Let’s be honest:  Anyone can fall for a scam.  A sign of intelligence is LEARNING from a mistake, and not falling for it again.

There’s a thread online where people are talking about the scams that people “always” fall for.  Not all of them are 100% bad . . . but they CAN be predatory.  They include: 

1.  Taking advantage of the friendliness and gullibility of older people . . . and getting them to give up money or sensitive information.

Sadly, they sometimes get grandparents to take action by pretending that their grandchildren are in trouble . . . or need money for some reason.

2.  When stores write a high price on something . . . then cross it out and write a fake “discount” price . . . when that’s the normal price all along. 

3.  The “add a tip” line at the end of EVERYTHING, even if it isn’t a service-oriented purchase.

4.  Amway and other obvious pyramid schemes . . . including many multi-level marketing “businesses.”  (But NOT the one YOU’RE in, right?  *Wink*)

5.  Timeshares.

6.  Life and business coaching.  One person who spent years working for a smaller one claims it’s all common info regurgitated from bigger companies . . . and they aren’t experts.

7.  People “making friends” with people they don’t know, who randomly text or call.  This can be everything from simply INTERACTING with spam messages . . . to actually befriending people who make it personal.

Sure, everyone loves the stories about people celebrating Thanksgivings with people who connected with them because they had the wrong number, but a lot of the time, these are elaborate efforts to con people.

8.  Payday loans.  They’re evil, but they’re also kinda necessary for some folks.

9.  Some kinds of insurance.

10.  Weddings . . . because of how insanely expensive they can be, and the businesses that take advantage of this being an event you splurge on.