7 Scams That Will Cost You Money

The holidays are the most wonderful time of the year - for scam artists.

The average American household will spend about $1,700 on gifts, but not all of it will go to legitimate businesses. In my new book, "Scammed: How to Save Money and Find Better Service in a World of Schemes, Swindles, and Shady Deals" [Wiley, $24.95], I put scammers in my crosshairs and expose their secrets.

It's open season on consumers this Christmas. But you don't have to be a victim. Here are the top seven holiday cons, both legal and illegal, and how to avoid them.

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Follow Christopher Elliott on Twitter: www.twitter.com/elliottdotorg

Comments

[Trapped in Arizona]

06:34 PM on 12/18/2011

The Gas Can scam presumably has many variations -- and in my youth, I fell for it once. E.g., someone urgently needs to take a cab to visit his or her dying grandmother in the hospital, etc. etc., ("you look like such a nice young man who also loves his grandmother" -- "can I "borrow" a few dollars" -- "here is my (stolen) business card as proof I'm legit, I'll pay you back, honestly"...

Coincidentally, I just saw a show called "Scammed" on the History Channel in which this routine (and its many variations) was outlined, and these tricksters can really rack up a pretty penny if they are good at it, and if they hit up a good number of people throughout the day/week/month/year/lifetime.

[MBGarcia]

02:54 PM on 12/17/2011

Today at the grocery store parking lot we were approached by someone trying to pull off the gas-can scam. She was too convoluted about the story, tried to show us the car, complained about how cold it was making the sound "brrr" and threw in "it has a handicap sticker" because she thought it would elicit some more cash since our son is obviously disabled. I was close to saying yes until that particular part...it sounded so tacked on for sympathy that it just made me angry. I'm a bad person, but I did see three other people giving her money as she made her way through the parking lot...

[greyhound2]

02:57 PM on 12/16/2011

The 'ol 50/20. Mark it up 50% and put it on sale for 20% off.

[Axekick]

02:49 PM on 12/16/2011

I've had people attempt to scam gas money from me. One was on a highway frontage road, blocking traffic with a Chevy Suburban. He told me he needed to get to St. Charles (about 9 miles away) and asked for $25 for gasoline. I refused but instead told him to get in the truck so I could push it off the roadway. He asked again and I offered to push his truck off of the roadway then drive him home. He said "that's okay, thanks anyway." WTF? I did call the State Police who assured me they would follow up and remove his vehicle but I left before their arrival.

[Trapped in Arizona]

07:00 PM on 12/18/2011

We actually had a neighbor whom we saw -- as we drove up to our house -- pouring gas into his truck from OUR gas can that he had found retrieved from our back yard! Moreover, it was the first time we had ever met him. We asked, "what is going on?" -- to which he responded, "we live down the road, and we ran out of gas -- we didn't think you'd mind, since we're neighbors". Not really a classic "scam" (unless you call trespassing and theft a scam), but perhaps chutzpah of epic proportions.

[Axekick]

07:51 PM on 12/18/2011

Funny you mention that. Summer before last I saw some young ladies, likely teenagers acting suspicious at near a parked car behind my house. I watched them trying to figure out what they were doing and saw them begin dumping several small gasoline cannisters of gas into their car's gas tank. I then took out my phone and snapped several pictures of them and their license plate number. Once the pictures were downloaded to my computer I could read a t-shirt one of the girls was wearing for a lawn service. I Googled it and Goole earth showed Their car parked in the driveway of the house that was listed as the address for the lawn care business. I called the police and the case was made, provided they had reports of missing gas cans in the area. They discarded them in the street as they emptied them. So, who knows.

[Victor Saymong]

02:07 PM on 12/16/2011

Do not ALL scams cost us money???

[enlightened45]

01:06 PM on 12/16/2011

I will be saving the $24.95 cost of the book and simply not trust anyone. In today's society that is the only safe bet.

[rsxsims]

12:52 PM on 12/16/2011

and dont forget the worst scam of all.. asking people at christmas gatherings for money to pay off their christmas debt.(we re not sure if it was our christmas present cost that they were asking for) yep,we ve been ask..for a small donation.

[Trapped in Arizona]

06:52 PM on 12/18/2011

We have a neighbor who even has block party "fundraisers" for her daughter's "dance competition lessons". The girl has two left feet, hates dancing, hides during the "fundraisers", and has not competed in years. Yet, every few months, another fundraiser, and another minor renovation to the house. (We stopped giving after the first year, and are thus ostracized as "the stingy ones down the street").

[Deaninphilly]

12:34 PM on 12/16/2011

A bit confused: How is buying someone a gift card and them not using it a scam? Perhaps you should have given better thought to the gift card you were buying first.

If you pay a high price for a toy at a store because you absolutely must have it, how is that being scammed either?

Did anyone think anything through before writing then posting this? Apparently not

[eric14]

07:27 PM on 12/17/2011

So, you want people at Huffpost to think do you? Trying to cause trouble with this ''thinking'' are we? Been telling other people to think, have we? What was I saying?

[Deaninphilly]

08:11 AM on 12/18/2011

LOL, they could careless here anymore all that matters is clicks for ads.

[GeeBee]

12:11 PM on 12/16/2011

No. 7 is easily avoided - don't have kids!

[RJKERB08]

12:47 PM on 12/16/2011

So clever. I see what you did there.

[SCboy]

11:49 AM on 12/16/2011

How about the exorbitant fees big banks charge you for holding your money? That Christmas scam lasts all year long and has the Republican stamp of approval.

[MIMom]

11:35 AM on 12/16/2011

As far as I'm concerned, Christmas as a whole is a scam.

[PenguinLinux]

12:52 PM on 12/16/2011

Agreed. I stopped participating years ago.

[ethelmertzrules]

11:31 AM on 12/16/2011

Only 7? There should be 12 for the 12 days of Christmas. I like the fake liquidation sales, there is a business near me that has it's semi annual going out of business sale. It's amusing. The gas can thing isn't exactly a rip off, just a form of pan handling or spare changing.

[CoastalNC]

02:18 PM on 12/16/2011

We have a furniture store here that has a going out of business or liquidation sale at least once a year, sometimes more.....somehow they are still in business. I don't go there.

[warloch2]

11:28 AM on 12/16/2011

Airport body scammers I mean scanners, Solyndra, cap and tax, Obamacare, curlycue light bulbs, MMGW and social justice.
:-)

[CheapTrick]

10:55 AM on 12/19/2011

Give it a rest. Honestly, is that all you people can whine about?

[DJlaysitup]

11:16 AM on 12/16/2011

Give your small donations to the winos...at least you know how it will be spent.

[RecreationalPilot]

10:53 AM on 12/16/2011

Many of those stores that have liquidation sales, bring in a private liquidator, as mentioned.

They charge higher than normal prices, as mentioned.

===

But also, many of those liquidators will run their store closing for weeks or months at a time, bringing in surplus stock from other stores the liquidator buys or is selling though other companies.