Okay, neither of these are exactly scams, but...
(I suppose it's worth clarifying before this starts: I'm female.)
1. I was walking to the store once when I was 18 or 19 and some guy pulled over at the curb, came out of his car, and started talking to me. The first words out of his mouth were "Wow, hey! Are you 18? I drove around the block a couple times to make sure you weren't 12." So that was a great start.
I was kind of a dumb kid, so I just stared at him and said "What?" instead of getting the hell out of there. There were plenty of people around, and we were far enough from his car that I felt safe, though I probably shouldn't have.
Anyway, I'm going to summarize what he said over the next 10 minutes or so (my own contribution to the conversation was just staring and nodding and being totally confused):
"See, I'm a photographer, and I'd love it if you could model for me. I'll pay you enough money to get your hair and makeup and nails done beforehand. But there's this one requirement I have: you gotta shave, you know, down there. Cause I was showing some of my photos to a friend once, and he said, 'you sure this isn't a man?' and I said 'why?' and he said 'look at the bulge!' You know, the dresses these days are just so slinky. I really have to ask that you shave. Another thing, I exclusively shoot up near this remote lake over in the mountains, really beautiful place, but it's such a dangerous drive up there that I have to insist that I drive you myself. No one else is allowed, you know, no boyfriends, no parents, I can't take them along. So here's my card, my name is Antonius Smelt (yes, that's exactly the name he gave me), please call me back!"
And no...I never called him back. Good lord. I did give the card to the police though, just in case.
2. This one is embarrassing, since it was much more recent.
I was in a parking lot in my dented old car, looking for a space, when a couple guys in a big black van with PDR written on the side pulled up next to me and rolled down their window. One of them said "Hey, I saw the dents in your car, and I happen to have a paintless dent removal company. Would you be interested in a free estimate?" I figured it wouldn't hurt to get their card and then look them up online, so I said "Sure, give me your card." He agreed, and we parked.
Then he and the other guy in the van came out and started talking to me about the process and whatnot, without any evidence of a card like I'd asked for. In the meantime, another black van pulled up with three more guys in it, and they started chatting with the other two and pulling stuff out of their van.
I was feeling really overwhelmed at this point. I wanted to get back in my car and leave, but I was scared. One of them pulled out this suction cup thing and popped out part of one of the dents in my car and said "See, this is how we do it." At this point I realized I was actually negotiating with them, probably since it seemed like they had already started, and also I was never taught how to say no clearly. Always have to be the sweet, polite little girl who never hurts anyone's feelings, in my family...
So we haggled and finally agreed on $80. They pulled out a bunch of shit including crowbars, and other people in the parking lot were staring, and I was feeling just miserable. I saw them try to pull the same thing on another woman, and she was able to graciously decline and leave, and I was even more upset with myself.
When they finished, it was clear that they'd done a shoddy job. To be fair, it looked better than it did before, at least from a distance. Up close it looked like...well, it looked like I'd paid some random dudes $80 to remove the dents in my car with a suction cup and a crowbar.
I asked them how I was supposed to pay, since I didn't have enough cash. They suggested that we drive to an ATM down the block, and also, could I please make it $100? I felt incredibly uncomfortable with that suggestion, so I told them I'd try to see if I could get cash back from one of the nearby stores (which were a Michael's and a Best Buy). Of course they didn't give me any. So when I walked back from my second failed attempt, feeling ready to cry, I asked if they'd take a check or something. They said no: cash only.
So at that point I really felt I had no choice but to drive down the block with them. One of the guys offered to ride with me in my car, but of course I declined. Fortunately, he didn't press it. So that's how I found myself driving down the street with one large black van really close in front of me and one really close behind me, feeling like the biggest idiot I'd ever met and hating myself for leaving my cell phone at home that day, on top of everything else I'd done.
Well, we got to the ATM, they stayed in their vans at a safe distance, I got the money out, I paid them, and I left. Nothing else happened. But I couldn't help feeling terrible about the whole situation. They may not have scammed me per se, but they did take advantage of my hesitation and social anxiety. And what if they had decided to do something worse? I would have just gone along with it because I was scared.
That day was kind of a turning point for me. I knew I had to learn how to be more certain of myself. I'm not entirely there yet, but at least I don't care anymore about sparing people's feelings when they're trying to take advantage of me. (Yeah, thanks mom.)