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The 10 Worst Marketing Scams Devastating American Consumers Today

We live in a world that is becoming scarier and scammier by the minute. Here is an authentic list of some of the biggest scams forced upon the American consumer today.

1. Payday Loan Companies

payday loans check cashing scam
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Did you know that payday loans can have interest rates over 600%? You will never pay those off by making minimum payments. It’s mathematically impossible. The people who take out these loans are desperate and don’t have or know about alternatives, and they become victims of this predatory business. It should be illegal.

2. Social Media

delete social media
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I’d love to believe that the purpose of creating social media was pure, with the goal of bringing people together. However, it’s done nothing but that. People will say they use it to keep in touch, but you have a telephone.

Having actual conversations with people has been replaced with likes and comments. That’s not authentic communication and does not foster healthy relationships with people who will be there when you need them in the real world.

Social media has divided and polarized the American public, if not the world. Moreover, once monetization became the goal, social media declined into self-promotion, targeted advertising, and algorithms designed to keep you in echo chambers that will keep you online for optimal ad revenue.

3. Breakfast Being the Most Important Meal of the Day

woman eating breakfast in bed
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Are you still convinced that breakfast is the most important meal of the day? Did you know you’re repeating a marketing slogan made up to sell cereal? It’s true.

DayTwo explains it was invented in the 19th century by Seventh-Day Adventists John Harvey Kellogg and James Caleb Jackson to sell their new breakfast cereal.

“After that, the bacon food industry jumped on the bandwagon and convinced people about the importance of eating protein in the morning.” And the myth continues today.

4. Commerical Tax Preparation Services

commercial tax preparation services apps
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Turbo Tax and other commercial tax software and services like H&R Block are massive scams that plague American consumers. Did you know that Turbo Tax has used lobbying and “dark pattern” customer tricks to prevent Americans from filing their taxes for free for over two decades?

The fact that we have to figure out and file our taxes instead of just being billed like the rest of the world is intentional. It leaves room for error, financial penalties, and even legal trouble.

5. Health Insurance

Affordable Health Insurance
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Health insurance is one of the biggest scams ever to disgrace the American population. First, you pay a premium. Then, when you use the insurance, you must first meet deductibles and copayments before they kick in.

One of the most infuriating things is that they control whether I am “approved” for tests that my medical doctor, who went to medical school, deems necessary for determining my healthcare needs.

For example, I’ve had an arterial dissection and stroke and am having a lot of pain that my doctor couldn’t find a reason for in the area of the dissection. After doing several tests, scans, and ultrasounds that showed nothing, my doctor ordered a brain MRI. My insurance denied it, and now I am suffering from mystery medical pain and can’t receive a valid diagnosis.

I think what upsets me the most is that I am in a decade-long recovery from an opioid use disorder, and I am in physical pain. You would think that finding the cause of my pain would be critical to my care so that I don’t take pain management into my own hands and completely destroy my life. But they do not care.

6. Diamonds

diamond jewelry
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Have you ever heard of the De Beers Diamond business? Yeah. They are why people spend thousands of dollars on diamond engagement rings. Historically, engagements weren’t associated with diamond rings.

However, their 1947 slogan, “A Diamond Is Forever,” has led people to believe they need to spend three months’ salary to get someone to say yes to the idea of marrying them.

Also, the more you dig into how unethical diamonds are, the less luxurious they become. Human rights abuses, including child and slave labor, are often what it takes to get that diamond on your finger today. Lab-grown diamonds are an entirely ethical choice.

7. Planned Obsolescence

Planned Obsolescence broken appliance
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Planned obsolescence is the policy and practice of producing poor-quality consumer goods that will require replacement. Companies can achieve this by making frequent design changes, terminating spare parts supply, and using nondurable materials.

It’s infuriating being so wasteful, especially when so many go without entirely. Furthermore, you will never stop spending money on things that shouldn’t require you to as often.

Do you remember appliances from the eighties? Somewhere, someone is still using a perfectly good fridge from that decade, guaranteed.

8. Black Friday

Black Friday sale
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Ask anyone who works in retail; Black Friday sales are scams. The same deals are offered year-round, especially with electronics. Some products are made to be Black Friday items, which means they are made to turn a profit at a lower price point than a similar item.

They are also made with that planned obsolescence and won’t last. There’s an entire markup before the markdown to psychologically trick you into thinking that you’re receiving a deal when, in reality, you’re paying what it typically is.

9. Postsecondary Education

expensive college graduate
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The entire postsecondary education system is messed up. Many things about it are beyond messed up. For example, colleges requiring you to buy the latest editions of textbooks is a scam, and not being able to declare student loans in bankruptcy is a scam.

The fact that Americans can’t get a business loan for $20,000 but can take out hundreds of thousands of dollars in student loans that will take a lifetime to pay off as soon as they turn 18 is one of the biggest ripoffs perpetrated on the American public.

10. Credit Scores

Credit Score American consumer scam
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Debt relief lawyer Jay Fleischman explains that the $32 billion credit score scam keeps you poor: “By heavily marketing the importance of credit scores, credit reporting agencies and financial institutions further reinforce the belief that a high score is essential for economic success.

In the process, they make $120 billion in credit card interest and fees each year. Services like Credit Karma (owned by Intuit, the makers of QuickBooks and TurboTax) raked in $375 million in 2022, largely by scaring people into believing a credit score was the path to a better life.”

Read More: 15 States Who Still Have a Ridiculous $7.25 Minimum Wage

angry broke people empty pockets
Image Credit: Prostock-studio.

Did you know there are still 15 states in the union with a meager Federal minimum wage of $7.25? Currently, 30 states and Washington, D.C., have minimum wages above the minimum.

15 States Who Still Have a Ridiculous $7.25 Minimum Wage

22 Real Ways to Save Money on Groceries Immediately

woman grocery shopping receipt
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It’s becoming increasingly difficult to ignore the ridiculous cost of food today. Here are some surefire ways to save money on groceries immediately.

22 Real Ways to Save Money on Groceries Immediately

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Elizabeth Ervin helps people embrace a change in money mindset to achieve their financial goals. After struggling for a decade as a single mother, consumed by the American debt cycle, she recognizes the value of financial education and lifestyle changes and aspires to motivate others to make those changes to obtain financial freedom. She heavily advocates for praying about and over your finances and speaking positive money affirmations to manifest abundance.

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