn.

The driver was quite good, and very chatty, we got a proper historical tour, that was actually very good!

Lasted half the day, cost nothing (he gets a cut from the shops, but I didn't buy anything).
I then hired him out for the rest of the day to continue the tour.

I have another in Bangkok.

We went for some drinks on Pat Pong (the road where you can find those "ping-pong" shows, don't judge me, i'm human).

Up some stairs to a strip-bar, and they start doing some ping-pong shows, some blowing darts through blowpipes in their ahem....to pop balloons, etc. Fascinating stuff altogether.

Anyway, we get some drinks, and then I notice, **** lads, we're the only westerners here and all of the bouncers and strippers have drinks also. Bugger.

I point this out to the lads, and we try to leave, only to be confronted by what can only be described as a literal wall of angry hookers demanding we pay the entire clubs tab.
Some shouting later (threatening to call the tourist police works wonders btw), we manage to leave with only paying for our own drinks. Ran down the road, got into a taxi, stopped halfway and changed vehicle, then back to the hostel.

I've never put that story on paper before.

Stay on the ground floor in Bangkok lads.....

Along the lines of the Bangkok stories. Not so much a scam but we were still in the first two weeks of our travels so were still a bit naïve.

We arrived in Hanoi in Vietnam and got a taxi at the airport. We agreed 15 USD or something to the hotel, half way through the journey he says Vietnamese Dong only, we hadn't any so he stopped at an ATM. Having just come from Laos, the conversion rates were completely different and we never looked up the rates, this was before smartphones etc.
My friend was accompanied to the ATM and the guy was just pointing at an amount. 4 million dong or something! Went with it anyway. He tried dropping us to a different hotel, obviously to get some commission, we made him bring us to our booked one and away he went. When checking in, the staff were asking for a lot less for a 4 night stay than what we just gave the taxi man. Turns out we gave him 180 USD or something.

Silly us. Lesson learned. We were a lot less trusting and more vigilant after that.

CruelCoin wrote: »

Stay on the ground floor in Bangkok lads.....

Solid advice.

I lived there for 3 years and the only times I ever had any hassle were from Tuk Tuk & Taxi Drivers seeking to take advantage and venturing into an upstairs ping pong bar in Patpong with some visiting friends which went pear shaped as we left, bouncers blocking the door until we paid some phantom bar tab we'd apparently built up. It wasn't a mega amount (€50 or so) and was definitely in excess to the drinks bought for ourselves or the entertainers who hang around looking for "lady drinks".

We said we'd pay 1,000 Baht (about €25) and leave without any hassle or we'd call the Tourist police and let them sort it out.

Once the 1,000 Baht was produced the bouncers melted away and we were out the gap.

Apart from those experiences Bangkok and Thailand in general was always a very safe happy place to visit and/or live for me.

The only other advice I'd give is always always always agree a fare with a Tuk Tuk driver in advance and always insist taxi drivers turn on their meter. If they say it's not working, get out, no exceptions!!

One from Egypt:

Paying a taxi driver, I was meant to get a 50pound note in my change, but i got a 50piaster note (0.5 pounds).

That's pretty common in poorer countries that have small units of currency in paper notes.

The old Dublin taxi driver scam of the 80's. We were on a school tour to Galway but the return bus could only go to Connolly Station Dublin.
When we arrived at Connolly Station, a group of taxi drivers met us as they overheard that we would be getting the train to Laytown.
They "informed" us that there was a 24 hour rail strike which was common in the 80's. We fell for it and got the taxi to Laytown quadrupling the transport costs. Needless to say there was no rail strike.

Beechwoodspark wrote: »

Just on the buying rounds Craic

Few years ago I was in a bar on new year eve

Waiting for friends to join me

Was minding my own business at the bar when a group of maybe 8 lads (early to mid 20s) started chatting to me etc etc. I exchanged a few friendly words (think it was about football results, something mundane anyway) was a good atmosphere for New Years.

one of them out of nowhere decides to pay for my pint. I was surprised but said thanks very much and went back to my seat.

About half an hour later I was coming back from the jacks when passing the group the ring leader stopped me and said “ah there you are, it’s your round now mate, here John wants a Heineken, I’ll have a Guinness, mick wants a coors, Larry wants a vodka and coke” etc etc. There was around 8 of them so would’ve cost a fair amount to get them all a drink.

I said eh what, I’m not in your group. Then yer man tried to get aggro and started almost threatening. I said lads I’m not in your group but if it suits I’ll buy you specifically a pint back to level things and call it quits.

I then did this, and in meantime my own friends arrived in. Brought the pint over to him said thanks and see ya. Noticed that once I was in a group of my own their smart arsery was replaced with a sly surly type of attitude.

Later that night in a nightclub that same group were going around mouldy drunk and trying to start fights.

Not so much a scam as attempt at intimidation I suppose

Reminds me of a chap I knew years ago.
At the start of the night he would always buy shots for a group of people. Sometimes it would be for the group I knew him with and sometimes you'd see him do it with others he knew.

Most drinks (and shots) were 3 euro as it was a mid-week special. So he'd buy shots for about 5-7 people then throughout the night systematically tap those same people for a drink. However he would ask for a JD & coke (6 euro)

I was approached about 3 years ago by what looked like a Buddhist monk on Abbey Street, Dublin. He smiled and he put a beaded bracelet on my wrist. He then produced a notebook wishing for me to write my name down and to give him €5 towards the bracelet. I was taken back by this so I just gave in a euro instead. I walked away and left him there with a face like thunder. I thought it was quite a cheeky tactic he used, his little scam backfired on him though.

I also stupidly called a gutter repair "company" I found online. I should have known something was up because he had a rather put on posh accent. Anyway on the day of the appointment 4 big guys turn up in a white van and they ask to have a look at the attic. They tell me that there's damage inside the attic and they say that they can do a sealing job for €2k. When I objected the guy with the "posh" accent tells me that they can do a temporary job with a six month guarantee for €1k instead. I told them rather firmly that all I wanted done was my gutter. He changes to a surly tone and does the guttering instead, charging €70. The gutter was still leaking afterwards so I don't think himself and his four cronies actually done anything. They were obviously just along as an intimidatory tactic to try and bully me into accepting their original offer. I was afraid to report them afterwards in case they came around at a later date and burgled my house. I was kicking myself afterwards for being so naive and gullible to hire someone like that. Next time I'll ask for a local recommendation on Facebook. My Dad done the guttering a week later and he saw no damage whatsoever when he checked the attic, neither did the surveyor when I was in the process of buying the house. It was obviously a total scam and the big guys were brought along to try and intimidate me. Utter scum!

Sgt Hartman wrote: »

I was approached about 3 years ago by what looked like a Buddhist monk on Abbey Street, Dublin. He smiled and he put a beaded bracelet on my wrist. He then produced a notebook wishing for me to write my name down and to give him €5 towards the bracelet. I was taken back by this so I just gave in a euro instead. I walked away and left him there with a face like thunder. I thought it was quite a cheeky tactic he used, his little scam backfired on him though.

I also stupidly called a gutter repair "company" I found online. I should have known something was up because he had a rather put on posh accent. Anyway on the day of the appointment 4 big guys turn up in a white van and they ask to have a look at the attic. They tell me that there's damage inside the attic and they say that they can do a sealing job for €2k. When I objected the guy with the "posh" accent tells me that they can do a temporary job with a six month guarantee for €1k instead. I told them rather firmly that all I wanted done was my gutter. He changes to a surly tone and does the guttering instead, charging €70. The gutter was still leaking afterwards so I don't think himself and his four cronies actually done anything. They were obviously just along as an intimidatory tactic to try and bully me into accepting their original offer. I was afraid to report them afterwards in case they came around at a later date and burgled my house. I was kicking myself afterwards for being so naive and gullible to hire someone like that. Next time I'll ask for a local recommendation on Facebook. My Dad done the guttering a week later and he saw no damage whatsoever when he checked the attic, neither did the surveyor when I was in the process of buying the house. It was obviously a total scam and the big guys were brought along to try and intimidate me. Utter scum!

Is the bit in bold a joke?

Have you never seen cowboy builders? Most of the time the cowboys are recommended by some so called friends.