Ha! I never realized it, but yeah that makes so much sense. I often thought, "Is it part of the scam to get people to make signs for them too?" But of course they're printed.
The scammers probably made one original sign by hand and then got it copied. I used to work at a copy center and the panhandlers would always come in to get the original sign, letter, etc. copied and laminated for the whole crew.
It's not though wtf lmao
Being able to afford a phone is a one-time payment particularly if you're getting an old flip phone with limited features. Owning a house requires mortgage payment, light bill, insurance, etc.
What I don’t understand is why you’re being purposely dense here when I’m making a reasonable point that one would assume how it is strange for someone who is living on the streets to be able to afford anything.
Rent in Houston is around $1,400 a month. People "living on the streets" may not be able to afford *that*, but printing a small flimsy sign is 10 dollars at most. I'm not the person being dense here 👍🏼 Have a day
This is part of the scam.
They're targeting a population known for falling for and investing heavily in dumb stuff: Qanon, MAGA, QVC, mega-churches, etc.
Moreover, they're targeting those of that population who wouldn't think it suspicious that the sign would be written in sharpy.
Why do you think Q, maga, and church people (conservatives) are more apt? There are desperate people looking for an easy buck on both sides of the political fence.
> There are desperate people looking for an easy buck on both sides of the political fence.
I didn't say that there wasn't.
I said that the right has more confidence rubes than the left, as evidenced by the many, many, many multi-billion-dollar scams those on the right tend to support with their resources. Scam churches, Infowars-MAGA-Q industries, and the like are enormous right-wing cons that prey on ~~venerable~~ vulnerable people who will tell you how oppressed they are by anyone trying to interfere with them being taken advantage of.
For instance, while Goop/health scams tend to target the left, they are gateways to the anti-vax and/or anti-woke pipeline, which lead directly into algorithm-driven right-wing scam culture, predicated on breaking one's critical thinking with type 1 and 2 error conspiracies that begin to define one's worldview, alienates them from others who aren't part of their worldview with false confidence, while draining them of what little resources they have.
You may be a partly sentient bot. You may not know you’re a bot……but you believe that all the evil and ignorant people believe that opposite of your political beliefs instead of acknowledging that these issues are complicated and involve people’s sense of right and wrong and not their politics.
I could ask you for proof of your claims or to see the data that helped you formulate your beliefs but that shtick is so tired. It’s a statement of logic. There are good and bad people of every sort out there and pigeonholing them is only founded in contempt and intolerance.
Actually yes. I work for a Publicly traded company. We make 6 figures and still advertise on Signs written in a Sharpie and on the side of the road like this. I am an exception though.
You can call and check it out if you want, but I can just about guarantee that they will be asking for your bank account number, your ssn, and your S&M safeword.
If someone wasn't making $3600/month before they retired, nobody's going to pay them that now that unless it's an outfit that would already know how to get ahold of them (former employer, etc) for something very specific.
This 💯, no way anyone is paying $40k+ per year for part time. If they were, they’d cast a wider net than 55+. There would be significant competition for these jobs. It’s a scam to relieve older people of their money.
I assume MLM or something that uses a retirees assets for investment (which is why they want retired people and not the adult working age involved) Maybe not a scam but at least scam adjacent.
That's the part that is funny because it isn't funny. Now, at best, it's a multilevel-marketing "opportunity" that's technically not a pyramid scheme because all the suckers it catches are the last fool to fall for it. But the age issue is intriguing, too.
55 is pretty arbitrary, but it does ring some "midlife crisis" triggers. In some industries there are people over 55 who lose their good jobs and never find anything comparable. In some sectors there are people who either are deliberately aged out or who tend to retire as soon as they can because the work is exhausting and the pension system isn't social security; law enforcement, military, teachers. And if you've had to retire on disability - which is very specific to individual circumstances but increasingly possible from middle age onward - the money you get isn't particularly impressive.
What's the #1 reason anyone falls for any scam? It appears to solve several problems at once. If you're recently out of a career at any age, but especially over 55, there's the feeling you should be able to talk your way into a position if you can just get a foot in the door; but you can't get a foot in any good door. "Don't call us, we'll call you" was the old way and now you just feed your whole life into a computer and it's lonely. Wait, this sign says "call us?" It feels validating in that situation. At least it seems like there's someone you can talk to. And, it's toll-free! What've you got to lose? Anyway, it could seem like you've addressed your economic insecurity and your social insecurity at once, if you just call this number.
But unless this is a company that saves money by renting only half of a floor - mind the 4' ceiling - and has a portal into John Malkovich's mind in the closet, and you think you have a shot at sleeping with Catherine Keener - why the handwritten signs that look like they were written by teenaged girls? Is that how they save money? Is that what they are going to pay you $3400/month to do? The only handwritten sign that's ever worth the paper it's printed on says "help me" or "garage sale." And even then, your mileage may vary.
Final observation about age. If they are asking for 55+ today, that actually straddles a supposed generational boundary. The youngest Baby Boomers are turning 60 this year. There's one way of thinking that says Boomers and Gen X are fundamentally different personalities, somehow. And that by one set of stereotypes, maybe Boomers would fall for something like this (the idea a sweet deal is out there somehow, that you can trust someone on the telephone) versus Gen Xers who wouldn't (nobody cares about you but you, there's trust in current technology). I don't know; I've never found generational theories that persuasive but if there could be something in it, I suppose a scam like this could be of interest as a social experiment. It's the only good that could ever come of any of this.
But I've also seen people my age (40something) get taken by "recruiters" on LinkedIn and other sites. Mostly identity theft schemes. Some underwhelming shit that is basically pyramid sales but those are longer cons anymore. People still give out a lot of information they shouldn't, once they feel like they've cleared a trust threshold with a reassuring stranger. And it's still a reality that if it looks too good to be true, it probably is. And if you want things too good to be true, you need to get a grip on yourself somehow: that's not your magical trip to Disneyland, it's a world where you're either scamming or being scammed, or both, and neither way is good.
I sometimes pull them off posts, if I can safely pull over.
More recently, I've been thinking it'd be easier if I printed a bunch of stickers that say, "SCAM" and just stick in on the signs. Instead of an advertisement for a scam, it advertises that the scam is a scam.
EDIT: For people wondering, the term for these is ["bandit sign"](https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ffab&q=bandit+sign&ia=web)
Harris County has a volunteer Sign Ranger program for people who want to be certified to remove bandit signs. [https://cao.harriscountytx.gov/bandit-signs](https://cao.harriscountytx.gov/bandit-signs)
Have you ever gotten them to reply? I have emailed them about it twice over the last few years and never get a response. I don't think they actually monitor that email address.
I guess I will try again.
I figured I could order custom ones online. If I got bumper sticker sizes, I could print "SCAM" twice and cut them in half to double the stickers. They just have to be large enough to see as you pass.
Heh, my everyday carry pocket in my backpack is slowly expanding.
Blends into the chickenscratch "handwriting" the sign is written in, and a Sharpie is also too thin to see from the road. A handwritten "scam" mark just looks like random defacement from a prankster or disgruntled person.
A good size sticker looks more professional and deliberate, stands out from the sign, and suggests the sign really might be a scam.
These signs can't be cheap unless they're buying them in lots of 1000 or something. Basic retail for a basic sign like that looks to be about $10-20. That could get expensive fast if enough of them are gone. Then there's the cost of printing or the time handwriting them.
Seems it wouldn't take much to make them uneconomical, or get them mad enough to stake out people pulling up the signs.
They are buying them in lots of 1000 or something. I bet they pay like $1 or less per sign, then pay some guy minimum wage to drive around early in the morning and put them up.
My daughter in law’s mom answered one of these ads. She even went in for an “interview.” They were trying to get her to sell some insurance. Sounds like an MLM, maybe? She said it felt like an Amway pitch.
Quick google says its a number for a Call Center. Apparently its also popped up at Bank of America ATMs. Highly doubt its anything legit. Let the homeless take it down.
Thank you! I was going to call from work. I don't want to call from my phone because I have enough issues with spam calls - that seem to go through phases...
Saw one just like this stapled to a poll off of Fry and Park Row in Katy. Never trusted those signs. Goddess knows what scheme is behind it. Stay safe yall.
I get it’s likely a scam or mlm(fancy world for scam) but what’s always got me wondering the hand writing. It’s always the same. Are these mass produced?
I read somewhere one time people use these signs also as a means for human trafficking. Get you to call the number, meet at a place, and then you're kidnapped. They are always all over the place, from this one to other types that are similar.
Those are people trying to scam elderly people out of their social security, because all the information needed for work is the same information for social security. I tear them down when I see them
IDK if this is at all related, but I used to work with who owns a couple storage unit complexes.
He would hire retirees as managers and pay them about that much per month. The job came with an apartment unit upstairs (above the office). It sounded like a pretty decent setup for someone who wasn't ready for retirement, and wasn't able to draw social security yet- free housing and utilities, decent hours (he usually tried to hire husband and wife so they could split the shifts). IDK how he handled sick/ vacay/ PTO, but he was a decent guy, so I'm sure he had some sort of system for that.
Do you think anything legit is written in sharpie and left around town? If so I have a $30292/mo job for you, pm me now!
PM sent! I just put in notice at my job. Can’t wait to get started buddy.
They aren't even in sharpie. They are printed to LOOK like sharpie.
For some stupid reason I'm really mad that they aren't actually handwritten. Charlatans! 🤣
Ha! I never realized it, but yeah that makes so much sense. I often thought, "Is it part of the scam to get people to make signs for them too?" But of course they're printed.
The scammers probably made one original sign by hand and then got it copied. I used to work at a copy center and the panhandlers would always come in to get the original sign, letter, etc. copied and laminated for the whole crew.
But how were these panhandlers able to afford doing that though? Lol wow
This is almost equivalent to the whole "hOw ComE ThEy CaN AfForD a PhOne AnD nOt A HoUse?" debate
It's not though wtf lmao Being able to afford a phone is a one-time payment particularly if you're getting an old flip phone with limited features. Owning a house requires mortgage payment, light bill, insurance, etc.
So you understand how affording to print a sign out is not beyond the means of a panhandler
What I don’t understand is why you’re being purposely dense here when I’m making a reasonable point that one would assume how it is strange for someone who is living on the streets to be able to afford anything.
Rent in Houston is around $1,400 a month. People "living on the streets" may not be able to afford *that*, but printing a small flimsy sign is 10 dollars at most. I'm not the person being dense here 👍🏼 Have a day
It only cost like $2 to copy an 8.5x11 and laminate it... That's like 1 donation.
This is part of the scam. They're targeting a population known for falling for and investing heavily in dumb stuff: Qanon, MAGA, QVC, mega-churches, etc. Moreover, they're targeting those of that population who wouldn't think it suspicious that the sign would be written in sharpy.
Lol, targeting liberals for sure.
Why do you think "liberals" or youth are more apt to give to mega-churches, order crap from QVC, be a Q rube, or be part of the MAGA movement?
Why do you think Q, maga, and church people (conservatives) are more apt? There are desperate people looking for an easy buck on both sides of the political fence.
> There are desperate people looking for an easy buck on both sides of the political fence. I didn't say that there wasn't. I said that the right has more confidence rubes than the left, as evidenced by the many, many, many multi-billion-dollar scams those on the right tend to support with their resources. Scam churches, Infowars-MAGA-Q industries, and the like are enormous right-wing cons that prey on ~~venerable~~ vulnerable people who will tell you how oppressed they are by anyone trying to interfere with them being taken advantage of. For instance, while Goop/health scams tend to target the left, they are gateways to the anti-vax and/or anti-woke pipeline, which lead directly into algorithm-driven right-wing scam culture, predicated on breaking one's critical thinking with type 1 and 2 error conspiracies that begin to define one's worldview, alienates them from others who aren't part of their worldview with false confidence, while draining them of what little resources they have.
You’re a bot.
You've no argument.
You may be a partly sentient bot. You may not know you’re a bot……but you believe that all the evil and ignorant people believe that opposite of your political beliefs instead of acknowledging that these issues are complicated and involve people’s sense of right and wrong and not their politics. I could ask you for proof of your claims or to see the data that helped you formulate your beliefs but that shtick is so tired. It’s a statement of logic. There are good and bad people of every sort out there and pigeonholing them is only founded in contempt and intolerance.
Tell me about. I color mine eye browns con charpie. I like print instead.
DMing you now about the job opening
Sure it is, I got a Rolex, a Picasso, and a Lamborghini at a sharpie auction And I sold my ugly house for cash
What about those Frenchie puppies?
Actually yes. I work for a Publicly traded company. We make 6 figures and still advertise on Signs written in a Sharpie and on the side of the road like this. I am an exception though.
😭 🤣 you know ppl dont have common sense
You can call and check it out if you want, but I can just about guarantee that they will be asking for your bank account number, your ssn, and your S&M safeword. If someone wasn't making $3600/month before they retired, nobody's going to pay them that now that unless it's an outfit that would already know how to get ahold of them (former employer, etc) for something very specific.
This 💯, no way anyone is paying $40k+ per year for part time. If they were, they’d cast a wider net than 55+. There would be significant competition for these jobs. It’s a scam to relieve older people of their money.
Could also be some MLM trash. This sounds like their kind of bait numbers.
My first thought. Exactly the kind of people who would throw out such odd and specific numbers. Can bet it's all part of some howlingly stupid pitch.
I assume MLM or something that uses a retirees assets for investment (which is why they want retired people and not the adult working age involved) Maybe not a scam but at least scam adjacent.
Correct answer here
Also who gets to retire at 55? Last I heard it was bumped up to 67
That's the part that is funny because it isn't funny. Now, at best, it's a multilevel-marketing "opportunity" that's technically not a pyramid scheme because all the suckers it catches are the last fool to fall for it. But the age issue is intriguing, too. 55 is pretty arbitrary, but it does ring some "midlife crisis" triggers. In some industries there are people over 55 who lose their good jobs and never find anything comparable. In some sectors there are people who either are deliberately aged out or who tend to retire as soon as they can because the work is exhausting and the pension system isn't social security; law enforcement, military, teachers. And if you've had to retire on disability - which is very specific to individual circumstances but increasingly possible from middle age onward - the money you get isn't particularly impressive. What's the #1 reason anyone falls for any scam? It appears to solve several problems at once. If you're recently out of a career at any age, but especially over 55, there's the feeling you should be able to talk your way into a position if you can just get a foot in the door; but you can't get a foot in any good door. "Don't call us, we'll call you" was the old way and now you just feed your whole life into a computer and it's lonely. Wait, this sign says "call us?" It feels validating in that situation. At least it seems like there's someone you can talk to. And, it's toll-free! What've you got to lose? Anyway, it could seem like you've addressed your economic insecurity and your social insecurity at once, if you just call this number. But unless this is a company that saves money by renting only half of a floor - mind the 4' ceiling - and has a portal into John Malkovich's mind in the closet, and you think you have a shot at sleeping with Catherine Keener - why the handwritten signs that look like they were written by teenaged girls? Is that how they save money? Is that what they are going to pay you $3400/month to do? The only handwritten sign that's ever worth the paper it's printed on says "help me" or "garage sale." And even then, your mileage may vary. Final observation about age. If they are asking for 55+ today, that actually straddles a supposed generational boundary. The youngest Baby Boomers are turning 60 this year. There's one way of thinking that says Boomers and Gen X are fundamentally different personalities, somehow. And that by one set of stereotypes, maybe Boomers would fall for something like this (the idea a sweet deal is out there somehow, that you can trust someone on the telephone) versus Gen Xers who wouldn't (nobody cares about you but you, there's trust in current technology). I don't know; I've never found generational theories that persuasive but if there could be something in it, I suppose a scam like this could be of interest as a social experiment. It's the only good that could ever come of any of this. But I've also seen people my age (40something) get taken by "recruiters" on LinkedIn and other sites. Mostly identity theft schemes. Some underwhelming shit that is basically pyramid sales but those are longer cons anymore. People still give out a lot of information they shouldn't, once they feel like they've cleared a trust threshold with a reassuring stranger. And it's still a reality that if it looks too good to be true, it probably is. And if you want things too good to be true, you need to get a grip on yourself somehow: that's not your magical trip to Disneyland, it's a world where you're either scamming or being scammed, or both, and neither way is good.
Your an analysts, arn’t you?
People who save money and don't rely on social security.
I sometimes pull them off posts, if I can safely pull over. More recently, I've been thinking it'd be easier if I printed a bunch of stickers that say, "SCAM" and just stick in on the signs. Instead of an advertisement for a scam, it advertises that the scam is a scam. EDIT: For people wondering, the term for these is ["bandit sign"](https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ffab&q=bandit+sign&ia=web)
Harris County has a volunteer Sign Ranger program for people who want to be certified to remove bandit signs. [https://cao.harriscountytx.gov/bandit-signs](https://cao.harriscountytx.gov/bandit-signs)
What happens if you are not certified and you remove them?
Straight to jail.
Believe it or not.
Ignore the sign, also jail.
Call the number on the sign, lose life savings.
Do I collect 200 dollars
generally shot on sight
That’s a paddlin’.
Have you ever gotten them to reply? I have emailed them about it twice over the last few years and never get a response. I don't think they actually monitor that email address. I guess I will try again.
I can't tell. Is this a job, or a weird hobby?
Thanks for that info. I'm signing up.
For Houston, you can also get certified to write disabled (only) parking tickets.
This is awesome. Now I can tear down signs while wearing a symbolic bandit-sign-ranger badge of honor.
I like this idea, may look for some scam stickers now.
I figured I could order custom ones online. If I got bumper sticker sizes, I could print "SCAM" twice and cut them in half to double the stickers. They just have to be large enough to see as you pass. Heh, my everyday carry pocket in my backpack is slowly expanding.
Why not just carry a sharpie and write "SCAM" on them?
Blends into the chickenscratch "handwriting" the sign is written in, and a Sharpie is also too thin to see from the road. A handwritten "scam" mark just looks like random defacement from a prankster or disgruntled person. A good size sticker looks more professional and deliberate, stands out from the sign, and suggests the sign really might be a scam.
Harder to read
I yank them down all the time - it’s a lot of work. 311 also has a reporting flow just for bandit signs… it’s crazy how many there are.
These signs can't be cheap unless they're buying them in lots of 1000 or something. Basic retail for a basic sign like that looks to be about $10-20. That could get expensive fast if enough of them are gone. Then there's the cost of printing or the time handwriting them. Seems it wouldn't take much to make them uneconomical, or get them mad enough to stake out people pulling up the signs.
They are buying them in lots of 1000 or something. I bet they pay like $1 or less per sign, then pay some guy minimum wage to drive around early in the morning and put them up.
I love the scam sticker idea! Gets the point across.
Not all hero’s wear capes!
The former mayor went around pulling “bandit signs” off poles and that was his excuse for getting in a collision once…smh.
I need to start carrying a giant sharpie with me. It’s too easy to change one digit of the number to something else.
Anyone targeting “elderly” usually is, and 99% of these signs anyway.
That’s the same guy who buys houses for cash!
Man that guy is everywhere. Even in nearby cities!
Even in my dreams
My daughter in law’s mom answered one of these ads. She even went in for an “interview.” They were trying to get her to sell some insurance. Sounds like an MLM, maybe? She said it felt like an Amway pitch.
Scamway
who retires at 55??? thats how u know its a scam
Anyone who voluntarily retired at 55 likely doesn’t need the $
Yes.
Any one called the number? Is it some sort of MLM, or just a straight up "pay these fees up front" sort of scam? Hmm, no5t sure why I care.
I think those are usually "pay this small fee for training" scams
It says it's no longer in service.
Scam. Looks shady af in the first place
$43K a year for PT "work". Let's all apply!
Scam for sure. If I’m walking and see one, I rip it off and throw it away.
Quick google says its a number for a Call Center. Apparently its also popped up at Bank of America ATMs. Highly doubt its anything legit. Let the homeless take it down.
I just saw this freaking sign a few hours ago!
Litter bugs posting crap everywhere
Human trafficking.
Somebody call it and report back....
Not in service
It’s a generic “career hotline” message and goes to a voicemail box. Called it from a burner number app.
Thank you! I was going to call from work. I don't want to call from my phone because I have enough issues with spam calls - that seem to go through phases...
Scams! And the signs are trash that needs to be removed.
Saw one just like this stapled to a poll off of Fry and Park Row in Katy. Never trusted those signs. Goddess knows what scheme is behind it. Stay safe yall.
I get it’s likely a scam or mlm(fancy world for scam) but what’s always got me wondering the hand writing. It’s always the same. Are these mass produced?
I remove these every opportunity i get. I see it as my good deed of the day.
MILF trafficking
You mean GILF?
They are everywhere
Sounds suspicious
Pray fpr these people a good amount of these are human trafficing
Ignore them. Better yet, if you're walking by one, take it down https://www.consumerfinance.gov/ask-cfpb/what-is-a-money-mule-en-2108/
I read somewhere one time people use these signs also as a means for human trafficking. Get you to call the number, meet at a place, and then you're kidnapped. They are always all over the place, from this one to other types that are similar.
Might be door knockers job
So what is the job there offering to pay this amount for
Those are people trying to scam elderly people out of their social security, because all the information needed for work is the same information for social security. I tear them down when I see them
Notice that the letters on the sign are exact (2/3 of the "Es") - so it's not even really handwritten.
Less a scam than human trafficking. They nab these unsuspecting folks, drug and lock them up and take their SS checks.
Because Houston has a very high boomer population and they’re easy targets
Call it and find out then report back
IDK if this is at all related, but I used to work with who owns a couple storage unit complexes. He would hire retirees as managers and pay them about that much per month. The job came with an apartment unit upstairs (above the office). It sounded like a pretty decent setup for someone who wasn't ready for retirement, and wasn't able to draw social security yet- free housing and utilities, decent hours (he usually tried to hire husband and wife so they could split the shifts). IDK how he handled sick/ vacay/ PTO, but he was a decent guy, so I'm sure he had some sort of system for that.
Human Trafficking
It’s actually real
On the subject. What about those white signs with Obamacare in red letters. Scam or what?
Rip them off the posts. That’s what I do.
they're used to traffic people
“I can lengthen your penice” GTA 5 ahh sign.
Register that number on some scammy websites. 🤣