There are so many dumb scams to consider – which is the stupidest of the year?
A. Short messages
e.g. 1 An email with no title and just one line “You have been donated 20,000,000 Euros. Get back to me for how we can proceed”..
e.g. 2 “This is to inform you that your courier service delivery man carrying your consignment box containing an ATM card valued $10Million dollars is now at the Washington Dulles International Airport”
e.g. 3 “More than 12,000 overweight people have been able to supercharge their metabolism by a whopping 470%… All thanks to a popular alcoholic drink.”. Those people would overheat and die if true.
B. Stupid Products
e.g. Cuckoo Clocks described as “Bird goes out with sound every hour. Material: wood”
C. Diabetes Cures
e.g. 1 The Diabetes Pinch. “Learn The secret Pinch Method” – but then claims 190,00 people already use it, so not such a secret really.
e.g. 2 “Grow your own anti-diabetic cells”
D. Magic Answers to Everything
e.g. 1 Pixie Dust. “Add this to your toothpaste to regrow your gums overnight”. “Bubblegum rebuilds your teeth and gums overnight”.
e.g. 2 The Magic letter. make $12,000 every day and transform your life – a new home, your dream car, your dream partner etc.
E. Dead People
e.g. Sadddam Hussein. WBS (World Bank Swiss), which doesn’t exist wants to donate $18.5 million to me from Saddam’s funds at the bank.
F. The CIA
Strangely, scammers like pretending to be the CIA and offering deals or ‘mutually beneficial arrangement’
G. Grants and Donations
e.g. Grant Payment Center. “It has been brought to our notice that you have not been paid your long overdue grant payment by the UN. This is due to some corrupt hoodlums, and some corrupt government officials who try to divert your money into their own private account. We have arranged your payment through…”
H. Wallet Sucking
This one is so bonkers it has its own category. ‘someone’s been sticking a straw down your wallet and sucking up your hard-earned money’.
So, which one is the winner for 2021?
It has to be wallet sucking – totally and utterly stupid, but we expect 2022’s crop of stupid scams to be even more ludicrous.
