Have you been scammed before? What scam was it?

Lynne Level 1

July 22, 2016, 7:54 am

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Have you been scammed before? What scam was it?

There was a recent discussion about whether anyone has scammed someone...now I am interested to know if anyone here has been the victim of a scam before?

I was scammed once. It was about 20 years ago. I have always wanted to work for myself so when I was reading the newspaper an advert caught my eye. It said for 10 ZAR (less than $3) I will be taught how to make money and run my own business.

All I had to do was post the money along with a self addressed envelope to an address and they would send me instructions back.

A few weeks later (yes we're talking about snail mail time here) I got my self addressed envelope back. I was so excited....

When I opened it there was just a little note with one sentence on it saying "Do what I did to you". Needless to say I was very upset!

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EliteWriter

EliteWriter

I am so sorry to hear about your negative experiences. Unfortunately scamming is quite common. You need to be very cautious. I have not been scammed that badly as far as I can remember. The worst experience I recall is writing some articles for a client who seemed to be truly nice and professional, but then failed to get back to me with a payment. Since then I made it a point to only accept orders form people who are willing to pay me in advance so as to avoid these problems. Or by using a marketplace such as seocheckout.

9 years ago

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Everett

Everett

That is one reason why I like marketplaces. There's less chance of being scammed, and if you are scammed the admin team will always give you your money back, and either infract the scammer or ban them. I don't think I've been scammed on the marketplace though, thankfully.

However, outside of the marketplace, opportunity knocks at your door and nine times out of ten it's a scammer. People have tried to scam me on the marketplace. They asked if they could get my PHP script "GPT Reward Script" for free, but would pay in the future when they had money.

I simply told them "No. If you're looking for handouts go to your nearest soup kitchen".

9 years ago

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EliteWriter

EliteWriter

I do not know how some people end up begging in that way! On another note, I get really angry when you work in a marketplace where you pay a fee and expect to be protected against scammers, and you are not. A case in point is iWriter. I wrote there for roughly 4 years and I had several rejections. Most of the time they simply reject, and not send back for editing. That gets you thinking. Other times you get a banal excuse, which often is not in proper english so you can't understand. However, I was never helped by support staff over there. I only got something on the lines of - discuss this with the requester. I was really frustrated that they never seemed to get involved or do anything to safeguard my interests!

9 years ago

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Lynne

Lynne

EliteWriter yes I have heard that Upwork is bad like this, that you can get loads of work rejected for no good reason and they don't really protect you much. Not sure how true this is, but I have come across a number of people that have said this.... too many people for my liking. If enough online reviews state this and people confirm in the comments then I would stay away.

It is important to find a really good online market place that will offer you protection, like Seocheckout

9 years ago

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Everett

Everett

People always seem to ask programmers to do work for them and promise some future payment. It's really annoying. If they don't have the money to hire for work, then don't beg for services if you can't afford them. Goodness!

The article thing gets on my nerves too. It appears they are scamming for articles. When you submit the article, you are basically sending over work and they take it and then reject it for revision. I heard about sites doing that, and it needs to be stopped. It's usually people from different countries that do that, and then they resell the article..

9 years ago

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Lynne

Lynne

Yes the work is done already so it must be paid for. The online market must take responsibility for protecting both the sellers and the buyers and it would seem Upwork are falling seriously short on protecting the sellers in this regard.

9 years ago

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Everett

Everett

They probably give the buyer better treatment. There really isn't that much seller protection via Upwork, or iWriter that I can see. What happens if you wrote a remarkable article, and the buyer still rejects the article? The thing is, people will con any system they please.

I believe those sites should add a system where if they are buying an article, you get X amount of revisions, and after those X amount of revisions you are obligated to pay for and accept the article.

If you hire a good writer you will not need many revisions. Usually it's sellers that are not native English speakers, they will use Google Translate to translate words, and it's just a mess. It gives great writers a bad name, and that's very unfortunate.

9 years ago

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Lynne

Lynne

Yes revisions are a good option to have and it will also prevent people from just rejecting work right off if the seller always has an opportunity to revise the work... although that said perhaps it will just make more work for the seller in the end when the amount of revisions have been hit still reject the work? I'm sure you'll get this from someone and that would be worse than just a straight off reject in the beginning.

The thing is that once the seller has submitted the content the buyer already has it.

9 years ago

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Everett

Everett

The thing is that once the seller has submitted the content the buyer already has it.

Exactly. So if you already have the content, in the eyes of someone who really didn't want to pay in the first, why pay for it when you've just gotten it for free?

I hope article writers can come together to combat this, it's a popular issue amongst article writers. I wonder what the future is for article writes, and buyers whom buy the articles.

How exactly do you go about protecting your work? Could you offer licenses to use it? I'm not sure.

9 years ago

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Lynne

Lynne

How about a feature where you could read the content on the website but not copy it? It would only be given to you in file format once the order has been confirmed? At least then if someone wants to steal it they would have to type it out?

9 years ago

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Lynne

Lynne

Yes when I had people wanting to buy wholesale from my online baby store and asking for a better price and to pay afterwards I told them China has cheaper prices and maybe they can open a 30 day account with someone there?

When it comes to receiving work or products before payment.... well you can't just walk into any shop that you have never been to before and walk out with things with the promise you will pay the next day.

I would never ever ask someone to give me anything without payment and just trust me that I will pay them in the future. It is just plain cheeky in my opinion.

9 years ago

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Everett

Everett

Yeah, exactly, if they want cheaper services or items why are they in your store? Why go in there to beg? There's probably plenty of dollar stores, or general stores, so why not try those out?

I wouldn't offer anyone to do a service for me, and then tell them "I'll pay you next week, or when i get the money". That makes you earn a bad reputation. With online clientele, you need a damn pretty good reputation. I can not fathom why people even suggest "future payments". it's just ridiculous, and scammy in my honest opinion.

Bottom line is, if you can't afford, go elsewhere, or save up!

9 years ago

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Lynne

Lynne

EXACTLY! And then when I tell them if they want China prices they must got to China they get peeved off with me. I wasn't being sarcastic or rude, I was being serious. Then when I tell them that too they get even more angry. Some people just don't want to listen to logic and get all offended and stupid when you give them a dose of reality.

9 years ago

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Everett

Everett

I don't think they are aware of the costs for products, as for your items, im sure it cost money to make the products. Your profit was probably very marginal, as it is with most others whom actually create products in their home. They don't have contracts with large companies to get materials for about 10 cents each.

They will have to find other means to get products cheaply, but with quality. If someone can not understand that then they need to go back to school because they apparently forgot how the real world works. You need money to make money, it's that simple.

9 years ago

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Lynne

Lynne

Oh they were aware in my case. The one woman said she only wanted South African made products so she wouldn't buy from China. I told her then her next best option is to buy her own fabric, get some patterns and pay someone to make up her orders privately. Her answer? Yes she has looked into that, it is more expensive than buying from me...

That made me wonder what exactly she wanted from me. It is at those times I have to really force myself to hold my tongue.

9 years ago

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Lynne

Lynne

I had an online baby store here in South Africa selling handmade baby clothing, wholesale and retail and you will be amazing how many people wanted me to send orders without receiving payment first.

I refused to ever send out any orders until payment was received in full. Some people gave me a lot of trouble over this, especially for wholesale but sometimes the orders were as much as R20 000 (appr R15.00 = $3.00) .. and I made the clothing up to order

Some of my wholesale customers moaned at me and told me that was unreasonable but I just don't trust people to keep their end of the deal. I do think most people are good and will, but you only need one or two people to not pay you and your small business will go bang!

9 years ago

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Everett

Everett

Yes, that is very right. I don't understand why people don't want to pay, but want items. You can't walk into a grocery store, and have an entire cart full of food, and tell the cashier that you will take the items out of the store, and return to pay at some later time. So why are they requesting that they pay in some future time?

I tend to believe the ones that promise some future payment are in fact scammers. If you received goods for free, why would you pay for them? You already got what you wanted, so why pay? I have an issue with people that do this type of thing. If you want products, or services, pay up front.

9 years ago

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MasterA

MasterA

Does it count if your friend borrows some money and never give it back to you? Well, there have been a few cases where I felt like I been scammed. For example, there were times where there was asymmetric information and I purchased things for a higher price than it is worth putting myself in a very difficult situation. I have seen some people buy traffic and then sell their websites for a high price and it kind of happened to me although the website did get some good traffic. Does this count? Other than these kind of situations, I haven’t been scammed as I have been very careful.

9 years ago

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Lynne

Lynne

Yes I think that counts. That is awful, especially because your trust is abused.

9 years ago

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Everett

Everett

I tend to lend money to people whom pay it back. I have even lent my mother a lot of money, and she hasn't paid me back. I don't necessarily mind that she hasn't paid it back, and I don't want her to. However, for some other people they seem to take their time to pay you back, and if you request your money they also seem to get a bit angry.

I am the kind of person that would lend money to friends and family, and not expect to get paid back. I have only not been paid back like 3 times, but the amounts were not big. I trust most people will hopefully pay back the lender.. right?

9 years ago

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MasterA

MasterA

Yes, I never lend people too much money too so the loss was small. However, I always pay people back when I lend money and I hate it when people don’t do the same thing. It just makes it seems like that they are not paying me back on purpose and when I ask for them to pay me back, they either get angry or make awful excuses. That’s why now I am very careful when I lend money to people now and only lend money to people who I trust. It is important that you only lend money to people who have a good reputation, otherwise, you will face a loss.

9 years ago

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Lynne

Lynne

I just have a rule. If you are not one of my sisters or my husband I will not loan you any money. If you are my sister or my husband I will happily give you money, without any expectations of being paid back.

However they always insist it is a loan and always pay me back. This is what loyal people do, people that respect each other.

9 years ago

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Everett

Everett

I remember one time I lent money to an employee I was working with. She only needed $15, I think she needed gas, and she spent all her money on her bills, im guessing. Back then, I needed all the money I could get. So when I asked her for the $15 back, she was like "What? It's just $15.". Then I said "Yeah, it may just be only $15. You didn't have $15 at the time, and I gave you $15 and I specifically told you I wanted to be paid back. She said "You never said to pay you back". Thankfully the assistant manager was there, whom was present when I said I wanted to be paid back, and she informed the employee that I did say that.. People can be redicious.

9 years ago

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Lynne

Lynne

Oh that would make me really angry!

I had friends once that lived a few doors down from me, this was when I was in my early twenties. Every day one of them would knock on my door and ask to "borrow" some milk or a few slices of bread, or just a cup of sugar...

It got really bad until one day one of them asked me for some milk. I opened my fridge and I only had a tiny bit of milk left. Enough for one cup of coffee, and it was like 8pm at night. So I told her I am sorry, no because that is my milk for my one cup of coffee before I go to work. I need my morning cup of coffee.

She got funny with me then, she said she will replace it the next evening. I told her NO, my morning cup of coffee is essential, I need my milk in the morning.

I told her I will give her some money and she can use that to go buy some milk. She got all sarcastic with me and told me she doesn't need the money, she has money. She does feel like going to the shop.

Geez I was peeved. Never once did they replace anything and it turns out half the time it wasn't even because they didn't have money for anything, it was just easier to come and take all my things. I was very upset.

That taught me a lot about doing favors and helping friends.

9 years ago

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cdrocks

cdrocks

Yes on here I have been scammed a few times but I have always figured out the scammers and cancelled their orders before I put to much work into it. It's funny every time it was a service I offered for a dollar that they tried to scam me on lol. Like a business friend told me cheap prices can attract a low-class crowd.

9 years ago

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Lynne

Lynne

Yes you have a good point there! Cheap attracts cheap lol.

Perhaps they thought that if they tried to scam you out of $3 you wouldn't bother too much with it, but if the service was say $300 there is no way you would let that slide without taking some sort of action against them!

9 years ago

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cdrocks

cdrocks

You are so right I never thought of it in those terms. I'll give you thumbs up on that that is a very good point!

9 years ago

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Everett

Everett

Yes, you are very correct. The lower the price, the cheaper the buyers are. They will try to get anything for an even cheaper price. I refuse to sell one dollar services, because I want my clients to be somewhat successful, or earn money offline. Most of my clients work fulltime jobs, and are trying to get a business established online.

So I tend to love my clients as they will understand if I am ever late in getting back to them, or even if I increase my prices. So it's good to make sure your prices are good, and that they target the kind of buyers you want.

9 years ago

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Lynne

Lynne

Yes Everett I am sure that is the case. And I just don't buy any $3 services because I think they must be bad quality because of the price.

Oh no wait, I do. I buy one $3 service sometimes. I buy a social share on Reddit sometimes. It is $3 for one link share. I find that easier than posting to Reddit because they are so anal about self promotion!

It is a nice service, certainly worth the $3.

9 years ago

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mining016

mining016

i lost my 50$ at fanspanels.com.

I transfered him amount and the next day he removed his website to 500 error. need help

9 years ago

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Lynne

Lynne

I've never heard of fanspanels.com but you would need to take it up with that website!

9 years ago

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Cristian

Cristian

I personally never been scammed. And I'm not planning on getting scammed in the future. I'm a very skeptic and rational person (at least that's what I think) and its pretty hard to catch me off-guard with anything.

9 years ago

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Lynne

Lynne

Me too, usually. I think that scam that got me in my late teens was the one that cemented my suspicious nature and I have never been scammed again... oh wait does Amway count as a scam? Technically no, they are not a scam... BUT I felt scammed lol.

Ok so then counting Amway (Scamway) it is twice.

Luckily I never lost a huge amount of money or time with anything. I think a lot of people think they haven't been scammed because they didn't lose money but they put a load of time in!

9 years ago

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Everett

Everett

Time equals money. So if you put a lot of time into something, only to find that it doesn't work then you have been scammed! I never fall for those "get rich quick" schemes, or "You can have a mansion! All you need to do is spend 4 hours online everyday!" schemes. Those are truly pathetic.

I believe any money making, that isn't a marketplace, should tell you right up front what you will be doing, and how much on average you could earn. Otherwise, why even bother spending your time on their business? People need to be more transparent.

9 years ago

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Lynne

Lynne

Yes exactly. All these scams look the same to me! They promise hardly any work, it is all done according to their secret blue print, never seen before system... on auto pilot, make insane amounts of money right now blah di blah.

But you have to sign up before they will let you know anything... and then they have your email address for starters lol.

They often say it is free and then you get sent from place to place... giving away your email address countless times... until you finally get to the end where they ask for credit card details.

No thank you!

And yes Everett time is money. Why can't people see that?

9 years ago

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Everett

Everett

I guess people figure that since they didn't spend any money than they didn't get scammed. However, if you offer your time for a service that doesn't work, and they promise you this impossible result than you have been scammed!

They often say it is free and then you get sent from place to place... giving away your email address countless times... until you finally get to the end where they ask for credit card details.

I refer to this as the "loop scam". They try to get you to signup for other services, usually via by a referral/affiliate link, and then at the end of the loop they will try to charge you a ridiculous amount such as $147 one time payment or a monthly subscription. It's not worth it!

9 years ago

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Lynne

Lynne

Yeah I used to get so annoyed by those when I was trying to figure out how to make money online. I so badly wanted an online business and to make money online that I would sometimes spend an entire day being messed around like that. And all I would have to show for it is masses of spam!

Thankfully now I have found a way to learn what I need to know without being messed around. In addition to that from all my searching online I can spot a scam and a time waster from a mile away.

9 years ago

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Everett

Everett

Yep, I think we all have stories like this, and if it wasn't from these websites trying to scam us we probably wouldn't be where we are today. All the knowledge you can gather from said scams can go a long way.

Like you, I can spot a scam from a mile away, based upon the sites design, and the country origin. I have a list of countries that I will refuse to sign up (on a website) for. The list continues to grow as I spend more time on the internet. Not only do I not signup for those websites, I also don't take any clients from those countries based upon past experiences.

9 years ago

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Everett

Everett

When I opened it there was just a little note with one sentence on it saying "Do what I did to you". Needless to say I was very upset!

That is very cruel. You were hoping to get information to start your own business, and sent 10 ZAR. Only to receive a note informing you to scam others. How is that suppose to start your own business and make money? Are you suppose to replicate the scam and post an advertisement in the newspaper?

What ever happened to this scammer? Did the advertisement get removed from the paper, or did they just stop? I'm sure postage was probably worth more than the 10 ZAR?

9 years ago

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Lynne

Lynne

No postage then was like R2 or something and the R10 was not much money either.

The thing I had a problem with was that it was just so nasty. Yes the meaning was that I was being told to do exactly the same thing to other people, just scam them too. I could never do something like that.

I can't remember what I did about it, probably informed the newspaper. The only thing that really stands out clearly in my memory was the feeling reading that note. And it wasn't even a typed note on a nice piece of paper. It was a little scrap piece of paper with the the words scribbled on it.

That stung... the person couldn't even take the time to be respectful about it if you know what I mean? I guess I could have been left wondering about it instead without being given anything back. I wonder why the person bothered replying? Maybe they got some sort of kick out of it?

9 years ago

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Everett

Everett

They probably liked to mess around with people. They probably thought it was funny, and I'm assuming it was sort of like trolling back in the day. I would be so furious if I received a note that basically said to scam others to make money and start a business.

Maybe they were duped by a previous person, and actually decided to try it? What if they were scammed, but continued the scam? Sometimes if a person is scammed, they will scam others to get their money back. It's a sad world when you're scammed, you should just move on and learn. It's the best thing you can do, other than try and get your money back. :/

9 years ago

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CryptoGuru

CryptoGuru

I would have to agree with master a i do not think i have ever been scammed generally an an aspect of my business but i have had a couple run through and situations were my brother had went and took advantage of me and i was not too happy about it , it really does suck when you get played it sucks even more when the person taking advantage is family so maybe my answer is not exactly what you are looking for but a scam is a scam in any way shape or form , and it can happen to the best of us believe that

9 years ago

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TommyCarey

TommyCarey

When I was young and dumb I got scammed out of a good amount of money

I went on freelancer.com and posted a job for a web design. I needed something pretty intricate and they guy who gave me a quote said he would do it for $900. I was excited because I thought all the work I needed would cost at least $3,500. So when he came back to me and said $900 I was super happy

We went over what I needed done and he kept pinging questions off of me which made me think he was actually interested and going to do the work.... I was wrong

After I sent the initial payment of $300 he "began working" on my new design and programming. About 2 weeks in he showed me a few images of my website so I thought "He must be working on the back end, that's cool". He then asked for the second milestone payment of $300 and I sent it over like a moron would....

Now we're at the 1 month mark and I can't get a hold of this person at all. He won't return my emails or my private messages on freelancer.com. I finally got pissed off and filed a dispute in paypal on both of my payments. That's when this guy responds to everything I've ever sent him lol. He gave me some bullshit excuse about how he was on vacation and he emailed me that he was gone, but I must not have gotten it blah blah blah.

Fast forward another 3 weeks and I lost the disputes in paypal because they sided with him since it was a digital transaction, and I'm out $600. I never sent the guy the final payment because I caught on a little late, but at least he didn't get all my money

9 years ago

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Lynne

Lynne

That is awful. That sort of thing would make me really angry!

9 years ago

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Everett

Everett

Wow, scammed out of $600.. holy !@#$!

I would be so furious. People whom do the scamming always give some excuses like:

I was on vacation
I was in hospital
My [insert family member here] was sick
I didn't have internet
I'm almost finished, i'll show you end results when it's finished.

Usually if I hear one of these responses I immediately try to cancel my order, or dispute transaction especially if they provide no evidence. I'm shocked that Paypal basically did nothing. Did you ever try to call them? It appears you can get better results if you call. However, since a lot of time probably went by that $600 is long gone.

9 years ago

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TommyCarey

TommyCarey

I've seen all of those excuses. You would think people would be a little more crafty and think of something that hasn't been used 1,000 times a day

Another one I get is "I was in surgery and I didn't leave the hospital for a few days" or something along those lines

I get the "My family member was sick" a lot as well as the "I'm almost finished" excuse.

This is why I like milestones. If they don't meet the first milestone, I drop them and find someone else who will do the work on time, and actually do it lol

9 years ago

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Everett

Everett

Yes, a lot of the times they are in surgery.. I wonder what's wrong with them to be in surgery everyday. They try to make you feel bad about whatever they tell you. It's almost a guilt trip. They will guilt trip you, make you feel sorry, and then continue to scam the hell out of you.

So ya, if I ever hear those idiotic excuses im like "Nope." and cancel the order. I don't have time for people to take their sweet ass time to get something done. If I paid for a service to be completed in 3 days, I want that shit complete no more than 72 hours... especially if it is something that can get done in one day..

9 years ago

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TommyCarey

TommyCarey

Oh I know the feeling

Something that's suppose to take a week, but can be finished in a day or two, and I'm suppose to wait 3 weeks? lmao where's my refund?

9 years ago

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Lynne

Lynne

I've been given all those excuses before plus child in hospital and even family members that have died. That one is awful because you feel bad for even thinking they may be lying to you!

9 years ago

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Everett

Everett

I HATE the responses that are like "So and so was in the hospital or died". Why would you even suggest that a family member died. Why would you lie about that?! That just goes to show the mindset of a scammer. They simply don't care, have zero compassion, and are just evil human beings.

I read this article, it may sound weird, but here's how it went:basically if you repeat something over and over and believe in it, then it's kinda bound to happen as you have given thought to it, you created the scenario. Now, if this is true, and if you said a family member died, or was in the hospital, and wasn't couldn't you be creating that scenario?

9 years ago

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ajlancer

ajlancer

Hi Lynne thanks for sharing your experience. I never got scammed such way. But, I faced many scammer as a freelancer. And it is not only one time but also I have suffered by several scammer. For example: couple of years back, a buyer purchased my service for $250 may be and for my SEO service and I completed almost full works for him within few days and he wants report what I done for him, and I got him report exactly what I did. After getting report he just request for cancel order without showing any excuse. I think he is a big scammer to me.
But, now I am very aware for such type of job and buyer.

Regards by Ajlancer

9 years ago

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Lynne

Lynne

I would consider that being scammed for sure. It was dishonest.

I think when a buyer places an order with a seller then there are certain promises that have been made even if they have not been said as such. If I order something from you I believe that if I cancel that order or dispute it then I must explain to you exactly why I have done that. It is only right and fair.

9 years ago

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Topseoservice

Topseoservice

While working online, there is always high risk involved. But marketplace like Seocheckout is a savior for freelancer like me. Because Seocheckout takes advance payment on behalf of the freelancer. So there is very little chance of getting scammed. However I was scammed few time when I was not using Seocheckout (prior to join this marketplace). Since then I prefer to use Seocheckout as it is almost 100% scam proof.

9 years ago

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hitmeasap

hitmeasap

Haha, sorry but that scam was awesome Lynne

Scammed.. Yeah, I've been there.. However, the most recent time would be when I got scammed by a friend of mine.. And it was basically due to my own stupidity. I've known him for the past 20 years or so, ever since we were little kids..

I won't go into any major details about this whole project or this scam, but I ended up giving him a decent amount of money.. (We're talking thousands..) The idea was that he should use the money on two different projects, and we would split the money things started to roll..

Long story short. He took the cash, didn't use them for the things we planned and ... Well, I never talked to him again.

Best Regards,
hitmeasap

9 years ago

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Lynne

Lynne

Andre, yes I suppose it is amusing in a way

Stupid me for falling for it right?

But geez I am sorry to hear about your friend conning you, that is awful, especially when you have been friends for over 20 years.

9 years ago

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TommyCarey

TommyCarey

That really sucks

I had a similar problem with a "Partner". Me and 3 friends started up a clothing company and we were mainly going to do board shorts and some shirts. We went over tons of information and how to get the product made. All of the online stuff was simple for me, so we didn't have to go over any of that.

One of the guys, the CEO, seemed pretty eager to get all this set up. We all had equal shares of the company, so no one really had control over the entire company. We flew the "CEO" out to California because we knew a guy out there who was really good with Photoshop and auto cad, so he was going to teach our friend for a month. We used the company card to fly him out there and back, and paid for a good amount of stuff while he was out there "learning". He gets back and knows less about the designing software than I do, and I don't know much.

So we were pretty pissed that he went on vacation for a month and didn't learn anything about the software that he was suppose to be good enough with to put together designs for our shorts. After he got back he went to Kentucky for his birthday and decided to use our company card to rack up a $1150 bill for the hotel room. He didn't ask any of us if he could do this, probably because we would have said "Hell No!". While he's in Kentucky we see charges on the card that were never discussed. He was down there to see a girl and brought her out to dinner every night, and it wasn't a cheap bill. Because remember, he was the "CEO" and could do what he wanted....

My online marketing partner, one of the 4 who started the clothing business, quickly canceled all the business debit and credit cards and began closing the account. Our "CEO" was furious because now he didn't have a free meal...

The sad thing is that I was good friends with this guy and he used my $5,000 investment as it was his own money. My investment was for him to learn some software, get our clothing line in order and to get the website up and running. The website would be cheap since I could do it myself, the software classes were free since our friend was helping out the "CEO". The only thing that cost a good amount of money was the clothing and getting the prints we wanted.

Long story short, we closed the company and have never talked to the "CEO" again. People change when they have access to money, and it's sad. That really sucks :( I had a similar problem with a "Partner". Me and 3 friends started up a clothing company and we were mainly going to do board shorts and some shirts. We went over tons of information and how to get the product made. All of the online stuff was simple for me, so we didn't have to go over any of that. One of the guys, the CEO, seemed pretty eager to get all this set up. We all had equal shares of the company, so no one really had control over the entire company. We flew the "CEO" out to California because we knew a guy out there who was really good with Photoshop and auto cad, so he was going to teach our friend for a month. We used the company card to fly him out there and back, and paid for a good amount of stuff while he was out there "learning". He gets back and knows less about the designing software than I do, and I don't know much. So we were pretty pissed that he went on vacation for a month and didn't learn anything about the software that he was suppose to be good enough with to put together designs for our shorts. After he got back he went to Kentucky for his birthday and decided to use our company card to rack up a $750 bill for the hotel room. He didn't ask any of us if he could do this, probably because we would have said "Hell No!". While he's in Kentucky we see charges on the card that were never discussed. He was down there to see a girl and brought her out to dinner every night, and it wasn't a cheap bill. Because remember, he was the "CEO" and could do what he wanted.... My online marketing partner, one of the 4 who started the clothing business, quickly canceled all the business debit and credit cards and began closing the account. Our "CEO" was furious because now he didn't have a free meal... The sad thing is that I was good friends with this guy and he used my $3,000 investment as it was his own money. My investment was for him to learn some software, get our clothing line in order and to get the website up and running. The website would be cheap since I could do it myself, the software classes were free since our friend was helping out the "CEO". The only thing that cost a good amount of money was the clothing and getting the prints we wanted. Long story short, we closed the company and have never talked to the "CEO" again. People change when they have access to money, and it's sad.

9 years ago

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Lynne

Lynne

Yes that is very true. I have seen so many people fall out with friends and families when money and business come into it.

I have a simple rule, I will not get involved with business with any family or friends except for a select few. My father for example I would happily go into business with, I have worked with him before plenty in one of his businesses and we got on great. I am now doing his books for him for another business he has and we get on great. Maybe it is not as in a business partner, but we work together very easily, we have the same work ethics and see things the same way.

9 years ago

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Everett

Everett

The entire time whilst reading this story I was thinking "why didn't you hire someone who knew Autocad?". I use to take autocad in high school, and I hated it. it's a hard program to learn.. and you better be good with math.. He probably didn't understand it, or even cared to learn it, as you said it was a month vocation for him.

People change when they have access to money, and it's sad.

I can honestly say, no matter what amount of money I have I will always act the same. I actually HATE money but we need it to live in the this world. :/

9 years ago

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mssoftmind

mssoftmind

I think there is all WSO scams. I purchased lot of WSO from warriorforum, From these I just lost my money. Recently I purchase a wso with the title of "? Welcome to the Longest Running WSO Ever" with David mcalorum. When I read this course, he is teaching there how to scam people, When I post on forum that refund me, He said that delete this post, then he will refund.. But I do not delete, because I want that people also know about this, but after two days warriorforum delete my post from there, then I know that Warriorforum is also have partnership with these scammer...So I think there is so many scammer.....

9 years ago

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Lynne

Lynne

I am so sorry you got scammed. I agree with you that you should keep your post up there to keep other people informed. I am just a bit confused though, what does WSO stand for?

I visited WarriorForum before a few years ago but for some reason it just didn't appeal to me? I can't remember why though.

9 years ago

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Everett

Everett

A WSO stands for "Warrior Special Offer". Basically an acronym given by users of the Warrior Forum who submit offers on the forum. I would happen to agree with mssoftmind that most WSOs are scams, and not a one has ever helped me. I was better off saving my money, and investing elsewhere.

9 years ago

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Lynne

Lynne

Yeah I didn't get a good feel for that website anyway, otherwise I would have stayed there.

9 years ago

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Everett

Everett

It was probably a known seller of the forum. Websites like WF tend to protect sellers rather than buyers. They need sellers on the forum to list products for sale, and if a lot of sellers are selling crappy products than the forum's reputation will fall. So that is why your post was deleted by the WF team. The seller of the WSO probably informed the staff, or a moderator and the post was then deleted. It wouldn't have mattered if the WSO was a scam or not, because you shown a negative light on the product, which then reflects them.

9 years ago

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mssoftmind

mssoftmind

Yes, therefore I am 100% sure that wf do a separate meeting with a top seller for a separate commission and in return they save them from bad feedback of Buyers.

9 years ago

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Lynne

Lynne

Oh no that sounds dodgy!

9 years ago

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keyanage

keyanage

I have done thousands of transactions on ebay, hundreds on here and dozens on freelancer sites. I allow about 1% for scams or non-delivery. Been scammed on all sites including here once or twice. Mainly is good, but a few screw arounds when trying to get specialist services. I feel for people getting scammed out of their hard earned money, especially when they are promised the world and then they feel bad they were douped.

9 years ago

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Lynne

Lynne

Oh that is awful but I guess when you work online like you do you would have to make allowances for things like scams and being ripped off. I was discussing with a freelance content writer about how he has on occasion completed an order and then the customer just immediately rejects the work, which he or she has already received and no reasons why, just a rejection. No asking for a revision of explaining why they are unhappy. To me this is being scammed.

So it happens. I guess just like a grocery shop would have to make financial allowances for things like groceries spoiling, breakages and shop lifting, freelancers will come across scam buyers.

9 years ago

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keyanage

keyanage

just dont put all your eggs in one basket and if it is too good to be true then it usually is.

9 years ago

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Lynne

Lynne

Oh yes! I just submitted a post now on what to look out for.

9 years ago

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RetardedHaT

RetardedHaT

Was scammed for $2500 a few weeks back

9 years ago

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Lynne

Lynne

Oh that is awful! How did that that come about?

9 years ago

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RetardedHaT

RetardedHaT

Well, he ran away with the cash but we've taken action against it.

9 years ago

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