10 seemingly profitable deals that are actually scams

Be mindful of these common tricks that may end up costing you a lot.

Фото: Depositphotos

We all know the old mantra about things that seem too good to be true. It follows: if you are faced with a deal or opportunity that you are suspiciously hard to believe, be careful. Many people lose their fortunes when they make dubious deals. Often they turn out to be fraud or cost more than you expected.

Prizes

Who doesn't like to win a prize? It is very nice to receive a notification that you won a contest or won a sweepstakes. From surging excitement, you may not realize that you did not participate in any competition at all. Fake winnings often come with a catch, usually in the form of some fee that you have to pay in order to receive your “prize”. This should alert you right away. Legitimate contests, according to Fraud.org, do not require any money from the winners.

Tutsush

This is perhaps one of the most famous “opportunities” that often turn out to be a costly financial mistake. During your vacation, you are lured with promises of free hotel accommodation or another interesting prize with one small assurance: you need to attend an “information session” - and no conditions. But in fact, you have been subjected to a tough sale with the goal of exhausting you until you sign the dotted line.

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If you find that you have an unwanted timeshare and want to offload it, then you become vulnerable to another type of fraud - timeshare resellers. The FTC has instructed operators of timeshare reseller schemes, which are becoming more common as more people are desperately looking for a way out of their timeshare obligations.

Discount Travel Club

Discount travel clubs (often known as leisure clubs) often use aggressive sales tactics, similarly applied to timeshares, and often target retirees. The club promises big discounts and special insider offers, but customers usually get the same standard discount offers that can be easily found on the Internet for free. Florida and other states struggle with leisure clubs accused of fraud and dishonest sales tactics.

Car warranties from shadow operators

Many of us have received letters or phone calls, often purporting to be from the dealer or car manufacturer, warning us that our car's warranty is about to expire or that we are missing some important coverage. The calls do come from telemarketers. They sell flimsy service plans that cover next to nothing, and in many cases these calls are just ploys to get your personal information for possible fraud or identity theft. The FCC has issued a warning warning people to beware of these fraudulent guarantees.

Extended Warranties

It seems that almost everything you can buy these days (from vacuum cleaners to video game systems) comes with an extended warranty or service / protection plan, offered at an additional cost. They bring a lot of money to sellers and manufacturers who offer them, in part because a relatively small number of consumers eventually make claims to take advantage of them.

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Often you have to go through several obstacles. For example, deliver the goods to an authorized store that may be far away from you, or send it to a service center. Or, the extended warranty period expires before the item can break. According to consumer reports, these extended warranties are almost never worth the money.

Free Trial

Places that offer free trial versions (or low-cost introductory offers) guarantee you that you can cancel them before you pay, but often when you try to do so, there are so many barriers that make you disappointed. That's what these companies are counting on. They like to complicate the task, reduce the likelihood that you will be able to navigate in the process and successfully cancel the purchase. They also know that most likely you will completely forget when the trial period ends, so you will miss your chance.

Rent

You can get everything - from washing machines to living room furniture - on a rental basis. The bait is that this is a chance to get all the things you need right away, even if you have a little money. In the short term, this sounds like a good deal if you have limited funds. But it will cost you a lot. Stores hope that you will not calculate how much you spend. Consumer Reports notes that the total amount is basically at least twice the cost of the item.

Payday loans

Payday loans are presented in the form of short-term loans. But many borrowers end up “prolonging" the loan, paying an additional fee for extending the loan, often repeating the cycle over and over again.

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The problem with payday loans is astronomical interest rates. In addition, over time, borrowers usually incur additional fees. To make matters worse, there are currently many web companies that provide loans to pay salaries via the Internet, and this allows you to quickly get a loan without a complete study of the conditions and costs.

Credit Rating Change

This is another type of fraud that often targets people in desperation. They promise not only to clear your credit report, but also to make negative information disappear magically, even if it is accurate. Some especially arrogant scammers will even claim that they can create for you a completely new financial identity with a new social security number or tax identification number. The truth is that if you can remove something from your credit report, for example, erroneous positions, then you can easily take care of it yourself without spending a dime.

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