Seventeen years ago, I paid to have leaf guards installed over my gutters. You can see the leaf guards on the garage gutters, but they weren't visible on the house (unless you climbed on the roof). I assumed they had been installed. But they aren't there. Where did they go? The company (Gutters for less) said the roofers probably took them off. I had a new roof installed two years ago. The roofers didn't remove the leaf guards. Where did the leaf guards go? Perhaps, they were never installed. Did they scam me!
Fourteen years ago, my dumb-ass brother talked me into investing in gold and silver. He directed me to a company in California. Recently, I got an appraisal to see how much my investment was now worth. Well, not much compared to the initial investment, especially when you consider it's been 14 years. My investment would have earned much more if I had invested the same amount of money in the stock market. Even just keeping the money in a savings account would have yielded as much, if not a higher return.
The main reason for the poor return is because the company charged me way too much money for the coins I purchased (in 2012). In other words, they scammed me. The California company went out of business several years ago. Surprise! Hope my brother suffered the same fate. Should have never listened to him. Stupid on my part. Being in love with money (him) doesn't make you knowledgeable about the financial markets.
Now I think everything is a scam. Of course, there are plenty of legal scams out there (e.g., tipping, credit card fees, etc.) to go along with the illegal ones. Government and business are just as guilty of scamming as the "criminals." My radar is up. Trust nobody and nothing.