You'd be surprised how many people are out pulling scams on a daily basis, or I should say you'd be surprised if you've never worked in retail, banking, insurance, the service industries, law enforcement...
I know someone who worked at a bank. he/she decided it would be entertaining to steal a guys check, then take it home and wash and rewrite it. needless to say when all was said and done he/she got away with a few thousand dollars and they tried to accuse the guy who's check it was of taking the money. -via dadthinksomsaslut
Okay, so you're probably aware that many people are putting in work to pull off scams, and you may even know a few scammers, but let's not name names here...
When I was a kid my buddy and I kept a candy box from a school fundraiser. On the weekends we would go to the dollar store and buy candy bars for 3 for $1 and then go stand in front of Walmart and Target and sell the candy bars for $1 each saying they were for a school fundraiser. -Via moby323
Instead let's check out this AskReddit thread from a while back that asks "What's the craziest scam that someone you know has pulled?" and learn how to avoid getting scammed by these shifty scumbags!
I had a friend who worked at gamestop for a few years, and he devised a plan where, when new games were released, he would about once a day keep a receipt for a $60 game and just stick it in his pocket.
When someone would come in a few days later to trade in said game, he would give them the cash as a trade in (35-40 bucks I think) but not run it through the system. After the person had left and there was no one else in the store he would then run the game as a return, netting the retail $60 price.
He would then pocket the $20 difference, thus making himself an extra $80-$100 a week while the registers had complete paper trails and never appeared to be missing any dough. -via Huellio
See 18 People Reveal The Craziest Scam They've Seen Someone They Know Pull Off here
Unfortunately for him, all were backed by the same bank so they figured out what happened. The bank issued a fake safety recall and when any of the cars came into a dealership, the owner was arrested.
I was naive enough to show some interest in this letter. Wow, if I help this poor Nigerian politician move his money out of the country, I could pocket as much as six million in commission! I showed it to my boss, he laughed at the letter and at me for believing in it.
That was the last time I half-trusted a scam. Boy, did I dodge a bullet on that one!