291
submitted 5 months ago by Irelephant@lemm.ee to c/asklemmy@lemmy.ml
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[-] franzfurdinand@lemmy.world 69 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

I have a couple from the hip actually, because America has grifting baked into it's soul. In no particular order:

  • MMS (Drinkin' bleach)
  • Crystal healing (most sellers)
  • WitchTok kits (TikTok influencers selling expensive spices)
  • Brain pills
  • Any product peddled by a megachurch (see the Baker bucket for a great example)
  • Chiropractors

As more of these come to me, I'll try to expand the list.

Update: I can't believe I forgot chiros! They turned themselves into a religion at one point to try to dodge medical licensure laws.

[-] Irelephant@lemm.ee 15 points 5 months ago

I would say that a lot of stuff being peddled through tiktok and Instagram are scams. Those anti-5g dongles come to mind.

[-] ForgotAboutDre@lemmy.world 4 points 5 months ago

Tin foil hats are much better anti5g solution.

[-] franzfurdinand@lemmy.world 4 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

Anti-5g dongles? That's new for me, but I consume a lot of these grifts secondhand through a few podcasts I listen to. I might be behind.

Sounds like the bones of a good scam are there though, assuming the anti-5G conspiracy still gets traction and clicks.

Edit: Do you know if someone like bigclive got one? He takes those sorts of devices apart a lot to explain them and I'd love to see what's inside. I just don't want to pay the money for one to fund the grift.

[-] Irelephant@lemm.ee 5 points 5 months ago

There is a good few videos on them, it has died down significantly since the whole 5g panic went away. Some of them were just some clear USB keys, some were just stickers. Mr. Whosetheboss did a video on them.

[-] MutilationWave@lemmy.world 7 points 5 months ago

Baker Bucket is a good name for a gravity bong setup.

[-] Maeve@kbin.earth 3 points 5 months ago

Idk about prevagen but my opthomologist definitely said any generic of preservation is very good, and artificial tears with flax seed oil will definitely relieve dry, itchy "sandy eye" feel. Idk if he really believes that or not but I thought I'd give some drops a try. Last time I tried artificial tears, it burned like soap so I hope it's not a waste of money.

Oh I looked it up, there may (study funded by the industry) be a basis for that. Medical News Today

[-] HelixDab2@lemm.ee 1 points 5 months ago

Any product peddled by a megachurch (see the Baker bucket for a great example)

Some megachurches have sold freeze-dried prepper food. It's not a grift per se, because it's perfectly edible freeze dried food, but it's overpriced for what you're getting.

[-] franzfurdinand@lemmy.world 2 points 5 months ago

You're right, but I was thinking of the buckets that are basically terrible quality slop that's borderline inedible.

I might still call it a grift because they're asking for payment as "donations" to skirt paying taxes on them. That, and like you said, it's not a great value for what you get. Maybe not pure snake oil, but there's definitely still enough dishonesty involved imo that I'd be comfortable calling it a grift.

this post was submitted on 16 Jun 2024
291 points (98.7% liked)

Asklemmy

43970 readers
1571 users here now

A loosely moderated place to ask open-ended questions

Search asklemmy ๐Ÿ”

If your post meets the following criteria, it's welcome here!

  1. Open-ended question
  2. Not offensive: at this point, we do not have the bandwidth to moderate overtly political discussions. Assume best intent and be excellent to each other.
  3. Not regarding using or support for Lemmy: context, see the list of support communities and tools for finding communities below
  4. Not ad nauseam inducing: please make sure it is a question that would be new to most members
  5. An actual topic of discussion

Looking for support?

Looking for a community?

~Icon~ ~by~ ~@Double_A@discuss.tchncs.de~

founded 5 years ago
MODERATORS