consumer fraud
Conspiracy theories tagged "consumer fraud."
2 articles
Confirmed
Diamond Resale Value Myth / Engineered Illiquidity
De Beers deliberately built a retail market with no buy-back mechanism, trapping consumers in an illiquid asset that loses 50% of its value upon purchase — a designed feature, not a bug.
1888 · South Africa · De Beers, Cecil Rhodes, Ernest Oppenheimer
Confirmed
Printer Cartridge DRM / Chip Expiration Conspiracy
How printer manufacturers embed DRM chips in cartridges to expire ink before it runs out, block third-party refills via firmware updates, and design planned obsolescence into consumer printers.
2000 · United States · HP, Epson, Lexmark