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possums101 t1_ir8354l wrote

I don’t understand why you were so invested in such an innocuous thing??? Most people just buy the candy and move on with their day if they even acknowledge the people at all. Congrats on discovering scams. What you did was not smart at all. Perfect example of how not to have street smarts. Are you from Iowa or something? Lmao

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WooliesWhiteLeg t1_ir9nepa wrote

What’s the scam? Generally you give them a dollar and they give you candy.

By that definition I totally got scammed when some company took my money and sent me a bunch of computer parts I ordered

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possums101 t1_ir9otan wrote

Well they’re not actually selling candy for whatever cause they say they are. Which I don’t personally care about. I buy candy from people like this all the time. Although it looks like the person OP ran into had other plans.

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WooliesWhiteLeg t1_ir9pa87 wrote

Sure, they aren’t selling for the cause they stated but you still give them money and they provide the promised service ( candy). I’m not trying to be intentionally difficult, I just don’t get how that could be considered a scam.

But yeah, OP is crazy for going anywhere, especially a bank, with a stranger. I agree completely

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possums101 t1_ir9pcd0 wrote

Because they’re lying

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WooliesWhiteLeg t1_ir9pixl wrote

Sure but a lie doesn’t make a scam.

CVS takes donations for charity but they don’t tell you that you’re just subsidizing their tax write off. That isn’t a scam

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Quarthex t1_ir9yd3e wrote

It isn't true that retailers take a tax write off when you donate at the register. The money you donate is a direct donation with no strings attached. You yourself are allowed to itemize it as a donation when you do your taxes.

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It is 100% a scam to tell someone you are raising money for a charitable cause when you aren't. You got a candy bar, but you believed your money was going to a charitable cause when actually it was not. You likely would not have bought the candy bar had you not been lied to about the money going to a charitable cause. If that isn't a scam, I don't know what is.

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Kawaimo OP t1_ir83w9w wrote

Yeah.. I know.. You're absolutely right, just looking back on it. Forgive me, I have autism and ADHD. I tend to be curious and have a slip of the mind. I had this idea of trying to get life experience, and so hell, I made a stupid decision. I was depressed for a couple of years and missed a lot of high school.

I suppose at least I have a story to tell my friends, and yeah... that was a moment.... maybe I should learn from other people who are street smart, it's probably a safer alternative to, well... experiencing things foolishly?

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joejoeaz t1_ira7ub1 wrote

I think you made a series of small decisions that turned out put you in an unsafe situation. Please stop beating yourself up over it.

You stated you're autistic and have ADHD. Neurodivergence issues like Autism, make you an easier a target for people with ill intent. I am not sure if you have an occupational therapist you work with, but possibly asking them about developing a toolset for avoiding exploitation like this might be a good idea, if such training is available.

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If there is any way to learn from the mistake(s), try to take what you can learn. Most people rely on "gut instinct" to avoid situations like this, and autism means you might not have a very developed sense of "gut instinct". Learning the red flags to look for, and having actual "if you see this, get out" type of information would probably be more helpful to you, than expecting you to take a full read on the situation, and trying to figure out if something doesn't seem right.

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I think you have an amazing attitude about the whole thing, writing it off as a story to tell your friends.

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In doing a little bit of quick googling, I found a book called "No More Victims: Protecting Those with Autism from Cyber Bullying, Internet Predators, and Scams" Which looks like it may be appropriate for its content, but you also mentioned having ADHD, which could make a book a bit of a challenge.

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I found this youtube video, which isn't exactly the right topic, but is "adjacent" to it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYCJ9pvQJhA&ab_channel=AutismFromTheInside

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joejoeaz t1_iraqbe2 wrote

I just watched that video I linked, and it's not really related, although you might find it an interesting channel :)

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