I spent three years, in the middle of the housing crisis as a Home Equity Specialist at a major bank that features an old timey horse drawn money carriage as their theme. My job was to use slippery sales tactics to sign people up for home equity lines of credit. Like an actual card that you use like a debit card, except every purchase devalues hour home.

My initial sales pitch was equally as bad. These Home Equity cards were something you were supposed to ask for when you get your loan. It was strictly forbidden that the initial person that you signed up with was not to offer the borrower the product.

Me, Sleazy Salesperson:

"Oh hey, Mr. Johnson, Your Guy here from Old West Bank, just reviewing your home equity account with us, just saw something we overlooked, really sorry about that..

Mr. Johnson:

"What? What's going on?! We've been paying on time for over two years!"

Me: No worries sir! I just saw that no one ever issued you and your wife, Theresa, your Home Equity account holder cards! I'm so sorry, gonna go ahead and process those now, 7-10 business days!

Mr. Johnson: Oh, thank goodness you called!

Most of the people I signed up had no clue what this card was or how it worked.

I did this for numbers. Free lunch and prizes. Bonuses. Cash giveaways. I was always way high on all the screens they had around the office. If you tried to sell the card the honest way you would get shot down every time. And that doesn't look good on your monthly review. Or your paycheck.