15+ Times People Thought They Were Tricking Us

No matter how clever we are and how many scams we’ve seen through in our lives, there will always be at least one that trips us up.

Sometimes it’s because the scammer legitimately has a new trick that no one’s had time to get wise to, but it can just as easily come down to turning on the charm particularly hard or catching us on a bad day.

But while we can get pretty heated about the ones who make fools of us, it’s hard to feel anything but pity for the liars who didn’t even come close.

I can’t imagine the kind of day that would make us fall for these whoppers.

I guess he thought people would be so dazzled by these styling shades that they’d ignore his awful attempt to sell them.

Even if one sharp-eyed commenter hadn’t pointed out the photographic proof that he wore them, they’re definitely not still in the box.

Like, is the box invisible?

It may not be an elaborate claim, but I’m really finding what’s written on these golf clubs hard to believe.

We may not have the most well-funded education system in the world, but I’m pretty sure most Americans know there’s no “R” in the word “assembly.”

Whoever wrote this sale label should really check their math.

I’m not sure what kind of galaxy brain calculations allow people to save a dollar by paying 30 cents more, but this seems like the opposite of a sale.

It’s pretty hard to flex on your social media when the first comment is someone calling out your tricks.

The person in blue turned out to be right and I can only credit their keen observational skills here because it didn’t seem so easy to spot to me.

This was aligned pretty well, but something tells me it won’t quite have the desired effect.

Sadly, I have some serious doubts that a Smart car will rev as hard as a Harley will and that’s almost half the point, isn’t it?

Somebody’s clearly had some rough experiences with speed traps and wanted to do the rest of us a solid.

Perhaps a bright yellow sign wasn’t the best cover this officer could’ve gone with, but it also seems to be the style around these parts.

I suppose if you’re trying to make someone pay for literally nothing, there are worse ways to do it than this.

The only problem is that I wouldn’t even want invisible socks if there was such a thing. Isn’t it already hard enough to find our socks after we do laundry?

Call me crazy, but I actually think this guy’s sign might be telling the truth.

Sure, we can clearly see a pile of empty cheese doodle bags, but that’s just because he’s already eaten as many as he can stand.

That is, unless he didn’t eat all of these at once, but anyone who believes that is simply no fun.

Yeah, it just generally helps to interview people before you speak for them.

Triathlons seem like a better idea when you’re already in shape, after all. You’ve got to walk before you can run, cycle and swim, right?

Technically, this description was true, but it was also pretty misleading.

Sure, sand and rocks can be made from the same materials, but only one of them needs to be ground down to get the other.

I guess it’s good that they didn’t hide this problem very well or else this person would’ve got home before they found out.

I hate to call this sign a liar, but I think our eyes are a little more trustworthy than it is.

For anyone who’s confused, this sign is apparently intended to tell snowplows not to dump their catch here.

I like the idea that someone just pulled a random year out of their butt to make this photo seem more interesting.

And they would’ve gotten away with it and if weren’t for those meddling brightly-colored drinks. Yeah, maybe pick a different aisle.

The only person who will like this prank less than the one who falls for it is their neighbor.

Because if people already don’t like it when the guy in the next stall talks on his phone, I doubt him shouting “flush please” over and over again will go down any easier.

I’m sure the people who tore these slips were hoping to find a phone number on the back and I don’t blame them.

Sure, it may have been obvious to 11 people that this was the entire bit, but they still got those other four’s hopes up for nothing.

Tsk tsk.

So somebody claimed their 11-year-old made this nice Barbie dream house, but there are a couple of problems with that claim.

For one thing, it was clearly made in Minecraft, but they said it was made in Java for some reason.

Oh, and there’s also the little matter of the fact that this Barbie logo was next to the house in the thumbnail of the YouTube video in which someone else actually made it.

Oops.

Whoever planned this photoshoot really did this kid’s magic act dirty.

Presumably, he’s got some sort of trick where his assistant levitates, but here it just looks like she has really good balance.

Which is still kind of impressive, I suppose, but it kills the magic a little.

There’s a lot we can do with Photoshop, but unless we’re really careful, all our work will be for nothing.

After all, I personally couldn’t abide any enhancement that comes at the cost of a poor horse’s legs. There’s no way it can run like this.

Chris Evans has definitely created the impression as a gentleman on social media, and this extends to even calling out fakers politely.

I can see it. After all, there’s something very flattering about someone going to all this trouble to pretend they talked to you.

Hopefully, this wasn’t meant for a manager because it’ll probably work as well with them as it did with everybody else.

However, he accidentally taught us all a very important lesson. If you need to convince someone you’re stuck in traffic, take off your sunglasses first.

The photographer was trying to sneak a pic during a kitchen door and it’s clear how well that worked out for them.

That’s right, literally everybody in the picture noticed them. I guess that shutter click was louder than expected.

This girl is here to tell us that nature is our greatest healer, but I guess that’s more of a guess on her part.

Nature hikes are great and all, but what’s the point when a scenic backyard can get you the same number of Instagram likes?

How are there enough people pretending their partners took unwanted photos of them to make an entire subgenre?

This entry in the “bae caught me slippin'” collection features a very convincing facial expression.

Unfortunately, as so many promising examples have been before him, his valiant attempt was thwarted by that dastardly mirror.

Unfortunately for this guy, he’s going to have a hard time convincing us he’s Sylvester Stallone posting this with the help of a time machine.

If you’re going to pretend to be a boxer, wouldn’t it help to go with almost any pair of trunks besides the most iconic ones in cinema history?

I can’t be the only one wondering why this guy even bothered to lie about this.

I always thought it was annoying when the sun got in my eyes, but it apparently made this guy envy me all along.

I doubt this is his favorite picture anymore, though.

Call me crazy, but I find it pretty hard to be reassuring when someone essentially tells me they use “nearly toxic” products.

Is that supposed to mean that it’ll definitely give me a tumor, but it has a lower chance of becoming malignant?

Yeah, I’m still saying “no, thanks.”

Again, it’s hard not to be flattered when people report that you’re working way more efficiently than you actually are.

That said, I kind of wouldn’t be surprised if at some point, somebody did manage to finish a script without their own knowledge.

Hollywood can be a wild place.

Ah yes, we can definitely trust emails from as reputable a sender as Anazon.

They certainly practice a lot of diligence in treating the routine task of “confriming” our order so urgently.

Maybe these people will scam enough money to afford a spellchecker one day.

There’s something kind of adorable about the apparent fact that kids will still pile on top of each other to sneak into a movie.

It would be really hard not to sell them the ticket just for putting in the effort to mater trench coat balancing.

Especially since everyone else would just get tickets for a G movie and then sneak into the theater with the R rated one.

There’s nothing cute at all, however, about what this person is up to.

Not only is using someone else’s picture and a fake story to get people’s money very scummy, but it’s even lower to take advantage of a sad reality of the American healthcare system to do it.

It’s also really distasteful when folks to use other people’s photos to fake their way to people’s attention.

That’s especially true when it’s exploiting a seriously major step in real people’s transitions for internet brownie points.

It’s still gross but somewhat understandable when there’s money involved, but there’s not even a real benefit here.

I guess she could say that the guy in her profile pic took this for her, but this mental image is a lot funnier.

Besides, the flash seems to be shining right in her face so either she’s a pretty heavy sleeper or this was her handiwork.

This charming little drawing is sure to warm the hearts of the whole stock image family.

It’s just as well that Sam may not exist because imagine growing up as his sibling to learn in no uncertain terms that you’re not the favorite.

For those who are unaware, this is a noisemaker that will also release a bunch of streamers when this door opens.

I can only imagine the kid using all sorts of clever tactics to be as quiet and sneaky as possible only to scare themselves when this contraption is activated.

This trick worked a lot better about ten years ago, but link previews have a way of wrecking a lot of people’s fun.

That’s not to say it’s impossible to Rickroll people anymore, but it takes a lot more careful planning and even more careful platform use nowadays.

This girl’s ruse would’ve worked on me, but some people are obviously way more familiar with Baguio City than I am.

Actually, I suppose they’re just good at figuring out when the place they can practically see from their house is masquerading as a completely different city.

The public obviously didn’t appreciate this pair’s attempt to capitalize on the intense popularity of Popeye’s chicken sandwich and gave them the perfect ironic punishment.

“Oh, you want to get all the chicken sandwiches in the place, huh? Then that’s exactly what you’ll receive!”

The one on the right is a valiant attempt, but I don’t think they’ll convince anyone that this is an official product besides confused grandparents.

Here’s a little tip for any aspiring Adventure Time fan artists: If Jake’s mustache looks too much like a toilet seat, try again.

Yup, this guy certainly got himself a pretty flashy new chain and nothing about this picture will prove otherwise.

Certainly not that mirror in the back that’s totally not revealing he’s been playing with his mom’s purse all along.

Nah, impossible.

Somebody made the rather bold claim that it got hot enough in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada to melt the street lights.

Unfortunately, the British Stainless Steel Association has said that the melting point of steel is between 2417 and 2786 degrees Fahrenheit, so the whole city would have to be boiled alive for that to be true.

Since we haven’t heard any news suggesting that happened, the alternative claim that it’s an art installation makes a lot more sense.