You own a piece of electronics, a car, or some sort of machine – and one day you need to check its manual, which you don’t have. After looking all over Internet, you finally come across an online service that will allow you to download the manual, for $2.99.
Happy, you give your credit card info and wait for the seller to deliver the PDF manual in your inbox. Although in most cases you’ll get what you paid for, several complaints have been reported, claiming that the files were never delivered.
In addition, scammers will charge your credit cards on monthly basis, until you cancel, justifying this by saying that you could get unlimited downloads.
How to avoid: whenever you need a manual, ask the manufacturer. The scam works the same when it comes to serial numbers or specific online games that require keys to unlock levels.