8 ms·

Really wish this existed in the 90's when my family moved to the US from eastern europe. A non-exhaustive list of scams my parents fell for: - Investing money

Really wish this existed in the 90's when my family moved to the US from eastern europe. A non-exhaustive list of scams my parents fell for: - Investing money in a friend's company - this was the most painful as it was perpetuated by our family members who lived here for a while that we trusted - Rainbow vacuum cleaner - Aqualife water filter - Hiring someone to take us to another city to buy a car to "help get a good deal" - turned out he was working for the seller, and it was not a good deal at all - A summer job for me selling Vector cutlery Unfortunately it's easy to scam new immigrants, this happened for hundred years and still happening now.

lifestyleguru 3y ago
> Rainbow vacuum cleaner There was a wave of this in 90s and 00s but in Poland. In my eyes parents signed a loan for "Mercedes of vaccum cleaners" for an amount of over 2k USD. Average salary back then was something below 700 USD. Fuck this American scammers. Eat shit and bankrupt Rainbow. Rest of the above were occuring as well. People were looking at the west with hope and sympathy, while the west came over with smiling brutal extortionist rape fest.
- vdaea 3y ago
  I don't understand this. Why did they sign up for a $2000 loan if they could barely afford it?
  - lifestyleguru 3y ago
    Colleagues in workplace started buying and were receiving commission by referencing next client. Trained salesman visited home and used all dirty sales tricks and pitches. Until now I remember "don't say this vacuum is expensive, this is Mercedes of vacuum cleaners, everyone desires even a substitute of Mercedes", or "a salesman enters someone's home with an attitude that they own him the commission money". You grew up in Communism with an absolute shortage of everything and are unable to evaluate good value in market economy. Fuck this manipulative psychopats.
    - AussieWog93 3y ago
      >Colleagues in workplace started buying and were receiving commission by referencing next client. You can blame the West as much as you want, but it sounds like Poles were stabbing Poles in the back too.
      - lifestyleguru 3y ago
        In novel free market and democratic ways. That was extremely bitter realization. The reward for hardships so far was a new wave of MLMs, cults, sects, scams, and whatnot.
        cynicalsecurity 3y ago
        It was still way better than Soviet occupation. But I get it, it was hugely disappointing.
        mik1998 3y ago
        PRL was not "Soviet occupation", unless you're referring to parts of Poland during 1939-45
        to11mtm 3y ago
        We do still have them right here in the US-of-A but they tend to be more clever in packaging... Mary Kay, Amway [0], people working IT at state colleges known for IT but paid for a weird 'stock tip' ponzi email thing, heck I know between 2007ish-2013ish a couple close friends bought into this weird "I'm a cellular reseller" MLM thing... [0] - Still remember when some otherwise very bright folks got wrapped up in 'Team of Destiny' which was basically Amway over the internet back in 2001-2002ish times.
  - wruza 3y ago
    This scam was popular in post-soviet too. Basically a very annoying salesman who reiterates on all sorts of reality bending pushes once you let them in. You may think it shouldn’t work but it does, on people whom you wouldn’t call idiots. As I understand it, it leverages the tendency to respect authority and avoid conflict, among other sales tricks. There’s an old joke about it: Salesman: (enters the room and dumps trash on the floor) If our vacuum cleaner can’t clean this, I will eat this trash! Dwellers: You can start eating cause electricity is off for three days.
    - eesmith 3y ago
      A variation of that joke was in the "Sales Resistance" episode of I Love Lucy from 1953 at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVJNQhGpwSw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVJNQhGpwSw . At the end, Lucy tries to make her money back by using the same sales techniques used on her. The vacuum cleaner doesn't work because electricity is turned off because the resident hadn't paid the power bill.
  - nonrandomstring 3y ago
    In Prague or Budapest about '88 - hazy now as we were moving about a lot - before the wall came down, but the "thaw" had started. McDonalds just opened a restaurant, first in the city. Anyway there we were looking at this enormous queue... the biggest damn queue I ever saw, It went round the block, and the next block... like how people camp out for black Friday but thousands and thousands of people. Each burger was the equivalent of a few weeks wages. But nothing could stop them, all hungry for a bite of "freedom".
    - lifestyleguru 3y ago
      Meantime porn producers and other creeps were swarming Prague and Budapest to "taste the Communism". Hard to find a woman who was in her teens or twenties at that time who wasn't curious if free market penis is as hard as post-Communist one.
      - delta_p_delta_x 3y ago
        > porn producers and other creeps were swarming Prague and Budapest to "taste the Communism" A significant majority of white sex workers in Western Europe and porn actresses still tend to be from Eastern Europe—Czechia, Hungary, Poland, Ukraine, Belarus, Russia.
- cynicalsecurity 3y ago
  Jehovah's witnesses is another vile scam that hugely spoiled the image of the West in the eyes of the people who just broke free from the Soviet occupation. I don't understand how such evil and disgusting cult is allowed to exist. If a person would hide a list of thousands of child molesters or would endorse killing children by giving fake medical advice to their parents, they would be put straight to jail. How are cults allowed to do the same without any repercussions?
  - to11mtm 3y ago
    Well it's a nuanced answer. The United States has freedom of Religion, and a large separation of Church and State. It leads to some bad but theoretically some good. > If a person would hide a list of thousands of child molesters or would endorse killing children by giving fake medical advice to their parents, they would be put straight to jail. Unfortunately any progress our country has made in this regard has been utterly regressed in the last 5 or so years.... But to better understand the other side of this as far as religion, consider the Catholic sacrament of Confession. A priest is not supposed to divulge confessions to anyone. Then, let's consider the danger on the other side. Historically, Governments swooping in and grabbing lists of church members, what happened next was not looked well upon. And so the US has this sometimes almost horrifying level of separation of church and state, where people do have the freedom to worship, however other benefits are abused [0][1] and we even have let folks that infiltrated three letter organizations keep their church status [2] [0] - I still remember the baptist sermon of "I am not telling you how to vote! I am not telling you how to vote. But the bible says X will go to heaven and Candidate Y does not X" [1] - Churches do not have nearly the same level of oversight as a normal nonprofit [2] - "Operation Snow White"
    - lifestyleguru 3y ago
      It's not about some faith nuances, Jehovah's Witnesses are predators and stalkers.
  - jstarfish 3y ago
    > How are cults allowed to do the same without any repercussions? I am not a friend of the JW, but as an adult, you're expected to be your own advocate. You opted in to a system of faith, not science. Regarding child molesters, any organization that spells out a code of silence in its doctrine is always fun to deal with. The JW are hardly unique with their theocratic warfare, there's also mesirah, deceivers-yet-true, keep sweet, omerta, "snitches get stitches", etc. You can't penetrate such a culture from the outside, so no witnesses testify, hence no repercussions.
- delta_p_delta_x 3y ago
  > parents signed a loan for "Mercedes of vaccum cleaners" Somehow I think the problem is less the 'American scammers' and more the fact that your lot decided it was worth taking out a loan for a vacuum cleaner, of all things.
  - lifestyleguru 3y ago
    They were in some lunatic trance agitated by manipulative sales tactics. Any other loan they would have research beforehand and actively apply for. > fact that your lot decided it was worth taking out a loan Let's use analogy - currently American elderly are aggressively profiled and targeted by various scams starting from a phone call because they are gullible, lonely, and vulnerable. Perhaps they simply decide it's worth to give away 1000-3000 USD here and there? Maybe they decide that few calls with a guy with Indian accent is worth 2000 USD, of all things. Honestly I feel certain satisfaction that it bites back.
bombcar 3y ago
If it makes you feel better, the Rainbow and the Vector get lots of non-immigrants, too. And some people swear by the Rainbows because of the water feature.
wolverine876 3y ago
> - Investing money in a friend's company - this was the most painful as it was perpetuated by our family members who lived here for a while that we trusted I don't know your parents' experience, of course, but this method of losing money is one of the most popular for everyone. I once saw an expert who provides finanical education to new professional atheletes (known for being bankrupt soon after retirement despite millions in income). Loans to family/friends' businesses was top of their list of no-no's. On the other hand, many successful businesses have started that way. Many more legitimate but failed efforts also have begun that way. Not everyone has access to VC capital, personal wealth, or a bank loan.
- throwup238 3y ago
  > On the other hand, many successful businesses have started that way. It's called the triple F round: friends, family, and fools.
- brolumir 3y ago
  Yeah, I should've been more clear: it wasn't really investing in a friends company. I agree it can be a source of funding when other sources aren't available, but in this case it was a total scam - the company was specifically designed to accept money and fold.
  - pessimizer 3y ago
    Affinity fraud.
  - adrianmsmith 3y ago
    It's really a bitter pill to swallow that there exist people who would do this to their friends.
    - TeMPOraL 3y ago
      Or family members. MLMs and social media influencers are a plague.
- 3y ago
sidewndr46 3y ago
Isn't Vector just a weird MLM sales channel for Cutco? It is unlikely anyone will make money off it, but from what I understand it is not impossible. You just won't make money selling knives at least.
- klyrs 3y ago
  Are you saying Cutco isn't a MLM scam? I've always avoided it like the plague.
  - sidewndr46 3y ago
    IDK, it just seemed like overpriced normal knives to me. They aren't bad knives. But I just sharpen my knives before each use anyways. The $2 knife from wal mart works just fine.
    - deleted 3y ago
      [deleted]
nothercastle 3y ago
Most people could probably benefit from someone helping them navigate the car buying process. For a $500 I bet I could talk most buyers through the right lease, payment setup and financing and pre negotiate a decent deal in one of the 3-4 neighboring states and setup an inspection at a good mechanics if buying used. I bet I could bring 1-2k of value into that transaction. If I was doing it as my day job I could probably squeeze out 2-3k or help them tap the auction market directly.
- bombcar 3y ago
  The problem is there's no way to prove that you're doing that and not a scammer; you're almost better off just asking someone who bought one recently what they did. (What you're suggesting is basically Nothercastle's Used Cars)
  - nothercastle 3y ago
    Except it’s more like a buyers agent or a doula. Someone that’s navigated the process many times to assist on behalf of a buyer. Upfront payment no commission or kickback could even put that in the contract. I do think these people exist I’ve seen them advertise services in specialty car forums but it’s very niche.
    - to11mtm 3y ago
      You see it more frequently in certain luxury vehicles where the price is part of the prestige, usually to where the equation is a bit more managed, e.x. they can set base price higher and have fewer random 'tire kickers' to deal with.
    - gnopgnip 3y ago
      But the buyers agent is going to work with most buyers only once. And work with dealers many times. This is hard to get the incentives right
      - nothercastle 3y ago
mixmastamyk 3y ago
Reminds me, tourists as well. I often traveled to a certain location abroad, and never had trouble with taxis etc. Later, two older female relatives accompanied me on a trip, and the first taxi we went on the driver tried two scams on us!
mandelbrotwurst 3y ago
What's the scam with the water filter?
- gnopgnip 3y ago
  Charge thousands of dollars for a subscription for something you can basically buy at Home Depot for $250
thecleaner 3y ago
Yup Nikola Tesla was another immigrant who was scammed almost hundred years ago.
forgotmypw17 3y ago
Rainbow is worth the money in my opinion. I think the one in my family is at least 20 years old, and it's way better than any other because of the mixing-dust-with-water thing. I've used many vacuum cleaners, including some industrial-grade ones, and none of them can hold a candle to Rainbow. Not needing any consumables like paper bags is a nice bonus.
FpUser 3y ago
>"Really wish this existed in the 90's when my family moved to the US from eastern europe." I moved to Canada from USSR in the beginning of 90s. The scams were plentiful and unexpected. Lucky for me I've followed that golden rule - if it sounds too good then fuck it. Saved me from lot of troubles. Some of my friends were not so lucky.
gambiting 3y ago
>>Rainbow vacuum cleaner Why is that one a scam? We've had one now for over 20 years, my mum still uses it almost daily, as far as I can tell it's built like a tank and will outlast all of us lol.
EVa5I7bHFq9mnYK 3y ago
Every child, as part of his education, should be required to play some MMO with in-game trading, where noobs are routinely taken advantage of, where scams and betrayals abound, as a preparation for real life.
- delta_p_delta_x 3y ago
  > Every child, as part of his education, should be required to play some MMO with in-game trading where noobs are routinely taken advantage of So, RuneScape before the Grand Exchange, then. drop ur addy and press alt f4 it will duplicate ur items Sending trade offer to double ur gp

lifestyleguru 3y ago

> Rainbow vacuum cleaner There was a wave of this in 90s and 00s but in Poland. In my eyes parents signed a loan for "Mercedes of vaccum cleaners" for an amount of over 2k USD. Average salary back then was something below 700 USD. Fuck this American scammers. Eat shit and bankrupt Rainbow. Rest of the above were occuring as well. People were looking at the west with hope and sympathy, while the west came over with smiling brutal extortionist rape fest.

vdaea 3y ago
I don't understand this. Why did they sign up for a $2000 loan if they could barely afford it?
- lifestyleguru 3y ago
  Colleagues in workplace started buying and were receiving commission by referencing next client. Trained salesman visited home and used all dirty sales tricks and pitches. Until now I remember "don't say this vacuum is expensive, this is Mercedes of vacuum cleaners, everyone desires even a substitute of Mercedes", or "a salesman enters someone's home with an attitude that they own him the commission money". You grew up in Communism with an absolute shortage of everything and are unable to evaluate good value in market economy. Fuck this manipulative psychopats.
  - AussieWog93 3y ago
    >Colleagues in workplace started buying and were receiving commission by referencing next client. You can blame the West as much as you want, but it sounds like Poles were stabbing Poles in the back too.
    - lifestyleguru 3y ago
      In novel free market and democratic ways. That was extremely bitter realization. The reward for hardships so far was a new wave of MLMs, cults, sects, scams, and whatnot.
      - cynicalsecurity 3y ago
        It was still way better than Soviet occupation. But I get it, it was hugely disappointing.
        mik1998 3y ago
        PRL was not "Soviet occupation", unless you're referring to parts of Poland during 1939-45
        to11mtm 3y ago
        We do still have them right here in the US-of-A but they tend to be more clever in packaging... Mary Kay, Amway [0], people working IT at state colleges known for IT but paid for a weird 'stock tip' ponzi email thing, heck I know between 2007ish-2013ish a couple close friends bought into this weird "I'm a cellular reseller" MLM thing... [0] - Still remember when some otherwise very bright folks got wrapped up in 'Team of Destiny' which was basically Amway over the internet back in 2001-2002ish times.
- wruza 3y ago
  This scam was popular in post-soviet too. Basically a very annoying salesman who reiterates on all sorts of reality bending pushes once you let them in. You may think it shouldn’t work but it does, on people whom you wouldn’t call idiots. As I understand it, it leverages the tendency to respect authority and avoid conflict, among other sales tricks. There’s an old joke about it: Salesman: (enters the room and dumps trash on the floor) If our vacuum cleaner can’t clean this, I will eat this trash! Dwellers: You can start eating cause electricity is off for three days.
  - eesmith 3y ago
    A variation of that joke was in the "Sales Resistance" episode of I Love Lucy from 1953 at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVJNQhGpwSw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVJNQhGpwSw . At the end, Lucy tries to make her money back by using the same sales techniques used on her. The vacuum cleaner doesn't work because electricity is turned off because the resident hadn't paid the power bill.
- nonrandomstring 3y ago
  In Prague or Budapest about '88 - hazy now as we were moving about a lot - before the wall came down, but the "thaw" had started. McDonalds just opened a restaurant, first in the city. Anyway there we were looking at this enormous queue... the biggest damn queue I ever saw, It went round the block, and the next block... like how people camp out for black Friday but thousands and thousands of people. Each burger was the equivalent of a few weeks wages. But nothing could stop them, all hungry for a bite of "freedom".
  - lifestyleguru 3y ago
    Meantime porn producers and other creeps were swarming Prague and Budapest to "taste the Communism". Hard to find a woman who was in her teens or twenties at that time who wasn't curious if free market penis is as hard as post-Communist one.
    - delta_p_delta_x 3y ago
      > porn producers and other creeps were swarming Prague and Budapest to "taste the Communism" A significant majority of white sex workers in Western Europe and porn actresses still tend to be from Eastern Europe—Czechia, Hungary, Poland, Ukraine, Belarus, Russia.
cynicalsecurity 3y ago
Jehovah's witnesses is another vile scam that hugely spoiled the image of the West in the eyes of the people who just broke free from the Soviet occupation. I don't understand how such evil and disgusting cult is allowed to exist. If a person would hide a list of thousands of child molesters or would endorse killing children by giving fake medical advice to their parents, they would be put straight to jail. How are cults allowed to do the same without any repercussions?
- to11mtm 3y ago
  Well it's a nuanced answer. The United States has freedom of Religion, and a large separation of Church and State. It leads to some bad but theoretically some good. > If a person would hide a list of thousands of child molesters or would endorse killing children by giving fake medical advice to their parents, they would be put straight to jail. Unfortunately any progress our country has made in this regard has been utterly regressed in the last 5 or so years.... But to better understand the other side of this as far as religion, consider the Catholic sacrament of Confession. A priest is not supposed to divulge confessions to anyone. Then, let's consider the danger on the other side. Historically, Governments swooping in and grabbing lists of church members, what happened next was not looked well upon. And so the US has this sometimes almost horrifying level of separation of church and state, where people do have the freedom to worship, however other benefits are abused [0][1] and we even have let folks that infiltrated three letter organizations keep their church status [2] [0] - I still remember the baptist sermon of "I am not telling you how to vote! I am not telling you how to vote. But the bible says X will go to heaven and Candidate Y does not X" [1] - Churches do not have nearly the same level of oversight as a normal nonprofit [2] - "Operation Snow White"
  - lifestyleguru 3y ago
    It's not about some faith nuances, Jehovah's Witnesses are predators and stalkers.
- jstarfish 3y ago
  > How are cults allowed to do the same without any repercussions? I am not a friend of the JW, but as an adult, you're expected to be your own advocate. You opted in to a system of faith, not science. Regarding child molesters, any organization that spells out a code of silence in its doctrine is always fun to deal with. The JW are hardly unique with their theocratic warfare, there's also mesirah, deceivers-yet-true, keep sweet, omerta, "snitches get stitches", etc. You can't penetrate such a culture from the outside, so no witnesses testify, hence no repercussions.
delta_p_delta_x 3y ago
> parents signed a loan for "Mercedes of vaccum cleaners" Somehow I think the problem is less the 'American scammers' and more the fact that your lot decided it was worth taking out a loan for a vacuum cleaner, of all things.
- lifestyleguru 3y ago
  They were in some lunatic trance agitated by manipulative sales tactics. Any other loan they would have research beforehand and actively apply for. > fact that your lot decided it was worth taking out a loan Let's use analogy - currently American elderly are aggressively profiled and targeted by various scams starting from a phone call because they are gullible, lonely, and vulnerable. Perhaps they simply decide it's worth to give away 1000-3000 USD here and there? Maybe they decide that few calls with a guy with Indian accent is worth 2000 USD, of all things. Honestly I feel certain satisfaction that it bites back.

bombcar 3y ago

If it makes you feel better, the Rainbow and the Vector get lots of non-immigrants, too. And some people swear by the Rainbows because of the water feature.

wolverine876 3y ago

> - Investing money in a friend's company - this was the most painful as it was perpetuated by our family members who lived here for a while that we trusted I don't know your parents' experience, of course, but this method of losing money is one of the most popular for everyone. I once saw an expert who provides finanical education to new professional atheletes (known for being bankrupt soon after retirement despite millions in income). Loans to family/friends' businesses was top of their list of no-no's. On the other hand, many successful businesses have started that way. Many more legitimate but failed efforts also have begun that way. Not everyone has access to VC capital, personal wealth, or a bank loan.

throwup238 3y ago
> On the other hand, many successful businesses have started that way. It's called the triple F round: friends, family, and fools.
brolumir 3y ago
Yeah, I should've been more clear: it wasn't really investing in a friends company. I agree it can be a source of funding when other sources aren't available, but in this case it was a total scam - the company was specifically designed to accept money and fold.
- pessimizer 3y ago
  Affinity fraud.
- adrianmsmith 3y ago
  It's really a bitter pill to swallow that there exist people who would do this to their friends.
  - TeMPOraL 3y ago
    Or family members. MLMs and social media influencers are a plague.
3y ago

sidewndr46 3y ago

Isn't Vector just a weird MLM sales channel for Cutco? It is unlikely anyone will make money off it, but from what I understand it is not impossible. You just won't make money selling knives at least.

klyrs 3y ago
Are you saying Cutco isn't a MLM scam? I've always avoided it like the plague.
- sidewndr46 3y ago
  IDK, it just seemed like overpriced normal knives to me. They aren't bad knives. But I just sharpen my knives before each use anyways. The $2 knife from wal mart works just fine.
  - deleted 3y ago
    [deleted]

nothercastle 3y ago

Most people could probably benefit from someone helping them navigate the car buying process. For a $500 I bet I could talk most buyers through the right lease, payment setup and financing and pre negotiate a decent deal in one of the 3-4 neighboring states and setup an inspection at a good mechanics if buying used. I bet I could bring 1-2k of value into that transaction. If I was doing it as my day job I could probably squeeze out 2-3k or help them tap the auction market directly.

bombcar 3y ago
The problem is there's no way to prove that you're doing that and not a scammer; you're almost better off just asking someone who bought one recently what they did. (What you're suggesting is basically Nothercastle's Used Cars)
- nothercastle 3y ago
  Except it’s more like a buyers agent or a doula. Someone that’s navigated the process many times to assist on behalf of a buyer. Upfront payment no commission or kickback could even put that in the contract. I do think these people exist I’ve seen them advertise services in specialty car forums but it’s very niche.
  - to11mtm 3y ago
    You see it more frequently in certain luxury vehicles where the price is part of the prestige, usually to where the equation is a bit more managed, e.x. they can set base price higher and have fewer random 'tire kickers' to deal with.
  - gnopgnip 3y ago
    But the buyers agent is going to work with most buyers only once. And work with dealers many times. This is hard to get the incentives right
    - nothercastle 3y ago

mixmastamyk 3y ago

Reminds me, tourists as well. I often traveled to a certain location abroad, and never had trouble with taxis etc. Later, two older female relatives accompanied me on a trip, and the first taxi we went on the driver tried two scams on us!

mandelbrotwurst 3y ago

What's the scam with the water filter?

gnopgnip 3y ago
Charge thousands of dollars for a subscription for something you can basically buy at Home Depot for $250

thecleaner 3y ago

Yup Nikola Tesla was another immigrant who was scammed almost hundred years ago.

forgotmypw17 3y ago

Rainbow is worth the money in my opinion. I think the one in my family is at least 20 years old, and it's way better than any other because of the mixing-dust-with-water thing. I've used many vacuum cleaners, including some industrial-grade ones, and none of them can hold a candle to Rainbow. Not needing any consumables like paper bags is a nice bonus.

FpUser 3y ago

>"Really wish this existed in the 90's when my family moved to the US from eastern europe." I moved to Canada from USSR in the beginning of 90s. The scams were plentiful and unexpected. Lucky for me I've followed that golden rule - if it sounds too good then fuck it. Saved me from lot of troubles. Some of my friends were not so lucky.

gambiting 3y ago

>>Rainbow vacuum cleaner Why is that one a scam? We've had one now for over 20 years, my mum still uses it almost daily, as far as I can tell it's built like a tank and will outlast all of us lol.

EVa5I7bHFq9mnYK 3y ago

Every child, as part of his education, should be required to play some MMO with in-game trading, where noobs are routinely taken advantage of, where scams and betrayals abound, as a preparation for real life.

delta_p_delta_x 3y ago
> Every child, as part of his education, should be required to play some MMO with in-game trading where noobs are routinely taken advantage of So, RuneScape before the Grand Exchange, then. drop ur addy and press alt f4 it will duplicate ur items Sending trade offer to double ur gp