The USA was built on scams and ripoffs. The land that invented "marketing", the art of bullshitting people into buy something they don't need. The land that gave birth to "snake oil": deceptive marketing, health care fraud, or a scam. We are governed by snake oil salesmen/women posing as politicians or preachers, including most Republicans and some Democrats. And we are supposed to endure this birth-to-death hoax as the "American way of life" to achieving the "American Dream". With Donald Dumb at the helm constantly labeling everything a "hoax", the United Scammers of America have achieved their own American Dream, not ours.
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15 Completely Legal Scams In Society That We've Been Forced To Normalize
Conshea Brown
Wed, September 3, 2025
Coming to the realization that our lives are littered with legal scams that affect us in an unbelievable number of ways can be a hard pill to swallow...
Jacob Wackerhausen / Getty Images
But if you aren't quite sure what those scams you're falling for — or just want to find reassurance for what you've already been thinking — Reddit user u/odikuart asked the question, "What’s the biggest legal scam still operating today?" and a hefty amount of people gave some pretty infuriating examples:
1."Just went to Vegas. Why is there a resort fee on top of booking a hotel room? Why do we have to pay for parking, too? Someone learned they could add hidden fees and were successful, so now nearly all of Vegas does it also."
Dimensions / Getty Images
—u/FoolsballHomerun
2."Companies that change their terms of service to force you to pay an annual subscription to continue using a product you've had for years that didn't require a subscription to begin with."
—u/I_HaveSeenTheLight
3."College textbooks. New edition every year, barely any changes, and somehow still $300-plus a pop."
Jcomp / Getty Images
—u/DuskPrincessx
4."Ticketmaster 'convenience fees.' The price doubles at checkout, and there’s nothing convenient about it."
—u/Real-Spot-4217
5."Churches not being taxed like the big business they obviously are."
Pascal Deloche / Getty Images
—u/Key_Intern_2550
6."Subscriptions. To everything. Streaming kicked it off, and then everyone figured out they could bleed us dry, one 'feature' at a time. No ads on your music? Subscribe! Unlimited skips? Subscribe! Remote start and heated seats in winter? Subscribe! Want your toilet to spray water? Subscribe!"
—u/mindlesslobster014
7."Actively shutting down your product when it detects unofficial repairs. I can accept that owners may lose warranty over unofficial repairs, but going as far as completely making the device non-functional after the repair is just corporate speak for 'you no longer own the physical device you bought; you just have a license to use it. We still own it.'"
Mariia Siurtukova / Getty Images
—u/timchenw
8."TurboTax for 99% of us. The IRS knows our income and could just send us a bill/check...but that would kill the rent-seeking industry of tax prep."
—u/Franzmithanz
9."The insurance industry. Any kind. Health, auto, home, life, or any insurance. Insurance is the biggest legal scam that exists. You pay them money every month, 'just in case,' and when something happens and the time comes for payouts, they try their damnedest to not fork over anything but still expect that monthly premium."
Mputsylo / Getty Images
—u/Negative_Bat3572
10."Small town cops ticketing out-of-towners in speed traps as a means of revenue generation. Happened to me three times. And cops wonder why the public doesn't respect them. Public safety, my ass."
—u/_Chill_Winston_
11."Corporate money in politics. It hurts everyone, even the business eventually."
Opolja / Getty Images
—u/myutnybrtve
12."Bank overdraft fees. Instead of just denying the transaction, they charge like $40 to someone who doesn’t have the money to begin with."
—u/bettereverydamday
13."Paid parking…at the hospital."
Paddythegolfer / Getty Images
—u/vanessecity
14."Heads of government programs who give favorable deals to companies then magically get a seat/job at the company or board of directors they helped."
—u/420_69_Fake_Account
And finally, here's one that nearly 43 million (and counting) Americans can relate to:
15."The predatory nature of student loans. I’ve been out of school for almost 8 years. When I graduated, my student loan balance was almost $90,000. I have been paying faithfully since graduation. At times when I was on an income-based plan, I was even paying extra. Now, my income-based plan has gotten more expensive. Current loan balance after all this time and payments? $87,000."
Elisaveta Ivanova / Getty Images
—u/dxguy
Are there other legal scams you're hip to that are ridiculously affecting our lives and society? Let me know your thoughts in the comments.
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