scam

The mystery shopping scam that could cost you a fortune.

For many years now, thousands of folks have been earning a little extra cash by doing Mystery Shopping (aka Secret Shopping). You probably already know what’s involved, but here’s a quick rundown from the FTC:

Some retailers hire marketing research companies to evaluate the quality of service in their stores; these companies use mystery shoppers to get the information anonymously. They assign a mystery shopper to make a particular purchase in a store or restaurant, for example, and then report on the experience. Typically, the shopper is reimbursed, and can keep the product or service.

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$6500 repair bill to remove a stone from a moon roof

How many times have you felt like someone was ripping you off? Hopefully, you can trust your gut instincts, just like the guy in this video below.

You can watch the full 7 minutes for yourself, but the basic story is this. He went to a Mercedes Benz repair shop complaining of a problem with his moon roof. The shop took a look at it and said he needed a complete new moon roof.

Total charge from Merc = $6500 (remember, this is Mercedes so it's going to be high, but gee whizz).

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Pet lovers beware - there's a new scam in town.

If you thought those Nigerian scammers could not sink any lower, think again. It was reported today by WTAE.TV that there's a new scam making the rounds, and this time the scammers are praying on the good nature of pet lovers.

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Best Buy scamming customers with Intranet - UPDATED!

George Gombossy, consumer watchdog for The Courant , broke this story on March 2nd of this month. It's a great story, and I apologise to George for not stating him as the source in my original post, my bad entirely. Anyway, other sites like The Consumerist have also covered it, but I wanted to do a follow-up of my own on the story. But first up, what is the story, if you don't already know? Well, read on...

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The Protein Water Scam: Kellog's Special K2O Can Do Anything!

According to a recent ad for Kellog's Special K2O protein water: "Losing up to 6 lbs in 2 weeks just got easier!"

This extraordinary claim caught the attention of the consumer advocates at Mouseprint.com. They point us to the fine print at the bottom of the ad:

*Average weight loss when replacing meals with two cereal meals is 5 pounds. Weight loss may vary.

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Funny way to make $10 in 30 seconds: lessons from a con artist

Ryan shares a great trick on how to make $10 in less than 30 seconds. Amazingly, according to Ryan this works on one out of four people!

This video illustrates how easily people let greed override their better judgment.

The beauty of this scam is in its simplicity: Anyone who can do simple math should, theoretically, see right through the scam. However, many people fall for it because they are focused on getting something for nothing.

So the next time you see a deal too good to be true, think about Ryan and his incredible $40 offer.

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