You probably are not suspicious of everyone or everything and believe most people are honest. For the most part, that's true, but there are a slew of schemes out there created to get your money. We all know about the scam emails proclaiming you won a Nigerian lottery or about the schemers who use phone calls to get senior citizens to send them MoneyGram's for fake overdue taxes. But you can't trust anyone. They've even come up with ways to rig carnival games, free wifi, and taxi rides.
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#1 Slot Machines
You're probably asking yourself how these could be rigged, with all of the laws and regulations that casinos must follow. Or, maybe you think they're all rigged, depending on how often you win. However, there are some folks who are in possession of electronic devices that rig the slots machine. What the device does is predict what each slot machine is going to show. The device works off the main server and tells the player when the machine is set to win. This scam is hard to pinpoint but it makes people playing fairly feel like real losers.
#2 Claw Machines
These machines are all over, in supermarkets, restaurants, and even shopping malls. They are supposed to be made to get a child a cute stuffed teddy bear or toy for a little hand-eye maneuvering and a few quarters. But lately, fewer and fewer kids are walking away with a toy. This could be attributed to the software that controls the game, which is run by the machines owner. Settings can be changed to drop a toy right after picking it up, and controlled so that the chances of winning are lowered. To actually get a cheap stuffed toy or top prize is costs you a fortune.
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#3 Poker
Everyone has heard about people who count cards or mark the cards or even the shifty dealers. The game of poker has long had some scams associated with it. The latest scam is people who are wearing special contact lenses that are capable of telling them which cards are going to be played. The special lenses can decipher invisible ink that is used to mark the cards with either a line or shape to alert the player what the card is. One group of lens wearers were caught in Las Vegas and arrested when they came back for more, alerting the police to the way the contacts work.
#4 Free WiFi
Many people are drawn to the offer of free wifi and this si where hackers make their money. Once a person signs into the free network, their personal information gets transmitted to the hackers network. This means that even banking details and other information like Social Security numbers could be transferred to the hackers, leading to your checking account being depleted. There is no such thing as FREE WIFI.
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#5 Lottery Tickets
People have been known to alter the numbers and combinations on lottery tickets. They change it to show the previous weeks winning numbers, or they change the date on the ticket. This trick doesn't pass through the lottery terminals, though, the scam is on other players. The scammers proceed to sell the unclaimed ticket to unsuspecting players claiming that they have not been paid by the lottery yet. They usually sell them at a lower price than the winning amount and make up a fake story to accompany it, which makes people believe they are going to turn in a $500.00 ticket that they just bought for only $100.
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#6 Trick Taxis
Taxi cabs are required to have a meter that tracks and measures the distance and the cost of the ride. Shifty cab drivers, competing nowadays with Uber and other ride-sharing companies, have found a way to scam the riders. You may get in a taxi without a taxi meter. When someone boards a taxi, especially at an airport, they are not keen on confirming the existence of a taxi meter. This leaves you at the mercy of the driver, who can drive you the very long way around town to get you to your location, or just go a few blocks and demand an exuberant price for the ride.
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#7 Shoot The Star
So you think you're a pretty good shot, or at least have good aim, but not on this carnival game. One would think that to shoot out the star you would just have to shoot a pattern around the shape, but that doesn't work. The catch is that the target is on you. They make the provided ammo smaller than the traditional bee bees and they're actually in short supply. You may never actually shoot out the pattern with such tiny ammo and very few loaded into your gun.
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#8 Security Separation
Ever sin 9/11 it has been common in airports to have to pass through rigorous airport security, including the dumping of all valuables into a tray to be scanned by the machines. Some people, including TSA workers, have found ways to swindle fellow travelers out of their wallets, jewelry, and cash. The main catch is that they have someone pretend to take a long time turning over their valuables and then picking them back up at the other end, causing a major slow down in the line. Your valuables can then get snatched by another person already through the line. People are advised to be extremely cautious at airports anyway, but now you need to be suspicious of these scammers as well.
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#9 The Duck Pond
A staple at every school fair and carnival, the duck pond is a pretty simple game. The ducks float around a pond with a special marking stamped on the bottom, a child picks a duck from the pond, hoping to get that large prize, because there is usually a 'winner every game'. The problem is, there is normally only one large prize floating in that entire pond of hundreds of ducks if any at all. Some game workers place all small prize marked ducks in the pond, guaranteeing a profit from every player. The chances of ever winning a prize worth anything is very small, and the prizes given out cost the carnival about 3-5 cents each.
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#10 Staker Machines
You put in cash and play these machines until you stack up enough point to win amazing prizes like cameras, phones, handheld games, and jewelry. The promise of the game is that if you play long enough and good enough you could walk away with one of the sweet prizes. However, the machines are rigged so that the chances of winning any prize at all are about one out of 1,000 attempts. This is unfair because the player has to keep feeding money to the machine to keep the points already earned in play.
